Did you ever have something inside your head you could not stop thinking about? This has been me for the last three days. I made a post talking about the Maisie Lane Company 160 gsm dot grid book three days ago.
One of the unfinished pages in the book kept popping into my head. This usually means it will be good for me to do something. I am never sure what this something is, except something.
It was Monday night. I was waiting for hubby to go to sleep so I could get my kitchen finally clean from Christmas. I opened my book of dots. I took a good look at the page, taking up real estate in my brain.
I saw the red cardinal sitting in the tree once more. It was from a red marker that bled through from the page ahead. But it was now a cardinal that wanted a lovely, pretty tree to sit in. Honest, that is what it said! Maybe not as nice as that, but you get the idea.
See the Cardinal?
The page ahead had bled through
I looked at the clock and did some math. I realized if I started working on making the cardinal a home, I would be up all night. Hmm? Why could I not just go to sleep and do it in the morning, you ask? Because.
For my sanity, I wanted to finally get my kitchen clean. This meant I needed to wait for hubby to sleep so no more dirty dishes would be made. The time on that was about one to two hours more. Time enough for me to start working on the bird's new home.
Another reason I really wanted to start on the picture was I miss painting and coloring. My dumb thumb still hurts like the dickens, so drawing with pencils hurts. Oh, and without using your thumb, it is tough to open jars or anything that screws. Just an FYI.
I figured using watercolor paints would be easier on my thumb, and I was correct. I got out the little ceramic dish I had filled with watercolor paints from my Mom's gentleman friend, Herman, and filled two jars with water. Took out my favorite brushes and set about making a foundation for the house and tree in the form of grass.
I love the color green. It is just a happy color to me. Painting the grass just put me in a better mood already. I added the path, painted the door blue, and fixed the roof. The brown blobs on the water would become ducks down the road. The reflections were already there. Ducks, a Mom, and a baby were needed.
The tree was next. I added deeper browns to the tree and made it a bit wider at the bottom. It was very top-heavy. In the real world, that tree would have toppled over long ago. We can not have a wobbly tree for our cardinal. Once the tree was inforced, it needed leaves. To add leaves, you need to know what kind of tree it is. I had no idea, so I just winged it.
Looking at the tree now, I would say it is a weeping willow with ivy taking over on the left side. Someday soon, someone will have to take the ivy off, or the poor tree will die. That project will have to wait, though. I am not even sure who lives in that house yet. Do you?
While I waited for the paint to dry, it was time to tackle the kitchen. I emptied the dishwasher and filled it once again with the last of the dirty dishes. Wiping the counters clean of stick and smears. I was a happy camper when turning the dishwasher on once again. I could finally see my counters!
Back to the painting we go. Except we were done painting. It was time to get out my colored pencils and add the details. I gave the cardinal a few more friends to play within his tree. The house's roof received more texture and darkness under the brim, so it looked more like it was overhanging the house.
The man who delivered the door smelled an awful lot like beer. Once the door was hung, I realized... everyone loves a door with a bit of character, and I moved on. Mom and baby bird were last to finally make it into the pond. Their shadows had been waiting long enough and were impatient to be stuck back on where they belonged.
A pink Posca paint marker was added to make some tiny little flowers. A few white dots were dotted so everyone could see, and the painting was done!
I scanned the finished painting so I could show you all. Opening GIMP (like photoshop but free), I added borders to all my photos. I really did not care for how the cloud in the sky looked, so I took the smoother tool and smooshed things around until I liked it.
The dishwasher beeped to tell me it was done. I could stick my hand in there and get burned, or I could open the door for a few minutes and then put every dish away that I own. I will let you guess which choice I went with.
It is now nine AM. I have a painting that makes me smile. Life really doesn't get much better than it is right this very second.
Help someone smile today. It can not hurt you.
Snook
All photos are mine unless otherwise stated.
Oh, much love @snook . I love your painting and know just how you feel (I published a coloring book with a story attached. So Haha). Your post is a highlight on an otherwise dreary day. 😀💕💕💕💕💕💕🔥❤️🌟❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank You!!! I am so happy I could make you smile!!
HUGS!
This is so lovely painting.
