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This blog is about the creation of art. and events or things that I find interesting.
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Inspiration
For my next watercolor I chose a picture of three "bad" fairies from the FairyWorlds Festival.
I decided to place them in a pumpkin patch. Why? Because I'm going to be using this painting in a fairy calendar that I'm working on and I think they will be great for October. So I went looking for photos of pumpkins rather than make it up from imagination. I know what a pumpkin looks like but not necessarily what the leaves look like. I found a picture of them but it was still hard to see exact detail. Oh well it's fantasy....right?
Preliminary Sketch
This time everything is pretty much there as far as background. I was more attentive to this,
this time because working with three figures felt a little bit more complicated to integrate
them into the scenery. Plus I already knew that I wanted them against pumpkins.
Color Study
The color study is pretty close to what I ended up painting, except
that when I started painting it I notice that it lacked something.
At this stage of the painting above I have painted the fairies in great detail, except for refining and a few unpainted things they are fairly close to the way that they will be. After laying in the first washes of the background, I turned to my analogous color wheel. (A wheel that shows complimentary, adjacent and discordant colors) Since orange is not a color that figures prominently in my paintings usually, I needed help with this particular color palette, and found that the color that was missing was blue (complimentary to orange, the dominant color in the painting). At first I was at a loss as to how to introduce enough blue into this painting that had nothing naturally blue. I painted some into the greens but it wasn't strong enough nor was it enough to satisfy the need for complimentary color to the orange.
So began the search for blue. Originally I had pictured the wings as white with black definition but realized that I could use blue at the base of the fairy wings and it would be gorgeous against the orange. I painted more layers of blue wash in a few places in the green background. Closer but still I wanted more. And I wasn't happy with the look of their dresses. It was just a little lifeless. That was when I had my happy thought- Use a light blue (cerulean) on the highlights and voila I had enough blue and the dresses had life.
Fine'
Well ti's almost fine' (finished). When looking at the scan I noticed that I had not finished painting the
butterfly in the middle fairy's hair.
I think this might be their prom picture...before they go off to the bad fairy's ball.
I started this late yesterday and stayed up until 4:30 in the morning finishing it. I didn't take the time to make scans of the drawing and I didn't make a color study this time. But that won't stop me from talking about the process. This is the photo I was working from. You'll notice that the girl in the picture has her eye shut. So that was one of the first things that I had to change. Also her body position with her chin jutting out a bit didn't look relaxed and would have looked unnatural if I'd painted it that way. Her costume ears were a little droopy so I changed the angle slightly.
Other changes include lengthening her hair, modifying her necklace, making up things on her hair wreath, lightening her hair just a tad so that the texture would show more, changed her wings to dragonfly style (Just because my husband said he pictures fairies that way- I believe that he's a member of the Dragonfly Clan), and added a blue ribbon to her sleeve.
The Green Wood
I started this project on Christmas Eve. I started with a photo from the Fairy Worlds Festival (which will probably be the case for the majority of what I paint for a while
)
As usual I made my sketch, this time directly onto the watercolor paper.My scanner is only wide enough to capture part of the drawing/painting. There's about 3/4 inch cropped off on all sides. I will have to have it scanned by someone else for the final.
I wasn't really sure yet what I wanted to do with the background so I just drew a flower and very vague leaves at the side. I took the drawing into photoshop and "painted" colors to get a sense of values and large color blocks. I the color study I have ferns surrounding her but I was still not solid on what I would do with the background.
it wasn't until after I started painting that I got to the point where I knew what I wanted to do with the background. The color study showed me that just having a solid background of green ferns would probably be too boring and left little opportunity to bring colors from her into the background to unify the painting, and help carry the eye around the painting. So I decided to add a Fall colored bush. That way I could incorporate some of the beautiful violets from her skirt into the shadow sides of the leaves. The reddish orange and burgandy flowers in her hair then are used for the rest of the leaves. I also changed her sleeves to violet from gold to help move your eye up to her face. And in addition to amke it less blaugh. To start this water color I did an ochre wash everywhere except for her face. Because I wanted to have a warm feel for the painting. To counter balance so much warm color I used cooler greens on the left side of the painting.
