Commissioned Works, Demanding Bosses (aka My Kids) 73-77

Fom Us To You... or Aquarium
73/100 in 100 Creative Challenge
Water Color and Pitt Artist Pen on Paper 5x8e

Sorry for the bad pictures. I ran out of light this weekend. And also had some more blips on my internet service, but it was a minor issue and soon resolved.

However I would like to share with you what I've been painting these last couple of days.
My son requested an aquarium with a shark in purple, that we could send to people in the mail. The next page was based on Ivy's insistence that I give her goldfish.

Love and Fishes, or Goldfishies
74/100 in 100 Creative Challenge
Watercolor and Pitt Artist Pen on Paper, 5x8"

I think she meant crackers, but first I painted this. I figured it would go with the Aquarium and could be a kind of greeting card. We'll see how it turns out.

The words were my own invention. Seeing as neither of them are literate yet, I could push the boundaries on this.
Bloom Where You're Planted
75/100 in 100 Challenge
Watercolor and Pen on paper, 5x8"

After she got her goldfish crackers, she was tired of all the marine life. She demanded I paint flowers. And instructed me as to which colors they should be.

Purple Flower
76/100 in 100 Creative Challenge
Golden Fluid Acrylic on Paper 5x8"

Then she wanted a purple flower. At first she was quite perturbed when I was drawing the little funny looking stamens and pistils in the center, but she got over it as soon as I added the paint. I would just like to say that the brown leaf is there because she demanded it be brown, not green, no matter how I tried to convince her it should be green like the other leaves. I was surprised to find that the brown served to ground the painting and add that little sense of frisson that happens when you combine things that aren't expected. I did go and add the brown outline to integrate the leaf into the rest of the picture, and then I put in the scallops, because, well, that's what I've been doing with my personal flower pictures lately. I'm liking the patterns.



Anemones in Pink and Green
77/100 in 100 Creative Challenge
Golden Fluid Acrylic, Watercolor, Pen and Pitt Artist Pen on Paper, 5x8"

This one is my favorite. It was started before the purple flower but finished after as I added an acrylic background to the watercolor flowers. The flowers were Ivy's request (pink) but she got really mad when I drew them all in before I painted them. She wanted me to go one by one. A micro manager, that one.

It was actually inspired by a picture in a Martha Stewart magazine. I never realized how cute those little button-like buds were.

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with it, but as Id worked on the purple picture I started to get an idea about colors and patterns that would conflict with the pleasing composition of the flowers. I like it. It almost looks like crochet. Lacy.

All of these painting are in my journal. I stopped painting in my journal when I opened my etsy shop, as I wanted better paper for my pictures. But you know what? I really like this anemone one and I might just sell it as prints, anyway.

I've been trying to do more art journaling not for sale so that I could get back to what art has always been for me, but if I do something I like, I can still sell it.

Speaking of selling, I am finally starting to list my backlog of paintings. There are so many, it's one of the reasons I don't feel guilty about artjournaling. I don't "NEED" a new painting in my shop everyday. I have plenty. So if you want to check out the new prints and originals (yes, one of a kinds) then head on over.