Sunday, May 13, 2012

Loretta Grayson

I feel like such a copycat...

I while ago I came across this pin. After clicking and clicking and clicking some more I endend up on Loretta Graysons blog.
All those colors made me sooooo happy... I also found her "tutorial", which show het process of creating her artworks. 

I originally wanted to create something similar with scrapbookpapers, but since my craftroom is such a mess (I'm not even close to finishing the reorganisation) and I didn't want to make a huge mess on our dinnertable, I decided to try out my Derwent pencils on canvas.
So I made a sketch and started coloring...

I blended every block with white spirit, so fill the canvas and make the colors more vibrant. I think I succeeded pretty well...

I did fill the trunk and the branches of the tree with black acrylic paint. First the whole thing with just black and after that dried, I applied different shades of grey.

When those layers dried I did the bark like Loretta does, with a very thin brush I made sort of circular patterns...
I'm still trying to figure out how I can create a bit of a grungy rim around the outside of the circle, without ruining the pencilwork.
I'm thinking of trying watercolor on a testpiece...
This week I need to buy some goldpaint for the "star"details.
I thought af adding the stars by glueing rhinestones on, but that'll probably be to much.
I'll be doing a combination of both...

So... Not the whole "artwork" is copied, but I still feel like a copycat...

Love, Caroline

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Out with the old, in with the... old?

If you've read my previous post, this one might seem strange...

Yesterday was Queensday here in Holland. A national holiday with all kinds of festivities. Sort of a tradition for me, is to scour the "Vrijmarkten" (thriftmarkets) for all kinds of secondhand goodies.
Since we moved to Almere, the scouring starts the evening before Queensday, because the thriftmarkets start at 6PM here.
Queensday itself was spent in Harderwijk, where I grew up and my mom still lives.

Hubby went to Amsterdam with a friend and I hung Joshua in the ringsling for my shopping trip. He fell asleep after about an hour of looking at everything. So many new impressions...



















This is what I scored:

Almere


















Harderwijk




















As you can probably guess, I am veeeery happy... Especially with the storehouse in the first picture and the vintage Acitivity Centre. They were such great finds!
(Most of the books (except for the Dick Bruna ones) are for the bookcrate at work)

Now I'm of to the couch for some crocheting-time...!

Love,

Caroline