TIny Treasure No. 10

 

Whew! It has been a long week. I have created three paintings. Two I couldn't post because I didn't like them, kept working on them and then hated them more and moved on. This one took two sessions.... some time yesterday and most of the day today. It is of a little bubbler that goes on a necklace. A very funny little silver piece of jewelry that always entertains my boys! Obviously, here it is paired with a strawberry for a splash of color and sitting on an antique book. 

I will be away from my studio for a couple of days... but I will keep drawing and creating when I can! I will post again in a couple of days!

Tiny Treasure No. 9

 

This old book (S.S. Truant) was printed in 1837 and given to Charles Pilsbury by his aunt and then bought by me when I was about 11 approximately 145 years after it was printed. It is falling apart which adds to it's charm. I kept this painting of it simple and used it mostly as a shape.

Tiny Treasure No. 8 finished

 

So here it is! Tiny Treasure No. 8. I am quite pleased with it, although I can always find something I want to improve. However, I really like to juxtapose items together to make an interesting composition. I have been in love with old photos for so long. I started gathering them when I was about 10. I am intrigued by photos of people I don't know that have passed. I like to dream about who they were, where they lived, how their lives passed. When we have gotten old, we have the benefit of knowing how the story played out, but when these photos are taken, the subjects are yet to know their fate in this world. To me, old photos capture this odd innocence and I am intrigued by their story. I hope you will be too. 

Tiny Treasure No. 8 WIP

 

This is really a work in progress! I wanted to do a painting with several pieces and so this one may take a little longer and I don't want to rush it. Below you can see my set up for the painting. The background will have a textural wall feel, like old, peeling paint. The treasures are some of my favorite ephemera that I just love and a shell and piece of sea glass. I hope to do more paintings like this as a grouping, but I guess I should see how this one goes first! I don't usually sketch in pencil, but usually sketch my preliminary sketch in paint. Today I felt I needed to sketch in pencil so I could get my lines straight and drawing a Bison is not my strong suit, so I needed to sketch it out several times before I was satisfied with the rough. Hopefully I will have time to at least work on this one tomorrow! Maybe even finish it? 

Here's the set up for the painting:

Tiny Treasure No. 7 finished!

 

Little Black Kitty's portrait is finished! Hope you like my strange little friend!

Tiny Treasure No. 7 and finished No. 6

 

This sweet guy is a special treasure for me because it is one of the stuffies I made with my little boys. I haven't made that many (and I am amazed at the artists who make stuffies their art form!) so ours are definitely home made looking. I ask the boys which sock they like out of a pile, they pick eyes and draw a picture of their new friend. Then I sew the stuffie asking them questions about how they want their details. Little Black Kitty never got any ears, but he does get love from my youngest every night. This painting needs a lot of fleshing out with shading and some more depth to the background. I'll update it hopefully tomorrow!

Here is the finished Tiny Treasure No. 6!

Tiny Treasure No. 6 WIP

This tiny treasure is not very tiny and those of you who know me will be surprised that a pair of shoes would be a treasure for me. I am not a girly lover of shoes. I actually kind of hate shoes. I don't like shopping for shoes, I hate spending money on shoes and I don't like to wear shoes. Especially heels. But, this pair of shoes are special to me. I had this great purse I got from my brother a few years ago that had ribbon rosettes all bunched together and I just love it! A few years ago I went on a date with my hubby for New Year's Eve to a big gala and wore a t-shirt I painted a big, black taffeta skirt and took these black heels and added the rosettes myself with sequins and pearls. They are kind of ratty now, but I still love the idea and would do it again! I'll work on this painting more tomorrow and re-post it along with Tiny Treasure No. 7!

Tiny Treasure No. 5 and updated No. 4

So, the boys and I took a lovely hike through the woods and did a little fishing yesterday at Jordan Lake. I found this tiny treasure while walking through the woods and picked it up just to paint it. I have no idea what it is... maybe you do! It looks like an aquatic plant, but it's not. More of a mossy type thing.

Also, here is the peep finished. I am definitely going to paint more peeps. Peeps together, different color peeps...who knows?!

Tiny Treasure No. 4

Still work in progress.... a peep!