FernI used a neutral tint wash on her left wing because it's on the shadow side and I didn't really want to effect the color too much just make it recede a bit. To help make her wing look like it goes back instead of sticking straight out to her side.
That's it! I have to get back to the wizard nap project now.
For my Christmas card this year I wanted to paint two elves sitting together at the end of the day on Christmas Eve enjoying tea and Christmas cookies. All their hard work is done and Santa has left in his sleigh. I borrowed a couple of photos (my son Josh took at the Fairy Worlds Festival this past August) that served as the inspiration for my elves. The child is the same in each photo.
On the first photo I dropped the hands away from the face and placed her on a footstool and changed her costume. On the second I changed the angle that she was looking down and placed a tea cup and a cookie in the hands. Added legs and made her sit. (By the way isn't Josh a fabulous photographer!)
I made my preliminary sketch:
Then I scanned it and took it into Photo Shop. Using the brush tool I painted crudely painted in large blocks of color to get a sense of what I was getting. I discovered that the composition wasn't working the way I wanted so I moved some things around and added another ornament. I would also end up painting some of the colors differently.
The result:
I scanned it and in Photo Shop added the type. And since I've done that I've continued to add a few washes to the deep green background to darken it and also added some more color to the floor and the shadows. Why? I just wanted to make the elves pop a little more and a add a little more drama with the contrast.
That's all for now. Merry Christmas! Blessing to your household!
Ann
I started preliminary sketches for my new painting. As I said in my first blog entry I found a picture of a Santa asleep with a baby on his chest. I'm turning him into a wizard and her into a fairy.
I started from the Santa photo but as you can see I added information that wasn't there- like legs for Santa/Wizard, the rest of the couch, the gnome reading, and the dragon.
Now after having looked at it I'm going to make the dragon larger. I think it will make a better composition and create more depth. I haven't drawn the background yet, so I plan to put a window and book case complete with wizardly oddities.
I was having a little trouble drawing the gnome so I drew him larger on another piece of paper and then I Photoshopped him into the sketch.
So it's back to the drawing board to make further sketches.
Pearl the Mermaid
I painted Pearl about 6 weeks ago but I wasn't totally happy with the way that she came out. This morning when I got up she was sitting there on my drawing table and I started painting on her again. I added more color to the water and added some red to her hair and added more pearls (mainly on her arms and some in her hair). I then put a pearl interference wash over the whites. You won't be able to see it in the photo because you have to view the painting at least a slight angle to see it because of the way that the light must bounce off the paint to your eye.I added a blue wash to the seaweed and it made it more vibrant. And I added a bit more value to the shadows. Everything that looked bland to me before now has more punch.
Pearl the Mermaid
I also added a highlight to the top of the fish. This served two purposes (or I guess I should say porpoises). First it gave them a more dimensional look and it made them stand out from the background.
I am sooooooo happy about the election! OMG I can hardly take it in. Still reeling from being scared that somehow they would steal it again. Congratulations to a wonderful man, Obama, for his victory. and ours! Too bad that it takes a couple of months to make the transition. Hope and Change afoot in the land. Who would have thought? YAY!!!!! Pinch me- I'm dreaming! Wow!!!! OMG!!!!
I'm working on drawings for cards for a therapist to use in her practice. And I'm working on a activity/coloring book for Beatrice and the Magic Garden Hat . Three web sites (not to mention additions to my own two web sites) I'm leaving out something but can't think what it is now.
So as to my personal life- we are exploring ways to save money/reduce our carbon footprint. With our utilities we are keeping the heat off and using a space heater or on colder days keeping the thermostat on 60 and dressing warmer. It was a little uncomfortable at first but I think my body is adjusting by turning its own thermostat up. We're not taking showers everyday- instead a spit bath. Bonus to that is that my skin is less dry. Our goal is to be debt free in a few years... except for our house mortgage cause that will probably take longer than we have time left on earth (at least this lifetime) Which brings to mind a thought. What if the government believed in reincarnation and could tell what your previous lives were and you had to pay off the debts for those lives? Gives a whole new meaning to saddling our children with our debt.....
