Tilly - Child Portrait in Oils

Here is Tilly! One of my beautiful grandchildren. I took the photo last April when we visited my son and his family in Tennessee. He's quite the model and had no problem striking the poses. I had a lot of shots to choose from. Haha!

Here's the first progress photo I took. This is acrylic.

Here I started with the oil paints. I was saving his face to the end. This is only a 16 x 20 so his face was going to very small to work on, and I was going to need a lot of patience!

More oil paint application, and trying to get the colors right.

Starting to tackle the face.

Getting the proportions right. At this point I'm nearly done. 

I just had details to work out (for example, finish his hand holding the bar).

As always, thank you so much for stopping by!

The First Pearl - by Tracy Onoz

 

Long, long ago, in the shallows of a vast ocean, a beam of light slipped in through the crack of an oyster’s shell, and tickled his eyelashes. He awoke with a start, and giggled.

The little oyster peered up through the dark water, to a beautiful face floating among the stars. 

He called to the old oyster beside him. “Hey! Have you seen the moon tonight?”

“I see her every night,” grumped his neighbor.

“But tonight she’s completely round! Isn’t she beautiful?”

“Go back to sleep!”

The little oyster was too excited to sleep. He called to his friend the seahorse.

“Hey! Isn’t the moon beautiful tonight?”

“Sure. I guess so,” said the seahorse.

“She does so much for us. I want to do something nice for her. I want to be her friend.” 

The seahorse scoffed. “She travels the world, and can be friends with anyone. Why would she want to be friends with an oyster?”

The little oyster pulled his shell closed. THUNK! What was wrong with oysters?

As he sat inside, wondering what to do, he picked off a grain of sand that had been irritating the sensitive folds of his skin. He wrapped it in some of the lining from the inside of his shell. It looked just like a teensy moon! That gave him an idea.

“Hey!” he shouted to his neighbor again. ”Look at this!”

“What is it now?”

“I’ve made a gift for the moon!”

“A grain of sand?”

“More than that. I wrapped it in the lining from my shell, and it looks just like her!”

“Hmmph!" grouched his neighbor. "Why would she want something so small and worthless?”

The little oyster again shut his shell. SLAM!  

Months passed as he worked to make his gift bigger and bigger. In the meantime, he continued to watch the moon. She was always changing. Some nights she was so thin she disappeared completely. Other nights she was round and lit up the whole sky.

Though she was busy pulling the great ocean waters in and out from the shore, she never

failed to notice him. Sometimes she would even play peek-a-boo with him among the

clouds.

After three years the gift had reached a size that the oyster was happy with. He was ready

to present it to her and waited for the seahorse to swim by.  

“Hey!” he called, “I need someone to take this to the moon!”

The seahorse swam closer and gasped. “It’s beautiful! But I cannot swim to the moon.”

Hmmmm. The little oyster hadn’t thought of that.

“But . . . maybe I can give it to a sea star to place on the shore. It will glow against the dark

sand tonight and I’m sure she’ll notice it.”

“Oh! Thank you!” said the oyster.

He handed the beautiful pearl over to the seahorse and pulled his shell closed. Click.  

That evening a beam of light slipped in through the crack of his shell and tickled his

eyelashes. He heard a knock. He opened his shell to find the seahorse and the sea star

waiting impatiently outside. 

“The moon is weeping and she wants to speak to you!” they exclaimed.

Had he somehow offended her?

 

The sea star picked him gently up in two of his arms and the three of them rose to the

surface.

Air washed over them as they broke the surface and looked up at the moon through her

tears. 

She spoke. “My dear little friend, no one has ever given me a gift before.”

“Do you hate it?” asked the oyster.

“Of course not. These are happy tears. I wanted to thank you.”

The moon had called him her friend. A giant bubble of happiness rose in his heart. He was

 just a tiny creature in a vast ocean, but he had done something very big.

To this day, oysters pay tribute to the moon by making beautiful pearls. If you’re outside 

some night and feel raindrops, though the moon shines bright, make a wish. That is the

moon sharing her happiness with you.

 THE END

    

     I hope you enjoyed my story. I've been meaning to post it for quite a while, and I thought that the week leading up to a total solar eclipse would be an appropriate time. The moon has a very important job to do on April 8th: entertain the masses!

     I live in the path of totality, so I'll have a once in a lifetime opportunity of experiencing it in my own backyard. 

