* Ayala Art. Paintings, ACEO and Mixed Media

Day 12, finished the lady

2012-02-12T17:37:00.000-08:00

I have been splashing a bit of paint here and there on the drawing I made for Day 4
At several stages I was going to give up and toss it away, but decided to just keep adding more layers of color and this morning it finally turned for the better.
I am still not happy that she doesn't want to look at me, (I love making the portrait look at the viewer right into the eye) but I guess that's the way she is. Her mind is in her art probably. I hope by now it shows that she is holding a paint brush ;oP
(acrylics, collage, on 4.5 x 6 watercolor paper)

And for today, my daughter has a mad cigarette fuming. Her oun campaign to show smokin is not good for you.

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Day 11 weekend hurry

2012-02-11T21:20:00.000-08:00

Well, spending most of the day out doesn't help much, but I really don't want to brake the challenge...
Even a little thing counts!
Out of my ongoing little girls ACEOs, I have this tiny character that seems I'm making all the time:

And the one from my daughter:

Gotta go now!

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Day 10, another doggy

2012-02-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

This is Burt. He went to heaven last December. But he lived a long and happy life, and now he will be remembered with this painting as well.

I can't believe I completely forgot last night when I started the background, and today to take pictures while painting! But that's what happens when I get too much into it, I don't think of cameras etc. So I don't have any in progress pics, but it is the same as in last post. I even used the same palette. Ochre, raw umber, white, blue and green, and red for the collar.
For some reason, pet's eyes are harder for me to do than humans.
The angle and proportions are a bit funky, but I think in general, it still resembles the little Chi dog?

And my kid's face of the day, inspired on a video of a weird song called Rocketship she saw in Futurama; a sock puppet martian....?

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Day 9, bunch of pictures

2012-02-09T18:56:00.000-08:00

For my face a day, I painted a dog. She is a very special dog that now lived in doggy heaven.I painted this for a dear friend who is missing her so much, after many years of companionship. I hope she likes it ♥
Acrylics on 11x14 canvas
(Tomorrow I am doing another doggy in heaven)

Also, a drawing from my daughter:(She doesn't really need one, but don't tell her I said that)

Keep reading after the brake so you can see work in progress pictures, and another drawing from my girl that I forgot to include yesterday :oP

My kid's face from yesterday:

And now my WIP's from today's painting:

Thank you SO VERY MUCH for visiting and playing with me in this challenge! I do read every comment, I just can't answer them all, but I do appreciate them all <3 <3 <3

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Day 8, pencil drawing

2012-02-08T13:18:00.000-08:00

For today, I have this portrait of Gotye. In case you don't know who he is, he is a Belgian-Australian musician who has replaced Rupert Penry-Jones in my book, just because he sings :o] Sorry Rupert.

14 x 17 vellum Bristol, sketch and wash graphite, and watercolor pencils in the eyes.
I didn't quite capture his beautiful eyes, but at least I think he looks like him... what do you think?
See his video below and tell me:

In case you have not seen this other viral video, let me show you this Canadian guys, they are awesome!

And now for a good laugh, see these German group, I thought it was hilarious, specially because in school I had a friend that sounded just like that XoD
I love the little old lady, she is the best.

Hope you had a good time visiting, see you soon!
PS I am so happy my little photo editor program is back ♥ :oP

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Day 7 drama

2012-02-07T23:10:00.000-08:00

So last night my husband updated the Office program, and it deleted my favorite photo editor! The one I have been using for ages. Great.... I spend hours trying to see what could be done. Then I gave up till the expert (my DH) could come to the rescue.
I spent hours uploading to Pinterest, and I know I have to do things differently, because after all my work, there's people that has not been uploaded.
(* I will need everyone interested to upload their own, send me a note to make you "contributor" in the boards. You don't need to do it if you don't like the idea or you are not in that site, no problem.)

So anyway, I had this photo editor drama, and so many hours doing stuff, that I didn't really work on my piece till late. And to stress me even better, Microsoft didn't want to get fix.
It is 10:50 pm, and just now I was able to crop my picture.
With more ado, here it is, in progress: (Acrylics on canvas, I posted this before, with less work on it)

Click to read more after the brake:

This one with a funky effect, more cheerful:

And finally, the one drawing my daughter made: (titled "ewww" ink on wrinkled paper. She is such a joker)

Good night now, my pillow is calling!

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Day 6 unfinished

2012-02-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

Hello! I am not done with this painting by far, but it's time to post! I still have to do the flowers, clothes, hair, shading etc... But here we go:

I made a crazy version on the photo editor just for fun

And this is my daughter's face of the day. Some kind of scary "me gusta" meme:

Now I will go and add all the new entries to Pinterest. I think I will open another folder, that one has like 100 pieces already! I'm not sure how many can be in a folder, any one knows?

Thanks a BUNCH! I am having such a great time with all your participation and epic art works!

Hugs!
P.S. note: Please make sure your verification code if you have it is working right, or cancel it for a while. I am told blogger has issues in many blogs (I guess servers?) and people can't post. I myself have not been able to post in some blogs because the window blocks it, but requires it... go figure!.

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Day 5 Outlined drawing and a funny hand

2012-02-05T16:39:00.000-08:00

My piece for today turned out looking like a zombie, so I took it to a photo editor and made it into an outlined drawing.

This is less scary than my first version :oP
Whenever I make a pencil drawing and shade it, it takes me a long time and the weekends are proving to be a bit difficult. Of course if I had no challenge I would have tons of free time right?

This is my daughter's "face". She surprises me all the time!

I guess a face is a face as long as it has the necessary elements!
Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow!
Hugs to everyone, I will be visiting soon to add you all to Pinterest

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Day 4 .....in a rush!

2012-02-04T12:34:00.000-08:00

I only managed a pencil sketch today, and I have one foot out the door. That's what happens when you wake up late :oS A lot of stuff going on here, but at least I managed. And that's one important thing, to make a tiny room for art everyday. Keeps you sane! (or keeps you crazy enough to deal with the world!)

The watermark is not where I wanted it, but no time to fix it now, maybe later agh!
I am posting here my daughter's as well, I have been posting them in FB

You can tell who her favorite model is ;o)
Have a good day, I'll see you all tomorrow! Will be adding to Pinterest on Monday

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Day 3, kind of abstract

2012-02-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

Hello!
If you are in a hurry (with so many great blogs to visit) here's my face for today:

Acrylics, wax crayons, ink on 11.5 x 9 watercolor paper

Is this your first visit? It's not too late to join 29 faces challenge! Add yourself to the linky in the top button.

If you want to see the WIP, keep reading...

This is how it started: I originally made an ACEO size of this guy, in a series (you probably remember older posts if you have been here before) SO I decided to make a larger version. I left it in ink for weeks, not feeling it, not sure what to do.
Then the muse visited, and I started to use the colors left over from the windy girl from last post. Just went with no rhyme or reason all around:

At this point this looks like you better get the gesso XoD but is is actually a nice undercoat, which I do usually darker, but see the results:

His skin looks very realistic, but I wanted to leave some of the first layer showing. I am very happy with the results. But he doesn't want to hear about it... he's in denial (^_^)

Thanks for stopping by!

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Face number two

2012-02-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

It is still wet, and it is just part of the whole painting, as I wanted to take the picture a bit closer.
I started this last night, and this morning it's almost done. I still want to add more highlights but since it is almost noon I'm posting now.

Yes, it gets windy around here lol
If you are in the challenge make sure you are in the linky if you have a blog, so people can see your work.
... And thanks for visiting!♥
Happy PPF too!

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First face and a trick

2012-02-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

Here's my face #1 of the challenge, 4x6 fresh from the desk:

Then I took it to the photo editor to make a mirror image and see what happened:

Wow... really unbalanced. We people don't have even faces, but a drawing looks better if it leans more towards the evenness of features, so I worked on it some details like the ears and eye, eyebrow...

Not looking for realism or perfection, but it is less irregular. If the style is abstracted of folk, then there is no problem with it. :o) Now, if I only knew where my kid left my kneaded eraser...

Click on the "29 faces" upper tab, to see more participants of this challenge all through February, see you tomorrow!

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29 faces, event in FB

2012-01-29T21:06:00.000-08:00

Hey there! Just a quick post to include the link to facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/AyalaArt

From there, you see the event. Everyone can join, but in case you can't click, for whatever reason, just contact me in that page so I see you and invite you.

For those new to blogging, here's the way to add a label:

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The video finally!

2012-01-27T22:09:00.000-08:00

I had a series of unfortunate events occurring, including too many people camping in my studio plus the computer and the program were mad at each other ;o) But finally I uploaded 2 painting videos. I had to split it in 2, for the time allowed in youtube.

Don't forget to get ready for the 29 faces challenge! It's 4 days away. Have your pencils, brushes, collage paper and all the goodies ready. Any size! ...and don't worry if you don't finish, no one is expecting the Monalisa! ;oD But it will bring you out of the blah zone.
Thanks for stopping by!

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29 faces challenge

2012-01-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

I love leap years! Since this year February has 29 days, I will be celebrating it doing something fun... do you want to join me?
29 faces in February! Why? Because we love to paint, sketch, illustrate and draw!
Any face... any medium, any size, any technique. 29 pieces total.

I have been thinking about how to run this, and I think the best way is to link in blogs, and also in Facebook, for those that like it there. I will be twitting as well.

I will add an easy way to grab the button to be part of it. Check the left column to find it. To take it to your blog just copy the text box there, and in your blog get a "html/java gadget" and paste the text there. That's it.

UPDATE: Post every face in your blog, every day in February, even if it is not finished, that's OK. Add a label to the post "29 faces" so all those posts will be gathered (when people click on that tag/label) Click in my "29 faces" tab in the upper menu, and follow instructions on how to add your link, so people click from here and see all your 29-faces-posts.

Now you have to be ready for February! Use all those art supplies!
*Just made a FB event, let me know if you want to be added there!

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Still at it

2012-01-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

I do work slow, but this time it's been taking me extra long, because I'm doing the video. And usually I have several paints going on, but I decided to only work on one (but I'm cheating, I have another in the making too sshhh!)

So here's is a detail of how things are going with the painting. She has hair now, and several more layers, but I'm not ready to show all of that just yet.

