The last image (with the orange) is the “take it further step” in which you are supposed to do several contours on top of one another and make an image with them.  One thing I used to do when I was little was take a pencil or pen and scribble in big loops around a piece of paper and then color it in with crayons. The rule was to not let a color touch itself. I would always get crazy images. This exercise really reminded me of that. I am probably going to do this one a bunch of times.  My favorite is the last contour. I freakin’ love giraffes.

The painting I am doing for Annie on clay board? I thought I should just give up on this one right away.

Well this is what ol’ Dr. Redgy looks like so far.

I’m still working on this one, but I really like it now. It’s looking better than I ever thought it would after that start. I also really like clay board now that I have learned a few ways to manipulate the paint on it.  I went back to this after I already redrew and started painting it again on paper.  I think I will be using clay board for some experimenting in the future.

My first set of Cats.

These cats are from my imagination. I am not comfortable drawing from an image in my head. I am impressed with all of them. They all turned out better than I thought. Although there are a few that clearly are much better than others.

Cats With Color

This is me taking it further. I wanted to experiment and go to the next step so I went out and bought a set of markers. I have no idea how to use them, but I am sure I will have fun learning.

I had a lot of fun and it really helped motivate me for the rest of the week. So much fun.

Copyright Elisha Dasenbrock 2010.

This is one of the 3 paintings I am currently working on. She is on a full sheet and she is from my Thailand series. I want to make most of her body look like a statue because statues are everywhere in Thailand. Buddha statues are all over the place.  Although I want most of her body to resemble that specific part of the culture I want her face and hands to be warmer and show the live and exuberance of such a precocious child.

The other two paintings are dog portraits. One is for Joe’s sister. I forget why, but I know it’s a “if you do this I will paint a picture of Redgy” deal. The second is a commissioned portrait for someone as a gift.

I’m not saying I don’t have talent or that some people wouldn’t buy my art now. What I am saying is that I want to grow and I can’t concentrate on that growth if I am too worried about making money.

I’m also not saying I wouldn’t sell a piece if someone offered to buy it.

I want to fall back in love with painting and wrap myself up in it.

Then I came across this awesome blog post. The list is going on my wall of inspiration. I need to tell myself this every day.