radiant fracture

Here's another in the regional bird series -- the American Robin I threatened. (QESḴEḴ in SENĆOŦEN -- pronunciation here.)



I was trying for the looseness of the house finch; this has not got quite that freedom, but I really like how it turned out -- the combination of wet and dry work to create the feather texture and the details, and the lively line. And it still has some of that slightly cartoony personality that the freer, slightly exaggerated and simplified shape gives it.

The background used to be much more saturated, and I had to work to desaturate it so that the robin would come forward.

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I painted a great many chickadees this season, and eventually even got somewhat better at it.

Yesterdayjasmine_r_s  was planning candied-orange-peel-and-maraschino-cherry cannoli in honour of the strawberry moon. I cannot aspire to that -- I wouldn't say I know my limitations intimately, but some are more obvious than others -- but, inspired by her colourful efforts, I made a little strawberry moon bunny.

(Among all the awful crap Instagram shows me, it does sometimes show me videos of tiny bunnies eating strawberries.)



This is just a quick sketch in gouache, not very polished, but I like the way hints of red and green show on the plant.

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A couple of weeks ago I took down all of the art hanging on string swags from my western wall and washed the surface. And now it's still blank and I have all this art. And I don't know what to do with it.

I was thinking I might try to sell some for just enough to cover postage -- $10, something like that. It's more to have the art go somewhere, rather than just sit in my house. I don't know if anyone would actually want to buy any of it -- drawbacks are that they're all pretty imperfect cuts and weird sizes, and some are quite dusty. :/ Don't store your art tacked to the wall.

Here's a bunch on the coffee table. I see many Instagram Heads (tm).



[ETA: Hi so I accidentally cross-posted this to Facebook and now people are claiming the art and offering me barter, which is so fun.]

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Weird weather. In the morning, a storm in the north, mist in the east, a patch of blue sky overhead, crows roosting in the trees. Today I feel sore, but lifted-too-many-weights sore, not incapacitated-by-needless-hiking-accident sore. After writing I lay down for a while and the storm that had first caught Salt Spring Island at the end of our Zoom writing session today passed over, rough but quick.

cmcmck suggested a Titania to go with the Oberon, and that seemed necessary, but now that she's here I get the sense that this queen wants to do her own thing.

Parts of this are more finished than others, but I have to say I really love this face.





Photo reference is a self portrait by the incredibly gifted coppercosmonaut . Check out their riveting work on Instagram.

On Sunday, I made spider cake after sovay and was not disappointed. I made it with goat's milk yogurt instead of cow milk and cream, and the bread was wonderfully tart and fluffy, with the thick custardy "spider" running through it. That, with maple syrup? Damn.

I'm in the middle of tonight's second batch of ordinary cornbread, because I am out of goat yogurt but not out of the stone soup I make every Sunday during my family calls. That I have a great deal of, frozen, and the cornbread will go nicely with it.

(Though I guess solo stone soup would be... just a stone in hot water. So it's more like whatchagot stew.)

I got three prompts into the Faebruary art challenge, and then I got bogged down on "fairy dance" because the dancers I chose as a reference were wearing masks and no matter what I did I got the faces All Wrong. The bodies had more flow than the last drawing, but the heads, augh.

(Pauses, listens closely) I think there's a... goose.. in the yard. Hang on.

...No goose. Must have flown off.  Early this morning there was something on the roof with a strange pattern of movement and a peculiar yowl and I'm a bit skittish today. I don't think that was a goose.

Anyway, tonight I sat down and painted for another prompt, #faeriesfestivalfrock in order to catch up a little bit and feel more like a competent painter. The reference photo is a Jean Paul Gaultier dress I have had saved for ages because it was so lovely. (I didn't paint the designs in on the wrap, but now I think maybe I should.) So this fairy seems to be off to a festival that involves catwalks and photo shoots. Must be urban fantasy.




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The prompt in this case was Gean-Canach or gancanagh, which I am told is a sexy fairy fella who lures you away from the narrow path of virtue. He's canonically supposed to be smoking a pipe but here he is just smouldering in general.

The full image (about 4.5" x 4.25" IRL)




Just giving face



The reference photo for this was from artist & stylist jonzu , who does all these great gothy and retro photo shoots -- this one was taken by photographer flaminia_fanale . Highly recommend.

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It is the year of the rabbit, after all, though I am late to celebrate the new year. Two more in the series. I quite like these ones. They're each about 3" square(ish).

Alert, subsumed in grass:



Slightly devilish:



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Still more rabbit action, but more detailed this time.

Yesterday's critter, finished today. I'm not sure what I was going for -- something a little more bodily -- anyway, this is what I got. It is a bit wibbly, but I decided to call it done. Maybe it's also a study for something else.