Workshop in the making :o)

To see more of the WIP click HERE
As for a "word for the year" I'm having problems settling with only one word. I like more like one word per month, and better yet, one a week!
But for now, "DO" is fine with me ♥

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She needs more

2012-01-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

Remember the last lady I painted in profile? She is gone. She turned into a dark blue night.

The new lady here needs more. First she needs hair, maybe some clothes? Definitely more layers of color and perhaps a party hat :o) In this second picture I corrected a few details like eyes and shoulders, but I am far from finished. I think I'm keeping the hat, I love the colors!

Every time I sit to paint, times zooms by.I need to think about her hair color. Not sure if she will have black, blond or red hair :o)

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Modonna painting

2012-01-09T22:27:00.000-08:00

I finished this Madonna, with her closed eyes and a golden sun. The texture is very pronounced. This is one of the first stages:

Although I made it darken with washes, there's still some flashes of bright wild color here and there, the scanned image looks brighter than the painting itself:

And a detail of the texture:

Thanks for visiting!

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Just a post

2012-01-06T10:40:00.000-08:00

My first blog post in 2012! I have not done much art in this school brake. I started a couple of things, but everyone moved into my studio! That's the bad part of having a clean organized room... everyone likes it.
So I have the computers and all the art stuff... plus a husband and his projects (on my freshly organizes table), the kids and their music and the occasional visit from the cat. I pretty much left the room :oP I shouldn't complain much because I love having them around, but my mojo and muse are scaredy cats... they just go hide and my creativity goes to stand-by.
I will come back after they go back to school and do my own mess. I have a video to finish, some paintings to work on and new paint to splash left and right, maybe brush on gently or dab here and there. (✿◠‿◠)

This is a piece I'm working on. Not what I expected at all, so it will change everything. Making profiles is always tricky! If things go my way, you will soon see a video of this painting reworked.

And a detail:

Happy Three Kings day for those that celebrate it. I have some yummy "Rosca" waiting for me.

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Last day of 2011

2011-12-31T22:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I was planning to write a fancy recap for my art year, and celebrate the last day of 2011 here on the blog, but what do you know... life had other plans. We had to go to the mechanics to check on the brakes and other mechanical surprises, and that took the whole day (and a fat bill of course!) Hours later after having lunch out, running a few errands and coming back home to do lots of laundry from the trip, all I wanted to do was watch one of my new movies (Did I mention my husband gave me a collection of the Jane Austen movies from the BBC?)
Just came to check on emails and such, to discover I sold an art card in my Etsy shop... that felt so good! The last day of the year. Thank you! ♥

May your new year be... Awesome, happy, artsy, fun, creative, exciting, positive, rich, blessed, productive, adventurous, fulfilling, enlightening, thrilling, and full of passion. Because after all, it is the year of the Dragon, fearless creature.
Here's to another year of friendship and art!

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San Simeon and La Cuesta Encantada

2011-12-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

Living in the desert, we take any chance to go to the coast and enjoy the fair weather, cool breeze and wonderful ocean smell. All the flowers and salty scents that seem to foat there. This year we finally went to Hearst Castle, in San Simeon, in La Cuesta Encantada (The Enchanted hill). Something I wanted to do for a long time, but I didn't want to deal with strollers or tired little kids. Now that the kids are older, they had fun, and enjoyed the trip as well.

What a place that is! 165 rooms, tons of art, sculptures and original architectural European elements, beautiful vistas, way over-the-board details, like the gold floor by the Roman pool... And gardens to die for. Specially if you are not in good shape, because there's tons of stairs to climb to go all through them ;o)
All in all, it took W.R. Hearst 28 years to build it, and it still was not finished. Which is understandable, since his original plan was to build two small cottages, and he kept adding to it.

We went to 2 tours and I strongly recommend the "Upper Suites" tour. I'm sure all the tours are fine, but I liked the first so much more than the other, though the Grand Rooms has a movie with all kinds of famous people of the time, visiting the castle in those years.
For their copyright reasons I can't post pictures of the insides, but you can check out some of the art HERE

After that we went to Cambria, a place I love. Walked in the beach, relaxed just listening to the waves, enjoyed the blessed feeling.... then came back home.
I will come back tomorrow to post my recap of 2011.
Thanks for visiting!

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Merry Christmas!

2011-12-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

I want to wish everyone a blessed Christmas.

May the Christmas season
fill your home with joy,
your heart with love
and your life with laughter.

Let the spirit of love gently fill our hearts and homes.
In this loveliest of seasons, whatever you celebrate this time of year,
may you find many reasons for happiness.

And for 2012: Health, money and love! (And time to enjoy it)

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Made a background!

2011-12-17T00:55:00.000-08:00

It took me forever and a half, but I made my own background. I like it a lot, but I am not sure I will keep it because I think there's too many things going on. Nevertheless, I am happy to finish it, even if it was at midnight!
It looks better in a wide screen. When I looked at it in the other monitor you can't even see the edges at all :oP

I used this image of a recent painting:

I probably will be playing with images to make a new banner, but that will be another day.
Good night, good morning... good weekend! (Can you believe Christmas it's only a week away!?)

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Palette and reworking a painting

2011-12-15T12:01:00.000-08:00

So.... I was not quite convinced with this lady, her hair kept bothering me, and although I wanted her kind of floating, all of a sudden her floatingness bothered me too.

I went, grabbed more paint and went at it with passion. Started with the background, then the hair. And I added a wing, and wrote on it, for a good measure (^_,^)

I am happy now!
This is a sample of the palette I used for this last step, but I did not have the first selection of colors to photograph.

Anyway, this is my post for the Palette and Paint blog, check it out HERE
Happy Paint Party Friday as well!

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Heart

2011-12-08T22:41:00.001-08:00

I had this little 4x4 canvas left on the side, undecided if I should leave her more ghostly, monochromatic. But I love color, so I added turquoise, purple and flesh tones.

It is more like my little girls I paint in ACEO size, but with a more realistic style.

See how she looked before HERE in an older post. Thanks for visiting!

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The background? ... The hair?

2011-12-07T12:36:00.001-08:00

There's a couple of changes in the painting but I have to say, I am still not feeling it. (-_-) I think I overworked it, and somehow, somewhere I took the wrong direction.
Here's with hair:

And here's with some changes in the background, and I worked on her mouth in a way that she is smiling:

The colors are sweet and dreamy, but there's something missing and I'm not sure what it is. Maybe the hair.
Well, I have more paintings to scan so I will be working on those.
Thanks for visiting!
OH! If you are in Pinterest, please say hello! http://pinterest.com/ayala_art

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Decisions...

2011-11-29T08:34:00.001-08:00

I have been playing around with this painting for a while. I usually let things sit for days if I get stuck, until the right feel comes to mind. So I printed it, and tried ideas to decide on how I want the hair on her.

These are rough sketches on wind blown hair. Initially the hair was going to be gathered in the back but I decided loose is better. The second one looks more like what I want, but it never hurts to play, right? I absolutely love painting people with acrylics.
There's more to be done on this painting, but for now that's where I'm at.

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Sunflower painting

2011-11-23T12:34:00.001-08:00

I like how this one turned out, lots of texture! I have been playing, mixing and experimenting to see what I like best, and I have to say, made a bit of a mess while at it, but it is a happy mess, the kind that leaves you with treasures like when you make a cake :oD

And here is a detail from the painting. I love the jewel tones here and there:

Have a very nice and blessed Thanks Giving, to my friends in the US

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T shirt!

2011-11-18T22:35:00.001-08:00

Yaay! I just finished designing a Tshirt for my spanking new zazzle shop!

Remember Dream Live by AyalaArt

It only comes in white. I have to design the one for black background yet. Took me forever but I'm very happy with it.I also added a mug!

Three Ladies Mug by AyalaArt

Tomorrow I will keep adding goodies to it.

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ACEO Auctions and a WIP

2011-11-16T08:02:00.001-08:00

I posted in fb but I know many friends are not there so I am adding the links here as well. These are lots of 4 and 5 cards!

HERE, and HERE and HERE Wish me luck!

I am opening a zazzle shop. I have it almost ready, and the coolest part is that I can upload images of paintings I am not really ready to part of. I find myself attached to some paintings more than others, does it happen to you? I love sharing my work, and the goal is to be able to sell it but sometimes I get too invested in a painting that I don't want to and won't list it :o)
I always recommend when people ask me about prices, to sell the work in an amount that won't make you cry if it sells. But at the same time, you have to scarify a bit, in order to get attention and gather more buyers. It's always a moving scale, isn't it? And sometimes it's also a matter of time. You still love the painting, but you are ready to sell it. It happens more often with dolls for me. It's terrible! lol

Well, time to say good bye for now and I leave you with this WIP:

The bottom part has collage with the word "important" but the scanner doesn't show it.

This is what I did for the week....Thanks for visiting friends from the PPF!

Time...

2011-11-15T08:12:00.001-08:00

Time is a funny thing. The days feel so slow, but then I turn around and a bunch have piled up on me without a post! :oP
My MIL's health got worse over the weekend and gave us a scare, but seems she is a bit better now.

I have been painting, and gathering goodies to list. Seems that it takes for ever just to put one listing together! Or am I just too picky? Not sure :o0
But in any case, I am listing items in ebay HERE and getting ready to do the same in Etsy

And for those that collect ACEOs keep and eye open, because I am listing sets of 4 or more cards by theme.
I realized that if I see some here, I don't feel like making more. Sales have been slow so that kind of clogs my painting mood. At least that's my theory :oS
So out with the ready, and on with the brushes! (isn't it how the saying goes?)

I have also received a couple of request for prints in other size than the original art. I am not sure what to do about it, since I am not much into prints, so I guess I will have to check on zazzle.
The guys incafepress made me mad by giving away my money I had earned, to some undisclosed charity, without telling me! Just because I did not spend or charge that money fast. So I closed that shop. I should be able to select what charity my money goes to and be notified before they will do that. Ugh.

And going back to art, here's what's on my table:

I rarely do such dark colors, and more than pensive she looks sad. My husband said she was haunted, even when I soften her eyes quite a bit before he looked at her lol
The scanner can't take the whole painting, so i will have to take a picture, but so far I'm happy with it :o)

11-11-11

2011-11-11T11:01:00.001-08:00

Once in a century...

We have a winner!

2011-11-10T12:07:00.000-08:00

Thank you so very much to all the people that participated in this giveaway!
I was going to make little cut papers and run the video, but I am short of time, so thank goodness for the Random Number Generator site.... Here we go!~

The winner is post #20, hastingshall2
Congrats! I will contact you to get your information and have this painting in the mail!

