Gah! The Pain!

I did something to my right shoulder yesterday. Probably from lifting my screaming toddler off the floor of Barnes and Nobles. For those of you who have been fortunate enough not to witness a tantrum up close and personal, let educate you. It looks a little something like this:

At which point, I was like: 

And so we left... with epic screaming that any soprano would envy. Seriously. My child can make ear drums ring for hours.

I came home and felt like I had a stiff neck which eventually spread all the way down my right arm. I must have pinched something when I picked up the banshee, I guess.

Once things settled down, I was like, "I think I'll paint. La la la! Painting is fun!" And my shoulder was all like, "Ha ha ha! JK! You're not going to paint!" And then I was like, "Yes, I am--oh noes, the paaaaiiiin! Gah!!! I wonder what's on Netflix?"

But I'm better this evening! Sporadic painting has resumed! :) I have some secret projects, but here are some just-for-fun sketches I've been working on. :D

I doubt anyone remembers this, but I did it a year or two ago, and decided to work on it some more. I threw out the whole Indian paint thing and just tried to paint a pretty girl. lol

 Ta da! A pretty girl!

And another sketch. I think she looks angry. I wasn't angry when I painted this, so I don't know why she looks that way... Maybe she just realized that she owes taxes? Or she just stepped on a lego?

Ta ta for now, friends!

I'm Baaaaack!

WARNING: The following post is filled with gifs and the ramblings.

I'm sorry for the ridiculously long hiatus. What started as a holiday break turned into a procrastination party. My friends, I've neglected you. For that I am very sorry, but......

 I'm back, baby!

Don't let the lack of posts fool you. I have definitely been painting! Brace yourselves for a sketch dump!

Onwards 2013!!!

Launch!

I had an extra day off this week.

So, I was very productive! Read: I sat on my butt and painted while ignoring the house. Well, not completely ignoring the house... Just not really helping it much either.

Anyway, I needed to slap some Christmas projects out there while I'm still in the mood to do Christmas stuff. 

I thought it would be cute to paint a couple dolls exchanging presents under the tree while the kids are asleep. I loved the concept, but I was still unhappy with this. It felt too "yellow" to me. I wasn't getting that warm, under-the-tree feeling. And it felt like it needed something. So, one night after I'd stared at it unhappily, I came up with the following:

I'm pretty happy with it. I really wanted to add more to the tree, but I gotta be honest. I lost steam. And I really didn't want to paint foliage. I think it's harder to paint foliage digitally than it was for me to do it in oils. But I really like the glossy wood and colored lights. Much better. :)

Fonz cat approves.

Then I decided to illustrate a sketch that I did in my car on my lunch break. I had drawn some gingerbread men catapulting off a table to safety. So, today (after a painting marathon), I came up with this:

I was pretty happy with it, until I decided I was done and saw it as a thumbnail. Then I was all like, "Shoot, there's something wrong with the composition!" I think I need to crop the bottom a bit because there is nothing going on down there! It's dead space! I don't know what I was thinking...

And then, to make matters worse, I uploaded it to FB, and as I was staring at the little guy on the spoon-catapult, I realized something. 

My freakin' catapult is backwards. Backwards!!! 

I think it's obvious that I never took physics. Oh well... I am calling on the kindness of the holiday season. Let's all suspend our logic... just for a little while, ok?

Brush Strokes FTW!

Okay, this guy... this guy is blowing my mind!

His name is Rob Rey http://www.robreyart.com/ and he is a traditional painter. The brush strokes in his work are lovely. Kind of makes me wonder what the heck I've been doing with mine!

So, I took my little personal piece and tried to infuse some of those lovely brush strokes. I haven't really accomplished it, but it's been fun to relax and paint more loosely.

Christmas Explosion! (I know, it's not even December yet.)

I'm listening to Christmas music and painting Christmas paintings while my Christmas tree spins in the background. No, I kid you not. It spins. (See the below example.)

But if you think I'm a Christmas nut, you should see my mom. The 1st of November hits, and it looks like Christmas came to her house and threw up. She was at my house today, and we were hanging out in the kitchen when her phone rang. She looked at me kind of sheepishly. Guess what her ringtone was? The Chipmunks singing Christmas carols.

It was pretty awesome, actually. I mean, we all have something we're really into. I love Doctor Who, my husband loves wrestling, and my mom just happens to really love Christmas.

I love you, Mom!

And now here's a close up of my Nutcracker painting. I have worked more on refining faces. I still have a lot left to "refine". Le sigh.

I should probably explain the thought process behind my paintings. That would probably be better done in a video since I'm not patient enough to sit here and type about it... lol

But no holiday season would be complete without me sharing my winter desktop wallpaper! I painted this last year, and I just love it. A cute girl waits in the snow for her love to come and exchange presents. Too corny! Too cute! <3 I kept this desktop last year well into Spring. lol Enjoy!

Dumpster Diving

Mirror, mirror, on the wall.
I am right-brained after all.

Why do I say that? Because, as you may have noticed, I have started another project. And finished none. 

Well... let me clarify. I have made progress on several projects... And technically, I haven't started a new project, but just picked up and old project. 

The above pic is a preview of a project with a pretty lady (bet you didn't see that coming) in awe of some sort of glowing orb... or fairy... or David Tennant...?

Yes? No? Thoughts? ;)

And in other news, Sweet-Little-Darling (aka my 1-year-old son) has apparently decided at a young age to become a hobo. We caught him "dumpster diving" in the trash for left over spaghetti noodles. It's one of those horrifying moments as a parent when your face scrunches up and you're just frozen in horror. 

Believe it or not, I do feed that child. 

Well, it's time for me to hit the hay, but since one Tennant pic is just not enough. So, here ya go!

Deep Thoughts

Progress! That's right, we're cutting to the chase. Here's a continuation of my nutcracker piece. I have a long way to go, but the more I work on it, the more ideas I have. It's supposed to be a nutcracker and a wooden doll exchanging presents in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Sickeningly sweet, I know. But that's how I love my paintings! I'm really not sure where I'm going with the composition and color scheme. I anticipate lots changes as I go. Still, it's been a fun painting to work on in between commissions. :)

It's not exactly been an awesome day for me today. I woke up to find out all three of my kids have the stomach flu--the kind involving both ends of the body. Yes, I will spare you anymore details. 

Then I got a text at work saying my cousin passed away unexpectedly. So young. Too young. And left behind young children. 

This is the third death on that side of my family in a year. When I worked at the nursing home, they said that deaths come in three's. I saw that happen a lot. I sure hope we're done. 

I went for some "retail therapy" mainly because I needed to stay busy and keep myself from losing it so I could finish the work day. I found myself angrily wondering, "Why do they keep dying? Are we cursed?" And here is where my Christian upbringing kicks in. It's not for me to ask why. It's not for me to understand. All I can do is ask for His comfort, cry on His shoulder, and trust that somehow... somehow this all works for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

That's a little hard to type. Not because I don't believe it, but because I don't understand it. In the end, I guess I'll never understand it all. I just have to believe it--throw out my reasoning, close my eyes, and trust in God. 

That's called faith.