Some Holiday Cheer ~

I have made a few holiday ornaments, all for different reasons.

The first was for a swap in a polymer clay group I belong to -- our ornament swaps are so much fun!  The members look forward to this event all year!

This one went out to RuthAnne (because Santa said she'd been a very GOOD girl!):

 (Santa's beard is real goat hair, from Alaskan goats.   If Jay is still in business, you can find this at Arctic Fantasy.  Maybe I can find a link....)

The next one went to a friend of my dear friend Sprite, because a woman she volunteers with at her local animal shelter lost all her holiday decorations (well, she lost everything, I guess) in Hurricane Sandy.  Sprite asked me to make something for her friend.  Sprite has done so very much for me over the years; this was the least I could do in return.  I chose a kitty because of the good work they both do for homeless animals.  The models were two of my own cats, Leo and Cole.  It's more Cole's facial shape, but Leo's coloring; they are brothers.)

Last, but not least, is a commission -- a companion piece to one I did a couple of years ago.  I had done some generic House Elves, like the ones from Harry Potter, but not specific characters.  One of those went to a friend of my buddy Jean, as a Christmas present.  I was asked to do another one this year, because he needed a girl companion!  I had already begun one as Winky,  an actual character from the Harry Potter books, omitted from the movies.  With Jean's permission, I used that and continued it.  Winky is a rather sad House Elf, having been dismissed by her employer, Barty Crouch.  She was given clothes, as a sign of her disgrace, and she must wear them.  Dumbledore gives her and her friend Dobby jobs at the Hogwarts kitchens,  as they could never again find employment with other wizarding families. But Winky falls apart -- weeping uncontrollably, and getting drunk on butterbeer (which affects elves very strongly).   She's a pathetic little creature!    
  

                                                                     
                                                                           ... and ...

It was so much fun to make her little hat!  Her eyes, unlike most of the facial ornaments I make, are "store-bought".  I purchased some inexpensive ones that cannot be used for polymer clay, so this one is made with air-dry clay (no baking, no temps higher than room temperature).  Winky is not really a favorite character of mine, but I've gotten quite fond of this ornament!

Bilbo?

Been working on this for a few days, off and on.  I can see some corrections/refinements to make, now that I have it in photo form.  It's from the dvd (blue ray) cover of The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey.   Black and Sanguine Conte on white Strathmore charcoal paper.  I'm still having issues getting photography to get the colors right, but this is the truest of all the photos I took.  Just think sanguine conte, and you'll have it about right.

                                                  
                                                   Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. 

Last of the September Challenge for 29 Faces

I've been working on this one for about four weeks, give or take a few days.  Since I have no models, I made this girl up, as I drew.  She seemed to want ethnic features, and I love the way light plays on dark skin, so I picked up the ball and ran with it.  Ran slowly, LOL.  I could have made it darker, but it's not an actual portrait, so I'm good with it the way it is; I like her.   I used my new Art Bars by Derwent, on Strathmore Watercolor (cold press)  paper.  Photo taken outdoors in natural, afternoon light.  This is the closest to the true colors and values of all the photos I took in different lights.  Sorry it was a tad crooked, LOL! 
Anyway, I didn't blog the others, having posted them on Facebook, in the group created for it.  I was still very busy with my gardens, and was not thrilled with most of the faces I made for the challenge, so I didn't redirect to my blog.  But this one -- I'm happy enough with her.

It occurs to me that I didn't post pics of the other shingle shake I worked on! 


It started out looking like this:  

Look at that potential!!!  Can't you just see a hundred possibilities?  (Just no possibility of being used to shingle the side of a house....)


Then it progressed to this:

I made a Harpy, a bird-woman from Greek mythology.  The word is still used to denote a shrewish, ill-tempered, sharp-tongued woman.    The lines are burned into the wood.

But I decided she needed just a bit more.........

 
I am now thinking she needs a touch of dimension and shine/moisture to the red.  Have not decided just how I shall execute this, so it must wait.  If I do anything truly significant to change this, I'll post; otherwise, I'll just leave it as being like this.



 

For a couple of weeks, I have been helping a friend prepare to reshingle her home, or a part of it, anyway.  She's using cedar shakes, which need to be primed and sealed first: that's my job!  Occasionally, some turn up useless, for one reason or another -- but they're artistically intriguing!  As "payment" for my work, I requested a couple of the reject shakes.  One had a knothole that was almost human-eye shaped.   With a wood-burning tool, and a bit of stain I found in the barn, this is what I made of that one.  I sketched approximately the same face, profile/reverse profile, on each side.  When I stained it, I gave in to a "wild hair" and reversed the stain, almost (but not exactly) like a negative.  Haven't wood-burned in many years, and painting with stain was more difficult than I'd expected.  But I did do something different from usual, and learned a bit along the way.  That's the important thing!

Thanks to the blue sky behind her, she has light blue eyes! 

I have another I'll be working on and posting, fairly soon!
 

I should like to state that I do not sell my artwork.  The sketches I've made were for practice only, and they have helped me learn a LOT about facial construction and expression. I have learned a great many things from doing these sketches, and would recommend the same thing to other artists who lack a live, human model to sketch from.  Having made them doesn't mean they are sales quality, nor that there is legal freedom to profit from them.  Besides, most of them are in bound sketchbooks and there are no plans to split up any groups.

Just sayin'......

We now return you to your regular programming.   Have a lovely day.

Hobbit sketches, two of the BAD guys!

Did two more sketches: some of the bad guys in The Hobbit.  There are several, you know!  Here are The Great Goblin (or, The Goblin King) and Azog the Defiler.

The Great Goblin, telling Thorin that "an old enemy" of his would pay well for his head.  
Nothing else, just a head. 

Azog is the "old enemy" of Thorin's, who Thorin assumed had died from the battle wound he gave Azog in the battle for Moria.  
Here, Azog is realizing that he will finally get a chance to wreak revenge upon the dwarf who cut off his arm!