By the way, something funky happened in the follower box. I saw with my own little eyes that Faye was #400, she saw it too... then it wasn't...? Maybe someone un-joined (is there such a word??) and the numbers switched?
Well, in any case, she is the same person that won! I call that a lucky day!

Thanks Faye for joining this blog, nice to meet you and congrats!

Paint Giveaway!

2011-11-02T23:26:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Thanks for visiting! (PPF welcome!)

I have almost 400 blog followers! This is so exciting! To celebrate, I am having a giveaway!
An 8x10 inches oil painting of a girl, made by me, ready to be framed; with nice lavender tones in background..

What do you have to do...? (one, two, or as many options as you want to!)

*Post here that you want to participate.
*Share in your twitter and/or facebook (from the buttons under this post).
*Subscribe to my youtube channel, or tell more people about it, if you like my artsy videos.
*Post about it in your blog.
If you post about it any other way you can think of, come and tell me in a comment to add you again.

That's about 5 or 6 chances of winning! Each way you share, come and post again a comment to let me know, so your name is added a second or 3rd time or 4th time (✿◠‿◠)

The winner will be randomly selected and published on November 10th, in the evening, pacific time.

Thanks for stopping by, for making my "3 readers blog" grow, and I hope you all have fun!

If you came from PPF and just want to say hello, that's fine too. Just make sure you say "I want to participate in the giveaway" so your name is counted!

Update! Now they are 400!! yaaay! Faye is the 400th friend, just for that she will get a little surprise from me in the mail, ♥ ♥ ♥

Coupon Sale!

2011-10-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

I have a sale coupon! 40% off all Halloween art in this seccion of my shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AyalaArt?section_id=10638468

So if you collect Halloween all through the year, this is the chance to save. Mostly ACEO, one doll and post card size art.

Code HALLOW40

In other news, not so new, as you can see I decided to add some fun colors in the sides. I am happy with the way it looks. I have to say, it was easier than redecorating the house and move furniture!
I'm going to be painting for a while, before it's time to open the door 500 times to treat with candy goblins, witches, cats, dogs, robots, vampires and a variety of disguised humanoids.

Have fun and take care of all the little ones running out there tonight!

Blog tip, share buttons

2011-10-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

This text taken from the blogspot help files:
If you want to remove the +1 button without removing the other share buttons, you will need to edit your template code.

Before making any changes, back up your template: Design /Edit HTML /Download Full Template.

Then, on the Edit HTML page, check Expand widget templates, then find and remove the following code, then save your changes:

Your share buttons should now appear without the +1 button.

I am so happy to be able to get rid of it and it's too bright unmatching colors, I decided to post it as well for others that feel the same way :o)
The code was not showing well so I had to make an image of it to be able to post it right.

Working on the blog

2011-10-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on my blog, sorry if it shows all kinds of crazy postings! I had made a plan, but the tags were not right so I have been updating and I'm afraid it will show like new posts. Hopefully I am not flooding anyone's page :o)

Let me know what you think. This is always a work in progress :o)
I am not sure if I like the two columns yet. I am used to the three columns! And now it's a bit wider, so not sure if there will ever be room for a fancy background....

I'll admit it . . .

2011-10-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

Well, by now it is obvious that I have not ben running to paint. My capricious diva-ish muse went to take a brake, after the marathon of the last challenge.
Art is like that. Some days you are flooded with ideas, some other times you are not even in the same room as the paints and brushes. I actually have several ideas simmering in my mind, but for whatever reason I have not sat to paint them. Is that still creators block? Maybe not. Maybe is some kind of artistic procrastination? Or maybe just not enough of an itch to paint. I can't really pin point what it is.

My husband was gone a week (in which I did not sleep) then he took some days off (in which I hardly connected online, or did anything artsy) and although I absolutely love to have him around (It's the best thing in the world to me, not even second to chocolate) that pretty much took off the edge or balance of my very fickle muse. (Well, I did sculpt a polymer baby, and was shipped for a baby-tour).
Then there's the other thing, some funky problems within my extended family that are splashing a bit too close home, I won't bore you, but it can be draining...

I guess I could talk about it all day, and dissect the feelings for weeks. But that would not resolve a thing, so instead, I will grab my paint, brushes and camera. See what I come up with. I always tell my kids "it doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be done on time"

One hour later: I just finished the polymer baby visiting me, took pictures and will post about it in the other blog.
Ta ta for now and thanks for stopping by!

Treasures found

2011-10-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

DH took a couple of days off so I hardly been online :o) ....Or painted anything for that matter! LOL But having fun.
Few days ago, while digging for treasures in some forgotten boxes, I came upon a bunch of scrap-booking magazines. They are in perfect condition and I don't know what to do with them. I don't want to toss them in the recycling bin, but they are from like 2002 or something. They are very nice magazines with pretty pages.
I wonder if I should list them on ebay? Not sure.

In another box we had this cool drawing books from my kids. Those I know I could list.
I also took to the recycling bin bunch of stuff, and boxes as well, so I have more room in there. My philosophy is, if I can store it in a box for months and didn't miss it, I can very well donate/recycle/sell. I will be listing some angels that I was collecting, but decided to keep just the bigger pieces. I absolutely love wood carved angels, so if you like them too, keep an eye over here :o)
The thing is to remember at the right time to make the listing... or does that matter anymore? I have not listed on ebay for the longest time!

That's it for now, but here's a fun optical illusion. Funny isn't it?
I will see you soon, if your eyes are not all crossed :oP

Long week

2011-10-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

Well, I never really planned not to post for a week, but even when I was online, and I made some art, for whatever reason I never made it to click on "post" in the blog.
These past few days I actually worked on a polymer baby, the pictures on my doll blog.
DH was out of town on a business trip and that is stressing for me so I was a owl at night then a zombie next day. Every day. For a week. Yeah, I have circles under my eyes. :oP

That takes a toll on the creative part of the brain, definitely. I took this time to clean/throw/organize things that I hardly ever think of, like light fixtures, books, shelves. My next project has to be the kitchen. I have not been through all the shelves for ages literally. I have an aunt who used to clean them every month, along with her closets. Not me! Imagine all the treasures I will find hehehe

Anyway, this was not an artsy posting as you can see by now, but more like an update. But from my lack of sleep, I have the inspiration of painting about dreams :o) So lets see what I can come up with to post later.

A lot of people go with the seasons and holiday art... but I have to be inspired to do something. I admire those people that have everything ready for Christmas, way in August... Or have their Valentine's items ready in November.

And talking about of that.... I still have available the code for Fall! fall15off on every item in my shop.
Everything :oD http://www.etsy.com/shop/AyalaArt

I hope you have a nice rest of the weekend! For now, I will get ready to welcome my sweetheart home ♥

Birthday

2011-10-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a sweet day. It started since yesterday when my friend from Australia sent me good wishes ♥
Then today, after our family wished a happy day to my daughter and me (we share the day and the cake!) .....the computer wished me happy me too. I love that part of technology. Always on time :o)

Oh, and friends from PPF wished me a happy day early too, since Friday, thanks!!

We went to have lunch to one of my favorite places. Then a little shopping. We were going to go to the movies also but the line was long and I didn't feel like waiting, so we went for a little drive, then ice cream.

I'm still going to have cake, don't you doubt that for a second! I just won't have all the candles, I'm afraid to cause a fire now a days LOL :o)

Happy birthday to John Lennon, and to Annoying Orange as well.
And Thank YOU very much for visiting this little blog and make me smile with your comments.
HUGS!

Third video demo

2011-10-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's the last demo of the three ladies I've been working on. If you have not subscribed, go ahead and you will be notified of any new art videos I upload in youtube.

Thanks for your visit and have a wonderful weekend! I will be eating cake on Sunday, my B-day!
Happy PPF go visit the rest of the party HERE

Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

Wonderful quotes by Steve Jobs:

-"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do... If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on."

-"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

-"Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become."

-"Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new."

-"We're here to put a dent in the universe."

Steve Jobs. RIP

Update: Photo of a site that published this post in Daily Inspired (Thanks Jane Farmer)

I wasn't going to post today but...

2011-10-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

This isn't exactly about art, but still sort of related. I got an email notifying me some of my post were being published here. Two the same day! I thought it was cool and wanted to share. One of them is my post from yesterday :oP

I know... I said there was not going to be a post today, but I'm hooked now! :o)
See you tomorrow!

30th of 30 days of Art....

2011-10-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

Well, what do you know...? We are in the 30th day of 30! I didn't do much painting today, but I managed to do a bit of collage, a bit of editing in a video, and took a picture for the blog. Which by the way, I worked also on my blog remodeling and new buttons, coming up sometime after Oct 10th.
For the past few days I have been playing with all kinds stuff to incorporate to a mixed media painting. This project could end up being a tutorial video. But time -and editing- will tell :o)

For now, here's a photo of a work in progress. DH says I should stop right there... I want to keep going a bit more. We'll see at the end how it looks!

Work in progress Mixed Media Acrylic paint

Thanks for visiting! These 30 days to get your art on were awesome for the creativity point of view; it was a great wave of energy for me, but it was also a bit stressing with all the computer drama and other stuff, and feeling that I had to come and post, even if it was 10 pm like right now! So... you won't see me tomorrow! But I will be back with more to share! ♥

Oh wow... I have 389 blog friends! That's too close to 400. Sounds to me like it's time for another Giveaway!

Mermaid WIP 29th of 30 days of art

2011-10-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today was a weird day. We were going to do one thing, but we had to do another... and I the end, we did neither. I pretty much stayed home with a kid still getting better of a cold, and another with a bunch of homework, while my husband went to see his mom at the hospital. I didn't want to take a sick kid and make grandma feel even worse.

So anyway, I worked on a video that I will post next week, did a bunch of house work, and managed to kinda sorta begin to ink one of my mermaids. Her hair is coral... with ink her eye difference in size can be more noticeable.
Maybe with a different technique I feel more inclined with following this line. Ink and diluted acrylics are not calling me for this one piece in particular. (-'_'-)

I also worked in some "social media" buttons for my blog, like youtube, twitter, facebook, etc. I guess it's that time of year when I get itchy for changing things around, only that I don't have a lot of time for it right now, but it is in my mind :o) When I made the ones for my website, it took me forever, but hopefully this time around it will be easier.

