Wishing you all a wonderful 2017

Enjoying the last day of the year painting faces.

She looks  a little forlorn as she says goodbye to 2016.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2017.

woyww -a bee post christmas

Belated christmas greetings to all woyww's.  Hope your day was joyous and shared with family and friends. 

We started the day with a christmas service, then unwrapped gifts, ate lots of delicious food, drank champagne and shared the odd christmas cracker joke.  All very quiet in our little family and I am sure the routine was repeated all over the world.  Once upon a time I used to take a family pic but, the family flee when they see me with a camera.  So what we have is the tree.

The good part of a quiet christmas ... I finally finished painting the bee. 

 There was a painful moment when I thought about chucking the bee in the bin and to start painting a cupcake. 

 But, Anna Mason reminds us to push through the ugly duckling stage and keep going until you have a hairy bee.

 And this one was hairy.  

Wishing you all a very Happy 2017.

woyww - card making

Finally making a few Xmas cards and using up lots of lovely snowflake die cuts from RosA.  Thanks so much RosA I have been hanging on to these until I had an idea.  Pinterest once again came to the rescue.

Happy with the end result for a couple of simple cards.  Have to move along and make a few more before Xmas is over.  

Have a lovely woyww visit.

woyww- bee moved over for the French Bulldog

French Bulldog puppy has replaced the bee over the weekend.  Painted in watercolour and no background at this stage.  

The original image by Arielle Tissier found on Pinterest and it is beautiful with splashes of turquoise paint in the background .  My background has a smudge on the right of his paw.  A result of trying to add a watermark and a poor attempt to digitally erase.  I take a photo in poor light and yet the smudge is crystal clear.  Go figure.

The bee is coming along and not causing any problems at this stage.   Can't wait to see how Anna Mason tackles the hairs on this little fellow.  

Have a great woyww.

woyww- Red Capped Robin

A bright and chirpy little robin.

A big thank you to ShazOZ for sending me the link for the Red-capped Robin (Petroica Goodenovii) native to Australia.

Pleased with the end result and now I am getting ready to paint a bee.

Slow visits to lots of desks over the weekend.

woyww - no birds only faces

The little robin from last week is sitting patiently on my desk watching me paint faces with "flowers in her hair"

Signed up for Toni Burt's online class and I am just playing around painting faces.

Two attempts so far.  Not really sure on the "flowers in the hair" touch.   But, I am happy with how the faces are coming along.

Have a happy woyww.

woyww - two little birds sitting on my desk

This months tutorial is a sweet european robin.  Started the sketch and then came to a stop thinking I should be painting a species of robin that is native to my part of the world.  Found a pic and of the south eastern robin and that was the last time I even looked at my desk.   Do I paint the drab little brown robin or the drab little red robin?

I do wish I had more to show this week :(

woyww - faces and a giraffe

The bee from last week has moved over to make room for the giraffe (original image from Pinterest). Painted at the request of DD and at some point I am painting someones cat.  Animals are bit of a stretch but happy to give them a go.  

The  Dina Wakely abstract painting class I attended on the weekend was sooooo out of my comfort zone.  But I gave it a go and this is what I have for show and tell.

The class certainly gave me an opportunity to appreciate what goes into abstract art.  Never again will I say "I could do that" because I cannot abstract.  

Have a happy woyww.

woyww- a flower needs a bee

Every flower needs a bee and that is what I am tracing for this weeks tutorial.  The original image from AM tutorial looks very detailed and complicated.  Just how I like it.

A quick snap of the finished magnolia from last week.  Promise to visit lots of desks over the weekend.

Have a lovely woyww.

woyww- magnolia blooms

This week I am painting a magnolia and have decided to stick to the "botanical style" white background.  Anna Mason's tutorial offers a sky blue background but, I prefer the simple clean style.  Have just realised that it will be one year next month that I signed up for the online tutorial class with the wonderful Anna Mason.

Thank you to all the lovely woyww's who leave such encouraging comments about my paintings. I almost feel guilty ..... The only reason my paintings are half decent is totally due to a fabulous tutor who teaches a painting technique that clicks with me.  I would love to paint freestyle watercolours and I have tried with lots of frustrating results.  

Looking back I can see how much I have learnt this year:

• Seeing the detail, hue/value in the object 
• sticking to the technique
• push myself and try hard tutorials
• join a lovely encouraging community to keep you at your desk on a Wednesday

Have a lovely week.

woyww- cherries and a bag on my other desk

A view of my other desk covered in bits and pieces as I get ready for a workshop in a couple of weeks.  Yes the sketch is strategically opened at a sketch.  I have signed up for a Dina Wakley  one day course on painting faces and abstract art.  Something different for me as it will be messy and not focused on detail.  I do like Dina's work and always good to do something out of my comfort zone.

Painted cherries from last week looking shiny and ready to eat.

Have a lovely woyww. 

woyww - fruit for a change

Cherries for a change of pace at this wednesday desk.

Agapanthus .... pleased with the depth and contrast.  

Painting on hold as I have come down with another virus.  

Happy woyww.

woyww - mixed bunch of flora

Painting an Agapanthus on Tuesday night and the light was better when I was painting.  Not back at my desk until Thursday.

