"SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE (OOOPS, I MEANT NEW YORK CITY)"

Good Morning, my darlings. Hope ya'll having a wonderful friday, after all, how can it be bad? It's FRIDAY!!! YAY!!! T.G.I.F.!!! (yum, now I got myself hungry, nice lunch at Friday's would be awesome!)

I couldn't sleep last night (what's new?) so after much tossing and turning, channel flicking (180+ channels and nothing good to watch!!!) and several tentatives at reading, I just gave up and decided to got to my studio and get busy.

Worked on Tufty (8"X10" Hanehmulle Premium Velour Paper) for a while, mainly on the hightlights and here's where he's standing so far. Next I'm going to adjust the dark values and fix the anatomy, nose, eye and lips still need some work. I used a Stabilo White Aquarellable Pencil that my dear sweet Rose sent me (thank you so much, luv, you're the sweetest, most generous person!). Anne DeMille Flood recommends this pencil in particular because it's the most opaque of all brands and it really goes on well over dark colors. And she's absolutely right, it worked far better than any of my other white pencils. But don't mistake it for Stabilo Charcoal or Pastel Pencil. This is a real "colored" pencil.




Since I was so restless, I also started one of Ann Kullberg's kits, and began working on this adorable Rottweiller. This will be a great exercise in rendering black fur and that'll give me the tools I need to paint my very own Quincy, the Psycho. That's the main reason I wanted this kit anyways (and also, this Rottie is so sweet, isn't he?). So far, all I've done was transfer the image to White Stonehenge (7"X9"). So many details, took me over half an hour to transfer the whole thing and I layered the background with Slate Grey and French Grey 30% (Prismas)




"QUINCY, THE PSYCHO" (Don't be fooled by his cuteness, he's the Son of Sam!!!)




Another project in the beginning stages (Boy, oh boy! Was I ever restless last nite???!!!). On this particular piece I'm teaching myself how to paint on a black surface, Crescent Suede Matboard to be precise (8"X10"). So far, so good. Let's see how it develops. Just some Warm Grey 10% all over the kittie, some Yellow Ochre and Chartreuse on the eyes and Blush Pink on the ears and tip of the nose (all Prismas).




And since I can't get enough of kitties, here's another one of Anne DeMille Flood's demos. Jeez! I was one painting machine last nite!!! On this one I'm on my own though. No step-by-step pics, Anne merely gives the final result and describes which colors to use to get there. But I'm feeling my skills getting better and better, all this practice is beginning to pay off. This pretty girls is being done on Off-white Stonehenge (5"X7") with Prismas and Polys. Still so many layers to go, but I'll get there...




As you can see, I was up all night. Now I'm feeling soooo sleepy, I think I might have a cuppa irish breakfast tea and lay down for a nap till lunch time. Great! If I do that, I won't be able to sleep again tonight. Whatever, I'm pretty much like a newborn baby switching from day to nite. Oh, well, c'est la vie de un artiste! We're artists, we have the right to be crazy, eccentric and odd (please oh please, agree with me!!!!)

Wish you all a wonderful and peaceful weekend.

Many hugs,
Jade