In pieces

 

I'm pre-scheduling this post because I have a dentist in the morning. Oh, happy me! :) 

I have no fear of the dentist but I find it annoying. You know. The whole process. I don't do yearly check-ups. Who does that? I go when I'm in pain. :) And even then I wait until it really gets out of hand to actually call a dentist. 

It's just annoying to call just so she then schedules the appointment in a month or two. I'm ready to go right now, why do I have to wait? Well, if you complain that you're in pain, they get you in sooner but I usually don't. Cause I don't like complaining. That's a whole other post, believe me. :)

There's usually more wrong in your mouth than you thought and they only fix one tooth. Then they schedule you for another appointment in a month. Why? That is so annoying. Why don't they do the whole thing at once and be done with it. I get it if there's something in need of healing or they are "building" your teeth but not when there is just a hole to fix. Is it that much trouble to go to the next tooth? I don't mind. But they never ask me.

Oh, and I always cry in the dentist's chair. It's so funny. I just sit in it and my eyes start watering. I think it's something about the position I'm in. The whole half laying position, open mouth and bright light in your eyes. I'm not in pain but tears still flow. :)

The Butterfly Effect is in broken pieces this week. Go check it out. :)

In pieces

On the book page

water-soluble oil pastels over a pencil sketch.

I finally painted something other than an ATC. And it wasn't in my art journal. :) 

I've seen these faces on book pages on blogs for some time now. Lisa is the most inspiring one. :) Thanks Lisa! So, I finally gave it a go. 

Ok, this sounds like I've never done it before. I have. I like text as a background. I've done many ATC's with book page background and I've collaged book pages on the background. But I never actually drew in a book like this. 

I found this old school book for Slovene language and it opens so wide. Really. None of the other books open this wide. And the pages are bound not glued. I love this book. :)

I know my American friends celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday. Everybody is in a very thankful state of mind and I even considered writing a list of things I'm grateful for but I decided not to. I'm in a weird mood and it's very hard to be thankful when you know things are not as they should be. Well, I should at least try, right?!

I know I'm thankful for my blog and FB readers for your love and support. THANK YOU! So, I decided to offer FREE shipping for all my items in my Etsy store. Just enter " freeshipping " as a coupon code when you check out.:)

And I'm thankful for Amy's free on-line classes. :) It's true. It's so much fun to chat away while Amy does the hard work. :) She's teaching a portrait class today, Friday at 2 p.m. CST or 21:00 for most of Europe and you're all invited.

Linking to Paint Party Friday. 

On the book page

Coffee or tea?

COFFEE MUSTACHE

I was lost for inspiration for this week's Butterfly Effect theme Coffee or Tea. So, I Googled. And I found these photos.

(source)

Aren't they hilarious?! :)) I want that mug!

I don't consider myself a coffee drinker or a tea drinker. I used to drink tea in winter months to warm me up. And I love any kind of fruit tea. Green, black, white tea doesn't do it for me.

But I recently started drinking coffee on a regular basis. It's sort of a substitute for sweets. :) I add cinnamon to it and I love it.

Are you a tea drinker or a coffee drinker? What's your favorite?

Coffee or tea?

As it happens, it's a movie night

It's so funny! When I was doing that blogging every day in October, I didn't think I was gonna make it. But somehow I managed to find words to post every day. But since the start of November I'm struggling to write a single blog post. So, I'm going with random again.:)

* I'm planning to go see the latest movie from Twilight Saga tonight. If all the stars align just right to make it happen. It's something a couple of us friends have been doing since the first movie. Well, we've been going to the premiere but couldn't make it this time.

* I have these periods of time when I decide to watch movies and yesterday was one of those days. I watched Our Idiot Brother, The Art Of Getting By and I Don't Know How She Does It. I concluded all three were good watchable movies.

 * I also find that my taste in movies varies. It so depends in what mood I am when I see a movie. It can happen that a perfectly good movie sucks because I'm in a "different" mood.

