THE LAST SANTA

Of my experiment that is.

I've finished the last of the four Santa figures that were a part of my experimenting with paper mache clay and am now working on getting the bodies finished for the three Santa heads that I showed you in a previous post. 

Santa has one little bear left to be delivered.

I painted this Santa red using the same technique as I used painting the last two but with a whole different outcome. On the last two Santas the paint appeared to be worn off and faded but on this Santa it looks deeper as if years of handling have left the piece with a grimy film sometimes referred to as a patina.

I'm happy with the way they turned out and wish my photography skills were better.



My four test subjects have been very helpful in my attempts to develop a paper mache clay recipe that is so far working very well for my needs. That was my goal  when I started this experiment so I would say it was a huge success. I'll be making another batch of PMC today to use on those three Santas I mentioned at the beginning of this post.

I'm also working on a few dolls one of which is for a challenge and another one that I got the idea for last March and hopefully will be finished within the next week.

As always, thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your day.

Hugs,

Maddy

ON TOP OF OLD BALDY

Have you every been bothered by something that you couldn't ignore and you knew the only way you were going to be able to move on was to do something about whatever it was that bothered you? That is what was happening to me each time I looked at the women heads that were without hair. It wasn't as bad before I started painting them but once they started to look more alive it was something I couldn't ignore.

This is what I'm talking about:

 

A wee bit creepy, you think??? Yeah, I think so too.

What a difference a bit of hair can make!! I'm more comfortable being around them and I'm sure they're relieved. I haven't finished styling the hair, that will come later but for now this works for me.

I've done a bit more painting and couldn't resist showing you the other older gentleman I've been working on. This one's my favorite.

the second little old man

and the first....

The little baldy in the corner that I haven't said anything about is actually the first head of the 13 heads I've been working on. I'd intended on using a doll body pattern that Maggie designed but this head is smaller than it should be for the size of the body so I set her aside. I'm still trying to decide whether I wanted to re size the pattern or go with something else.

Yesterday I went shopping for fabric to dress the older gents and found something that might be suitable. Now I've got to decide how I want to make the bodies for them. Decisions decisions.

Our weather turned out perfect for the weekend. It's supposed to reach 80 degrees by 4:00 this afternoon. Could be the lawn will get mowed today.

I sure hope you are having a wonderful weekend. As always, thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,
Maddy

STILL MESSING WITH THE HEADS

I've been asked what I plan on doing with the heads I've been making. Well, for one thing, I'm going to paint them.

Today I stopped sculpting and started painting on four of them. It usually takes me a day or two of painting on a piece before I decide I'm happy with it.

These four kept me busy most of the morning. The first on the left, the older gentleman has a friend down stairs on the drying racks. At first I pictured them in my mind sitting at a table in the park playing checkers. Then I decided that I didn't feel like creating something that would require so much display space so I thought about having them out for a walk, maybe with a dog on a leash. It's really anybodies guess what I will end up doing with them.

Some of the heads may end up in a box and stuck up on the shelves above my work area. Some will be made into dolls and some may end up in the trash.

This is my way of journaling, a way to practice my sculpting and painting. Not everything I start gets finished and I know for a fact I'm not the only one who does this.

As always, thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your weekend.

Hugs,
Maddy

I LOVE MY PENCILS & OIL PASTELS

Many years ago I purchased some wonderful colored pencils. They are the type of pencils that are bought individually and are for serious pencil lovers as they didn't come cheap. I have no idea of what you'd have to pay for them on today's market as they are no longer in production but when I bought them I purchased only a couple at a time until I had a sizable collection. I love working with these pencils as they blend beautifully and can be layered and smudged to shade and achieve such marvelous depth. They were manufactured by FaberCastell and have DESIGN SPECTRA COLOR printed on the barrel. The wooden barrel of the pencil is black and the color of the lead is shown on the end of the pencil. They don't even look like ordinary pencils and they don't work like ordinary pencils either. Have any of you ever used these pencils?

