Snake in the grass....

or rather "Serpent in the Tree"

I have always been fascinated by depictions of this particular ancient story, so when I "acquired"(from my boys bedroom) a 22" x 10" box canvas, that was begging to be up-cycled lol, it was perfect for this project :D

I also "found" a pack of decorating stencils I bought from a home decor shop years ago, and new they too would be perfect for this canvas...

A coat of white gesso removed the offending street sign...and layers of stencilling ensued...

until the serpent was ready to show itself :D

White gesso on the background highlighted the image, and black acrylic defined the edges. Greenery was added with a stipple brush(stiff bristled stencil brush)...

then a deep blue stencilled over gave depth to the tree.

A deep yellow and rich red added fiery primal heat to the background, while white highlighting gave "form" to the serpent's body.

Final touches included iridescent paint to the body, gold paint on areas of the background/fruit/tree trunk and  brown paint rubbed around edges to add ageing.

The "white" areas are where the iridescent paint reflected the light

I would like to credit Tee Thompson and Jeanette House for showing me some of the techniques I used in this piece. I really love it, and it would not have happened without their inspiration :D

Enjoy :D XXX

Living like Clockwork

Nice trick if you can manage it :D

Been working on a journal page that sort of sums up how I'm feeling at the moment. I belong to a FBook group run by Tee Thompson, and we have been collecting a file of our own photos to use as inspiration. This month we chose this funky pic taken by my younger brother while out walking. It made me laugh...cos this is how we interpret "car bomb" in Yorkshire :/ 

WIP pics....craft acrylics are great for art journalling, they dry really quickly...and some are shiny :D

adding lettering(couldn't get that Will Smith rap that goes "tick tick BOOM out of my head)

add definition with black marker...like the naughty graffiti peeps do...

bit of dry brushing....

and finally the journalling.

"If we can just get over the belief that our lives are supposed to run like clockwork...then the little surprises wouldn't come as such a shock"

Thanks for the photo Baby Bro :D

Enjoy :D XXX

Round and shiny :D

Last week Tee Thompsom asked if we had any Twinkling H2O paints to play with, and The Game challenged us to make something round....

I has H2O's(glueing to old cd's helps to stop the tiny pots from going missing in stash)

and I have this small round pebble....and a desire to paint on a stone inspired by other artists from past 29 Faces challenges :D

I sharpened a pencil to make a fine drawing on the pebble...

The pebble was a gift from the sea, so the face of a mermaid made sense to me :D

Then I got a teeny tiny brush (pack of 4 from the Works £1.99)

and started to paint directly onto the pebble surface with the H20s...

and they seemed to dry quite happily...

you can she how shiny this matt pebble is becoming

I added more paint to intensify the colours :D

Am going to try varnishing it, but wanted to post an image first(just in case)

Enjoy :D XXX

We Luvzzzz Beezzzz...

This weeks theme at The Butterfly Effect was chosen by Guest artist Karen, aka Iamrushmore.

She likes INSECTS

I had this canvas I'd made following a class by Tee Thompson

I like it...but it was lacking something :S

So I doodled a bit with a charcoal pencil...

blocked in with white gesso...

mixed a blue/black with acrylic to give definition...

coloured with blues and white...

building up a few layers...

And used a bit of black to add more definition, and white highlights on the eye lenses and tongues.:D

Still consider this a work in progress, wants "more" background.

Enjoy :D XXX

What lurks beneath????!

Another Guy for June

Tee Time challenge this week "What lurks under your bed?"

I had this book page that has a quote from Shakespeare, which seemed rather apt.

"If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended,

That you have but slumber'd here,

While these visions did appear."

I know what I'd like to be lurking under my bed lol

though he did end up a bit cross-eyed, probably from all the dust under there :D

Pencil/watercolour/ink/soft pencil...

and added my own words around the page...

"What Daemons lurk beneath your bed?

What dreams they whisper in your head?

Will you lie awake in dread?

Or chase these daemons out instead?"

What a Hoot!...work in progress

My friend Tee Thompson has been poorly this last week(spent time in hospital!!), yet she still couldn't resist going on line last night to entertain us with her painting skills.

This is a WIP(oil paints take ages to dry), based on the acrylic painting she did last night, based on the watercolour painting done by our nother friend Maisy :D

Background is a page in my journal painted with acrylics a few weeks ago.

Colours used; yellow ochre, burnt sienna,burnt umber and titanium white...

Will be adding black at a later date( and more detail when drier) :D

For those who where expecting me to paint "boobies"...I have a long time to wait for paint to dry so who knows what I will get up to..mwahahaha :D

Spots but no brushes

Edit: Got a frame with glass for £1!!! Painted it to match painting , then distressed with a sanding block :D
Well this is the pice I came uo with after watching a brilliant free art session from Tee Thompson, which she performed in a food restaurant as her internet was down at home! Can you imagine that happening in Britain?? So a big THANK YOU to TACO BELL for keeping the art flowing :DThe idea behind the class was to make art without expense...other than the paint itself, so the base is a pices of gery board from the back of an old sketchpad, with layers of old desk journal pages to add strength and interest...
picked 3 water-soluble crayons and...
smooshed with water and fingers lol(no brushes allowed)
Next I made rings by using acrylic paint and lids from my bit's n bobs jars, and scritchy-scratchy marks with a plastic fork from a salad ready meal.
More smooshing to highlight circles with inktense pencils, and the blue blobs were made with the bottom of a shaving brush I use for distressing inks :D
I did,'t have white ink, so I added white acrylic with the tip of a small paintbrush handle....
and splattered more white over the whole piece with an old toothbrush.
And I am quite pleased with the finished piece :D
I call it "Bubbles Bouncing" :D XXX