Help!

Okay, I need some assistance. This is my first big portrait. Ever. It's at the ugly underpainting stage that is so hard for me to work through. I know there are things to fix, like the angle of the jaw, the lips and I think I'm going to put her shoulders up where they are in the photo so there is a better likeness. I'm just STUCK on how to proceed. Do I paint thin layers and go for more photo realistic? Do I try to go more painterly and let there be more ambiguity? Do I paint with big brushstrokes or small ones? Should I keep it black and white or should I go all out and try to do come color? AAARRGGG!!!!! Alan Tenbu!! What do I do????? 

Photo

Drawing and a little underpainting....

Officially crappy underpainting.....

Added a little more clothing for my sanity rather
than her modesty.

....save me.....

For the past two weeks, My husband and I have been dealing with bed bugs. It's a nightmare. In the beginning, I was googling like crazy hoping it was mosquitos gone wild, because mosquitos or fleas were something I could deal with. Nope it was bed bugs. I was horrified, then mortified, then infuriated. I'm still angry, but more resigned. I'm so freaking tired. As of this morning, I have 20 new bites, on my face, hands, arms and shoulders. Luckily, Aloe Vera Gel  helps a ton with my welts. It takes away the burning, itching and pain. 

Apparently bed bugs, while socially associated with uncleanliness, have NOTHING to do with being clean or dirty. Bed bugs don't care, because all they do is eat blood. We've already paid for a useless spraying of chemicals. The next step is a $1,500 heat treatment. So, if ya know... I don't post for a while... this is why. 

I love ink, don't you?

I've been enjoying  this Zentangle thing! I originally planned to do one a day..... yeah, that lasted about 3 days. hahahahha! Despite my sporadic doodling, I've racked up quite the little pile of drawings.

Finishing

So, I've been on this "Finishing" kick of late. As a self proclaimed obsessive compulsive... okay not really, but a little... I am sick of all my loose ends. For the next couple of weeks I want to finish everything that's in process before I start something new. Some of these things will be house related, some art and some sewing... and even a little bookbinding thrown in.

This is photographic proof that I've finished something! I finally hung up some  of my finished art in my art cave. They thad been sitting on the table, crowding my sewing machine. I'm excited to crowd the walls instead with all the paintings I can pump out! I'm a strong believer in hanging your art. It makes me want to create more! 

Bursting with Ideas!

The Tree one's my favorite....

Do you ever have those sudden bursts of ideas? When several different things come together to make something awesome? That totally happened to me. I was visiting my friend Grayson, who is a wiz at quilting, but totally lost when it come to 3-D sewing. So I was teaching her how to cover a foam cushion. She let me keep the extra foam and I let her keep all the drawings/instructions I made. Then we went to a fabric store called The Stitch Lab and I picked up some funny little monster fabric.

"Don't EAT ME!" and "Help"

When I got home, I sketched up a storm. I used some embroidery techniques that my boss, Valli, taught me for the faces n' stuff. I think the style of the little guys remind me of some doodles my twin sister once did a couple of years ago, that I loved. All these little things came together to make these hilarious little guys. Lots o' fun people, lots o' fun. 

Evil Vampire Bunny!
But it has a fuzz tummy and a fluffy tail.

Its supposed to be a carrot, but
 I think it looks like a pineapple.... :( 

Generic Monster. The first experiment.

Attention my Loyal Followers...

Due to the "OVERWHELMING" comments and suggestions for my website layouts and ideas, I'm going to change......drumroll please......ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!!! Muahahahhahaaa!

I've handed the images off to Mike and he'll be working on making them web pages over the next couple of weeks in between work and hanging out with me. He's a good husband that way. I'll be sure to let ya'll know when it is up and running so you can check it out and tell all your famous friends to hire me for freelance work. ..........Bwahahhahaa...( I just couldn't keep a straight face!) See you kids around the interwebs!

Cas

Just A Little Bonkers...

One thing I really miss about school is our critique sessions. I learned so much! We were able to get our points across by drawing, making weird sounds and motioning with our hands. That's kinda hard to do on blogs... Well! My friend Adam Sevy posted a little sketch that I suddenly fell in love with, so I colored the lil guy. Then I colored it again. Then I critiqued it, but with neon lines to get my point across. It was really cool and fun to do. So if any of you feel the urge to go crazy and do this with my stuff, I'll post it and then I'll show the improvements you suggest! Wouldn't that be cool? Just like school again!

Thank you Adam for putting up with my Crazy! Be sure to check out his blog too. http://theadamsevy.blogspot.com/