Thanks for coming by!

Feel like spammer... and my 28th day of 30

2011-10-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

One of my plans is being more active in my videos again, and invite people to be part of it, if they are interested. I very rarely send bulk emails. And I just sent one. It was to a list of friends, not strangers but I still nevertheless, feel uncomfortable now :oP
I suppose I can put together a newsletter and have people decide if they want to sign up. Maybe that will remedy the spammy guilty feeling :o) One more thing for my "to do" list I guess.

The art part of this post consists of a series of sketches I made based on mermaids. I absolutely love mermaids, and in fact, they were one of my favorite things that I drew since I was a little girl.

I started these a while ago, but never got to the ink part of it, because I hesitated in the new character with one eye smaller than the other. I wanted to create something different than what I usually do, and at the moment I liked it, but then I thought.... maybe not so much. It would be, if anything, just a small series as opposed an ongoing theme or character, that I think is better, in the sense that you get to be known for "it", whatever "it" might be.
Which is another of my constant goals: to have some common thread in the style, or some main theme that will be recognizable, and not something so variable, random and hotchpotch that not even myself would know who made it lol :oD

That's the problem when you like doing too many things and too many styles I guess.
Have a good day!

PPF and 27th day of 30

2011-09-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

Getting close to the goal of 30 days! Hello PPF! I actually rushed to have this video ready to show for this party, I hope you like it! I am aiming to be more actively making videos, so you might like to subscribe to get them in your youtube page.

Remember. Woman with calla lilies

I hope you have fun visiting blogs! I know I do, for the whole week ♥
Thank you so very much for all your comments!

To see newer blog posts click HERE

Halloween ACEOs for the 26th day of 30

2011-09-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

I want to say, the best part of a challenge is to push the regular schedule and get out of the comfort zone. It's been close to a month for this 30 days of art, and I have enjoyed the challenge even with all the household and computer drama, because I felt a new wave of creativity in my mind.
I do not work fast, and I don't know how some people have a video ready each week, with all the complicated taping, editing and working.... so far I am in the second video, of the 3 I challenged myself to make. It is a very simple video, mind you. But will upload in youtube tomorrow.
The other thing to challenge besides painting daily, is adding them to Etsy...! so I listed 2 ACEO today that I painted a few days ago, click picture to see listing:

Funny Paper Bag Costume

Pumpkin Balloon

I think their little dresses turned out cute. I am not always happy with the dresses :o)

At the end of the challenge, I will go back to post every other day. I think that leaves the post with a bit more time of exposure, although some people get the post by email.
But definitely I need to list more, so I can paint more!
Thanks for visiting and see you soon ♥

Video, and 25th of 30 days of Art

2011-09-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

One of the paintings is done, and the video is up:

If you like it please rate thumbs up at the youtube site! :oD

Fail Monday , Better Tuesday, 24th of 30 of Art

2011-09-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I am glad yesterday is over. Some Mondays are like that. I was able to be online a couple of times for a couple of minutes but I had my poor baby sick, so I had gatorade in hand and a mission to make sure she would drink it. She grew another inch this past 2 days she was sick!
Today I send her to school since she had no fever but told her to call me if she didn't feel good. I am on call. And later this afternoon is my son's Senior pictures, so he better not get sick too! :o)

I painted yesterday but at the end of the day, didn't even post. Oh well. All it took was an intention to blog for 30 days in a row to have all kinds of calamities falling down on my head LOL I give up! There had been a bunch of times when I can do it, I come to post, I have the art, and nothing happens, but for whatever reason these past few weeks went nuts. :oP

I am actually working on a couple of videos, but not done taping, and it takes time to edit. But I have a scanned picture and here it is:

Still needs more shadowing but so far I like the eyes.
Thanks for visiting and for your comments :o)

The chicken story, WIP Art, and the 23rd day of 30

2011-09-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys! I thought I had posted about my long distance black chicken pet before, but I didn't!

Here we go: Months ago, probably close to a year now, going down the Avenue towards the Highway, I saw what looked like a very chunky crow, but in a closer look, it was a black chicken, running free down the road! We were laughing about it, wonder how it got there, and I "adopted" her as a long distance pet. She is my black chicken.
Some weeks it disappears and later on I see it again, eating by the curb. We even stopped once to try to catch it, but it runs too fast with her long legs, she is a funny silly thing.

We took pictures of it with the cell phone but are tiny. In the ways things go, the days I have the camera, the darn chicken is hidden from view, just the shadow or nothing... and the days I am busy or can't take a picture there she is sitting pretty by a bush LOL
There is also a kid fox in that same spot, but they seem to ignore each other. and like 300 squirrels that roam around that side of the fence. There's a canal on the other side, and an oil pump, so no one will be building anything.

There she is, ornery thing... hiding from my camera

Somewhere down the Highway there's a place where they sell eggs, chickies and feed, we think somehow it fell from a truck or maybe even ran away from the shop.

Now, moving to the Art part of the post, this is the other lady from the video:

Now please wish me luck, because my daughter seems to have the same thing my DH had.... poor baby :o(
She spent the day with fever, but the good thing is that she went to the fair already, if we had waited for today like I wanted, our plans would been ruined.

WIP, the Fair and 22nd day of 30

2011-09-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

This is one of the little paintings I had in the video, and is just in progress, Looking at it in the monitor I see some details I have to work on, like the eye, which is not visible when you look at it in person, but somehow, looking at an image on the monitor, or printed, even just turning it upside down, it helps to see proportions differently. If nothing else, holding it in front of a mirror helps a lot too. I am planning to do some fun stuff when all the colors are painted, but I will show it later, not telling what it is :o)

We went to the county fair today. Just my younger kid and I, since the guys were still under the weather, and thank goodness the weather was nice (for those in the north my weather was probably horridly hot, but for us in the south, it was better than out typical day in the 100s lol), because I really didn't want to go so early, but her friends were going at that time so.,. got my umbrella for a shade, and went to the 90+ degrees heat, armed with a bottle of water.
We had fun, and I of course went to all the crafts booths and the Art exhibit where they have at least coolers, because I was not going to survive a 6 hours walk in that weather ;oP
I wish I had taken my camera! I had the cell but the pictures are tiny.
We went to see all the pigs, sheep, cows (they had a baby calf 1 day old!) and the chickens. That reminded me of my "long distance" pet, a black chicken. I think I have talked about her before. It's a funny story:
Now I better post this before I run out of Saturday!

Running out of time for the 21th day of 30

2011-09-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

Today was a crazy busy day. (Not such a Paint Party Friday) Started around 1 AM with a sick husband (food poisoning, not my cooking though!) And continued with lat- for-school kids, a hair apptm gone wrong, running with wet hair to pick up a sick kid from school and then making a quick doctor visit because said kid couldn't see well in one eye. Have you ever heard of migraines in the eye??? I never in my life heard of such a thing, but that was the doctor said.
By the time I was getting out of that visit, it was time to get my younger kid, then food, homework, errands (to get more gatorade for the poor DH) run to the post office and by the time I turned around it was time for dinner, and frankly, art was not in my list of things to do, just in my mind. Sometimes that's all the juice you'll get from a day.

That said, I want to share an awesome video "one more thing, on more time" of one of the coolest people out there:

Click to see video 1mt1mt

His videos are not only motivational and inspiring, they are also artistic and funny. If at the end of the video you are not half in love with Josh, you need to take more vitamins! LOL (Check ALL his videos!)
Hope your Friday was better.... Have a beautiful and healthy weekend!

*You probably want to see newer posts if you come after Friday... I actually have art uploaded! :o) Click on the top banner and see what's up, Thanks for visiting!

20th day of 30... so fast?

2011-09-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that I am on day 20 of this challenge. Everything that can be going wrong, has been going wrong.... I think that has to be a new online Murphy's law or something :o}
From computer problems, to blog problems... to forgetting to post (We had the "back to school" night so I was in a hurry) then finally a day with no internet, because somehow one of the cables was pulled out of the thingie. Took me all day to figure, actually, I didn't figure it out, it was my husband. Probably the kids kicked it or pulled it accidentally, the thing is, I had no internet, but plenty of time to do stuff around.

For now I have the last of the Fall inspired ACEO:

Paper bag costume

Pumpkin balloon

I think these two are my favorite of this group. I am working on some videos, but it takes time to make them and edit them. If I finish that this century, I will post them :oP

Skeletons! 19th day of 30 days of Art

2011-09-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

Day of the Dead ACEO finished.
Skeletons do not like dogs, I'm sure you knew that, but just in case, this little guy has a sign ;oD
Click pic to see listings

And how could I spend a fall celebration without making a Frida ACEO?

I am posting this late, but I had no internet yesterday till very late, so here you go.

Witches ACEO and 18th day of 30

2011-09-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

Here are the couple of ACEO I finished today, two little witches! I wish I had purple boots. I already have the spiky black hat trimmed in purple cackle cackle!

Lollipop bat

Butterfly in the hat

Well, this is silly but I never clicked to post this. Oh well...

WIP ACEO and my 17th day of 30

2011-09-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

Art I made today, so exciting to me...

Why? because I can finally manage my ink pen again! My thumb is getting better; I can bend it to the front, but not yet to the back... I had to run and make some ACEO with Halloween and Dia de los Muertos Art :o)
I think the funniest card is the one with the paper bag costume heheh You can't tell yet, without the color, but I will show more tomorrow.

There was no posting yesterday, on Sunday. We spent the day driving to see my MIL in the hospital and it was a long drive both ways, 7 1/2 hrs. I hope she feels better soon, it is sad to live away and have a dear family member in the hospital :o/

I hope you had a beautiful Monday. I did.

Water Mixable Oils vs Acrylics and 16th day of 30

2011-09-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe today I start the second half of my 30 days of blogging daily of art... wow!

Today I want to talk about my personal experience with water mixable oils, vs Acrylics. If you have been with me for a while you are probably going to hear a repeat, since I have talked about it before in other online places.... But here we go:

Although I have doodled with art all my life, when I started to paint more "seriously", I was like many people undecided about which medium to go with or what substrate. I started with watercolors on paper. They are sweet and I love them, but that didn't fill up my hunger. So I quickly moved to oils because they are the "real thing".... right? The traditional, classic, real art.