Loving the purity in it :)
Thank you so very much!!!
That means a lot to me!!
Good seeing you getting back in the groove! You are on fiyah! Very nice painting and story, keep on rockin! :D
Thank You, my friend!!!
I am happy you liked it too.
It made me very happy when it was all done :D
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Thank You!!
Not many people would look at a blob of bled-through paint and see a cardinal AND turn it into another painting. I am impressed.
Thank You!!!
I really hope you are doing well and not doing too much over the Holidays. Do not ever forget you have to take care of yourself so you can help take care of others that you love!!
Thanks for the reminder! I am trying to balance self-care and others-care. We had a nice Christmas, and it only took me one day to recover. Ha ha!
Happy New Year Beautiful Lady!!!
DREAM BIG this year!!!
Thanks for sharing on #PYPT!
Thanks for reading!!
I had no clue you were such an amazing artist maybe I forgot! This came out amazing!
the last year + I have been teaching myself to draw and paint. so you did not forget :D
and THANK YOU for the wonderful comment!!
You are quite incredible and skillful! I hope this new found talent will bring us more AMAZING art!
Oh, the art will be here. Amazing? lets hope for the best LOLL
Thank you so much!!
Um yeah? It's spectacular!
Very beautiful paintings. Thank you for sharing during the PYPT podcast! Also shared on the Untamed Sarge stream on Twitch.
Thank YOU!!
and thank you for sharing it too!!
Happy Holiday Sarge!!
loving this one!
Thanks for sharing it on #pypt on @dreemport today
Thank you, Blue!! coming from you that means the world to me!!
What a beautiful picture snook I love the colours in it and you did an amazing job making it into something beautiful.
Hope you can get your thumb fixed that sucks I had a friend who got RHS(repetitive hand strain) from gaming using the mouse so often and clicking it non-stop for years and ended up needing surgery for it
so hope doesn't come to that.
Mine came from buying a cheap ass mouse....... as far as I could figure. Within a week of using it my thumb started to click and I was like WTF! LOL so spent time going over in my head what I was doing differently and the cheap mouse was the only thing.
So I bought another mouse that had the same shape as my old one because they didn't make my older one anymore......this has helped in some healing but I still need to see the doctor. Hubby said he had to get a shot and that that worked for him.....
I am NOT looking forward to a shot in my thumb knuckle AT ALL but if it fixes it that is all I care about. Not being able to do what brings me joy in so many ways is disheartening but not the end of the world. There are always workarounds if you want to do something bad enough.
The funny thing is I was just looking for a better mouse because the cheaper version of my old one sucks as a mouse.......... so lesson learned LOLL Best Buy will be dropping off my new GOOD mouse tomorrow. :D
Oh, and THANK YOU for your wonderful comment about my painting!! I loved how it turned out and was really proud of it and it makes me happy that others like it too!!
In PYPT I thought that someone said you cut your thumb and the blob of blood became your cardinal hahahahahaha, now I see how wrong I was, it was her lips! I told her not to put so much lip stick on, and that it was whorish, but she did anyways, and of course anyone who messed with her got massive cardinal-red lipstick stains on their collar, like the drunk guy who brought the door! Hahahahahaha!!! He probably got home and got a cast iron frying pan upside the head with his wife wanting to know where the cardinal-red lipstick stains came from!!! The only ones who didn't suffer in this whole thing was the little duckies and the bright cardinal-red-lipstick-colored cardinal!!!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Thank YOU for always bringing joy into my life!!
I Love your story! I am still chuckling over it now.
I am glad it makes you smile because that means that your statement to me about helping someone to smile produces more smiles!!!
AND Laughter is the best medicine (from Reader's Digest a couple of days ago hahahahaha)
read on the toilet?
had to be asked LOLL
Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
I never read it in the bathroom, never; I had other things to read hahaha(I only read the articles!!!)
My Dad did too :D and my older brother knew where they were........
funny they were always in the bathrooms LOL
OMG, yes, when I was a child, the READER'S DIGEST was always in the top drawer beside the toilet! What memories! 😂
I love your willow tree and the cardinal looks so happy up there! What a delightful story! 😊