PS I have given up on writing in this everyday- I find that I have nothing I want to say or I don't have time, or I wait until too late and I'm too tired. Ah excuses, excuses......
Independent Publisher Award
October 24th, 2008
Independent Publisher (http://www.independentpublisher.com) announced the 2008 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards Results. Beatrice and the Magic Garden Hat, by Donna Lee; illustrated by Ann Gates Fiser won the Moonbeam Spirit Award. This award is given to books that show dedication and compassion about children, humanity, and literacy, and that are hard to categorize, but impress the judges with their inspired writing, illustrations and enthusiasm. To learn more about the book visit www.chiwhizcreations.com
The Chinese curse/blessing- "May you live in interesting times" . I don't know about you but I'm certainly feeling blessed and cursed. If I wasn't being personally impacted it might be more interesting. I have no idea how this is going to look in a year. Will someone pull a rabbit out of their butt and save the economy or will we be in a depression? We are living month to month- scrambling to pull income from various sources. Being self employed in an economy like this is also a Chinese blessing/curse. It's hard because we can't count on paychecks and business is slow because those who have money are scared to spend it and others have no extra cash to buy items they don't need. But on the other hand I won't fire me or lay me off because business is slow. So I brainstorm and figure out ways to bring in small amounts that add up enough to pay the bills. It is an interesting time....
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I took today off. It wasn't planned but I just ran out of go juice so I sat at my computer and played games almost all day. It's hard not to beat myself up but oh well. This will be a short post as once again it's really late and I'm ready to go get in bed. Tomorrow it's back to painting on the Bat Boy set.
I didn't post last night because it was really late by the time I got back to my computer and I was too tired.
I was in a minor fender bender today. Not me driving. I was a passenger. I felt for my friend who was driving because it turned out that she was at fault. Poorly designed confusing signage about which lanes turned where was the ultimate culprit though.
I ran into (figuratively this time) another friend who said she too was having a hard time financially. I'm amazed at the number of people that are being impacted by this situation. People that I would have thought would be secure and OK.
Tomorrow (today really given it's a little past 1:00 AM) Rob and I start painting the set of Bat Boy the Musical. It's a complicated extensive set. Everyone's excited about the play and actors were coming out of the woodwork to try and be a part of the cast. It should be interesting.
So I haven't posted for a couple of weeks. Like everyone else on the planet riding the financial roller coaster my main job has been to stay calm and not freak out. So how does it feel everyone to be living the old Chinese curse/blessing - "May you live in interesting times." I could do with a little less interesting time- how about you?
So what have I been up to? Well I developed 1 and 2/3's web sites. The one that's finished is for my friend Cis (Cecilia) to sell her wonderful book Maternity Dreams. Check it our- www.maternitydreams.com. It's about predicting your baby's gender and personality from the predicitve dreams that you have when your pregnant. Cis was an ultrasound tech for over 20 years and began to notice that the dreams, patients were telling her about, were more often than not correctly predicting what their babies would be like. The other web site I'm creating is for Jane- a wonderful ceramic artist. I'll post the link to hers once it's done.
I'm also illustrating some therapy cards for Sue Anne B., a therapist that I know here. They're to help kids to identify their feelings when they're too young to have developed an emotional vocabulary.
I did paint an ACEO of a mermaid but given how late it is ( and I haven't already scanned it) I'll post it another time.
I've been beating myself up a little because I haven't been posting on a regular basis- I really admire Tessa (mythos_amante) for her discipline in posting almost daily. Amazing. So I'm thinking that what I'm going to try is posting every night before I turn off the computer so that I can establish a routine. I think one thing that will be nifty about that will be a kind of clearing of the day. I also think that it'd be a good thing to close every night with a few thoughts about what I'm grateful for.
I'm grateful for my home that I still own (well at least my name's still on the mortgage).
Well that's it- Aloha!
I forgot to post this earlier- www.moontoegallery.com
I questioned myself whether or not to post another whine but decided to do it just to have the relief of saying it, so that I can let it go. Today we (Rob and I ) went to finish up a mural job that should have been finished in June. The client's husband was supposed to finish wrapping, priming, and base coating some really thick pillars that we were supposed to paint to look like birch trees. He didn't get it done on time so we couldn't complete the job that day. To make this somewhat complicated story short suffice it to say the client didn't think there should be an extra charge for coming back out to finish. Even though her husband had said he would pay us to come back since it was his fault that we couldn't finish. The reality was that he didn't communicate that he had said that to us, to her. I really dislike dealing with situations like this. I don't have to do it much thank God, or I'd be seriously thinking about a career change.