Oils on canvas was the thing..... Only, it was way too stinky for me. I almost quit art right then and there, because there was no way I was going to be using that near my children. But then I was introduced to the water soluble oils about 10 years ago. I took a workshop, and loved them to pieces. I didn't try anything else for a long while, but the thing that bothered me was the time to dry. I don't always want to paint wet on wet, being afraid to mess up one particular corner that I like the way it looks, don't want to touch with a brush again and ruin my master piece (Isn't it always the current painting out most treasured master piece? hehe). (keep reading after the break)

But, waiting for a day for it to be dry was too long for me (for regular oils it's many days for it to be tacky) and if I added water the paint yes, would dry fast, but the colors were patchy and matte in some areas, since only the most oily parts are the typical satin finish of oils. That was no fun to discover. So it was all watered down, or no water at all, since I didn't like the patchy uneven finish. Until I started to use a medium to help the oils to dry. That made things better for me. I could paint, wait for it a couple of hours for it to be tacky enough for my next step, and still have the same even finish on the whole area.

Around that time I decided to paint on wood, and believe me, it is a very messy business to paint wood with oils, unless you hold them well to something and don't touch the sides.
I went ahead and took the little craft acrylics for some kids projects, and I really liked the fast drying time. But they were too flat, I was used to the more texture of oils, so flat was not very convincing to me, but by then I was very interested in acrylics. Sometime after that I took another workshop with an acrylic artist and had the awesome experience to work with Liquitex and Golden. The word that comes to mind is yummy!

The oh-too-fast drying paint is something I had to get used to, which started to be frustrating when I was layering a face, so naturally, the next step was the use of mediums to slow down the drying paint, and stretch the play time. I simply love the retarder additive, and the gel medium to help acrylics perform like oils; just as I love the mediums to accelerate the time for oils to dry faster.

As the technology has advanced on the acrylic paints and mediums, I can tell you, they lack nothing. They look beautiful, so versatile and can be as soft, real and classic as the oils.Acrylics can make you be more creative than oils in some regards, since you can do more things in the same amount of time and mix them with other elements that are hard if not impossible to mix with the oils.

I have been slowly dipping my toe in mixed media for the past couple of years while doing my dolls (which is another blog altogether!) And all I can say is: take your time and experiment. Play with new things. Take an art workshop if you can.

Don't go buy the whole collection of a brand. Get a couple of things (with your magical craft store coupon!) and see if you like it.... I can tell you right now, I like pastels but I do not like painting with them, and there's no way to know that until you try.

So in conclusion: Water soluble oils are not smelly, easy to use, and in some cases the color variety is better than the regular oils. The cleaning is easier, the finished look can be opaque or dull if mixed with too much water, or patchy if not mixed evenly. They can even perform like watercolors! Mediums and additives can help the impatient artist to accelerate dry time. They can be layered on top of acrylics. Overtime oils are not as stable and could crack if not painted on a suitable substrate, or not following "fat over lean". It still takes time -days or weeks- to dry completely so you need room for it to be untouched for a while.
You can save a brush with enough effort if you left paint on it for a week :oS

Acrylics can be as creamy as oils, are not smelly, clean up is easy; the fast dry time can be managed with mediums. They can have the look of oils; they can be mixed with any other element and medium like collage or oil pastels. It will crack if added on top of oils (That can ruin a piece or make it very interesting). They can be painted fat over fat, lean over fat, any substrate as their plasticity allows for it. They definitely can work like watercolors if diluted with enough water or mediums. It dries completely within minutes and can be stored or put away or be touched right after.
Good luck removing any of it from any brush you forgot to clean for a week! lol

I do not want to discourage anyone to use either, rather the opposite. I love both acrylics and water-soluble oils, I think each has a different and unique magic.

Thanks for visiting! I'd love to hear your opinion.

Paint Party Friday and 15th day of 30

2011-09-16T00:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome Paint Party Friday! Hello to my old friends, and great to meet new visitors. I hope you click around and find something to entertain you for a while, and make you feel like coming back '(-._,•)`

I have been working like a maniac! Isn't it funny how some times you are completely blocked, and all of a sudden the muses attack you? Well, my muses are in inspiration mode so I have been busy.

This is my current mixed media painting, which had started as a close up, didn't convince me so well, so after a few weeks I painted on top and the result has me feeling happier:

This is how it looked like before, as you can see, I pretty much changed everything. I wish I had remember to take a picture in progress of when I started the changes, but I didn't. I basically added texture and collage elements with matte medium and acrylics.

And a song so you feel happy.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful creative weekend!
when you are ready go to the rest of the Party

The Fall sale, the art and the 14th day of 30

2011-09-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hey there! I want to tell you about my fall sale in my Etsy shop! 15% off for every item, plus if you check, there are some pieces with free shipping! The code is Fall15off, so come take a look and see if there's something you like: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AyalaArt

I was told by a friend that reads the blog by mail, that the links on my side bar are not visible, there is no way to know of shop, auctions etc... Maybe, I should start posting them in the body of the actual blog, not the side bars.

I am also getting ready to post bigger pieces.

(Hours later....still not done with the post )
OK, I had to go out, run errands, deal with a couple of unexpected things. Ran out of time to actually do what I meant for today, then it was time for the kids to come home, braces appointments... stuff.
The good part is that we stopped for ice cream in the way back :o)

I will leave you with a WIP of a Madonna I'm painting:

No, I am not going to stop there heheeh

Day of the Dead ~ Dia de los Muertos. 13th day of 30

2011-09-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

I am running a paper doll challenge, everyone is invited. It is a very early Day of the Day/Dia de los Muertos celebration, and I am posting here because being it a hand made paper doll, I had to paint and it's turning out cute, if I may say that myself ;o)

Here's the doll, free had drawing on water color paper, then outlined in black. a Micron, Sharpie, or any waterproof pen can be used. I wanted a thick line, but a thin line could work too.

A coat of matte medium is good, but also gesso can work for more texture. In this case I din not want bulky texture. Color with watery acrylics, for a watercolor effect that won't get ruined by weather if moisten later. Or by an accidental drop of the whole container on the table, like I have done in the past :oP
Cut along, fix the outline where needed for a finished look.

Keep reading after the brake...

Put the parts together with tiny brads, and decorate. My happy skeleton has a sunflower, ribbons and bells!

Looks ready for a Fiesta, although the scan doesn't look as bright.
Well, have fun creating!

When to stop.... and 12th day of 30

2011-09-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

Out of the many different ways to start a painting, I follow two. One, by making my drawing of whatever I want to paint, and then add color. This way I know 90% of the time where I'm going and I have "room to wiggle" in the colors, texture and last minute elements added. But I know what it is, and pretty much, how it will look like. I like to do it that way.
The other way, is to make texture and a background, then paint something spontaneous, well, kind of spontaneous considering that I always want to paint a portrait! lol This order of painting is more free, a bit scary, and 90% I have no idea how it is going to look like at the end, or if I will just stare at it in shock after making a mess. why? Because of not knowing when to stop.

That's the tricky part. Learning when you have to stop.

I can work on the same piece for a LONG time. Last night my husband told me to stop at the point where I had basically just started a new one. Perhaps he's right. Coming from a more realistic style, it's really hard to go to abstracted art, which is something I want to try, even if it's not totally abstract art.

When I make my ACEO I typically do illustrations, I just have so much fun that way. I have several painted as well, with oils on canvas... but seems like they don't have many fans, as I still have them after I listed them :oS

Maybe it is time to make a video slide-show, if the paintings I had the time to photograph before the "next step" which is something I often forget :oP

And after many more steps and layers...

I guess depending on how abstracted we want the end result, is when we stop, one way to say it. Although in abstract paintings you can have a zillion layers and never know when to stop I guess `(o.O)'
What do you think?

Mondays, Pricing and 11th day of 30

2011-09-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

Today was a weird day. Started with my cat being sick and making a mess, which is never a fun thing... And continued with house work, and by the time I was ready to paint, it was almost time for the kids to come back from school. I still managed to sit and work, but a question that comes to mind of many, popped into my head: Pricing of our work.
How to price, how to have an atractive, yet fair price, and don't feel like we lost our best friend if it sells.
I have read articles, have come to my own decisions, and when I ask Etsy, all they tell you is to charge more.
I had once a person asking to lower a price. I have friends who have that happened too. One of them ended badly, since the buyer turned around and re-listed in ebay the work! :o(

To charge more, you really need to have a lot of demand, and still, it's always more incentive to start low and go up in an auction. At least that has been my experience. And to charge less is wrong, if you will end up with tears while shipping. There has to be a happy medium.

With this new way to search in Etsy, I have not figured yet WHO was benefited, because it certainly was not me! LOL My hits went slower, and that is never fun.
And I guess they know, otherwise they would have not come up with the coupon codes, rigth? That's my conclusion anyway :o)

Here's an image of some of the mixed media work I did today:

That's a detail in the corner, the rest is still too messy for words.
Oh, and for those who asked about my thumb... it's still not 100% fine, but getting there.
Darn spiders..... :o)

September 11th. 10 years later.

2011-09-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

10 years ago, it was a sunny morning for us in California. My younger one only 3 and watching TV. My friend called me to ask me if I heard of the accident in NY. She had just moved from there to TX and while we were on the phone the second plane crashed. We cried and cried. Nothing made sense. Not the action, not the reactions. And even when we were so far away, I still felt scared.

10 years later, with less freedom, less privacy, and rights, it still makes no sense to me.
Enjoy your day to the fullest.

Pineapple oil painting, 9th day of Art

2011-09-10T19:11:00.000-07:00

Feels more like a whole month with all this technical drama I had, but today is only the 9th day.
I am about done with this oil panting, but will still add a bit here and there.

This is actually a re-work. It's one of those that I was happy at the time, then I looked at it again and I didn't like it anymore, but I didn't know what to do to it. Destroying art is not my forte. Plus I like the pineapple :o) Although it feels right for others, I think each person has to do what feels right, but it is really hard for me. I rather repaint, re-work, or maybe give away to someone that likes the painting as it is, even if it's not "me" anymore. (I know, some people will irk at the thought)

This is how it was:

This is how it the transformation:

This the way it's looking so far:

And now, talking about puffy clouds, I bid you Adieu, because there's a bad thunderstorm and I don't want to fry my computer!

