Thursday, July 28, 2011

More whimsy. This time for the grown-up!

The last couple of months have been filled with art assignments - back to back to back!! This assignment was given to me by a dear friend's daughter, Rochelle Bussi Battista, whom I've known and loved since she was waist high. I used to make funny pictures for her mother (always of one of her family members going through some kind of drama) who would take them and have them framed immediately to hang in her guest bathroom. My very private art gallery! (chuckle) That was never my intention, but I guess I can assume she was my biggest fan. Bless her heart - they weren't that good!

This picture was done in graphite pencil, markers, and colored pencils. I actually gave myself a quick lesson on techniques of using colored pencils right in midstream by going quickly through a book that I've had on the shelf for probably 15 years and had never thoroughly read, Exploring Colored Pencil. It's an excellent resource by artist, Sandra McFall Angelo! I've been working in this medium for all of my freelancing life without the book - and there I was, as if cramming for a test, midway through the picture.... better late than never.

This picture was done as a gift for Rochelle's father-in-law's 70th birthday. She and I had lots of laughs brainstorming over what the content should be. She also emailed pictures of him along with photos of some of his memorabilia. The idea was to put things that are of the utmost importance to him - or that clearly are part of his personality in the picture. So that's what I did. She emailed me an organized list to go by - she was a great person to work with!
Vito was not happy turning the big 70, so I thought a smashed birthday cake would be an appropriate image for relaying that message.







Sunday, July 10, 2011

FROM EASEL TO WALL...

It was Laney's 1st birthday yesterday, and I've been working feverishly on getting her 30"x40" painting completed for the big day! From my original ambitious attempt to have it finished by her first Christmas, I kept stretching the date due to a truckload of interruptions. 

This past week I was determined to get it done, no matter what, and TA-DA ... it's now up on her wall — not that she even notices it — but someday she will, and hopefully she'll feel all the love that was put into it with her in mind.

Next come the lyrics that will be painted on it ASAP to make it complete:
 Say, say my playmate, come out and play with me
We'll have some lemonade beneath my apple tree
We'll ride my rainbow and dress our dollies 3
and we'll be best of friends
just you and me! 
Delaney East Harris and Susan East Masten Drawbaugh, aka "Mammy"




© 2011 Susan Drawbaugh, all rights reserved.