And the card is finished!



(To see my work in progress read the previous posts on this card - sketches and card process 2)

About the Deck:

Help us print the 78 Tarot deck by backing and sharing the 78 Tarot Kickstarter page!

About my 10 of Coins card:

78 Tarot is a group of 78 artists completing a tarot deck. Each artist has created one card in their own style. You can follow our deck at the 78 Tarot website or facebook page.

We’ve also just launched the 78 Tarot kickstarter funding page! Please take a look help us print this exciting deck!

Read the previous entry on this painting 78 Tarot project - 10 of Coins SketchesColor Sketch

Once I have the basic layout of the entire picture drawn I did a second color sketch. I wanted to base the top section of the art on Art and Crafts period stained glass designs with muted green and gold. For the coins, instead of literal Pentacles I drew them as ivy leaves. The ivy motif will be repeated all over the painting. At this point while I'm figuring out the coloring of the background I get a better idea of how to will draw the floor and the stone wall, as well as a walled city the distance.

Final Drawing

To make the final pencil drawing I used my light box to draw over sketches of the various elements on separate sheets in order to adjust the placement. In the final pencil drawing I made the right statue a man facing forward to break up the symmetry and drew the stones in the floor in a leaf or petal shape.



Next I ink outlines on some of the main figures and archway and begin painting. After many days working...



almost done!

• Dragon Con is this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia - Aug 30-Sept 2. As usual my art will be for sale in the Art Show. I made this handy map to help you find it. The Art Show is located in the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Grand Hall WEST on the Exhibition level.

Limited Edition prints and original paintings will be for silent auction on my Gallery Panels right past the cashier. PRINT SHOP is located behind the cashier and is where multiples of some of my prints are available. You may purchase Print Shop items right away and don't need to bid.

Several new prints from Fantasy Fashion Art Studio which have not been shown online yet will be available.



• Anime Fest - Aug 30-Sept 2 in Dallas Texas. My art will be available to bid on in the Art Show.

Upcoming Show: Gen Con Indy Aug 15-18 See me there!

I apologize for being lax about updating my blog in the last year. With moving to a new state and then several times in a year I got a lot less art done. Then my book proposal was approved last spring and I had to work overtime, suddenly painting and draw more than I had in a couple years while juggling the shows I had already paid for.

"Fantasy Fashion Art Studio" will be an watercolor fantasy instructional book following my paintings step by step and giving tips for finding inspiration and creating different costume styles and eras for your characters.

The book is finished and due out in this month. This is one of the first paintings in "Fantasy Fashion Art Studio" by Meredith Dillman

When I was looking for an idea for a flower based fairy, these purple bellflowers were coming up all over my garden. They are really quite weedy, which was an advantage since they were one of the only things surviving without rain.



Creeping Bellflower - Ink and Watercolor 2012 - Prints of Creeping Bellflower

Spring Green Art Fair - June 29-30th in Spring Green Wisconsin
http://www.springgreenartfair.com/

Convergence - Bloomington MN
http://convergence-con.org/
Look for the Art Show to bid on my art.

Art Fair OFF the Square - July 13-14, Madison Wi
http://www.artcraftwis.org/AFOS.html
Come out to the biggest art fair in Madison. You will find local artists OFF the square between the Capitol and Monona Terrance.

My recently painted Wild Iris, Sunflower and Pink Peony ACEO watercolors. I tried a new technique and stained the paper with tea first. It gives a nice effect but makes the paint work differently.

I'm holding a raffle for 1 of 5 fantasy and fairy art prizes!The contest is open from now until midnight on Dec 8th. I will announce the winners on Facebook and here. Winners will need to get me their shipping address before the 10th for shipping in time for Christmas.

To enter please fill out the form below and see how you can qualify for multiple entries. Facebook fans automatically get one free entry. Please be honest and only check off the entries that apply to you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Prizes:

1 Alice - pencil pouch, bookmarks, postcard, sticker, keychain, cel phone charm and ACEO


2 Celestial - "Illura" 8x10, matted "Purple Moon", angel sticker, keychain and mini button


3 Christmas - A 5x7 matted print of "Christmas Light", "Ring of Seasons" and "Illura" ACEO


4 Forest - Matted "Wood Fairy" print, two bookmarks, sticker and "Leave of Green" print.


5 Steampunk - Two steampunk postcards, a bookmark and buttons

At the end of July I visited the National Czech and Slovak museum in Cedar Rapids Iowa. I drove by it every year on the way to Anime Iowa and always wondered about it. So when I heard they were holding a major Alphonse Mucha exhibit for their grand reopening just when I would be in town I was excited. We usually don't get exhibits of my idols anywhere in the midwest.

Just before the exhibit opened, the entire building had been moved to higher ground after suffering damage during the 2008 flood. The museum is located in the Czech Village Area which is right next to the river. The museum has worked hard on restoring many of the textiles that were damaged during the flood and those are also on display right now.



The Alphonse Mucha: Inspirations of Art Nouveau exhibit is the largest exhibit in the United States since 1999 and includes original lithographs, oil paintings, photographs, sketches, and jewelry.



If you are an artist or art lover in the Midwest I highly recommend taking a trip to see it. Even though we see reproductions in books and posters all the time, it doesn't compare to seeing the real thing.

I almost cried when I looked into the eyes of the small self portrait painting near the entrance. I had no idea the original Sarah Bernhardt posters were life size. They towered over my head and when I looked closer I was amazed to see all the different colored metallic inks that were used in the printing process. Besides the commercial posters, there were many personal photographs, studies and oil paintings of family members. A set of elaborately embroidered Slovak costumes used for models were on display. I strained my eyes at the tiny studies with even tinier ink lines. My personal favorites were many of the oil paintings. There is just something about the colors and lighting used.