Back in the saddle again, 8th day of Art

2011-09-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

My computer is working again!! yaay! (running all over the room yelling, flailing arms) I spend a good part of the day trying to grab an image for my post in the old portable, and it was very close to impossible, because I took a picture kind of far, and the program there doesn't crop, so I was about to start clonking my head on the desk, until super man came to the rescue with a magical box, plugged some wired did some magic, and voila! I'm able to go back to my stuff.

Funny how a piece of metal with plastic can make us feel so happy :oP

OK, and onto the art!
Remember I mentioned a painting I had not included in the video? Here it is:

And a close up showing the yummy texture and tons of layering:

However, I still couldn't catch the "interference" with it's delicate shimmery sparkle on the wings. Maybe with outside light? I just didn't want to wait anymore. And just for the record: it's such a pleasure to be able to crop! LOL I'm on a roll baby!! \(ツ♥)/

I hope you enjoyed today's Art.Please let me know what you think!

You just have to love her (7th day of 30)

2011-09-08T18:34:00.000-07:00

I first met Deb Company sometime around 2004. In those days we were hanging in the ebay groups and laughing our heads off about silly postings and artsy stuff.
We have been in contact in different networks and no mater what she does, I try to keep my eye open for any video, any news because she is simply GREAT.
At the end, even if I did not paint, if I didn't do a single important thing that day, I still feel good, just because I heard a joke, a quote, or a whatever she posted.

I want to share this video with you, as my art post today. If you have seen it, you'll enjoy it again, and if you have not... you'll feel like you found a treasure.
You just have to love her!
Through the years, in couple of different occasions, I have received pretty mean comments about my work. Now, I can take a critique well, and like to hear an honest opinion; I can see how someone won't find my work pleasing to their eye... same as I don't like every single thing I see of art works, simply because we all have different taste, but to post online a semi-anonymous mean comment, that has no excuse... nevertheless, you just have to digest it, see if there's a base for the comment, or was it a random act of jerkness, and then move on. But it's in moments like that that you grow, believe it or not. If you learn to keep going.

See you tomorrow!

Drama and 6th day of 30

2011-09-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

As of today, I will call these series, the "30 day soap opera" Which consists of a determined nutty artsy woman, and her terrible bratty gadgets. Before showing you the art, let me tell you last night I received an email from Shelle, my friend in Australia, letting me know she could not access my blog due to a virus warning. I panicked and went to check, but it wasn't showing anything to me.
All I could think was: first the computer, then the programs, now the blog?? (o_0)

So I went to the blog forum and after hours (literally till this morning next day) I could find an answer.
Turns out a little twitter button I had in the side bar, came from a site that had been hacked. I deleted it, but don't worry, there was no chance for any visitors to catch a virus, unless they were to copy and use that particular twitter button, which hardly would be the case.... nevertheless it s gone!
And come to think of it, that's probably why Lorrie could not access my blog sometime ago!?

Who knows really... my antivirus never told me anything, so go figure.

Now as for the art part of this post: Since being in the laptop is such a pain in the neck, I have done the very basic online stuff, which turned out a very productive time actually. I have some images to share today, yaaay! I painted the other ACEO:

This is the way I was feeling last night lol

And finished the "Inspire" painting as well. Finished another painting that was not in the video (I will show it later) and started another. Hey, I even finished the laundry!

The colors don't look the same as in person.It's hard to work with what I have at this moment (you guys would laugh if I tell you all the circling-around I had to do just to get this images.... but 'tis part of the soap opera I guess.
See you tomorrow!

Battling techology and 5th day of 30

2011-09-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

One thing I have learned with this episode of my dead computer is that technology can be wonderful when is working, and an annoying nightmare when something goes wrong. You would think that everything is very much mix and match, but no, it isn't.

I have been battling this goofy programs, gadgets and computers that don't seem to like to work together.

I finally found a camera that can plug to the portable, just to find out the movie maker doesn't like that particular gadget because they don't speak the same format ugh!

So here I am experimenting to see if I can upload a tiny video directly into the blog. Hopefully it will work and will not be too heavy to open.

Of course that with no editing program, the video is raw and pretty much soundless hehehe

Oh well...

The whole purpose is to show the Frida ACEO I finished. My 5th day of 30 days of posting art:

I used water mixable oil pastels. I never used them before and in fact didn't even know about them till I saw them in the craft store.

They look velvety, you can water them to look like watercolors, very transparent, like in the skin area, or make them really thick like in the background.

I don't see myself getting addicted to them like with acrylics, but they are fun to work with.

Now lets see how this post behaves. I might have to do it again if I can't come up with something else before the part gets here and I have access to my usual ways.

I better keep this short. If it works they way it should, I will go and update the other post from yesterday the same way :o)

Please let me know if it takes a long time to open! Thanks!

Broken computer and 4th day of 30

2011-09-05T15:15:00.000-07:00

I was going to post one of the ACEO that are ready but to my dismay, my computer is not turning on...!! and ALL my pictures, scanner, blah-blah, etc are there so...... I'm lost. I have no idea what happened to it.
Right now I'm in the kids portable and I do not like it, but that's beside the point, even if I liked it, it still doesn't have my documents sniff-sniff (emotional violin music in background)

So well, here I am, in a picture-less blog post :oS. If later on, when my husband comes home, and if he's able to fix it.... I will post a picture.(after making him an extra delish dinner) If not, well, then I will update tomorrow. This sux! aghh!!! If nothing else, I could use my daughter's digital tablet with the pen-mouse, to draw, because not even the camera thingy will fit in this portable's port holes! :oP

Now, for the proper subject of the post, this is my 4th day of 30 days posting art. I finished the ACEO with the little bald guy holding his hand to his ear; I used a juicy blue/green fluid acrylic by Golden for the background, very dark. The rest is painted with watercolors in different flesh tones. I called it "At night I can hear the stars".

Oh! And yesterday I went to Michael's with my handy dandy 50% off coupon. Bought an awesome acrylic color called cobalt turquoise from Liquitex. It is beautiful and pricey... 16.99, compared to the other colors around 5.00 to 7.00 bucks. Don't be too surprised if you see lots of turquoise in my paintings heheh Actually, that is one of the colors I seem to use the most. Along with ochre, brick and purple.

Well guys, sorry for the lack of images today. I will make it up tomorrow, cross your fingers!

Update: Well, it's 8 pm. After testing several things, seems like the power supply (which is some mysterious box inside the pc) went dead, and it will have to be ordered, so shipping time etc... ugh! I will see a way to plug the camera into this thing or something. So frustrating :o(

Another update next day: So I was able to grab an image for this post, which is a tiny video. Better than nothing right? Here's the little guy. He will be listed as soon as my pc finishes having an spastic episode.

Bottled... 3rd day of 30

2011-09-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Better late than never!
This was supposed to be my "if" piece for the "bottled" word theme, about 5 months ago.:oP I have no idea what happened that made me stop, but it was probably a household mini drama. Life's like that, right?

As I showed yesterday in the video, I have some ACEO to finish and this one is the first to be done. What do you think? I like the green in the glass, and I left the eyes without a color on purpose, to make him feel more desolate and bottled. "If I could save time in a bottle..." comes to mind.

This is quite far from my usual style, but for whatever reason the IF theme cought my attention and this is the result. Here it is with more shades and deeper colors:

Click to see listing on Etsy

Have a nice Sunday!

Painting projects and 30 days of art...

2011-09-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a few things that I aim to finish withing the next few days. I have other pieces I want to work on, but they were too big to fit in the space where I had set my camera... I will post them soon.

This is my second day into the "30 days to get your art on" project:

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Long weekend in the US.
See you tomorrow!

eeekkk! September! 30 Days of Get Your Art On

2011-09-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Time keeps on slipping into the future. Hold on, isn't that a song? OK, Never mind hehehe

This is one of those long posts.... so sit comfy. I want to tell you about:

*Being relevant in Etsy.
*30 days of posting.
*The OWOA (Our World Our Art) event .

Here we go...You know, with all this changes in Etsy, the "relevant" new way of searching and be found... we all have to remember to have the right TAGS, the best TITLE in our listings and the first few words in the actual text of the listing, 160 characters which will show up in a google search.

Keep reading...

In this image above you can see 3 of my ACEO. 2 are on top because I just listed them. The 3rd one is actually "first" of mine to be relevant for this search, and I know, because the top row is "recent" and the rest are older, which shows my newest listed at the bottom of the page, and my other new one is on the second page, which means is not as relevant, even if listed withing hours of the other one.
Simply because the words are not in the right order in the title and tags. The body of listing first few words will show up in a google search, so preferable, they should be related as well.

Make sure you say ACEO or Painting, Doll, or whatever the main item you are listing in the title, tags and or body of the listing.
Sounds redundant and maybe silly, but I myself found to my shock, that I was missing the words in the right place. It's really easy to assume that everyone knows just by the image, but we are talking about new buyers that don't know you. Will they find you?

At the same time, at the end of the day, if we ALL are relevant... are we ALL going to show up stuffed in the first search result??? heheheh Nop, it will come down to newer listings.
There's a menu to the top right, see image (if they have not moved it again) where you can select "lower price, highest price or newest listings)

I hope I didn't confuse you even better.

Now, to my second topic:
30 days of posting see HERE for the challenge 30 Days of Get Your Art On to blog for 30 days. It was to start in September but I will be late for one day. At the end of it all, you will either love me or be totally sick of me LOL Hopefully you all will stick around! ♥ ♥ ♥

And on to the third topic:
The beautiful One World One Heart blog event, has been transformed into OWOA (Our World Our Art).
The main difference is that now only people with art blog s will be part of it. No matter what type of art or craft, but no other kind of blog is part of this. Why? because many people with completely unrelated and almost non existent blogs hoped on board and is not fair that some people have a lot of effort in their blogs and art/craft and some random person runs copy/pasting with a blog (3 post only) talking about rodents in some foreign land. hehehe Some didn't even have a gift, they just wanted to take what they could.
Now it promises to be a richer experience, with a better chance to meet friends with same interests.

I can't wait! Not a day to start yet, but Lisa says sometime in January, or beginnings of February, so be ready!
(Updated this post to include a link to her blog)

Consider this my first of 30 posts! (`-_•')

Day of the Dead ghost girl

2011-08-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

I usually paint with a bunch of colors, at least 4 colors just in the eye alone :o) But Tamara from Willowing, in her youtube video had a challenge about a limited pallet and since I had just rediscovered some 4x4 canvases I had packed away (me and my mad organizing sessions lol) it was the perfect chance to paint something quick and with not too much detail like my ACEO since my thumb is not too happy to participate yet.

