Spent a good part of today kneeling and lying on the garage floor painting...and repainting...letters.
I think I already mentioned that I wasn't excited about painting letters and, yes, I did overfuss it. The more I tried to refine the letters, the less I liked them (and the more they seemed to draw attention away from the mural). In the end, I went back to fairly loose letters (sans serif). The title simply reads: Celebrate the Harvest - Santa Maria Valley (across the bottom of 3 panels)
I also worked on detailing the leaves around the pumpkins and building a little more contrast in that area.
Now, I'm a little more excited about working on the mural again. I will be moving some panels tonmorrow to (finally) detail the field beneath the wave. There'll be a little bit of greenery and some dots of red (strawberries) to pull a teensy bit more color into those first two panels.
At least I won't have to lay on the floor for the next phase!
I guess there's an alternate universe in my garage. It's full of giant strawberries and grapes, and in this place, there is no time. I step out here to do a little painting and the next thing I know, it's midnight! For a little while, I was joined by husband, Smitty, and the youngest kidlet (who are now asleep).
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| That's Smitty on bass and Lindy (the pirate) on tennis racket. |
I'm glad the weekend is here because the 4th panel will require some time - lots of grape leaves and clusters of grapes and figures for which I have not mixed any paint colors yet. I knew the people would slow me down - as an illustrator, I've always been able to take liberties with the way I depict subjects like people. But, I don't want to go too cartoony for the mural - the composition is already rooted in fantasy, and I'd like it to have a foot in reality.
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| Study - some adjustments to be made still, but you get the idea |
Soooooo, I've been working on some small studies beforeI tackle the certain characters or scenarios. This evening, I spent time on the Dionysus character - the Greek god of wine and winemaking (or Bacchus, if you happen to be Roman). He's the guy up in the trellis among the grapes (in case you were wondering). I haven't done a lot of figurative painting in a looooong time and I need to brush-up on my color mixing when it comes to flesh tones, highlights, and shadows.
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Thanks to the person who invented this - I have now made peace
with acrylic paints. |
I also wanted to try my
Masterson Sta-Wet palette that I got for when I'm working on detail work and don't need to mix containerfuls of paint. One of the things that has always driven me nuts about acrylic paint is how quickly it dries and how I constantly seem to be remixing paint (I used oils in college - they stay wet forever). Well, so far the verdict is AWESOME. I never once had to remix a color because it had dried to uselessness in the (apparently) many hours I worked on this.
...very carefully (and you park the car on the driveway)!
The panels are really heavy, so I won't be able to move them around without help. I've disabled the garage door opener and lined most of them up along the garage door. The 2 end panels are angled or turned along the side walls. Not the ideal, but I'll make it work.
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| Almost ready for the fun stuff! |
Ready to transfer the design, but until then, it will serve double-duty as a stage (show's over for her once the paints come out)!
Here is my submission for Illustration Friday's "detach" theme and I suppose in most places a detached house is either a guest house and or a garage. This is one of my houscapes of a garage where the band "Lode" rehearsed here in Topanga. They made an album called "Legs and Arms" with Geffen Records and I did the logo and lettering for this debut album. When they started out they spelled their name Load but they changed it to Lode.Wonderful music was made in this little detached house. Some of the members have gone on with their music like Robin Moxey with his latest cd "One Big Song", Gabe Cowan created more bands and films and Inara George who has put out "All Rise" and is one half of the "Bird and the Bee". This song is a cover of the Bee Gee's "How deep is your love" and it was on the Sex and the City Sound Track. Please watch this hilarious video of the "Smallest House" it will make you smile :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h70WhcHSom0
I'm always impressed by some people's studio photos that I've seen posted now and then - gorgeous rooms with nice (sometimes coordinated) furniture and organizing systems. They're picture perfect.
My space, however, is in a corner of the garage since there's no extra space in the house for one. It's the only place I can get away from the distractions of family and television. So, nothing fancy (to say the least). And, obviously, I didn't bother to tidy up what I was working on at the time for the photo shoot.
As you can see, the garage is wallpapered with my husband's prize punk band flyers that he's collected for years and years. If you were to pan left, you'd see the parking place for the lawnmower and the recycling bins. To the right, I have a small table with my glass cutting supplies (I went through a period of doing stained glass - would still like to, but there's no time).
Also to the right is a nice north-facing window which gives me some wonderful light.
So, it's a studio shared with the washer and dryer, assorted bikes and sports equipment, my husbands bass guitar and amp, boxes of holiday decorations, etc. etc. It would probably be nice to have a "swan" studio rather than an "ugly duckling." More shelves, drawers, or flat files might be nice. Certainly, heating in the winter would be a plus (I have a space heater). But, this works.
So last night was the reception for winners of the Undiscovered Voices competition of British SCBWI, sponsored by Working Partners.
It was held at Foyles Bookstore in Charing Cross at the height of the rush hour which made the turn-out of people from the book world all the more incredible.
A few days before, the organisers emailed the authors a list of people who had RSVP'd. This gave us time to compose ourselves and thus reduce the chances of anyone inadvertently drooling on unsuspecting agents.
The superhuman Saras (Grant and O'Connor) - who organised the event and edited the book - went so far as to provide guests with a photographic contact sheet to make it easier for agents and editors to identify and snatch a chosen author before any of the others get there first.
That's me, bottom right, in a photo taken by my eight year old daughter. I must say I photocopy rather well.
Surveying the Foyles reception space, I rather regretted ditching an earlier plan to smuggle members of my critique group into the invitation-only party. There was a good sized curtain at one end that would have been a perfect hiding place.
Natascha Biebow, British SCBWI's energetic leader, in her welcome speech described the anthology as a "creative way for creative people to get noticed".
