Doesn't this box of art supplies look like a treasure chest!! Wheeeee! I almost knocked over the Fed Ex guy getting to that package. NOW..... I'll continue the cactus bloom that I'd given up on (see below) with good heavy-bodied Liquitex acrylic paint. Two new things I'm trying - a sample of "Aquaboard" and "Clayboard". Have any artists out there used either of these? I'd like to know your result if you would kindly comment below :) 

Since I've only used acrylics to add highlights to my watercolors, I didn't realize it was the "heavy" bodied paints that I wanted to buy, not the "light" body. Who'd a thunk?  I checked my old acrylic tubes and they didn't say anything about the body type. But they are ancient, gotta admit. The new cheapie paints that I'd used on my initial cactus blossom painting must have been the light body.

Some new paintings in the works as we speak - two little girls with their kittens, a woman having her hair done in a beauty parlor, a Victorian granny sitting in a chair, a dragon on a rock. I'll post all of them when they're completed, they're about half done. 

The artistic Word o' the Day will be changing to an Illustrator's Word o' the Day, because that is what my words inspire, telling a story with paint = illustration. There is a long on-going debate about what the difference is between art and illustration. It's a fine line, but generally illustration tells a story or illustrates a point. 

Here's another word....

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Illustrator's Word o' the Day:   Secretum secretorum = secret of secrets


Think Halloween. I just read these words in a book about an ancient manuscript and they brought to mind all sorts of creepy-in-a-good-way images for Halloween. A dusty tome in a middle ages monastery....... H. P. Lovecraft.....  the DaVinci Code......

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What are YOU working on? Leave a comment, I'd like to hear from you

And... here's the yucky stage of my cactus painting where I just do a quick watery under-painting. In acrylics. On this particular painting, I'm going to paint it from corner to corner to minimize dragging my wrist through freshly painted surfaces. I'll post my progress. Comments welcome! It is also welcome to hear from you urging me on since I'm a master procrastinator :)

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Phrase o' the day:

"a sinking feeling"

I can think of a lot of ways to paint that phrase. If you like clever illustrations, as in magazine articles and graphic novel illustrations, your mind is already forming images. Two of my favorite book and magazine illustrators are Elwood Smith. and Debbie Tilley.  I'll see if I can find links to their websites and post them here:     

http://www.elwoodsmith.com/portfolio.html

http://www.salzint.com/pgs/tilley.html

HEY, where do I come off telling YOU to get BUSY and do some illustrating! Huh, pretty cheeky. (git it, another phrase to illustrate, cheeky) .

Okay, now here's my progress on the cactus bloom. It looks a mess right now, but hopefully it will take shape soon.