Here's my little ghost with a heart girl:

I like how ghostly she looks, but then again, I could just keep going!
My goal today is working on wood, another of the treasures I found in the same box. I feel like Christmas, I'm telling you! XoD
Why do the muses hit me when my thumb is still sore? I got rid of the brace because it was driving me nuts! So far I'm managing. I even made a little video for the doll blog if you want to see it HERE and that is the last of the dolls and team projects I had for this year. wow.... I don't think I will be getting on so many teams at the same time! But I enjoyed it for the most part :o)

Have a nice, colorful, creative day!

oil painting Day of the Dead

2011-08-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

What do you think? I think I am done. I could keep going but I will stop at this point :o)
The hair is different of what I am used to in oils. And Iwas still thinking of doing the Frida Kahlo uni-brow...

The colors are a bit off in my monitor anyway. She is not as pink in person. I love polka dots :o)

Day of the Dead WIP and tip

2011-08-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

More pictures of the painting I am re-working on:

Painting Tip: When you are not sure about what to add, and unsure about how it is going to look, take a picture and printer. I have card stock to do so and be able to paint on it (which regular print paper does not always allow. WIth oils, I really don't like to mess up wet on wet, and wait...So it is helpful to see before hand.

Option A, option B... Option C?

And since I was going with the blue oils, I started to splash another piece... But that's another post :o)

We have a winner! ! !

2011-08-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

Congrats to the winner! I made a video, and the music goes perfect with the agility of my hand right now lol
Thank you all! You made this anniversary a lot of fun!

.... So, who won!??

Day of the dead/ Dia de los Muertos Art

2011-08-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

I like the more whimsical side of "DoD" art. I don't like grotesque or scary images, but for this season of fall, harvest, celebration of ghosts, spirits and the dead... I like the cute skeletons, which of course I love to mix with a spun-full of Frida Kahlo flavor!
This is the one painting I have been working on, slowly, as my hand doesn't allow for much this week.

It was hard to start painting on it but I had an idea in my mind to do a Day of the Dead painting, after finding an image in my files of an old painting I made years ago:

Sold

And the original painting if you remember that I posted about it some months ago HERE. So this is what I came up with:. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture before painting the eyes, it looked so crazy with the old shapes there! :oP

Still working on it!

I wish I could make a video of my painting in action, but I don't have a place for the tripod or a good angle in that room. I will figure something to be able to do it.

To be continued....

No idea how to call this post. . . .

2011-08-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

I have a few updates, a reminder and some news. New news and old news, that is...

As for updating, well, I finally and "with a little help of my friends", changed the name in my art page in facebook. When you click on it, confetti will fall all over your room, and firecrackewrs will go in the sky. OK, maybe not, but sounded fun, right? Nevermind. So now the URL is this:

http://www.facebook.com/AyalaArt

No longer will have the long string of numbers after the name, and I didn't include the "Dolls" part just to make it easier. Thanks Diane Clancy and Cris Melo, fabulous artists and wonderful people.

The reminder part of this post: There's still time to participate in my blog giveaway! yaay! Click HERE for the original post, I will be selecting a participant to win one of my paintings, the picture is there too :o)

My new news is that I re worked on a canvas that had me wishing to do something to it for a long time, but I have been so in love with my acrylics, that I had not touched my oils for a long time. I finally went for it and this is where I am in that painting: Color is richer, more painterly and movement in the brush strokes

WIP re-worked

It was like this, the background a bit pale and at the time I wanted to make the image with less detail and shadows, but I was not happy. She was also missing the big uni-brow :oP

Old look

I will work on more shadowing next, and highlighting the leaves. (ツ♥)

Now for the old news. Well, some of you know (Can't remember if I posted here or in the group) but I hurt my thumb weeks ago. ugh. And I hurt it again. AGH! So as in yesterday, actually the night before, I am sporting a hideous bulky thumb stabilizer. Fun Fun Fun not!

At least I can type :o] Which gave me time to list in Etsy, like Halloween and Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos art

Thanks for visiting and have an awesome creative day!

Working on a commission: Done!

2011-08-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the finished commissioned painting. I am very happy the way it turned out

Unfortunately the colors are not exactly as in person. Try as I did and still I couldn't catch the right way, but it looks very nice in person.

Blog Anniversary Giveaway!

2011-08-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, can you believe it's been 6 years of blogging now?? I can't. Seems like it just went too fast! I want to thank all the wonderful people that come and visit my little blog, that have become friends in the distance, and that have been letting me share a bit of me and the things I like to do most, which is playing with paints and clay.

♥Thank you!☺♥

To celebrate I want to have a giveaway. A pretty paint on wood made by me, will go to one lucky winner from anywhere in the world!

Guidelines:
* You have to be a follower of this blog.

* Any friend from any country can participate. You can do one, or 2 or all of the following:

* Post a comment on this post, and that will be 1 chance to be a winner
...or
* Like" my facebook page HERE and that's a 2nd chance to be a winner(post again to let me know)
...or
* Subscribe to my youtube channel HERE for a 3rd chance to win (and come back to tell me here!)
...or
* Blog about it, and that will be a 4th chance! (Come and post it too)

** If you blog about it and more people come to visit, even if you were not the winner, I will select a second name (from the bloggers list) and will send you an ACEO card :o)
Giveaway will run from tomorrow right now till August 21st, sometime around noon pacific time.

If you want to copy and use this little icon for your blog, you are welcome to it:

How about that?
Oh... I almost forgot the image of the painting!
Here it is.....

6x12 inches

Good luck everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

UPDATE: Thanks for all your posts! Make sure there's a way for me to contact you back! There are some members that do not show a blog or a way to contact them if they win!

Working on a commission

2011-08-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

Time is funny... some days it goes just too slow, like dripping amber from a tree. And some other days you blink and a whole week has passed. Wonder why's that? Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

I have been working on a commissioned painting. This is a little detail of the background:

It looks a bit lighter in person, but then again, all monitors show images a little different. I am very happy with the texture and the colors. There's a whole family in the painting so i have been busy with my paint brush.

And there's my blog anniversary coming up! Keep an eye open, I will be having a Painting Giveaway!

One done, one still in the making

2011-07-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

I finally scanned this recent work. This is a 6x4 mixed media on bristol board. I'm inclined to call it "Not as lonely" because he has his little cricket in the hand. (update: I listed it HERE )

And here's soem detail of the texture, I'm very happy with it.

I'd like to hear any comments on it. Hope you have a very nice day!
P.S. I hope I can finish and scan my "IF" piece so I can enter it in the IF blog! The word is "obsession" and I want to enter a Frida ACEO for it (my obsession and her obsessions!) [•._,•]

Little how-to picture tutorial

2011-07-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hi there. A friend needed to see how to post a video in the blog, and I made this little how-to images and decided to share with all, in case anyone needs it.
Here you go: (Click to enlarge image)

Second step:

Are the instructions clear? Let me know!

Cleaning, reorganizing (again!) and letting go

2011-07-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

You would think that by having the kids (and their errands) out of school, one would have more time to do art. But is not the case. Never is. My schedule (and household) is messed up, crazy and upside down. I know I am not the only one so guess find comfort in numbers right? I like to box, to put behind doors and inside drawers etc all the stuff in neat little groups.
Well, everything is poured everywhere. 3 people against me LOL (I won't even mention the pets. They are a whole other post altogether....)

So, in my effort to be able to control chaos and claim back some territory, have been reorganizing at least MY stuff. Well, I already went through their closets to donate all the clothing and gadgets they are not able or willing to use again. ☺

Now, slowly, I am listing crafty goodies HERE starting all at 99 cents. Call it separation anxiety, but I just can't go and take artsy/craftsy items in a box to be left abandoned at the donation center. I have to see that it goes to someone that really wants it and ship it to them. ♥

You can expect to see paper goods, cloth, yarn, polymer, wood, even fur and feathers! Heck I'm ready to put the dog and the cat there too LOL
I will list older work as well, so keep an eye and wish me luck!

Last night we were still at 93F / 33C hot weather at 9 PM, goodness gracious. How's your summer going so far?

Anniversary

2011-07-18T22:35:00.000-07:00

We celebrated today 19 years together. 19 interesting, full, wonderful years together. I thank God everyday for letting me share my life with this man with all the ups and downs. It takes a brave guy to eat what I cook for all this time, and sharing the kitchen (and every other room) with art projects and crafty junk in every corner ♥

[image]

Time sure goes fast ☺

Results of Giveaway!

2011-07-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

I decided to have 2 winners... here are the results:

Took me all day to make this video, between one thing and the next, but it is still the 15th as promised! ['._,']
Thanks for participating!
P.S. I do not like to hear my voice on a video!

Owies and news

2011-07-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

This past week I hurt my right thumb when trying to smash a spider between a book and the ceiling. °u° Stoopid, I know. Then my left index nail was bent backwards when I was scratching something sticky. Ouch.

So far I was able to type a few words in twitter or FB. But I'm better now

On to the news! It's easier to swing a paint brush than typing so I've been painting. I am very close to finish this piece and I better hurry, because this painting is going to the "Trees for life" exhibition in Scotland! yaay! I am donating this 6x9 (16 x 23 cm), plus 3 smaller ones for a fundraising where 100% of the sales go to the award winning Scottish charity Trees for Life. If you want more info click HERE

I painted many layers in the background until I finally liked it. I thought it was too busy and you could not see the girl! :o)

ACEO Giveaway!

2011-07-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

Hey there! I have a cool giveaway: 14 ACEO from 13 different artists for ONE lucky winner!
One of them is mine, others were collected, traded, many were purchased for the last few years, they are in perfect condition.
I can't post a picture of each because of copyright respect, but I can tell you all are just like painted yesterday.

There are all kinds of subjects: mermaids, birds, bears, flowers, portraits...The materials are very varied too: wood, clay, paper, canvas... some are collaged, others are painted or even sculpted. Oh! One of them is a blank canvas so you can make your own ACEO :oD

To participate and win them, all you have to do is post a comment here, also and if you share it on facebook or your blog, come and post to tell me and that's an extra entry.

Anybody from any country can play, just come and have fun! On the 15th of July I will randomly select a winner, if there's many entrances, I will add items for more chances to win something! (If there are just few, chances of winning increase of course)

C'mon, start posting to win!
Closed on the 15th with 2 winners.

