Daisies and 'flowers'

Yes, 'flowers' because I don't know if the other flowers here really exist :(

I painted this box in January, but I didn't like the way the roses turned out: they were 'flat' and didn't pop out at me. It irritated me to sit in my patio and look at them every day. So, one day, I painted over them! (You can see the 'underneath' version here.)

But, the pictures below are not of what I did the second-time-around - I didn't take any pictures of that disaster.

Yesterday, I was inspired to give up on roses and paint my favourite flower: the daisy. So, here is the re-painted medicine box my dad made eons ago. I think this version will stay around for a bit. I kinda like my daisies and those make-believe flowers I painted. If anything, I see myself re-doing the border and the sides of the box!!! MUAHAHAHAHAH!!!

I can't remember why I did the 'border' in blue... maybe it was because it matched the
previous bunch of flowers that I did in pink and blue. Maybe. But, my walls are a
deep, dark green. So, any colour will rock with it. 

This shot is 'yellower' than the one above, because I didn't use the flash. I think.

A lazy susan

... of one-stroke roses, rose-buds, make-believe flowers and forget-me-nots.

Sitting on my kitchen table... it measures about 15 inches/39 cm across - so,
it's one of the larger projects I've painted.

Shot taken in the evening, with the lights on

... and in natural light

above and below: the requisite close-ups

The background is sprayed-on blackboard paint. I've not painted on the topcoat yet - because it has a light gloss, and the light bounces off it and messes up my shots.

Johnny Walker makeover

Yes, Johnny got a makeover: in black. With yellow roses, and little flowers on the other three sides.

Here are the pix to prove it:

The half-litre JW on my kitchen table

Little flowers on the other sides

Close-ups of the top,  

... front ...

... and bottom.

My dining table

This dining table has been with our family since Larnee was a baby. Over the years, it was used for everything from meals, to homework, to ironing (by a maid who didn't like using an ironing board), to a scratchpad for practising numbers and letters, and numerous other stuff.

So, it looked pretty battered: scratched, burnt, scoured, warped.

One day, Dan decided that it needed to be spruced up a bit, and painted it white.

On Saturday, I decided to dress it up a bit - and practised some flowers on it :)

It SO doesn't go with the rest of my home in KL, but those were the colours I had brought with me, so I bashed on.

Come Christmas, I'm thinking I'll do a red-and-green poinsettia thingy on it!

Blue on blue

I've been thinking about what to paint for a friend - and so I've been monkeying around with stuff, and yesterday, I thought I'd try out my favourite: tone-on-tone.

I used blue (although I know her favourite colour is purple), and since it was a round board, tried out a border design in a circle. I don't think it'll do for a clock-face, though. It looks too much like a wreath. So, I'll have to split it, I think - a larger half-circle at the bottom, a smaller half-circle at the top.

With my left-over paint, I practised more ferns - to find a fern that would be worthy of gracing Larnee's black bag. I don't have long more to practice, though. So, I think I'll have to settle on something soon.

Here's a shot of yesterday's work - taken on my easel.

I've taken to my easel again, because sitting on my bum, hunched over my paints, is not a good thing for me. So, it's standing, from now onwards, and I feel much better.

This and that . . . .

I tried my hand at something I saw an artist do on You-tube - use whites and light colours on a black background - to make it pop. And this is what I got. But I'm not sure this is the effect I want. But's it's interesting. And the photos make these next two look almost like negatives.

The roses in the third shot, I did on rubbishy paper - and if you look at the pix, you'll see it. But I am still experimenting with roses, and trying to find a way to do them 'first-time, every-time'!

This last one - of pansies (which I've never cast my eyes on. Ever.) I painted on a board an iced cake came on :) It's not like I don't have anything to paint on, but I'm kinda perverse sometimes! The paint didn't want to stick at times, and it was hell to photograph, and finally I realised that I needed to turn off the flash.

Making things pop

I found this video again, and decided to 'keep' it here this time, and not lose it again.

It would seem simple enough - what's demonstrated in the video - but really, it isn't. To fill in the shadows, you'd need to look at your piece, and decide what's on top, and what's underneath. Easier said than done.

Putting in the shadows is a necessary step, I feel. It will lend depth to the finished piece, and keep it from looking flat.

Just look at the astounding kettle she's done! Simply beautiful work.

Can't wait to try this out!



