Quirky Dame's Art Blog: November 2009

Free Shipping and New Product Soon!

Just a couple of news items regarding my Art Fire shop...

I am offering free worldwide shipping on everything in my store through December 31, 2009. I've already had one customer take advantage of this special offer!

Plus I will be listing a new product over the next few days. I will be offering blank notecards featuring my artwork and photography, both single cards and sets! There will be various themes, such as flowers, Hawaii, puffins, and landscape, to name a few. Here is a little preview of some of the cards:

There are more! I'm quite excited to be able to expand my shop and offer more products. This is something that I've wanted to do for a while. This first batch will include mostly my photography, but I plan to feature cards with more of my artwork in the near future.

Thanks for checking out my blog. See you next time!

Work in Progress

So I took a bit of a break from the latest cat painting to do some work on the diptych paintings I am doing for my best friend.

Alicia, if you actually check this... DON'T LOOK! :)

I'm a horrible friend. We decided last year to do a piece of artwork as our present for each other. She gave me a beautiful hand-painted mask. I started a painting for her, but it went bad. VERY BAD. So, I'm doing the diptych paintings for her - one painting for last year, one for this year. LOL! Thank God I have a wonderful and very understanding best friend. :)

I still have more work to do on these paintings, but it's off to a good start. The background has a subtle golden shimmer to it that I just love and the sides are painted the same dark brown as on the design below. I have to touch up some of the brown, then on the whirls and flowers and birds, I'll be adding flourishes of the burnt orange and gold from the background.

I think tomorrow after the Thanksgiving get-together with my family, I'll be settling down and working some more on both this painting and the one of the cat on the woman's head. I really, really want to get the cat's face painted and then I need to sit down and get the woman's face painted. I did an initial layer of the skin tone, but it just didn't come out right. Hoping the second times the charm!

Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

Julie

Quirky Dame Designs on the Virtual Craft Show!

Starting today, my shop - Quirky Dame Designs - has joined the Virtual Craft Show at Cafe Handmade! I am proud to be in the company of other wonderful artists and their gorgeous creations. Seriously, I'm seeing some unique, beautiful things featured. You can check it out at:

http://cafehandmade.com/index.php/category/virtual-craft-show/

Take a peek at the shops. Who knows? Maybe you'll find a present or two for the people on your list. Or a treat for yourself! And if you see something that really catches your fancy, leave a comment or vote for your favorite shop. I guarantee you, it'll make that person's day!

Want to see the latest progress on the painting of the cat perched on the woman's head? Here's a little glimpse of the cat:

My next step is to paint his face. So looking forward to seeing what he looks like when he's done!

Latest Work In Progress!

So yesterday at work, I found myself daydreaming. Not an unusual occurrence, but an idea came to me that I felt I had to sketch. So when my co-worker came to cover me for lunch (I'm a receptionist, so someone has to cover the desk whenever I step away) I grabbed my sketchbook and pencil. I had that feeling, the one that I have begun to realize is a sign that I need to sit down and sketch immediately. It was one of those moments where the lines seemed to go down on the paper just as I wanted them to, where things just fell into place and I didn't have to draw and erase lines a million times before I got them right. I love those moments.

So I did just that and got those lines down on the page. Just a bare bones sketch, so that I could fill in the rest of the picture when I painted. Here's the sketch:

So today at work, I kept looking at the picture and working it out in my mind. By the time I left work, I had decided to head for the art store to pick up a canvas. I didn't plan on painting tonight, but that's what ended up happening!

I had made a large copy of the drawing on 11x17 paper so that I could paint a larger scale version of it. I ended up getting a 16x20 canvas and plan on doing a somewhat realistic version of it with oils. However, I also picked up two 6x12 canvases while I was there.

Driving home, I realized that the sketch would work wonderfully on one of the 6x12 canvases as well. So when I got home, I ended up transferring the sketch onto the smaller canvas and began to paint a smaller acrylic version. Now, normally I don't allow myself to paint faces with acrylics. It ends up being an exercise in frustration for me. I usually just stick to oils for portraits. I simply adore doing portraits in oils, it comes very naturally for me. Much easier to get that blended look that I prefer. But since only half of her face is showing, I figured what the heck! I'll do an acrylic version.

So I have most of the first layer of paint down on the canvas. I decided to wait to do the skin tones until I had several hours to spend on it. Basically, until I could do it in one sitting. :) So here is the progress I have made so far:

I have also sketched this cat (sitting on a ball, instead of a head) on two aceo's (they are 2.5" x 3.5") that I hope to paint soon. I plan on listing all of this on my Art Fire store as soon as I am finished. But so far I am very happy with the progress!

Speaking of my Art Fire store, I have a special promotion going... free worldwide shipping during the holidays! Please take a look if you're interested... http://quirkydame.artfire.com

Thanks for reading my blog. I'll be sure to post another update on the painting soon!

Julie

Trippy Owl

I was just sprucing up my blog and preparing to make my next post when I realized that I never posted the finished picture of the owl painting I had been working on. It's now listed on my Art Fire shop (also have one on Etsy) so it's about time I posted it on here! So... without further ado, may I present...

Trippy Owl!