Random fun pictures

2011-07-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here in my family we love to go in short trips whenever we can. And we all love to take pictures. My son is awesome to catch cloud forms and trees. My daughter takes amazing close ups in unusual angles. They have not takes any class, that's the way they are. My husband likes to take pictures of people when they are not looking, so he has a large collection of me, looking goofy. I have to remind him, I don't need any help top do that :o}
I, in the other hand, am the one that centers everything and make straight angles. I hate that LOL And I'm the one that took a class ok? So yes, you will get a picture from me, but it's not going to be dramatic, unless of course it's a picture of someone falling or something.
No... scratch that. I would have to center the fall and there's not time for that. LOL My thing is stills I guess :oP I have been working actively to get away from centering.
Well anyway, here are some fun pictures of textures and other stuff. I hope you like them :o)

Heart on black top road

Click to see larger

On the way to Vegas

Rainbow ball

Old building

Horse detail of fountain

Train made into a McDonald's

Fish in aquarium

Painting and traveling

2011-07-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures I mentioned before. I was not around enough to sit and post them -
I hope everybody had a fun and safe 4th of July.
We went to Las Vegas for the weekend. It was 117 hot! (47 C) Made our weather here of 97 feel like spring! I don't think I'm going back any time soon... lol

So, paintings! Here we go:
Starting with a canvas, adding texture and a coat of black acrylic paint. I added blobs of color and since I love paintings faces, I started to delineate eyes, nose and mouth:

This is the fist time I use a "brake" in a post... just click to keep reading :o)

After that I thought... let me use a screaming color to accentuate the hair:

Added more details to eyes, skin; layers here and there of more cool colors:

More shadowing and detail to the eyes, they look very alive!

The only problem I have now is that, doesn't look exactly as a man or as a woman. I like it as it is, but I might do a little change here and there...

Get a Kleenex before clicking here.

2011-06-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

In case you have not seen this video, I want to share it with you, but before you click make sure you have a Kleenex handy. There won't be a dry eye, I'm here to tell you. sniff sniff

Now that you are all sniffly, I will show you a painting I just finished:

I will talk more about it in a different post, with more detail.

Woman in Progress

2011-06-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

As mentioned, here's the WIP of the portrait I'm working on, before painting the eyes:

And with a few more details:

There's a lot of texture on this acrylic painting.

Gardening, summer lovers and a toad

2011-06-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

Gardening is fun. Well, most of the time anyway :oP I have been working on the yard and it's been 102 to 107 out there (39 to 42 C)... imagine me. I cleared one flower bed and clipped ONE little bush, I was red, sweaty, suffocated, trembling, palpitating and I was so sure it was my last day on Earth (...and it was not going to be posted online!!) LOL :oB
So, I have been doing the rest very early in the day when it is only in the 80's (almost get a sweater, really)
I have to deal in the front with kitty Panzón, who is sure his potty room is getting bigger by me clearing the flower bed, he sniffs around and leaves a sample... and in the back I have to convince Scruffie that not every stick I toss is for her to bring back or turn into 50 pieces. Oi!

Lately I just get tired and sweaty mainly by adding dirt to holes that Scruffie keeps making bigger each time. The neighbors have a big new male dog, and the summer lovers have this ardent passion to meet in person. Is it still "in person" when they are dogs? Should it be dogson? doggedly? Well, lets say that they want a face to face visit and it has to be through the fence, so they are digging in both directions. Imagine my delight.
Ugh! A visit to the vet is overdue :o(

Well, anyway, look at the treasure I found hidden in the philodendron:

Such a beauty! I think I'm going to paint it. Feel free to do the same if it inspires you! I was so sad to have to remove my other philodendron from the front yard, but it had grown out completely out of the flower bed, leaving only the roots in there and it looked terrible. I still don't know what to put in that flowerbed, but most likely will be a big pottery with something in it, not on the ground.

And tonight we had a night visitor, Mr Sapo. A big fat toad that comes for dinner by the front door:

There's at least 4 of them, but this one is the biggest. Great bug killer, talk about an organic solution :oD

Tomorrow I will post pictures of the portrait I'm painting. I'm liking her so far :o)

Tuesday, tuesday....

2011-06-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

I'm having a Monday feeling on Tuesday. Why oh why you might ask. Well, we spent the Monday as a Sunday, doing all kinds of fun things, and the result is that today the kids are smashed on their beds still LOL I am just happy they don't have a class today, because they are completely and totally tired.
We went to my MIL (3 hours driving north), then went south shopping in another town (hours walking) then like if we had all the time in the world (which always feels like that in summer) we went to Tehachapi. Now let me tell you, we were 102 in my little hot part of the world... but in the mountains they were 71. And it smells so good! The only thing is that mosquitoes seems to think the same when they see me and try to bite me every where at the same time, (most have been all that ice cream I ate on father's day!) so today is a scratchy Tuesday. :oP
News! The adobe house painting found a home in Mexico with Naomi! It was a fun painting to do, lost of soft smoothing, then lots of impasto. Rich dessert colors, inspired on an image I wish I knew from where...

Now as for the angel painting. That is too muted I think. I wanted like always go and add strong color, but my instructor at that workshop wanted all muted colors. I'm always looking for some contrast, even if I like soft calm paintings as well. When you see it by itself it is a very pretty face of an angel. Not too closely resembling the original picture I took of my broken sculpture over a rug (Oh! for those asking about the angel, it did get the wing back! it is a wooden sculpture and I hammered it to place).
This could be one I can keep painting on top, as it is very lean oils. If by the end of the month it is still here, I think I will play with the sky color and highlight a bit more.

OK, I never click publish post so here I am again. It is 105 (41C) out here.... No wonder I was feeling kind of tired! I still went around doing some errands just before it was oven hot and now I have dinner ready. I should have made just sandwiches, but I had planned on turkey "guisado". Here's a picture:

Turkey cooked on olive oil, add 1 bag of frozen green beans, tomato sauce, and simmer for 20 mins.
I am not crazy about cooking so everything I make has to be fast, yummy and easy to clean :o)

Now I will enjoy some well deserved ice tea! Cheers!

Updating stuff

2011-06-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

I have been updating things in my blog (see my new widget to the left?), and figuring stuff in tumblr. If you are in tumblr let me know and I'll follow!)
Even with the heat I have been taking the kids places ...and thinking what to paint. Have I sit down to paint...? no, not yet :oP But like the pinguin in Toy Story "I feel a song coming on!" in my case it would be a painting. You don't want me singing hahaha

I have in mind to paint something based on Bright Star. I am still fascinated with that movie! I made a couple of sketches but nothing scanned yet. In fact, I'm not sure if I want to do it that way, because that is my most usual way of painting. I want to know the end before I even start. Does that happen to you?
Probably that's more for realistic painting, where you have a fixed idea of what and where you will paint. But I want to go more into the abstracted, unexpected path, which is a bit scary for me :o0

For now so far I have done some texture on wood and a portrait outlined. I will splash many more layers and see where that takes me :o)

OK. I hope everyone has a happy Father's day. And have some ice cream!

Wasn't it just yesterday...?

2011-06-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

I took my baby daughter to register for a summer class in high school. Feels to me it should be kindergarten! Even if she now is taller than me, it just doesn't feel right that she will start high school... Too soon! Too fast! Some one please, pass me the salts!

Well, I will skip the fainting to say thanks to my buddy Karen Anne! She will have Sasha with her soon. I am so happy it goes to her home! The angel and the adobe house are still up for grabs HERE

I have some ACEO in the making, but somehow my muse lost her GPS again so here I am simply waiting for her to arrive to her destination. I blame it on Panzón. He is enjoying his summer a bit too much.

Another paparazzi interrupting my nap...

How is your summer so far?

It's not you, it's me. . . . .

2011-06-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Over time we change, right? Our style changes, our likes and dislikes change... What you loved to do once, it's not "you" any longer... What you painted before has transformed to what you paint now. It's still a little bit of you, but there's more new you to come.
What do you do with old paintings that is not "you" anymore? Destroy them? Donate them? I don't think I can repaint, at least not all of them.

I don't see myself burning them like Gary (I'm not that brave plus I live in California and don't want to get a fine for burning!) lol I know some artists routinely go and destroy what they don't like anymore but I don't see myself doing that any time soon.

At this point I am thinking of giving them away to someone that likes them, just pay the shipping....? If anyone is interested that is....! :oD

It can be anyone from anywhere, just as long as they like the painting, they want to have it and they agree on the shipping, which I am not planning to charge handling or anything..
Each is an oil on canvas, gallery wrapped.

This angel was painted after a wood sculpture I had that broke, and they way the wing broke looked cool to me so I painted it. It is a 18x24

This second one was actually painted on top of another painting I had made, but the first was a lean coat. 16x20 Portrait based on a singer named Sasha. Update: Sasha is not available anymore, she is going to Oregon :oD

Next is an exercise on texture with impasto, an adobe house. 16x20 oil on canvas:
Update: Not available anymore, it's on it's way to AZ and then MX :o)

I am not painting realistic anymore. I guess eventually I will go back to it, but for now I want to free up space and let them go.
So, if anyone is interested please make a comment saying which, separately give me the address so I can check the shipping (I am not going to publish the info here, don't worry) and will let the person know what the shipping is. Remember that if you live in another country you might have to pay some fee, some countries charge it, some don't.

Painting awesomeness

2011-05-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

I like all kinds of painting styles. Maybe the two I like less is the extremes, like photo-realism, or complete abstract, although I can see the beauty on them 9some anyway) I am not atracted to paint that way myself.
But no matter what style or technique, it always has to start from nothing and be built from leyers and at one point it looks weird and scary... and in my case I always like to "know" what the end result will be, so it can be a really scary step LOL
And here's a nice advise and comforting words from Mystele (always a lot of fun to watch painting):

Image taken with her permission, thanks Mystele!

So when you find yourself in an ugly, scary, weird part of the process in your painting, just keep going, and finish your story!

For a while dolls have been on my table and my mind but in the past couple of months I painted on canvas a little bigger than my scanner, so I had to take pictures and I'm not quite happy with the lighting. I need to take better pics so I can upload. Or edit a bit with he photo program until I am happy with the results.

I am slowly but surely moving all my doll related things to the new Doll Blog (in caps, so it looks all important) So you all are invited to visit HERE.

I hope everyone is having a nice Memorial day (US).