The completed sweet pea from last week with my shadow adding a touch of realism.

Finally a  tattoo rose painted as a gift for DD's friend .....minus obscenities. (All credit to Victor-Octaviano image on Pinterest). DD not fussed on my botanicals and I don't swear so we came to a compromise.  The rose took an hour to paint unlike the botanicals....... days set aside to paint all the detail. Amazingly very relaxing.

Have a lovely woyww.

woyww-sweet pea

Photo taken late on Tuesday night but it will be pretty much the same on Wednesday.  The first stages of painting a sweet pea. Pretty and simple just how I like it.

The finished tiara from a couple of weeks ago.  Not able to visit other desks until the weekend .

Have a great woyww.

woyww - tiara

This woyww desk is almost ready to paint a tiara.  

On the left you can see the almost complete tracing/sketch with the original at the ready to check for details.  Sometimes I sketch and other times I trace from the original.  It all depends on how much time I have before painting.  (Image from Pinterest).  On the right are watercolour paints still in place from the fish I finished over the weekend.  There is some logic to my choice of subject and it is usually about painting different textures in water colour.  

Makes sense to me.

:o

Have a lovely woyww

Eastern Sea garfish

The eastern sea garfish on a late Sunday night.

Who would of thought scales are sooooo hard to paint.  

woyww -peonies in a bowl

Peonies in a china bowl is finished.  An exercise in patience and perseverance with a touch of "I'm sick of petals".  But, ultimately worth all the time and effort. All credit to Anna Mason for her wonderful tutorials.  DH continues to challenge me to paint a flower without following a tutorial.  My comeback is that I have learnt so much from being guided by an expert and for now that is OK.  

 Perhaps the next painting will be more freestyle.  Thinking of a fish as my thought process can be random.  But for now I am happy to sit back, learn and have a peek at what is happening on other creative desks.

Have a lovely woyw...

woyww - slow painting

 Painting peonies in a bowl looked like a good idea and I thought I would have a great pic for woyww.

 Reality is...... progress is slow and it may take weeks to finish at this rate.   Started adding highlights and lost my way last night.  Sought refuge in Pinterest for an hour or 2 and that has been the sum total of my week.   

But, I did paint a Flag iris while on holidays and now I really appreciate a simple flower with a couple of petals.  

Looking forward to having a peek of woyww desks over the weekend.

back at my desk

 Back from holidays and finding it hard to get motivated. So what you can see on my desk is the sketch and the paints but no painting action. 

 While on holidays I always try to paint something to remind me of that day.  In this case fruit as I love walking the streets and buying from the street vendors.  

 A room with a view  ummmm directly into someones room!

Finally a pic of kitty who doesn't even have the energy to reach out and play with her toy. So I wasted lots of time taking pics of her rolling around on the mat, which explains why I achieved so little this woyww. 

But I do plan to visit lots of desks over the coming days.

woyww - not a lot

 Not a lot on my desk this woyww as I pack up to go on a holiday.  But what I do have is a gift box all decorated ready for the parting gift.

A  21st card for a girl who likes shimmery pink.  

A sketch I did last holiday of my travel art kit.  

Have a lovely woyww and I plan to be back and have a peek at lots of desks in a week or 2.

woyww - a cute rodent and cards

 Last weeks rodent is now finished and sitting happily on my desk.  A big thank you to Lisa M and her gorgeous card which brightened up my week.

 A close up of the little fellow and I have to say I am pleased with the end result.

Final pic is the lovely ATC from Sylvia which arrived today just as I was getting ready to post for woyww.   Perfect timing and a big thank you to Sylvia and Lisa.

woyww -a mouse, card and atc

 On my desk this week is a stunning birthday card.  A big thank you RosA a gorgeous card.

 Two great ATC from Angela (L) and LLJ (R).  Thank you ladies my wonderful collection keeps growing.

 Last week I mentioned I found an extra couple of boxes of stuff ..... a trip to Ikea  sorted out the storage problem.  Best of all I now have a trolley which I can wheel to a choice of two desks.  The colour alone makes me happy.

Finally my mouse peeking through the blades of grass.  Planning to finish painting this little fellow by the weekend.   Pretty cute for a rodent.

Have a wonderfully crafty woyww.

woyww- sorting and hoarding

 The most wonderful collection of ATC's are on my desk this wednesday.  Starting from top L the beautiful felted/dumpfed ATC from Maxine.  Thank you :) Followed by Twiglet's gorgeous machine stitched flowers and Wipso's stunning landscape. Middle row, left is from Shaz and after the year she has gone through "Love Live Laugh" means so much.  Next is from Lisca and I am amazed at the intricate work she has completed for her first ATC. Bridget's sunny flower reminds me of beautiful Queensland. Bottom L Diana's amazing ATC, moi and Nikki C and her whimsical characters.  Love them all ... thank you.

 A pic of the other side of my craft room.  Desk all set up to sketch a field mouse which is June's tutorial.  Thought I had sorted all my goodies and pleased everything had fitted neatly into the ikea bookcase until I opened the wardrobe and found another couple of boxes!  Starting to think I am a hoarder.

Now that my craft room is rearranged I can look out onto the deck and a few trees.  Usually kitty sits on the railing screaming to be let in.  

Have a craft filled woyww.