My first attempt at ATC's or ACEO's (not really sure which)

Hi I have been inspired by Darla's work to have a go at doing my own ATC's or ACEO's. Now Darla did explain it to me but I can't remember which way round it goes. Either way, ATC's or ACEO's are basically small sized works that you either sell or swap with other artists. They are the size of a playing card. It was really interesting to work on a different scale as it made me approach things a lot differently. Anyway here are my first 3 attempts, which were basically some doodles......

Looking to the future....

After a long strange and stressful past month, I felt like painting something positive to put me into a new frame of mind. This started out like a bit of a doodle on canvas but I'm quite pleased with it. I tried mixing some oil pastels in there too with the acrylics and it was quite enjoyable.

Anyway here it is.......

Illustration Friday - Idle

This was a bit of an experiment for me today. I decided to do a bit of mixed media and collage. I bought some textured paper and gave it a go!

The image that came into my head when I thought of 'Idle' was of this little old tortoise. In his early years he was a bit of a goer racing around from one thing to another but as time ticked on he became a bit idle. But that's not a bad thing he now gets to read the classics in his comfy chair!

Mixed Media Monday - 'Charming Junk'/Gift

This is a piece that I have done for a friend that has just had a baby. She lives in Queensland on the coast so I decided to create a picture that shows how I imagine her little girl will be as she gets older growing up in such a lovely place. Her little girl is called Cameron so I included the name in the piece. I am going to frame it then post it, I hope they like it.

I also thought I could submit it for this weeks mixed media Monday. It's not quite junk but I have recycled some news paper which would other wise have ended up in the bottom of our bird cage. Now it's a gift!!

Illustration Friday - Tango

When I saw the theme this week, the image that came into my head straight away was frogs, don't ask me why. I just love them and think that they have a lot of character. Yesterday we took the boys to the zoo and there in the reptile section were some green tree frogs. They are so beautiful we took a picture. The frogs that I used in my illustration are green tree frogs from Costa Rica that I found on the net, the markings/colouring is pretty much what I painted my frogs like. Stunning bright colours. So the scene that I ended up painting is a family of frogs, with the parents having a nice tango on a lily pad on a summers evening. With the kids watching. I really enjoyed doing this one, it was fun! I've posted up the pic we took of the frog at the zoo yesterday which gave me the inspiration.

Angel

This is something I've been working on for a week now, and I just can't seem to get it right......I feel like it's finished now but something isn't quite right with it. Does anyone else have this happen sometimes? Perhaps it's just because it doesn't match what was in my head. I don't know...anyway I still like it and i'll just keep it with my collection that I'm building up. I used acrylic paints but also tried coloured pencil over the top to give the face a bit more depth as it felt flat to me and the back ground was too flat so I went over it with light colours....anyway here it is!

Illustration Friday - Hollow

"Thus much for thy assurance know; a hollow friend is but a hellish foe". - Nicholas Breton

When I saw this week's word the picture that formed in my head quickly was one of sadness. 'Hollow' makes me think of someone that is mourning something, or someone.....missing something.....feeling empty. So I painted this lady. Then I decided to see if I could find a quote that I could put along with it. I came across this one by an old English poet, Nicholas Breton. I loved the quote straight away. I think it goes with my picture very well. Perhaps this lady is feeling hollow because a friend that she relied on and thought was true to her, turned out to be the opposite?

Mixed Media Monday - Play

This piece seemed to fit the theme for Mixed Media Monday. This character is based on my wonderful cousin Clare! It doesn't matter how old we are I'll always see her as the 17 year old, who used to have her own distinct style, and would wear tie dyed shorts with her doc martins, she was obsessed with the 60's especially The Beatles and John Lennon and would play their records over and over, she introduced me to that wonderful music. I always wanted to be like her but somehow when I wore the tie dyed pants and doc martins I just looked ridiculous heheh. Nowadays Clarey is a very talented hand bag designer and Mother to a 1 year old daughter and 4 year old step son. Lucky for me she is just living in the same town and emigrated like myself to Australia!!! Hooray!!!

'Little girl' - Me?

I guess I'm going through the family now....I've been working more on creating some characters just so I can practice drawing people and you could say that this little girl is me. I was quite an awkward little girl, not girly girl, and not a tom boy but somewhere in between. I was all arms and legs and I suppose I was trying to draw myself in this picture looking a little awkward.

Nanny

Well I just couldn't draw my Bampi without drawing my Nanny!! She was a lovely nanny who used to fill me up with cups of tea, bread and jam and cakes after school everyday....much to my mother's dismay when I wouldn't eat dinner!!!

I just used the same mediums for this one, I'm not as happy with it as Bampi's picture but I think that's because she needs to be a bit plumper, but I thought I'd post it anyway as I enjoyed doing it!!

Illustration Friday - Shaky

This picture is inspired by a true story, only a moustache has been added to proctect the innocent.

My Bampi (Grandad) used to love to help us around the house if something needed fixing. Much to my mothers dismay when he decided he wanted to fix our washing line and we found him shimmying (not sure how to spell that) up the top trying to fix it. He was in his late 60s possibly 70 at the time, and looked very shaky at the top. Luckily he made it down safely and fixed the washing line.

I love my Bampi he was such a character.

This was painted in acrylic paint with coloured pencil on the top, I love this combination of materials as it seems to make the picture really pop!

Gift

This is a canvas that I have painted for a couple of friends of ours who have recently had a baby girl. I thought it might be nice for her bedroom. I'm quite pleased with it. I actually used textural acrylics for the coral. It is called 'sand stones'. I smoothed it onto the canvas with a palatte knife and then when it was dry I painted parts of it. It also sparkles in the light so I think was a good material to use for the coral. Anyway I hope that they like it!!!

Something different

I felt like doing something a little different today, most of my work is very bright and up beat so today I decided to do a sad picture, just to see if I could......