Day 111: Sewing and un-sewing

I made a lot of part yesterday and then I made some more and thought I will put this together and the I realised that the head was wrong so there was nothing else to do but undo it...then I got fed up and went to watch telly instead.
And that's sewing in a nutshell. More time is spent un-doing, patching and turning things right way out just to find another hole...then actually sewing. Time consuming and nerve grating but I will have another go tomorrow and hopefully make that head right:)

Day 110: A whole lot of parts

After several hours of sewing, patching, re-sewing and turning, I have a whole lot of little you parts and you will have to come back to see what they will become:)

Day 109: Queen portrait number 2

This is the under painting for the second portrait in my Queen series. The first one is finished and you can see it here: http://365artydays.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/day-94-bit-more-work-on-oil-painting.html

I got this book on old master's painting techniques that I am following. First portrait was done in following Titian, this one is Caravaggio and the third one will be Vermeer. Although they might end up looking all the same :)
 I had a long talk with my very wise husband yesterday about my art and all. He said basically that I am in the middle, on one hand I can paint very well as long as I am detached from the subject, like in these portraits but then when I make something personal it becomes just a hash like the painting yesterday.

So basically I need to find a way to marry the two. Instead of using symbolism that I think other people will understand, I need to find the ones I believe in and then paint that using some of my technical skills.

Well that's the theory...

Day 108: One step forward, three steps back

 

This is what happens when attempts are half-hearted and fittingly it is on a heart theme I made this horrible painting. I'm going to paint it over tomorrow but I wanted to share it here in order to remember what not to do in the future. I feel a lot from the heart and really wanted to capture something from it for these theme but I didn't commit to it. This image is like something I would have painted two years ago in it's style and technique, it's neither here or there. And this, in a nutshell, is my problem.

I feel things, then I am too afraid to commit to that feeling because mainly I don't want to offend anyone, especially my family and out comes this cliche-like rubbish..

My other problem is that I have put a lot of effort in painting and drawing technique over the past three years but can't seem to be able to marry those to my expression from the heart which, again, is problematic..and I think to much.

Day 107: Another doglet

Another little doglet, this time with some pictures of process and some tips. 

1. Use a sponge to jab your toy on. It's easier to shape and you don't jab your fingers.  

2. For little things like ears and tail, take a piece of felt and thenn prefelt it a bit on the sponge, make sure you turn it and keep it wide, you don't want a ball. If you felt it to tightly, it will not stick on to the body. 

After you attach it to the body as well as you can take another thin piece and wrap it around that ear/tail and use it as 'glue' and also to shape your ear/tail. You might find that a part of the body sinks in if you stab too much on same place. Just take another piece of felt and add it but keep the piece thin and wide and use layers, don't bunch it up on same spot.

3.After I felted my doglet enough I used scissors to shape it's head a bit. Don't know if you are supposed to do that but it might help. Also I can imagine the quality of fleece used helps, mine is not great but it works. Hope you find this useful. I am no expert, this is my 3rd felted toy but if you wan't to ask any questions please do. 

Day 106: Cute doglet

After x amount jabs in the finger, I seem to be getting an idea of how to so this. Quite happy with this  little chap, I am making one a day at the moment. Besides the repeated jabs in the finger, it's not that hard.

Day 105: Ellen's Daily Heart

On Sunday's, we 365ers pay tribute to one of our members. This week is Ellen Davies Petti and her lovely blog: http://www.ellensdailyheart.blogspot.co.uk/
This is my contribution, I actually started a whole painting but it's wet and the glare is terrible so I didn't photograph it. It's coming...

Day 103: Doglet

My first ever needle felted doll. I wanted to try out this technique for quite a while and finally got there. It's a bit rough, I ran out of chosen felt color so I couldn't make a smooth coat. The color choice was not brilliant either, it's fuschia with purple but it doesn't translate that well, I'll try to take another picture tomorrow in daylight but as I have decided to make a few of these I might go with some subtle colors instead:) It's cute though..

Day 102: Angel-boy painting stage 2

My oil painting group is having a small selling exhibition on 22 June so as part of my small goals I aim to have enough art to join in in the sale. Apparently contemporary paintings and children playing on the beach are best sellers in that particular place, hrm, I will have to think about that.
Anyway, here is angel-boy stage 2.

Day 101: New beginnings

I started three (actually four but it's rubbish so I painted it over) new paintings. I decided I love painting most and want to explore that. The large one is going to be a contemporary-ish portrait, the small brown one is following Caravaggio's technique of painting and the blue one is exploring technique called 'ghosting' and it's fun:)
The sketch for the blue painting is on day 96.

Day 98: More bags

I have a much tidier knitting bag now :) Super-pleased!

Day 97: Simple drawstring bag

 No more plastic bags for my knitting! I got lost in plastic bag hell for a bit there, they are so convenient and everywhere that it is so easy to forget we used to have fabric bags. Since I have three different knitting projects at the go and lots of yarn knocking about I decided to tidy it up a bit and made some simple and quick drawstring bags. Here is how: http://www.purlbee.com/easy-drawstring-bag/2009/3/16/easy-drawstring-bag.html

Day 94: A bit more work on oil painting

Just showing some progress on my little oil painting. Oils are completely new medium to me but I am enjoying it very much. This is actually taken from a fashion photograph, I really liked the ruffles which is why I chose to paint it. I have another two same size canvases and another two photos so it will be a little QUEEN series. 

Day 93: Angry Dog

I haven't been very happy with my work lately and it's time for change of direction. More about it coming soon...

Day 87: Start on a knitted scarf

It's bit mad over here at the moment but I managed to steal some time away and make a start on a scarf. This is a first item I am making has this kind of pattern in it. There are a lot of yon's but it seems ok. 

I also like this picture a lot. I found the shot by a fluke. Looking for some nice background I saw these pencils. My step-grandson is sharpening all my pencils for me, hence they are all out.  He calls it his 'work'. And if I touch his 'work', he is going to be very cross with me indeed :) I better go and put everything back. 

Day 85: Orange Felt Flower

As it is sunday today, our 365 Facebook group is making something inspired by another members blog. this sunday we were all inspired by David Hoffman who's blog you can find here: http://justdavecreations.blogspot.com/ 

dave works with colors and at the moment that color is orange, so we all made something with orange or 'orange' :). Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/groups/292386624157701/