50 Canvases in 2014: Make It Yours Challenge

Last week's challenge over on wonderstrange was to draw your favorite cartoon or comic character(s), but in your own style.

I did the PowerPuff girls,who shall reign with equal glory forever in the City of Townsville and the Kingdom of Amazing.  Here's my version:

There's a video of me painting the canvas right over here, if that's the kind of thing that winds your watch.  Or fights your bad guys.  Or spills your Chemical X.

50 Canvases in 2014: A Long Time Ago, in a Kitchen Far, Far Away

This week, I spent most of my time designing a new amigurumi crochet pattern for the Corpse Bride - as in, the title character from the Tim Burton film - and it was HARD, man! 

Corpse Bride in progress

It was so hard, in fact, that I'm still not finished - which is why my "canvas" for this week is a non-traditional one.

More specifically, my canvas this week is the front of a kitchen canister, which I am working on for my shop, and which I decided to paint up with a Star Wars theme.

 

When it's finished, the top strip will read "Hot Cross Buns" in a Star Wars-inspired font, because let's face it.  She is hot.  She is not very happy.  And she practically defines sidebuns.

50 Canvases in 2014: Word Up!

This week has been nuttier than an Almond-Pecan torte!  After my friend Nancy left, my BFF and business partner Sarah arrived, and I think it took me two full days to recover from all of the late nights and the extra glasses of wine.  (Incidentally, I am perfectly happy with the entire aging process except for that part.  What do you mean, four hours of sleep will turn me into a zombie?!  I'm indestructible!  I'm indefatigable!  I'm . . . oh, wait.  I'm 42.  Never mind.  Totally destructible.)

I did manage to do a canvas while Sarah was here, and it was the "word" challenge on wonderstrange - namely, to create a canvas inspired by a word that isn't "hope," "believe," "faith," or any other word you can find on scores of other work.

My word was "both," because that's something I really need to work on.  I can have a day that is BOTH productive AND frustrating.  I can have an experience that is BOTH rewarding AND disappointing.  I do not have to pick one or the other.  I can embrace both.

50 Canvases in 2014: Monochromatic

I didn't think I would have the chance to do a canvas this week, since I was hosting my friend Nancy, whom I have known since the third grade.  As it turned out, however, Nancy really wanted to sit in a comfy chair and veg as much as humanly possible, so we traded stories, marveled at each other's drama, and watched a lot of movies.  Like, I don't even want to tell you how many.  I think the people at the video store thought we were going into an underground bunker for a month.

While the movies played, at any rate, I painted an olive oil bottle (it's on wonderstrange, if you're curious), and I caught up a little on the wonderstrange 50 Canvases Challenge by completing the monochromatic canvas challenge that I missed a few weeks back.

While I was painting this, Nancy would periodically pause the movie and come over to tell me how brilliant it looked.  I have no illusions that I created a Monet or anything, but honestly, it is pretty darn nice to have someone come up and act like you're painting the Sistine Chapel every 30-40 minutes.  I highly recommend it and would consider sharing Nancy with you, except for the fact that I rarely get to see her myself.

50 Canvases in 2014: Robot!

This week's wonderstrange canvas challenge was deliciously simple: ROBOTS!  I fell asleep Wednesday night picturing a sexy robot in a boudoir pose on a chaise lounge, but when I woke up Thursday morning, I decided to ditch the chaise in favor of a standing pose and an alluring hat, which is sort of a fun juxtaposition of chastity (it's white, with a veil) and carnality (hey, robots have needs, too!).

Here are the progress pics, starting with a background that I decided right away would be monochromatic:

Wait! That's not monochromatic!

But after a coat of Soft Quinacridone red, it plays that way.

50 Canvases in 2014: Atypical Color Challenge

I am doing the wonderstrange 50 Canvases in 2014 challenge, and last week's prompt called for the use of a color palette you wouldn't normally pick - or at least, that's the way I (mis)remembered it.  As it turns out, the prompt was to use an established palette - that is, to pick a palette before beginning the canvas and stick with it, all the way to the end.  Whoops.  Good thing I did that, too!  I just did it with a color palette I wouldn't normally use.  Seriously, this is so far outside my comfort zone that you need a passport and a long conversation with a customs agent to get from one to the other.

Parlais vous pinky-purple?

Okay, to keep everything else simple simple, I decided to work on a 4x4 black canvas, and I made myself a pensive little alien.  I am pleased to report that I had a ball!

The flash really changes the way the colors look!

Before I painted the background, by the way, I Googled some images from the Hubble telescope.  The image I chose was associated with an article called, "Galaxy 'Spills Its Guts' in Space."  Who can resist a tell-all galaxy?!  Secrets of the Universe, come sit by me!

50 Canvases in 2014: Song Lyric Prompt

Last weekend, I saw Rhett Miller perform at Radio Radio, and he was super amazing and energetic and adorable, on top of which, he put his arm around me, which shows him to be a man of taste and discernment.  Or a man who was taking a picture with me.  WHATEVER.

Rhett.  You can also see my hair, but the rest of me didn't look so hot.  Hi hair!

Anyway, the whole experience got me extra fired up to paint a canvas for last week's wonderstrange 50 Canvases in 2014 challenge, which was to paint something inspired by a song lyric.  Of all Rhett's many brilliant lines, I chose these:

Happy.  Baby, I'm so happy.  Baby, I'm so.  I got my imaginary friends.

And if you don't love me, would you please pretend?

Here's a parade of progress pics for the mixed media canvas those lyrics inspired:

By the way, those dominoes-style numbers above her head?  They are 4 and 5 (which make 9) and 1 and 6 (which make 7).  Rhett is the lead singer of the Old 97s.  GET IT?  Yes.  Ahem.

Good night.