Chris Snowdon, managing director for Working Partners, recalled the "mind-boggling number of scripts" submitted. "There is some damn fine writing in the anthology," he said.
The celebrity guest of the evening was the wonderful
David Almond who wrote a foreword to the anthology. David delivered an inspiring talk, recalling how he himself had been an "undiscovered voice" for a long, long time and the intense humiliations he went through - people who want to write "must dare to feel stupid". "There is something inside us that drives us to write stories," he said. "You spend your lifetime trying to find out what that thing wants to say."
Hobnobbing with agents and editors is a strange experience. I had to restrain myself from curtseying and kissing the hems of their wide-leg trousers - being a supplicant is a hard habit to break. It was the oddest thing finally putting faces to all those rejection letters I had received over the years!
The best thing was my agent (MY agent) came along to say hello. She was probably aware of my need to be reminded that she really does exist. I promised her that I wouldn't splash her identity all over my blogs to keep her safe from stalkers and wannabe-authors-who-jump -out-from-behind-bushes -at-night. But here's a lovely picture of her anyway toasting my success with uber children's author
Jane Clarke on the right.
The weirdest thing about the evening was that people kept saying, "You're not UNdiscovered anymore!"
Which is very nice in theory. That said, there's plenty of work to be done.
Still. Pinch me someone!
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Very sweet, love your houses! And what fun projects you get to work on, I love hearing about them!
Rock on, little house!
This garage reminds me of Grandpa's pool house. I love it! Can't wait to see you this week!
xoxox
--dd
You've really been providing the whole package lately! The Ellen spot was hiarious. I'm familiar with that tiny house! I can't stand being squeezed into 800 sf with hubby OMG, I can't imagine less than this! I also love your illustration with the soft light coming from within, and this version of the Beegee's song is lovely. mmmmm, I think I'll linger a while longer :)
what a cool garage and a wonderful place to rehearse a song. The trees's really great and the moonlight shining brightly. Ohh my valerie, you have tons of lovely ideas.
I enjoyed the song, too and the video reminded me of small houses in my homeland.
De-LIGHT-ful! Even the trees look like they're dancing. You always have the most magical sceneries. I LOVE Bird and the Bee, by the way. I have a few of their songs, but not this one. Gotta go to iTunes now!
ooohhhh - what a wonderful, magical little garage! I love the sky and the lights and the feeling of utter cosiness and welcome - absolutely beautiful:-)
Looks like the perfect place to create! I love the barn doors.
Of course! A detached garage. Hehe. It is a treat to discover your interpretation for IF's theme every Friday! The trees are so cute. Delicious!!!
What a lovely idea for 'detach', it is extra special as this is where music is created.Your beautiful drawing reflects that lovely task.
Val: This is your best post yet. How do you come up with all this amazing work? You haven't missed an IF in over two years. I'm ashamed of my meager output. I resolve to be more productive. Thanks for the inspiration. Love. Bad Dog
What a wonderful little place to create music!
*Your work are all so lovely and creative. There are magic and great wonders in your imagination. Thank you for sharing your art with us :)
love the wonky view...here in the uk, a detached house is one that's not attached to the one next door, or it would be called a semi-detached house.
Another charming illustration and interesting story to go along with it - very nice!
I am loving your music playlist. I oughta just keep your blog open while I'm at the computer so I can enjoy all this new music I've never heard before. Thanks for letting us know whatever happened to Lode. I have their CD... and now I'm a big fan of Bird and the Bee and probably will enjoy Robin Moxey's music as well. thaanks!
it does look like the garage and the trees are rockin' out to the band. I always love your illustrations and your posts are so informative about music, art or whatever. thanks.
THE BIRD AND THE BEE SINGING BEE GEES? OHMYGOSSSSSSHH!!! wow...i gotta go, um, FIND that one. :))
another house that makes my day!
how peaceful it would be to live there. sweet!
i LOVE LOVE LOVE the trees!! my brother and I used to rapell out of his huge cedar tree...he took a bunch of the lower limbs off it (on one side) so we could jump down that thing! Your trees would be perfect!!
PS...no trees were hurt in the writing of this comment...
I don't think any car deserves a beautiful place like this one to stay.. that moon is wonderful.. and you are right, it is nice to have a monkey.. lol
Beautiful illustration- love the colors and the light pouring out of the garage.
this is really really beautiful! i luv the colors, the theme.. the night lights.. everything! (tho i would watch the youtube vid later im using a slooow connection) hehe..
Thanks for the samile Val!
what a delightful little house! we've have lots of fun making artwork in a converted garage too :-) lol
and i love inara/ bird and the bee's music
This is so cute. I just knew that this week's theme would be a good one for you.
Here in the UK, a detached house is a single home in it's own grounds. We have many semi-detached houses, two homes joined in the middle.
Pretty song too. x
Hey Val. Years ago when we lived in PA, our house was that small! It was 2 stories and had a basement, so was actually very comfy inside.
i love the interesting perspective you always have in your buildings. this one is really cute!
Beautiful illustration!
I like so muche the door open just slightly, I feel like to look in :o)
Val - I love your art so much, and when you add these wonderful stories, it's even better!
Oh, this is so charming! Thanks for your kind words :)
I know you must get tons of these but you truly are an inspiration and I truly love your blog so I left you an award on blog.
i love your works, and always enjoy reading the story behind them!
Very pretty, I always enjoy your little houses. I particularly like the warm light coming from inside, the colors are perfect
Beautiful house, Valerie!
I have received your gifts today, yay! They are absolutely amazing and I love every each one of them! Thank you so much, Valerie!
Big hugs
emila