* I also find that I don't get British humor. I mean, we all love Bridget Jones's Diary, right, but Monty Python is a required taste. I saw this movie The Guard which is totally fine but it's represented as a comedy. I do not find comedy in it.

* And to finish this randomness which happened to turn into a movie review :), I decided to see all of the Harry Potter movies. I haven't started yet and I can't promise I'll go all the way through with it but I'll give it a go. To see what all the hype is about. And no. I will not read the books. Movies are as far as I'll go.

Linking to the Artists in Blogland.

As it happens, it's a movie night

Manon's Dolls

  

I told you about Amy's free live video workshop before and last week it was Manon's first workshop. She showed us two different ways to do her adorable little dolls. I don't have markers so I did the first one with acrylics and india ink pens.

 

The second one is done with chock pastels. It's more smooth and I really enjoyed playing with it but I might have to try it with a bigger face cause it's hard to smudge with fingers. :) 

If you missed the live workshop, Amy recorded them all and you can find them here.(right sidebar)

You can catch another free live workshop tomorrow, saturday 19. November at 9 p.m. UK time. Click the ROOM to get in.

Linking to Paint Party Friday. 

Manon's Dolls

How to paint an ancient goddess

 

You could see my Greek goddesses on Friday so I decided to draw another Greek goddess for a tutorial over at The Butterfly Effect.

This is Iris. She is a messanger of the gods and the goddess of rainbow. She is also know as the goddess of sea and sky and is represented as supplying the clouds with the water needed to flood the world, consistent with her identification with the rainbow.

There are 8 steps to drawing an ancient goddess and 7 of them happen before you actually start to draw. :) If you want to know what they are, you know where to go.

Linking to the Artists in Blogland as well.

How to paint an ancient goddess

Goddesses

I was challenged again. :) To do Greek Goddesses this time. I chose Athena, Hera and Nike.

I love mythology and I always say to myself I'm gonna research the hell out of it. I wanna know all the gods and their relationships and the stories behind them. But I never do. Cause there's like gazillion of them! 

Is there like mythology for dummies? I don't want to read books like Iliad and Odyssey (I did though), I want "facts". You know. Mythological facts. :)))

Athena

In the meantime we have wiki. :) Athena is considered a protector of Athens and the goddess of war strategy hence the worrier outfit. She is also a goddess of wisdom, warfare, divine intelligence, and crafts. Take your pick. :) She is also a virgin. She never gets married or laid. Poor girl!

What's interesting is how she was born. Her parents are Zeus and Matis however Zeus, her father, was the one who "gave birth" to her. Only she came out of his head which is typical of men to mess up the process.

Hera

Hera was Zeus' sister which made her aunt to Athena. She is the goddess of women and marriage. Hera was known for her jealous and vengeful nature, most notably against Zeus's lovers and offspring, but also against mortals who crossed her. Her name means "the queen of the gods".

One of her symbols are Peacock feathers. If you're wondering how the Peacock got it's pattern it was Hera who took eyes from Argus and placed them there.

Nike

Nike is the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Her name actually means victory. We could call her Victoria. :)

She has wings but I don't know why. She supposedly flew around battlefields in a chariot rewarding the victors with glory and fame. Maybe the wings are just a shortcut in portraying her.

Do you have a favorite Goddess?

Linking to Paint Party Friday

Goddesses

Little Missy

 I'm introducing Little Missy to you today. :) She's cute, ain't she? :)

Well, I decided she will be my very first ACEO.

For those of you who are not familiar with these terms, ACEO - Art Cards, Editions and Originals is just a version of an ATC - Artist Trading Card but you can sell it.

ATC's are for trading only, ACEO's are for selling. Get it? There is no other difference. The only requirement is the size that must be 2,5"x3,5".

 Available on Etsy

The second Missy I already traded. I tried a new hairstyle and I liked it. :)

Valerie, do you recognize this? This is a mini easel I got from Valerie. The mini canvas that came along with it I haven't used yet but boy do I love the easel. Look! It's perfect for displaying ATC's. Or ACEO's in this case. :) Thanks again!

