Snow Doesn't Cancel On-Line Classes

I completed this "Rodeo Girl" Wednesday night. She's one of Suzi Blu's on-line classes. I signed up for the 'continuing education,' so I have the videos for Marie Antoinette, Rodeo Girl and Day of the Dead. It was only $35 for these three projects in one class, and well worth it, even if I hadn't made anything, just to watch Suzi's entertaining videos.


My Rodeo Girl is 16" x 21", the same size as my Marie, and I think I will hang them together. I found these great, deep frames, very reasonably priced at Utrecht's, which accommodate deep canvasses.


Speaking of deep, I have been snowed in since last Friday, with the exception of a little time on Tuesday. We are at 46" and counting, and that's no exaggeration. It's getting a little old. Thankfully, there's been no loss of power. I think my wireless laptop is the only thing keeping me sane.


My Rodeo Girl didn't quite keep me sane because, as usual, I can't stop touching it. I have a very bad habit of not knowing when to quit. I messed up her face about five times, and kept having to repaint it. At some point I resorted to finger-painting to try to get more control, and all that usually results in is a mess.


I even brushed beeswax over the whole thing, per the class, which is not only normally the finishing touch but generally prevents any further work because you can't paint over the beeswax. But, ta-da! I discovered my Lyra gel crayons go on nicely and smoothly over the wax, and you can easily wipe them off for a sheer effect. So I did. Then I didn't like it. Then I did it some more. Story of my life. But I like it now. I glued a little cowboy hat on her skully balloon and a little star 'badge' on her vest. Coordinates well with my Marie to which I glued a Juicy Couture perfume bow and charm.


By the way, I did something weird with this painting. Normally, one would paint the background first and then, per Suzi, collage it with bits of paper, molding paste, glitter, etc. Well, I decided I wanted to draw my girl on first, which I did, because I needed her to tilt a certain way to coordinate with the Marie since I want to hang them together.


Just to make things difficult for myself, I guess, I then painted her in, first with watercolor crayons. Then I had to collage the background around her and paint around her, and at that point, I painted over her first draft, this time with acrylic paints. Made it harder, but interesting. And with nearly four feet of snow outside, one needs interesting!