Me and My Shadow

Shadow Self
6.5X9"
Watercolor

I caught a glimpse of my shadow one day. I had just taken a shower and my hair was hanging down in an interesting way and my big fat nose was sticking out. I'm not sure why I found the shape of the shadow so interesting, but I made a quick sketch and then decided to paint it.

I had originally planned to make a series of progressively darker shadows against my face in profile. But then I decided that it might be more interesting to come face to face with my shadow. The sketch just looked like somebody staring off into space, and it bugged me a little bit. I found that this was a good exercise, trying to duplicate the shapes of the right-hand face in reverse.

I guess you could call this a kind of self-portrait, although I wasn't trying for a photo realistic depiction of my own face. The blue eyes and the curly, light brown hair are definitely my signature features. As for staring at my own shadow, I have to admit that I do contemplate the darker side of my being from time to time. We all have a darker side, one that we usually try to hide away from the rest of the world--secrets and thoughts that we wouldn't want anyone else to know about. I like to think about this darker side of myself as a reminder that I'm not as good as I'd like to think I am....or as good as I'd like other people to think that I am. Keeps me from getting too full of myself.

Back to Work--Part 2

"Meditation"
8X10"
Colored pencil

Here's another project that has been sitting around waiting for me to finish my novel. I've been working on it for quite awhile. It was inspired by a very relaxed and peaceful period in my life that happened around the middle of September. I have worked on it during lunch breaks at work, at home during quiet mornings, and at a local park when the weather was especially nice. I can't really say right now if I ever intend to finish it. It not only gives me a sense of peace to look at it, but it also is very relaxing to work on. I decided to post it here, in case anyone else could benefit from the same sense of peace that I get when I look at it. With the busy holiday season upon us, it's always a good idea to take a moment to just breathe and relax.

Back to Work--Part 1

"Lady in Waiting"
6.5X9"
Pen, ink, and watercolor

Now that my little noveling adventure is over, it's time to get back to work. I have a couple of projects that I put on pause while I wrote. This lovely little thing was one of them.

After testing several colors with this line drawing (see earlier "Ladies in Waiting" post), I decided to do something slightly different. I still wanted to paint the dress red, even though the dress that inspired this whole thing was black. But instead of sticking with a single color for the whole picture, I decided to work in some greens. I liked the effect much better than any of the colors I had used previously.

What I love most of all about this painting, though, is the happy little accident that occurred with the tree. When I started painting the leaves, I initially let some of the strokes go over the branches. I didn't like how that turned out once the paint dried, and I was afraid that I'd ruined the whole thing. However, I decided to go back over the trunk with another color. As I started to brush water over the branches in preparation for the new color, I noticed that the leaf strokes started to disappear and merge with the trunk color. Hah! There was no need to even mix up the new color. I already had the effect I wanted. So hurray for happy accidents!