Woops... some days I just don't got it.

 I tried to paint today but had to scratch my painting because it was going in a very icky direction. So you get a not so attractive pic of me....and my scratched painting.

Tiny Treasures No. 3

Here is one of my boys' tiny treasures... a sketch of a Lego Harry Potter mini-figure! This was a good study for an upcoming painting. It was trickier than I thought it would be!

Tiny Treasures No. 2 Work in Progress

This is a painting of one of my favorite funny little purses (a gift from my mother-in-law, thanks GG!) hanging on an awesome hand-painted armoire, also a gift from GG. It is a big painting and is still a work in progress. Hopefully I will be able to finish it tomorrow!

Tiny Treasures No. 1

YAY! A new series! I have been looking forward to starting this series since Fruit No. 3!!! Not that I didn't love the fruit and eggs, I did. This is a wide open still life series. I plan to attack some treasures like Matchbox cars and Lego men, skeleton keys and oh, I guess you have to wait to find out what else! Today I painted a card with three mother-of-pearl buttons attached. The card it is based on is framed in a shadow box and we bought it a while back for my oldest son's nursery. It is simple and soft and feminine and white on white. I chose to make the background a dark bluish gray color, although I am also thinking of attacking it again with a lighter background down the road. Can't wait to see what I will paint tomorrow!!!

Fruit #21

So, you may (or may not) be saying to yourself. "What about that girl with the paintings that get posted every day? What happened to her?" I am still here, I am healthy and trucking along. I had paying clients that really needed me to dedicate a couple of days just to them. Here I am again though, ready to paint daily. My wonderful husband helped me out with the kids so that I could paint last night and finish my last fruit painting. Not my last ever keep in mind, just the last fruit painting for this series. I wanted to do another avacado so that I can have the two together in a series...

Fruit #20

Only one fruit left! I have so many other fruits I want to do, but I am really looking forward to the next series! This is the third painting with the tea cup and it will be offered with the other two in a piece featuring the three.


Look for my last fruit tomorrow or more likely Saturday!

Fruit #18 and #19!

 I had an incredibly busy day, but luckily Fruit No. 19 went pretty quickly and I only needed to spend about an hour more on Fruit No. 18. So, here they are! Almost at the end of this series! Only 2 more fruits and then it's on to the next subject. I am really looking forward to the next one!!!

Thanks Noah Scalin!

Noah Scalin created the original 365 project and inspired me to start my project. I submitted a short video of my work to his blog to show off my project so far! Here is a link to his site, go visit and find out about his awesome work! Make Something 365
You can see my video on his blog, or you can view it here (but still go see his blog, it's very cool)
Andie Illustrates 21/365

Fruit #18 Work in Progress

Work in progress today! I hope to post a finished #18 painting tomorrow plus Fruit #19 (hint hint... it goes well with Mexican food.)

Fruit #17

Well, it's basically finished. There are some things I would like to fix but the paint is getting to that icky phase and now I have to wait until it is totally dry before I work on it more. On to Fruit #18!

Fruit #17 Work in Progress again...

Ok, another day of work in progress. Hopefully I can finish it tomorrow!

Fruit #17 Work in Progress

So, usually I only have a few hours to paint my daily painting. I wish I had more time, but as a busy mom and entrepreneur that's what I have. Today I started a larger painting, so that takes a little more time than usual. This is a special painting for my mom's new kitchen (I hope she likes it when it's finished!) So, today is a painting in process. The other peaches need to be added and some more color and lighting tweaks. I'll update you on the painting tomorrow!

Fruit #16

Almost finished with fruit! Only 5 more to go and then it's off to the next theme. Hmmmmm...wonder what it will be? I know but maybe I won't tell and you can figure it out yourself. Until then, I hope you enjoy this still life of more over-ripe vine-ripened tomatoes!

Fruit #15

I love love love these tomatoes! The vine ripened tomatoes have the most full wonderful flavor! I bought a big bag of them yesterday from the "too old" section! A great bargain for me since usually the food I paint ends up not getting eaten because they sit around and get kind of gross. This tomato has a wonderful deep, yummy red color! Hope you enjoy this tasty treat!