Catch up

 Lovely afternoon tea with Mum last week. Fresh coffee, gorgeous spring flowers, and delicious belgium biscuits from 'The Village Bakehouse' on Waimairi Rd. Recommend!

 It's good to know someone is enjoying Louis' lunch...


I spent a couple of days painting last week (was watching my way through an old tv series, got a bit hooked, so just kept watching and painting...)

 These are first or second drafts of some illustrations for my children's book. Just learning how to use water colours. Practise practise practise.

This one is painted too now. I'll add the photo next time I post about illustrations. Today, being Painting Thursday, might have been the day to do some more, but I want to make some progress on a large painting, currently in acrylics but will possibly do oil layers later. It is a kind of Christchurch tribute, and will be a Christmas present to my parents.

Shame I've run out of episodes of 'Christy'. What shall I watch next? All of Downton Abbey again? Studio 60? I have had a hankering for You've Got Mail recently. The morning's been a bit of a write-off, and Louis could wake soon, so I'll wait till his afternoon nap, put on a movie, and set up the easel in the lounge.

To ink or not to ink?

I think I prefer them with ink. Now I just need to put this Louis in the picture with the trees. Is it cheating to do it on the computer?

Ah well, have to do it again anyway - there's that big blot under the big tree in the distance.

Watercolours

Finally had a go at water colours. Started off by inking a picture of a couple of trees. Recently started playing with a quill and ink I bought years ago. So I drew my outlines with that, and then added colour...

Sorta looks like a children's book illustration eh? Big ink blot in the middle, but hopefully, with practise I'll get better at the quill thing, and stop splattering spots of ink around as well.  I have a black spot on my middle finger, just like Jo March.

Next picked up my pencil sketch, the cover-in-progress of my children's book. Added colour, then inked after. Can't decide which works better because the pictures are so different.

Yes, another big ink blot... I like the dark, bold, ink lines on the jersey. Maybe next I'll try doing the basic outlines in ink, then adding colour, then going back over in ink to add detail and emphasis...

Bring on the experiments!

reporting back

I think it's going okay. Only one or two good head-donks. Nothing unusual there though!

And I managed to get my sketchbook out... and drawn on. Miracle.

A second draft of the (possible) cover for my (in progress) children's book. I'm thinking I'll ink it and then try my hand at water colours as that seems to be a popular medium for children's lit. I have a gorgeous set of water colour paints and they've barely been used... and never successfully.

Update on the babies: both asleep. Have been for almost an hour. Amazing.
And when they were both awake, they entertained one another. Amazing.
Wouldn't go quite so far as to say that it's easier with two, but perhaps that the whole is lesser than the sum of its parts. Does that make sense?

Going to sneak down the hall and check they're both still alive. Hopefully me knees don't click and the doors don't creak... would be such a shame to wake them.

experimenting with other people's children

Usually thursday is Painting Thursday, but paints are volatile enough with one baby crawling around and pulling himself up on the furniture, reaching for the paint water or pallette, knocking the easel feet around... Today I have two babies in the house! A friend is working - finishing of the work hours required for her qualification and trying to decide if continuing in a part time capacity is feasible with an infant... tough call! I have her darling little girl from 9-4ish. So perhaps, if the two babies sleep at the same time I'll get out the sketch pad.

Louis has been down for 2 hours now, and he could do another hour and a half, or wake any minute. Who knows? Maria is in the porta-cot in my bedroom, sporadically pitching a half-hearted cry down the hall at me, but sucking her fingers in between, and still lying on her back... sounds like going to sleep to me. So now's my chance! Bought a new (giant) sketch pad last week so I thought I'd sketch up some of my children's book illustrations. First, will finish coffee while it's hot, while I have the chance. Any second Louis could wake, and in doing so startle Maria out of her going-to-sleep... and I could lose all chance of 5 minutes to myself.

I'm thinking looking after two babies at once is probably a good idea before contemplating getting pregnant again. Certainly could be an interesting day.