Chilean Sunset

 

One time I promised David that I would paint a picture of Chile for him for a birthday or something. Well, better late than never. And I forgot to take progression photos, so this is all I've got. It's been a while since I've worked with acrylic, and I forgot how quickly everything dries out! But it was fairly straightforward and I'm happy with it. 

J & C

Time for another wedding portrait! I'm going to submit it to the Provo Homegrown Art exhibit this year. Fingers crossed, yes?

Here's the original. (Aren't they cute!)

Fancy doors drawn mostly to proportion.

Sketch of the couple. I was really preoccupied with the doors because architecture isn't really my thing, so I drew the details in too dark. I came to regret that later. 

Finished drawing. Someday I'll get better at drawing men. But...it is not this day.

Door detail and highlighted color wash.

Door detail.

Coloring in the suit. The picture I was sent was very color corrected, so the suit looked black and didn't have much definition. So I looked at some of their other wedding photos for reference. I didn't realize how off his left leg is until later.

Finished suit. I like the corsage, though it might be too big. I fixed some of the coloring of the suit, too. And I think it looks a bit more realistic.

Skin tones. I know it looks super creepy right now, but not every in-between stage is beautiful. (That sounds like a life lesson.) I was pretty concerned at this point because the skin looked too yellowish.

I did a light red wash over their skin to make it less yellow. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm pretty happy with the facial details as well (except for his eyebrows). 

I did another, darker wash on the door to help fix the yellowy tone. Base layer on the hair.
It's usually at about this point that I realize just how beautiful the bride is, after being able to capture some of it on paper. Also, one of the hardest things about painting a wedding scene in watercolor is that there is so much white! And in watercolor, if you want something to be white, you leave it blank and let the paper show through. But when it's a temple or the whole dress, you have to add some gray shading to make it look real. I'm pretty pleased with how this one worked out.

Some additional work and detail on the veil, which I'm so proud of. Also some shading for his shirt. 

The setup.

Finishing touches with the white gel pen. Also, I listened to Ed Sheeran's newest album while I finished. It's a wonderful album. 

Final. I made his leg a little thicker so his hand could feasibly be in his pocket and then evened out his ears a bit. I framed it and am keeping it around the house for now. It's kind of nice—I usually give the painting away right after I finish it, and I like being able to enjoy my own work for a bit. 

Anyway, I finished it too late for her birthday but fairly early for their April 2nd anniversary. But if the Homegrown Art Show accepts it, then the couple won't get it until May. 

Education in the Margins (Sticky note edition: 2021)

Sticky notes from my desk and LDSPMA takeaways.

Betterment

Some things are good for a time. And only a time.

I should be as good at keeping an experience account as I am at keeping an expenditure account. The former will foster gratitude and joy. The latter may make me wiser.

To singles who want to be married: “Do not give up hope. And do not give up trying. But do give up being obsessed with it . . . if you forget about it and become anxiously engaged in other activities, the prospects will brighten immeasurably.” ­­– President Hinkley (Women of the Church)

We have all been powerfully affected by women.

I can love imperfect things. I can create imperfect things. I am an imperfect being of great worth.

Current Events

MyEducator just wants to be in the room where it happens with WGU.

First day back at the office and I remembered my computer password on the first try. #success

There is enough and to spare in the earth. We don’t often treat it like that, though.

Musings

I can’t keep my happiness to myself—I must talk about and share it if I can.

Was Nick Fury a good project manager and did he do a good job assembling the Avengers?

The Earth experience is a fraction of your eternity. It is second grade, if you will. You are not expected to make every ordinance or become perfect here. But be good and serve others and participate and progress as you can.

Do we live our lives as Hallmark Christmas movies? We let Christmas be the setting but leave it out of the actual story and all of the important plot.

No one really knows when to quit.

"Ready" isn't always what you think it looks like.

They should seek the Lord,…though he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (Acts 17:28)

Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. (John 3:18)

"Light attracts people." But we must be more than moths to a flame.

Media Connections

Technically, Charles Dickens partially self-published A Christmas Carol.

“Taking coals to Newcastle” a Britishism for wholly unnecessary actions.

“The malevolent ivy—always an enemy to grace—”  Well, agree to disagree, Rebecca.

“Panacea to pain.” And “Grist to our hungry mill.”

“Nothing so shaming, so degrading, as a marriage that had failed.” (Rebecca) So people try to hide the shame from their friends and family, committing to long lies. Not me. I never want to live a lie.