They are the pencils I used to do the PM house in my giveaway and the pencils I used to sketch Bellamine and Sampson earlier this morning. 

As always my photography skills or lack there of and the less than spectacular camera have not captured the colors or the depth so this is not a true representation of what they can do.

I have been practicing with the oil pastels on a paper that I'm able to use water and have started taking a liking to these nasty messy sticks of color. Aside from the chunky size which makes it difficult although not impossible to do fine detail. All in all I have to admit they're starting to grow on me.

I really like the way they can be blended and watered down when working with the skin tones and shading and when working on pale colored eyes and hair.

I've decided after working with the oil pastels that they're not as awful as I thought and am going to continue working with them and when I get tired of them I'll switch over to my pencils or my paints. It's wonderful having so many options with which we can express ourselves don't you agree?

Today I'm going to do some baking to make the house smell like autumn. Nothing says fall is here like the smell of cinnamon in the air. I also have some winter squash that is calling my name.

I hope everyone is enjoying their day and as always, thanks for stopping by.

JACK-O-LANTERN MOON

Since my last post I have completed two paintings.  One painting is for an event in September and I can't show you it yet and then there's this silly little piece I'm going to show you now.

                                    8" x 10" acrylic on canvas board

I'm thinking of taking this image and printing it out on card stock to send out at Halloween.
I actually have a haunted house that very much resembles this one.

Now you've seen my first painting that I've posted. Some day I'll do something serious but for now I'm just going to be silly. The other painting went rather well until I went shopping for a frame for it. It seems that although it's a standard size canvas Michael's only carries one frame of that size in the store. Does that make sense to anyone? If it's a standard size, which the sales woman assured me it was, why carry only one frame in that size? She suggested I try the frame shop in the mall. I h-a-t-e shopping at the mall.

Hope you weren't too disappointed in this post. I'll try to do better next time, I promise.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

BARTHOLOMEW AND BELLAMINE

It wasn't until I was working on my second bear the name of the first bear came to me. The new bear's name was just there and it linked to another name which is perfect for the little boy bear. They are brother and sister and the name Bartholomew has always been a favorite of mine.

Bellamine is only 11" tall when standing while her brother Bartholomew is 13".  There are some similarities between the two as they're made from the same materials and both have the shoulder hump. Bartholomew is tall and slender with long hind legs that have a knee, and his fore legs are curved as well.  Bellamine is plumper with chubby arms and legs and is somewhat pigeon toed when standing.

I spent most of the day yesterday making outfits for them only to be told by a little girl bear that I know that bears don't wear clothes. Well I'm here to say that some bears do wear clothes and they wear them very well.

Following are photos of my two newest bear kids. While the rest of my little ones are adopted I gave life to these two.

Bellamine loves holding Katie Kottontail and Samson. Bartholomew has discover he can hear the ocean if he puts this shell to his ear.

See, how sweet she looks in her new sundress? I couldn't resist this little one if I tried.

Bellamine's muzzle is longer than her brother's and her shoulder hump may look more pronounced. Notice how her arms are straighter and quite chubby.

I'm including this photo to show off Bartholomew's new romper. I think he looks quite handsome.

These last two photos show how Bartholomew has a slender build with thinner and longer limbs. I like the curved legs and think they suit him.

Thank you Miss Joyce for sending Katie to live with us. I think she's the sweetest little bunny and I love her.

Peanut butter kisses and honey hugs,
Bellamine

The things I had trouble with while making Bartholomew I managed to do differently with Bellamine which made making her easier and faster. I think that if I were to continue making bears I'd finally get it all figured out. Unfortunately making bears or sewing in general isn't that much easier on the hand, so I've cleaned up my mess and put the sewing machine back on the shelf for the time being.

I purchased a stack of canvases when a local arts and crafts store closed recently so maybe my next foray will be something else I haven't done in a long time, painting on a canvas as apposed to PMC.