     P.S. Have you ever experienced rain while the moon was shining? I remember experiencing it once, but it was before I wrote the first draft of "The First Pearl" (more than 25 years ago). It would be like experiencing rain while the sun is shining which does happen occasionally.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Spellbinders Rabbit Hole

Mid-March already! Boy howdy, this year is getting away from me. 

Several months ago I slipped down a die-cutting, card making, creative rabbit hole. But, no worries. 

I'm okay, albeit a little lighter in the wallet. And my bestie was already down there  . . . beckoning.

I mean, come on! Greeting cards are expensive these days. Why not spend 20 times more money making your own?!

Here are a few samples of what I've done:

My friend Dawn has been doing this for a few years and has made some absolutely gorgeous cards.

She's been very generous with her collection of die-cuts and die-cut pieces to help get me started. (That top, autumn card was made entirely from a box of goodies she gave me). And any time I offer up cocktails, she's happy to bring her supplies over and craft with me for a while!

For the last few years, I've tried producing at least 12 new pieces of artwork a year for a calendar.  I'm currently experimenting with combining this new, fun hobby and my existing skill set. I hope to have a fresh new calendar for 2025 with some die-cut cohesion.

Here's an example:

The bottle and all its details, cork, glasses, and bubbles are die-cut pieces that I pasted into my sketchbook.

I then dropped it into Procreate where, it is still a work in progress, but you can get the gist of what I'm trying to do.

This, plus re-reading "You Are a Badass" by Jen Sincero, is what I've been up to. 

It's been 6 years since I first read it, and I had forgotten what a badass I am.

I highly recommend the book.

When I say "Thanks for stopping by" I really mean it.

From the bottom of my heart - Thanks for stopping by!

 

Valentine's 2024

Wishing everyone a Happy February! 

I know it can be dismal, especially in the midwest, where nothing is green, and there's not even enough snow anymore to cover all the brown and gray. (I'll no longer apologize for loving snow).

But, it's my birth month! I try to celebrate myself for all 28 (29 this year) days of it. I think everyone should claim their entire birth month! Life is short.

Also . . . Valentine's Day. Hello. Plunked in the dreariest month of the year, a day to let the people in our lives know we love them. So, to the people in my life - I love you!

Above is a digital piece I started in Procreate last February. It was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, so not an entirely original idea, but one I ran with. I pulled it out again in July, and polished it up a bit more, then waited 7 whole months to share. Haha!

Thanks for stopping by! 

May the remainder of your February be filled with love.

Mickey Mouse Fan Art - I'm not making money, I swear ;)

oil painting  24" x 30"

My 2 year old grandson is a new Mickey Mouse fan. He recently moved into the big-boy bedroom with his 6 year old brother, and needed something for the big, blank wall on his side of the room. 

Grandma to the rescue! 

First, I looked for posters. I found a similar idea with paint splatter in the background, but Mickey himself looked like a psychopath. I figured I could do it myself, and make Mickey less nightmare inducing.

So, I found a happy Mickey image online, and transferred it to a canvas.

I gave him a few days to dry because I was going to be adding background,

and I wanted to be able to wipe off anything that dripped onto Mickey.

I don't know if this was the most practical way to work,

but I didn't want to try to paint him later, over the top of the background. 

This isn't so much a tutorial as it is a sharing of a process 

where I'm just trying to figure out how to do something.

I started adding splashes to the background (and cleaning Mickey up when I was done).

I wanted Mickey to be brighter than the background,

so I started splashing those colorful splashes with white. (This was after the colors had dried.) 

I used an old toothbrush for some of that. I flung a loaded paint brush at it as well.

Then, the drips. It needed drips!

After that was the fun part. 

With the background entirely dry, I got back to Mickey himself (top image). 

I painted him up nice and bright, so that he became the star of the canvas.

My grandson loved it!

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. The Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse, very recently made it into public domain. 

This version is not public domain, and I was nervous about even posting it on my blog, but as I am not making a penny on any artwork I do for my grandchildren (that will come later when they have jobs), and I admitted to having found this happy image online, I'm hoping that no one who sees this turns me into the authorities. Thank you.

 

And Then Like Magic, 2024 Appeared

I managed to get another calendar done this year, and this is my grandson, Tux- Mr. January.

I dropped the oil portrait I had done of him this summer into Procreate and, ABRACADABRA, here he is.

I had one heck of a 2023! So many big events, blessings, and wonderful moments. I have a feeling that 2024 is going to be another huge year. 

I wish you all health and happiness in the year ahead.

Thanks for stopping by!