“Chewing gum and bailing wire” is an idiom for stringing something together unexpectedly.

In "The School of Athens" Fresco by Raphael, there's a person waving in the background, and I've found my portrait kindred spirit. 

It is not in the interest of the ruling class to preach a preexistance—if you are all children of a God, the justification of slavery is invalidated. Humans corrupt correct doctrines with their self interests. 

Why do we love the Regency era? It's living aspects of "the dream"—you have people doing things for you. 

All animators can come together to hate on The Good Dinosaur. 

I've always wondered: Do you know when you're working on a flop? And the animator panel said that yes, you do. But you do your best anyway. (On the flipside, you don't know that something is going to be a runaway success.)

Quips and Quotes

Every day’s a holiday when I’m with you.
—seriously, how do you keep track of them all?

She loved him, which was a greater credit to her heart than to his merit, for he never acted as he ought.

“I always want to write poetry after talking with you.” ­– Aspen

"If your own work bores you, you can't imagine someone else liking it." - Christ Crow

"I have not yet written my best book." – Tracey Hickman

"The nice thing about being an author is you can recreate your childhood nightmares as novels." – Janette Rallison

"Being a light can mean naming the shape of the darkness." – James Goldberg

Know Thyself

Comparison is the thief of joy.

I tend to believe I can do anything—and I try not to prove myself wrong.

My SOUL is well suited for this season of the world. I will not just endure the current moment—I can embrace the future with faith.

What do you want? Love and joy. How great is the joy of the soul that repenteth.

I am equally verbose in philosophy and frivolity.

I’m on a path, not a pedestal.

Who clipped the wings of my dreams? And why was it mostly . . . me? Maybe that’s why I vehemently support creativity in others—there are enough dream killers out there: we need more believers and wing healers.

My time is too precious to waste on someone who doesn’t want me.

Do I have assumed relationship trauma? My reaction to a Facebook post to a friend who posted about a guy who “makes me so happy” and “treats me so well” and “loves me for who I am unconditionally” and “is the best thing that ever happened to me” is it’s a trap.

I’m a lover not a fighter and a writer.

I will accept and address criticism that I deserve. I will not accept criticism that I do not deserve—even if it would be easier just to let it go (and I will address its misapplication).

"You're not a bad editor." True. But what if you could be good at something else?

Sometimes I just need to put my money where my mouth is and my mouth where my heart is. 

What is it that you want to say? With my Marley story: God's mercy is great.

Ideas

“Singled Out”: Musings on being marginalized by marital status
“Paired Off”: the opposite

Symposium topic: The Death of Charlotte Lucas: An Essay on Opportunities for Women Outside of Marriage

Recommendations

BYU Personal Finance.

Todd B. Parker “True Doctrine Understood, Changes Attitudes and Behavior.”
“Christ is the teacher, the universe is His classroom, and His atonement is the curriculum.” The universe was designed to testify of Christ.

Eve by Susan Easton black

Death Coming Up the Hill Chris Crow

Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

Start Making Chips (Maxwell Article)

6 Rules of Great Storytelling (Brian G. Peters article)

All That Makes Life Bright: The Life and Love of Harriet Beecher Stowe by Josi S. Kilpack

The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman

Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain

Ode to American English

Publishing stuff: 
https://thebookbreak.com/
https://press.barnesandnoble.com/ (e-books)
https://greenleafbookgroup.com/
http://www.brighamdistributing.com/ (necessary to get into LDS bookstores)
https://www.draft2digital.com/ (ebook distributor)

Poetry helper:
http://www.searchleaf.com/ (creating interesting word combos)

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

Puppy Portrait

Melissa is one of my oldest friends, and she adopted a dog two years ago. I offered to paint a puppy portrait for her for Christmas. 

Here's the original. I'm going to change the colors on things with really crazy patterns because, well—those are hard to paint.

 Original sketch. The proportions worked pretty well, though I'm not very well versed with animals.

Good progress, but it looks like Christmas puked on that paper towel. 

Not promising. Almost quit. But Eliza kept me going on. 

A little simplification goes a long way.

Adding some fur. 

I don't know much about animal faces, but I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. 

Simplifying the bandanna worked great, but the words don't look too realistic.

Final(ish) product. I'm happy with how it worked out. And Bear liked it so much that he licked it through the plastic.