I really liked the way this girl turned out, especially her dress. I like her skin tone much more also; it looked as if she is actually wearing pink tights with the dress, but I also noticed that her skin tone is too close to the color I made the dress. In the photo her dress is more of a cream color that blends in a lot with her surroundings, but I wanted it to stand out a little more. She is also in a lot of shadow, but I didn’t want to paint her that way. I think the background is much too light. I sharpened it up a lot in photoshop in the third picture here, but that is not how it looks. I am not sure what color to try and add into the background to bring her out more.

Any suggestions??? I need lots of help with this one!

Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug. 🙂

Hello my blogging friends! Here’s a couple of very old photos of my crazy kids.

I think I am done with “Wacky Wednesdays” and “Flower Fridays.” I thank you for the support of those two features on my blog in the last couple of months. However, as I have said before, I am not really an abstract artist, so the Wacky Wednesdays were just for some crazy fun. However, I do have some abstract ideas to do from some photos I took recently, so you’ll still see some in the future, just not the very near future.

One of my goals is to become better at portrait painting even though I have no live models to work from. I don’t have time to take a class, but I am just trying to work from photos. So I am currently working on the ballerinas I have found in books. However, I am changing their expressions and the backgrounds so they are not exact copies of the photos. I also found some photos from when my children were toddlers. I don’t know how they will feel about it if I feature them on here from way back when, but I really don’t think they’ll care. I ran across some of the cutest pictures of them recently that brought back a flood of memories from the years that were the most fun for me as their mom. Those were the years before they talked back, had huge temper tantrums, etc. as all kids do when they are growing up. Not to say as toddlers they didn’t have temper tantrums. But I never said they were going through the “terrible twos.” I despise that expresssion. I think two was one of my favorite ages for both of them. In fact I used to call them the “terriffic twos.”

Turning two is when most children are discovering so many new things all at once. Some are already talking like my son was, in full sentences, but my daughter was barely talking at all then. It wasn’t because she couldn’t; she just didn’t want to! She was somewhat shy which was fine, but only around strangers. She was an observer of all that was going on around her. She still is a great observer of her surroundings, and she is cautious in making friends. That’s why she has found a faithful few instead of trying to just have tons of so-called friends like some kids do. I think in this day and age people have many, many more acquaintances than true friends, but that’s a topic for another day.

My son, on the other hand, was just always talking up a storm. Even now when he is excited about something, we hear about it! He has a real gift for writing fiction which I hope will be what he is successful at someday. I enjoy them both so much now. My daughter is 16 and my son is 18. It is sometimes so hard to think of him as a young man, but he is. He has his own thoughts and ways of doing things as we all do.

So as you can see I am dealing with the years leading up to the “empty nest.” Frankly, I am more ready now than I was a year ago. I know he wants to get out on his own, but there’s lots of things he still has to do to prepare for that. I have no idea how long it will take, but I will say I already have plans for his empty room when he’s gone. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. What mother doesn’t make plans for an upcoming spare room in her imagination?

When I moved out the first time, my mom left my room the way it was, because she had a feeling I would be back in less than a year. Well, she was right. I would do the same with him, but I have a feeling with his determination, he will make sure he never has to move back home. I hope his determination takes him far in his life, too. It is one of his best qualities.

Anyway, as you may be able to see, I didn’t really have this blog post PLANNED. It is “off the cuff” as they say, but here it is. This is where I am at in my life. I haven’t been writing lately, because I just don’t have the energy. The last quarter of the school year always feels a little crazy to me, so…I do my art, 1) because I enjoy it, and 2) to stay sane.

Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