Another Update on Zebrog

I added in some grass and a little more shading on her body. It's slow going, that's for sure. Pastelbord can take so many layers, and it eats your pencils up so much. But I'm really enjoying working on this one, and I am very happy with how it's turning out. I said that in the last post, didn't I?

I've also been do so much other creative stuff. I wish I could share it all here, but I can't do that until after my friend's baby shower. BUT, I can show you the chocolate I made at the Norman Love class that I took Wednesday night.

Isn't it pretty??? All nice and shiney. And it tastes soooo good. They are filled with Grand Marnier Ganache. They gave us the recipe for the ganache, and a website where we can buy chocolate making supplies. We also got a certificate for completing the class.

The class was a lot of fun. I was glad that my mom found out they were having the classes, because considering my fiance proposed with Norman Love chocolates, I was very interested in taking the class. The chocolates are so delicious. It's technically easy...you paint the mold, fill the mold, you dump it, let the shells set, fill it with your filling, let it set, then ladle chocolate over the whole mold and scrape off the excess, so you have a bottom. Pretty easy. But, MESSY. The instructor did everything so fast and perfect, and clean. lol. But we all got chocolate all over our hands, our molds were dripping with chocolate. Our chocolates were not nearly as perfect as the instructors'. It definately takes practice. We learned that if there is any imperfection in a piece of chocolate, that chocolate cannot be sold, it becomes a sample. I'd venture to guess that A LOT of "samples" were made that night. lol. But we got to take home everything we made, which was really cool. Because if you think about the price of Norman Love chocolate, I'd guess that we probably got to take home about $40 to $50 worth of chocolate. Not including the few pieces we got to sample there. So the class was worth it, in my opinion. He has several different classes you can take, so we want to take another one. But because the class is so expensive, it won't be anytime soon. You can check out his class schedule on his website. They're local classes, I'm not sure if he holds classes in other areas or not. But I suppose you could always call and find out!

Update on Zebrog and Blog Award

Well I got a little of the background started. I'm planning on it being an out of focus green foliage background. This one is really fun to work on, and I'm really happy with how it's turning out. Pastelbord takes a lot of layers, so it's going to need much more work. It's eating my pencils up like crazy.

In the end, I plan to varnish it like Nicole Caulfield does with her pastelbord work, and frame it without glass. This is only the second time I have worked on Pastelbord....the first time was a 5x7, so I wouldn't say I have too much experience with this. Plus, I didn't try varnishing that one, so that will be a first. I hope it works out. But she explained how she does it in the workshop that I took back in February, so I shouldn't have a problem. I hope.

Also, I got another blog award from Lori Talbert at Twin Cedars Drawing Board blog.

Thank you, Lori! I'm supposed to name 7 things about myself that I've never told before. That might be hard to do, so I'm going to take some time to think about that. I will post a blog award thread, where I will fulfill my duty to claim this award, and pass it on to 7 other bloggers.

I'll see you, in the future!! - Doc Brown, Back to the Future
(sorry, my fiance likes to imitate this line, it's stuck in my head because of him. lol.

New Project - Kahlua, the Zebrog!

I've been wanting to do this one for a while, but simply have not had the guts to try it. Zebra's are hard to do, all those stripes get so confusing, I end up erasing so much that I get frustrated and give up. I have attempted to draw zebra's several times, but they never made it past the initial sketch because it just didn't turn out the way I wanted. I have completed one zebra (just the head) and wasn't really that happy with how it turned out. I think I could have done better. So this drawing has just been on my "to draw" list (yes, I do actually have a list, lol) for a while now.

But I just recently saw a piece that Brandy Perez posted on her blog, that has inspired me to finally go for it. I really admire her detail and strive to acheive that kind of detail in my own work. For now, I can only hope that mine will turn out as good as hers. Her little Zemoo is adorable...hopefully my dog will be too.

So here is the first post, I'm sorry the picture is a little dark, I took it at 11pm with my ottlite over to the side. I will try to take the next update in full natural light.

This is 16x20 on sand colored Ampersand Pastelbord. I think it was a little easier doing the stripes on Kahlua, because knowing she didn't have the same shape as a zebra, I wasn't trying to follow them exact. Just as long as it looked zebra-ish. lol. Also, this time I thought to color in the stripes as I drew them, so it was a little less confusing on what was black and what was white. This one is proving to be fun instead of frustrating, so I may end up doing more zebra OR zebrogs if I'm happy with the way this one turns out. My fiance said that I should have drawn her attacking something, so maybe that will be next. I have plenty of pictures of Kahlua attacking random toys and tearing them to shreds, so that could be an idea for a future zebrog. lol.

Jelly Beans!

The other day, while getting some things for my friends baby shower at Michael's, I picked myself up a 12 pencil set of Derwent Coloursofts. Today I decided to test them out on my lunch break. I used an image from this month's colored pencil challenge on Wetcanvas, started it on lunch and then finished it at home. I did use 2 Prismacolors in there, because I couldn't get the right shade of puple or pink for those two jelly beans.

I really like the way the coloursofts go down on my sketch book paper. The Prismacolors and the Polychromos don't go on quite as smooth on the paper in the sketchbook. But the Coloursofts just glide right on. I think I need to get myself a larger set.

The jelly beans were a really good subject to try. The shineyness of the beans, and all the different colors in the shadows were a really good challenge. I'm very happy with how it came out.

Artsy Patriotic Food

Today I went to a birthday party for my friend's 2 year old daughter. The party was to roll over into a 4th of July party. I asked my friend what dish I should bring, and she asked me to bring pinwheels. I had made the pinwheels a few years ago for a get together, and everybody loved them. So when asked to bring them this time, I thought I'd bring them with a twist.


I had to make my own tortillas to get the red and blue, which made it a little more time consuming, but it was worth it.

When I went shopping for the things I needed to make the pinwheels, I saw watermelon and had to get one. I carve pumpkins every Halloween, and the website that I get my patterns from, (Zombie Pumpkins) also has summertime patterns for watermelons. So I thought I'd carve a patriotic watermelon for my friends party too.

Happy 4th of July, everyone :)

Completed Portrait

I apologize for the picture quality. I completed this portrait on Monday night at my grandmother's house, so that my aunt could take it home with her on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home, and had to take this picture using my mom's camera, in dim lighting. But I suppose it's ok, because I got good pictures of the progress, so you were able to see most of the detail. The cloud in the middle is not nearly as bright as it is in the photo. My aunt was happy with it, and promised to send me a picture of it when she gets it hung on the wall. I look forward to that.

I would like to start my next drawing today, but I'm feeling a little wiped out. I went to cycling class at 8am this morning, and then came home and spent the next 2 1/2 hours mowing the grass, which had gotten a little out of hand since my fiance has been sick for almost 2 weeks. That was a lot of sun, (which I try to avoid) and so I feel really drained. I've been drinking non-stop to rehydrate my body. And I plan to go to the 7pm cycling class too. We only went to the a.m. class to support it so it doesn't come off the schedule. We already told the instructor that we would be back at 7, so now I'll feel guilty if I don't go. I hate disappointing people (even if it's not necessarily that big of a deal).

So watch for the updates on the next project. Should be posting soon. :)