I think artists shouldn't have to deal with this kind of thing, but I bet if you talked to most people they would say that this is also the kind of interaction that makes them dislike their jobs. Why do we hate confrontation so much? Why is it so difficult to stand up for ourselves? And why, even when we know that we're on firm ground, do we still feel guilty if we fight for what is correct? It 's easier to give in , but at what cost?
For the past couple of months I haven't been able to paint or create because I've had to stop to do things that will generate sales so that I can continue to make a living as an artist. As everyone knows, these are tough times, and as the saying goes- when the times get tough, the tough get going. One doesn't usually hear artist and tough associated in the same sentence, unless it's something like, " Gee it's tough that artist so and so starved to death in his garret in Paris. " But truth be told you have to have (pardon the expression) balls or be hopelessly naive (having or showing a lack of experience, judgment, or information; credulous) to become an artist and expect to make a living. Having said that, I must have had both because I did become a professional artist and had a very successful mural business, booked out 3-4 months in advance, without having to put much time in at all marketing. 9/11 changed that. Business dropped by 50% and I thought that was really tough until January of this year rolled around. Business is no longer enough to support my basic expenses. So I've started learning everything I can about marketing on-line and I'm sending targeted mailings of brochures to potential clients and making the dreaded cold calls. I created a brand new web site for my fantasy art and tweaked my mural web site, as well as my husband's part of our web site. Which leaves very little time and energy to create. So if you are one of those wealthy Republicans out there who believes in trickle down economics, I have a message for you- you need to turn the valve wide open, because the garden is bone dry. But then, just between you and me- wink, wink- we know that what's really been going on , since Shrub took office, is "flood up" economics. OK so that's my "whine" for the week, next time maybe the cheese..
My whole family went on a cruise to Alaska, the inland passage, the highlight being Glacier Bay. Wonderful trip but I am so tired. When I got back I went to Portland for a mural job. And I'm helping Rob with a major project that he's getting ready for a gallery show. I promise to post some photos (Don't panic, ... just a few) from our trip. I don't want to write about it yet. I just wanted to check in and not let it go any longer without posting.
PS We saw no pirate fairies on the high seas, even though we kept a sharp lookout for them...
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Today I finally bought a domain name and hired a host for my fantasy art web site. I'm in the process of uploading it and the truth is that it's not completely ready. There are still things I haven't done and things that are wrong but I knew that if I went ahead and put it out there it would give me the impetus to finish it. I dare not tell you how long I've been working on this. So this will be a major completion for me. I love the energy that comes from finally getting something done that's been hanging out undone for a long time. So since it's not quite ready, I'm not going to give out the web address yet, but eventually I will share it.
BTW -this will be my last post until Aug 18th. I'm going on a little trip. I'll write all about it when I return. Til then I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!!
OK After much circling around (Ever watch a dog preparing to lie down?) I finally got down to business and painted. This is the result: I 
named her Berry Fairy. OK so now I think I can get to the pressing needs of mundane life. I have to admit I was totally inspired by the variety of fairy costumes I saw at the Faery Festival. No one was the same. Amazing really. OK as much as I'd like to hang out and procrastinate a little more, I have places to go and things to do.
I'm going to paint today. I'm going to ignore the fact that I have to pack for a trip, that my house needs to be reeealllly cleaned, that I need to sit and pay bills, etc. My creative self is taking over. The right brain rules. The left takes a back seat. In preparing for the Faery Worlds Festival I was so busy with the logistics that I haven't done anything creative for probably at least a month. And I feel it!
I lead a group that's purpose is to unblock the impediments to creativity- uncover the traumas that keep us from being fully the beautiful creators that we truly are. This poll represents a small slice of the kind of discussions that we have.
Well I'm off to paint. When I finish whatever it is that's being birthed I'll post it.
