Daffodils - details...

I needed to add shadows by the centers of these daffodils so they can pop out more. I do not want to overwork them, however, so I am stopping today. I worked on two of the three big ones.

Some artists put paintings away for a while, and then pull them out to critique them from a fresh perspective. I hope to make a few prints and offer one last  batch of prints for sale before I transition into a new direction for my life.

I am reading an art book that teaches one about animation design. I am going to try some exercises in the book....after I paint my ballet pink tulip watercolor. I love seeing dainty them sitting on my dresser, and I want to be able to enjoy them throughout the year. They make me smile. Thank you, God, for  pale pink tulips.

Daffodils 3

A friend sent me words of encourage-
ment tonight. It was just what I needed along with my sweet daffodils. I'll try to finish putting on final detail tomorrow........

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not discouraged, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you in my righteous right hand." -Isaiah 41:10

"Promise me that you'll remember: You are braver than you believe, stronger that you seem, and smarter than you think."

-Winnie the Pooh .

Daffodil Painting begun...

I was all tucked into bed, and I remembered I had not posted my art to my blog. What is neat is that I am  making art in spite of the blog  or with or  without the blog. Wow! The day of needing the blog "scaffolding" for support has come  and gone! That is really amazing to me.

Tomorrow, I have my small  group meeting, but I will try to continue this before I  go. I just love daffodils, and since I don't have any in my yard, I paint  them to bless  my heart right inside  my home. God's gift of spring cheer!

Daffodil drawing

I hope to draw this again on watercolor paper tomorrow. I like practicing before using the good paper. It's kind of like doing scales before the piano piece. I just love God's laughing, happy daffodils, especially the ones with the bright, orange, frilly centers. They bring comfort to my soul.

Michelangelo Study 2

Michelangelo Study 2 is born out of looking at another fresco. This was the face of Jesus as he was being nailed to the cross. I think it is actually a face that is similar looking to that of Michelangelo. I wanted to study the eyes, the backward glance  and the mouth in the beard. I sat watching the movie Julie and Julia with my dad and Janet during this sketch.

I thought back to the first of the 155 days (so far) of making art. I was very inspired to try to do art one day at a time since I had stopped making art. Just one foot in front of the other for one more day, one more step, one more drawing to practice and grow. It has given me a real base of understanding, an internal dictionary of how objects or people look.

And, it has helped me to take courage and venture out further in doing new things in my life. No one has called wanting to publish my blog. I hardly know who is reading the blog.  I ask my family members, and they say, oh, that's right, you have a blog. But one day, I hope to have a show of the best of the 365 days of art-making. I think that would  be lots of fun  and a nice way of celebrating the completion of the challenge!

Michelangelo study

I drew this while studying a Michelangelo fresco.

Portrait Study