Or, watch the extended version, with explanation of what she's doing, and why:

My flowers

So I watched her do it on You Tube, and I tried my hand at it, and it wasn't so bad, I thought:


















Then, I tried my hand at those shell-like stroke Dewbery talks about, and because it was white-edge on white, it was barely visible. Note to self: don't do this again! Please.

















And always, with leftover paint, I must fiddle with an iris - and I am making progress.
Note to self: See? I can actually do that petal-flip like I seem them do!

























And finally, with Luz Angela on stop/start on You Tube, I do a rose that actually looks like a rose to me! I thought it would be tragic, as usual, so I took out my ugliest paint - green - and thought, 'what the hell, let's give it a go'. Again. And, I was quite pleased with my result.

Had to meddle with the edges; had to add highlights; and it is messy - but, they look like roses. And they don't look like factory-processed ones, either. So, I am happy :)

Messing about

... and still trying to get things right.

The flowers are incomplete and missing centres - but I'm going for the blending and getting the shading right. 

And below, I try my hand at poinsettias. Oh so cacat-looking, but sigh, this was my first time! Though, it's still the same petal I've worked on for so long. It's the putting them together to make the whole - and have the whole resemble the poinsettia... ahhh, that's the difficalification of it all!!!

Below, is a stylised version of a rose. I found this on a nail-art site, and the girl taught it so well - carefully doing each stoke and guiding me through it. I feel I need to work the petals together more tightly and try for a more rounded bulb. But, I'm not entirely displeased with these. Plus, they're anytime better than the 'real' roses I can so not paint!

Still trying to perfect my hydrangeas - this time I used a filbert brush, double-loaded and worked the flowers on it's side. Couldn't do this with the letter holder, because I don't have a small filbert :(

This one is nothing like the lady does it on You Tube, but it's my version, I guess!

Again, something from You Tube - and my version of it, for sure. It would have looked better on a dark background - but this is just part of my practice, practice, practice - so I'm working on getting the strokes right.

Why so much pink? I'm not a pink lady, although I must say I do like pink. But not only pink!

Pink was one of the first colours I bought - and I don't remember why :(  That and a vile, dull green make up my worse buys. But all's not lost: they are my 'working' paints, always pounced on when I want to practise something. From comma strokes, to scroll work; to leaves and petals - all are done in violent pink and dull green!

More roses

Two more videos I found :)

This first one, shows the artist painstakingly reproduce Donna Dewberry's rose; plus some primroses and little daisy-like flowers



and, this one, which is for nail art, but which works just as well for a beginner like me. And OMG, I think it is in Russian or something!!!! Hahahaha! But just watch:

Pretty pinky-red and blue flowers

So this is what I was up to yesterday evening. Not too bad, methinks. Better than my previous work on a black background, so I'm thinking: progress.

As usual, they're flowers of non-determinate origin - that only exist in my head. One of these days, I'll actually paint something real!!! MUAHAHAH!

But, if you look closely, you just might be able to see the few forget-me-nots I did :)

Blue flowers

And finally, something that came out fairly right. At least, for me. It is what I wanted, and the brushes did as I asked, and the flowers didn't bubble up into something from the Mars.

I made this as a gift for a dear friend.

First, I did the flowers . . .















And then, I added the words, by Aristotle:

What is a friend? A single soul in two bodies.

The first one

I decided to try my hand at one-stroke painting when the idea was put into my head by my pal Mel.

I'd told her that I'd just love to be able to paint, and loved dabbling with paint, but all I could do was copy. Draw something that was already there, then fill it in with paint. And sometimes, outline it.

I am not good with shading, and pretending the light is coming from there, or there, or there. Because it the end, my paintings all looked like the light was indeed coming from there and there and there, and the rest of it was all one big grey mess!

And then, there's one-stroke painting. I watched the clip on You Tube, and I was hooked.

Line and sinker followed.

So, thanks, Mel.

And after practising my strokes: commas, exclamation marks, shells, and ribbons and little wiggly lines... I have this to show. It's done on perspex (plastic sheeting), that I salvaged from a frame I'd got at Ikea.

The good thing about working on perspex is that you can wipe it all off with a damp cloth and start all over! Which I did, over and over and over, until I ran out of paint on my palette. And this remains - non-determinate flowers on a bed of non-determinate leaves :) (the little recycle-triangles you see are on the perspex :(

(Click on the image for a bigger pix)