Illustration Friday - Pattern

i wanted to do another Klimt-y type pattern again and this week's word sort of pushed me in that direction - it shows up in her halo or aura...

this is the first installment - black and white - i'll paint her tomorrow...

The Wish Dish

this is what it started out as - the wish dish - but that's too corny. What i really had in mind was a dish you could look into that would tell you the future...wouldn't that be awesome?

anyway, it's been like a hundred years since i posted last and if you noticed that, sorry for the mini break...i seemed to hit a wall there...

Illustration Friday - Strong

this girl is not just strong. she will kick your ass.

So here's how the conversation between me and my 12-year-old went yesterday...

me: i need to get a reference of that popular war poster...you know, it has a lady on it and she's rolling up her sleeves and...i want to modernize her...i can't seem to find it anywhere online - i don't know what the heck to call it...

12-year-old: (look of incredulity on face) oh you mean the "we can do it" poster with Rosie the Riveter on it?

So i look up "we can do it" and like 8,000 of said poster shows up.

i have been in denial about this but it's official - my 12-year-old is cooler and smarter than me.

On another note: tomorrow is Labor Day here in the States and i want to say i hope you like your country (whichever it might be) as much as i like mine - because even though there are a few morons running around spewing vitriol, it's still a very cool place to be.

Illustration Friday - Magnify

mermaid's allure magnified underwater...hmmmmm....i was thinking of the delirious and dehydrated sailors that would "see" the mermaids when i made this...

Contest Winner! Thank you so much for all your comments last week and congrats to Loni Edwards who's name was picked from a baseball cap by my daughter - you've won the Queen of Hearts print - please contact me with an address and i'll mail it out this week...(i'll have pics soon of the actual name picking process - i'm just a little behind due to a minor but painful injury - and no i was not bitten by a horse like my friend she-who-must-not-be-named)

Illustration Friday - Caution - and a Contest Giveaway

i had posted this last night but felt it sort of fits with "caution". i was thinking about how the ancient Greeks thought our lives hung from a thread and that the gods had the power to snip that thread at any time - and that is not too shocking a concept to grasp...that life is delicate, unpredictable, fragile and should be appreciated every moment, even the sad broken moments...this young muse is holding someone's life by a thread, maybe it's her own. Should she use caution?

Anyways, today is my Blog's 3rd year anniversary!! I'd like to thank all who've come in to look, lurk, and comment by giving away a giclee of the Queen of Hearts...



please leave a comment on this post and then next Friday, August 28, 2009 i'll place all your names in a hat and choose a winner - wheeeee fun times in Adrienne Blogland!! xoxoxo

Illustration Friday - Impatience

it's funny. i have this idea in the back of my head...what would a certain person look like IF they were a vampire? and i set out to try to paint this. and can't. the girl never is pretty enough. so i move on. on to possibly my next and last queen? the one i haven't done yet - queen of diamonds? and then i see this great photo of a famous actress all goddessed up and i think, that's it - the next queen will be a goddess (which originally in my head was going to be India Indian) and so i start drawing...three tries until i get what leads to the final painting - "what if Bella was a vampire when she went to the prom" - yep. that's the way i go...carefully thought out and planned. never. Well anyway, i'm happy with it. this looks so much better hi rez. (Must speak in code now...the fog in the background is Forks fog)

but on to Illustration Friday... as far as vampires go they are most likely a little more impatient than humans - i know i would be the most impatient vampire alive/dead because i'm pretty impatient in human form. thank you all for being patient enough to read this far...i'll stop now...

Illustration Friday - Modify

"Go Ask Steampunk Alice"

too corny? well, ok - you're probably right but...i said a few posts back that i'm not that clever and am sticking to that... HOWEVER...this Alice inspires me a bit - she has definitely been modified...not just by Steampunk but by attitude - i'm thinking she just may not drink that "drink me" drink...

Illustration Friday - Idle

i'll admit at first, i was just going to talk about how "idle" i have been - because it's summer and my girls are home with me, i haven't gotten a whole lot of art done - and i really need to since i've actually now signed a contract to make art for a very specific project (more on that later) and yet...it's been hard to concentrate with the haze of summer and the distractions all around...however, no more "IDLE"ness up here in the house...

so here's my Idle lady...possibly she is not idle at all...perhaps she is the opposite...

which brings me to my latest fixation - Steampunk...yes this has been around since the 80's but i have always been one to jump on the bandwagon well after it has passed so here i am...my amazing friend, talented artist and sometimes muse, Amy Weber, has been making steampunk art for quite some time (please check it out) - i have one of her steampunk crow paintings that another amazing friend, talented artist and jeweler - Stacey Maddock - gave to me as a gift. This painting is something i stare at literally everyday...and a year later it has finally sunk in...steampunk has pretty much been situated in my brain for quite some time waiting to come out...i have so many ideas!! hopefully i can stop being "idle" (groan) and get them all out...

Illustration Friday - Tango

I guess better late than never...

(anyways, my blog's 3rd birthday is coming up and i'll be handing out prizes...more news on that as i post...)

Some times we all need a little Strength

i don't know...she looks strong enough right?

i'm working on another painting...about going in to a sphere - it's where i go now, you know, instead of that OTHER place...the one where you actually DEAL with things...working on that in my head right now...