Little Missy

Kittens

Last week Amy had a live video workshop and she painted a cat. I haven't painted a blue cat in a while so I was inspired to play along.

I didn't do the fabric and the sewing thing cause that only happens in a parallel universe. For now. I might change my mind later on but for now the sewing machine stays with my mom. That's where it belongs. :)

Blue cat ala Amy

So, I painted kitties in my art journal. The first one looks more like Amy's. I wanted it to look like Amy's. Cause then when I go back and look at my journal when I'm old and stuff and I'll be able to remember when this blue cat happened.

Cause it doesn't look like my cat so I'll be wondering why did I paint it and where I got my inspiration and then it will hit me. It was Amy's workshop! Yeah!

Or I could just write it down cause it's suppose to be an art journal where you write shit down. I should probably do that and not rely on my memory too much. :)

Pumpkin cat

The second kitty doesn't look like my blue cat either. I have no idea why I painted it this way. I guess I was inspired by a pumpkin. That's where it got its belly. :)

I feel I need to explain the sewing thing. I can sew. My mom taught me when I was little cause she sewed all the time. I even took a class on sewing. I sewed myself some short pants with pockets and belt thing and stuff. I can sew!

But it frustrates me. I get nervous around the sewing machine. Just thinking about sewing gets my blood pressure up. Something always goes wrong or the thread is doing weird things and it upsets me.

Like when I do happen to sew something it takes me years to forget that feeling and to try something again. I have not yet forgotten so it will be some time.

Amy is giving away that cat she made during the workshop so I'm linking to The Butterfly Effect.

Linking to the Artists in Blogland as well.

Kittens

Cheeky Chicka

Hello peeps! 

It's time for Paint Party Friday.

I felt like painting big again so I made this piece on Halloween hence the halloweenie inspiration. :)

It's painted on a A2 size watercolor paper sketchbook. It says it's 16 1/2" x 23 1/2". And I feel very relaxed painting on/in it. 

As you can see I really don't bother being precise. Details annoy me. It really does make a difference the way I paint if it's on a canvas that I might sell or in a sketchbook that I know the piece is not going anywhere. 

There's a certain freedom to it. I don't mind screwing up, don't mind if the lines are not straight, don't mind if colors don't match, don't mind if paint ends up where it's not suppose to. Don't mind at all. I'm liking it. :)

What do/don't you like about your sketchbook? :)

Cheeky Chicka

Art and Music

First I'd like to thank everyone for coming to my Halloween Party on Monday. :) I so enjoyed visiting everyone and was so excited to see you all. :) I'll live the link tool open until Sunday so you can still link your after Halloween posts. :)

And secondly, thanks to everyone for commenting on my posts all through October. It was a Blogtoberfest challenge to blog every day. I had fun and enjoyed your visits very much. :)

Now back to the regular program. :) Art and Music is the theme for this week at The Butterfly Effect.

Nicola Toms is our very first guest poster. :) Go check out what she's got to say.

I followed her footsteps and decided to base my entry on music video as well. I have many favorite singers and bands and even more favorite songs. :) It was hard to narrow it down but I listened to Joss Stone after a long time and was inspired to do the bellow art journal spread.

Sorry for the cut off words. The journal is a bit bigger than my scanner so it didn't fit everything. It is based on three of my favorite Joss' songs.

 The first one is Joss in her video for the song Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now.

 The second is from her music video for Super Duper Love.

 

And the last one is Joss in my favorite car the VW Beetle with a song Don't Cha Wanna Ride.

And! Amy is having another live video workshop tomorrow Thursday at 2 pm CST. That would make 8 pm for most of Europe and 7 pm for UK and 6 am Friday for Melbourne, Australia.  It's so much fun you don't even know what you're all missing. Go HERE to join us tomorrow. She is recording them as well and you can get the links on the right sidebar on the first above workshop link.

Art and Music