Saturday, June 28, 2008

A WIP

Work in Progress is the name of the game today. Yesterday I was innocently reading my new Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine and fell upon an article by Patricia Gaignat. In the article called "lotsa fruit" she took an image of a pear and turned it to black and white, colored it and made a variety of the blocks using the same images and then turned it into a cute little wall hanging.

So how my mind works is that I though it would be a good idea but to use my daughters pictures and then their children. I did the daughters yesterday. These are in no way done, I am still digesting the plans but wanted to share what I have so far.

My sister commented to me on the phone last night "what no art this week?" and yes I have done alot of it but mostly meaningless little tasks like making paper beads and stringing a few new necklaces for my mom. Yesterday I decided to paint and this is the result.

This being my oldest daughter. Now I must say she really looks nothing like this in real life, so this is a slightly cartoonish looking likeness. Here is the picture I started out with. I printed it after maniuliping it in PS on canvas, then painted it using assorted paints and chalks. I seldom stick to one kind.
as you can see quite different.














The next is my youngest daughter, for which I am way off! LOL she asked me who it was. and then replied that I made them too pretty. This is the picture of her that I started with.
I disagree, naturally I believe that both my daughters are beautiful in looks and spirit, even with the "Kelley forehead" an inside joke going on here about looking like Grandpa with his big ole bald head. Then my youngest said "oh don't show it to Ama, you made me prettier!" Another never ending thing that goes on no matter how many year pass. Some day they will get over themselves and decide they are both beautiful in my eyes, no one more so than the other.

I do have a question for you artist out there. What is the dang color that you use when making teeth? I never did a picture with a full mouthful of teeth, and struggled with the color used to distinguish individual teeth. So what the heck color do you use?

After sandwiching them with felt under each layer, I blanket stitched all the way around them. I stitched first with my hand stitcher to make the holes, for ease of blanket stitching because that tends to tear the canvas when using a hand needle.

Next up is to put them on a black velvet background and embellish the heck out of them. Then I will decide if I want to continue with the babies pictures or not. Really Patricia Gaignat's Pears are truly beautiful if you like pears. I don't have fruit pictures in my house anywhere, not even on a pot holder. Don't know why, I guess I am just not a fruity person!

11 comments:

Mel♥ said...

WOW Moon I love them!!!

Mary S. Hunt said...

actually you have a great beginning to this project...try to not stop and work through it to finish (as much as a project IS "finished" )
:-)

Anonymous said...

This is such a lovely idea, and your girls love them :)
I can't wait to see more.
Bek :)

Cheeka said...

Moon, these are great, and *I* think they look like your daughters - okay well the second one the hair color is way different but other than that you got it! The paintings do not look like photographs, but they are amazing. i don't have any suggestions because this is so far from what *I* do! Beautiful - keep having fun with them! Good job!

Kim said...

Making things for mom is never meaningless lol! I think the paintings are really good - for teeth I'd probably draw the in-between bit with a sharp colored pencil in a dark gray or brown. Black is usually too stark for a shadowed effect.
Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Moonwillow - These are gorgeous! I am going to have spend more time re-reading this entry as doing small ones of all six kids an putting together in a wall hanging would make a great gift for my mom. - Nicki

Eastjewels said...

Moonwillow...These are incredible, I love the Mary Englebrite fabric, I really think you have out done your self...Why do they have to look exactly like the girls, you already have the photos, and these are original works of art...You are so right about the individual beauty of each of them...of course take into consideration that they got their beauty from the genes of their beautiful mother...
Linda (Okla)

Anonymous said...

I love them. I don't think you need photo realism, you're the artist and you are capturing the spirit of your daughters.

As for the teeth...I find it is best to paint the spaces between the teeth and not the teeth themselves. I use a soft grey or brown and paint around each tooth and try to shadow each individual tooth. This will give a much more realistic effect than painting the teeth themselves.

morningDove said...

moon you are a very talented lady with 2 beautiful daughters. I love the pieces. i've never created anything like this using PS. i say keep up the great work.

Marilyn said...

The likenesses (?) of the photos are really good. Can't wait to see finished pieces.

jackie said...

Your daughters are beautiful and your art is delightful! You are blessed with talent!
hugs,
jackie