In my mind's eye

You ever notice how your mental image of a particular animal is so much more beautiful than the thing itself?  I had this picture in my head of a beautiful stag, standing majestically in the forest, antlers held high and proud, the strong legs of this agile creature giving it the presence of motion and speed.  This was as close as I could come...

I think it's possible I've been jaded by Disney.

Order up!

Ta-dah!  As predicted, I got the 'Welcome' sign done and the first coat of urethane is drying.  Which means it won't be going to this first weekend of the Canterbury Faire, but it will make it to the second.

At least it's in the photo album now.

Tonight I deliver the horse special order!  I love seeing people's reactions!

Short on Time

Well I came out early finishing the special orders this past week, but not soon enough to get another sign made before our event this weekend.  I'm hoping to get a 'Welcome' sign done so I can at least scan it and put it in the photo album before we set off, but the urethane won't be done in time.  :(  It'll just have to go to the second weekend of Faire.

This is why I like to do special orders... Someone comes to you and says what they want, whether it be specific or general.  There is much less guess work and you have a solid direction to go.  When you're creating pieces to add to your stock, there is no specific client, so you have to pick and choose your subjects and hope they appeal to someone to turn it into a sale.  For the 'Welcome' sign I'm working on, I chose a large close-up of a daisy that will be burned lightly as a background, with the lettering done over the top bold and dark.  So far, so good.  Now how many people will it appeal to?

This isn't the first time I've done some flower pieces.  I've tried some other styles as well.

For this tulip I darkened the background to make the flower more three-dimensional.  For the daisy I'm working on, it'll be the standard style of a blank background.  I'm still debating whether or not I want to add some color to it...

Size Matters

You would not believe the difference in difficulty when you're doing a portrait that's got a 1" face as opposed to a 5" face!  I've done portraits before with all the little details, the wrinkles, the eyelashes, everything.  But to shrink that face down to less than 1/4 of that size makes every single little spot of color affect the outcome.  Paper thin lines make all the difference.  If you want your portraits to come out looking like the person you're portraying...  don't skimp on size!  Or else you're inviting a headache.

Oh, and it turned out great!  Pictures soon!

Yee-ha!

Special order done with days to spare!

Giddy-up!

The special order 13x16" horse is coming along!  It was harder than I thought to be productive on a national holiday, but I now have the front half of the horse completed!

I gotta say, the Canterbury Faire is really coming up fast!  I had this notion I'd be able to get more signs done to add to my stock - but I may have to just be happy with what I've got!  Let's hope the ones I do have bring in special orders.  :)

Holy crap, only 174 days left!

When you do an kind of art that takes lots of time you have to really plan ahead.  I just realized this morning that I need to start thinking about Christmas.  It would be nice if for at least the last couple of events I do this summer, and one in November, I could have some Christmassy things out.  Last year I gave an ornament to my brother-in-law and his wife...

I would love to get some more little things like this done.  But I think that to accomplish that, I have to have a break in my deluge of orders.  But I really like getting special orders... What's a girl to do?