Saturday afternoon at home.

Saturday afternoon, making messes, having fun.  The abstract crazy piece up near the ceiling is collaboration with our left hands from a few days ago.  I'm trying to build Bee's confidence so she can have fun without getting frustrated. I got started on a watercolor while helping Bee with her embroidery. I really need some good watercolors. I hate the cheap kind. They don't have nearly enough pigment in them.

Me having fun with my digital.

How I love a sweetly shallow DOF.

Bee was sad to have to change her cast in the end.  When she first saw her white cast upon waking up from surgery, she freaked out.  She sobbed giant crocodile tears that came from the worst kind of disappointment imaginable.  She begged me to have them take it off, she begged the nurses and the Dr., but they just did not understand how much it meant to her to pick the color of her cast.

This is not a girl who loves pink.  The Dr. hasn't cared to ask her what color she prefers, which is pretty disappointing to us both.  She has a good attitude about it, though, considering.  (After I promised her I would do something *spectacular* on this one, too.)  I'm still thinking about how to go about using such a hot pink as a ground.  More on that tomorrow. 

Stitched Drawing

I've been working on my portfolio this weekend.  Half of it consists of this type of work.  I've taken it upon myself to undertake these heavily laborious projects for some reason.  It doesn't make sense, which is part of the appeal.  I suppose I've been wanting to do these types of pieces for awhile now, but have been afraid to commit myself to them.  Although I'm not sure about the end results, I appreciate how the process has altered the way my hand-eye coordination works.  My mark-making has become much more intuitive.  Color and dimension problems seem to work themselves out along the way.

Even if the final images aren't that interesting, I give myself an "A" for a valuable learning experience.  I could really go on and on with these.  I could go bigger.  I want to go bigger.  I wish I had more time, but I have to resolve things for a grade.  This has been the hardest part about working on an art degree.  I want to do more time-consuming projects.  Everything I do for school always feels like practice for the real thing.

I initially planned for this to be neutral regarding color, but just wasn't feeling it.  I'll try another neutral-colored piece next portfolio.  I've been trying to limit my color palette, but it's proven to be a more difficult challenge than I thought it would be.  I want to be able to use marks without color to create visual interest.  When I can do that successfully, I believe my work will be much stronger overall.

Beginning.

Almost finished.

Close-up.

Slightly neurotic, I know.  I better not forget to wash and iron it.  Also, it still needs some finishing touches.