If you have time afterwards, check out (czech out?) the Czech bakery located a block away for Kolaches and fruit filled cookies. I was surprised to see the cookies we make every Christmas. They're good if you've never had them, but I'm pretty sure my mom's recipe is better :)

Alphonse Mucha: Inspirations of Art Nouveau
National Czech and Slovak Museum
Cedar Rapids Iowa
July 14 - Dec 31

Dragon Con is Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia - Aug 31-Sept 3. My art will be for sale in the Art Show. Here is a handy map to help you find it. The Art Show is located in the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Grand Hall WEST on the Exhibition level.



Limited Edition prints will be for silent auction on my Gallery Panels right past the cashier. PRINT SHOP is located behind the cashier and is where multiples of some of my prints are available. You may purchase Print Shop items right away and don't need to bid.

Also the same weekend my art will be available in the Art Show at Anime Fest in Dallas Texas.

Next up will be FaerieCon East Nov 9-11 in Hunt Valley Maryland.

As of March:

In January we moved into a house and I am now able to have my own garden. The back yard is good sized, and I have plans to make much more of it into garden space. For months I'd been planning and planting seeds in anticipation.

At the end of March we came back from a trip. The snow had not melted much earlier and plants were just starting to come up. I wasn't sure what was in the garden since I had only seen it in fall. A few crocus came up, which I didn't see before the rabbits made snacks of them. Two weeks later the day lilies were a foot high, and it looked like a different world.

The irises are coming up in the bare backyard. I had earlier discovered that one of the shrubs was a lilac and one a forsythia, by putting some branches in water in winter. I learned what looks like overgrown grass, was actually extremely overgrown garlic chives. Yum! It makes a nice stir fry, but then I discovered that it has spread everywhere and is going to be a lot of work to remove.



The side garden by the fence is overgrown with grass, Chives and Creeping Charlie. I started pulling out weeds and found the grass had grown over many of the rocks that were bordering, and the area should actually be larger.



The front looks bare, but little Siberian Squill are popping up all over. They easily blend in with the grass, and I spotted a few in the back as well.





One of the first flowers to bloom are Virginia Blue Bells.



More to come!

It's about time I update, since there are three new paintings. Prints of all are now available. If you are interested in originals please inquire by email.

Morning Glory Fairy - 5x7 watercolor

This fairy was inspired by the morning glory flowers in my garden. All summer I waited for flowers to bloom. Finally the purple plants did in July, and I thought the blue flowers never would. The blue plants looked thin and stunted, and nowhere near the size of the others. One of them finally had a bloom in august, and the flower was 3 times the size of the purples and stayed out all day. Of course it needed a cat with matching blue eyes.

• Morning Glory Fairy Prints

I don't often paint mermaids because I always come up against the same problem - What are they doing? This mermaid was looking at something, probably a bubble before I found some amazing jellyfish photos and was inspired.

• Curiosity - Mermaid and Jellyfish prints

A beautiful face peeks out through autumn leaves and branches.

• Dryad Prints

First of all, "chai" means tea in India. It is usually made with a blend of spices, tea and milk. "Oregan Chai" did not invent it, and is less like the original than most bagged chai teas.

I've tried a couple of ways to make my own chai tea. Spices can either be mixed and added separately or you can find a bagged tea of your preferred spice level.

Ready-made spice mixes:

These can sometimes be found in the bulk section of a grocery store or boxed at an Indian grocery. If you see something called Masala Spice or Garam Masala, don't be fooled into think it is for tea, because it has spices that are better for curries. Masala Chai or a box with tea on it is the label you should look for:

MDH T-Plus Masala
Badshah Kamal Tea Masala

Spice mixes are meant to be brewed wit the tea, not mixed into your tea cup. It's very easy to go overboard adding it to a cup. Spice can be added to a mesh tea ball or strainer with black tea leaves and steeped with the tea. The first time I bought spices, I didn't know this and put a whole teaspoon in my cup which was like drinking hot black pepper.

For something closer to what you'd find in Indian restaurant, put your tea leaves and spice in a tea ball or fillable tea bag and brew in a pot on the stove directly in a mix of water and milk (bagged tea will work just fine too, but you may need more than one). I usually use 1 cup of milk to 1 1/2 cups of water. Honey or sugar can be added as you like.

Making your own spice mix:

Using a list of the spices traditionally used, find them in a grocery store and make your own mix. Some of the spices will probably come whole and need to be ground. My favorite recipe came from a Steampunk blog and involved grinding and roasting the spices in a pan before using: Kagashi's Kitchen: Masala Chai Mix

Pre-mixed loose and bagged teas:

If you prefer a pre spiced tea, there are many available. There is a lot of variation in brands of chai tea and the recipes used at coffee shops. For a long time I wanted to make a list of the spiciest to the blandest in my opinion, so here goes.

Spiciest

• Your Local Indian restaurant's chai will probably come mixed with milk, but without any sweetener.

• Frontier Organics Chai A loose tea with fine ground spices mixed in. Needs to be strained well before drinking. Can be found at some Rainbow and Copps stores in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

• Stash Double Spice Chai Spicier than their regular Chai bags.


Spicy

• Yogi Tea Chai Yogi and Stash seemed pretty similar to me.

• Stash Chai Stash carries both, bagged and loose online. The bags can sometimes be found in locally.

• Celestial Seasonings India Spice Chai Can become very spicy if left to steep a long time or with more than one bag.

• Bigelow Chai

• Tea Source's Reena's Chai A loose tea.