Giraffe FINI!

 

All done!  

I have to say I had fun painting this little fellow! 

Giraffe Part 4

I finished up my second sewing job of reupholstering my dining chair and I'm happy to say I am back at my easel......

 

Very happy with my progress....the mouth and nose area are starting to come together.  Don't you just love that perfectly goofy look!

 

Just a little closer look.....I brought up the highlight in the eyes a bit.

One of my post a while back mentioned my interview on PetLife Radio.  Well....it is up and available for your listening pleasure....LOL!  Episode 13...find it here.  You can also read a bit about the interview here. 

My Sewing Project.....half done!

I mentioned on an earlier blog that I had started to reupholster my dining room chairs.  Yesterday, I actually finished one of them.

Here is a close up view.  I do have a passion for fabrics and it has been great fun to be back at my sewing machine. 

Here is a view of the chair in our "dining room" with the table.  I need to "tidy up" the storage boxes underneath the table.  Maybe I could do some type of a fabric topper...to hide their contents a bit more.  Sew.....I have one more chair to go.  Ya all know how one thing leads to another.....I'm really like-in the fresh look of the chair and may have to jump on my window treatments next!

Giraffe Part 3

I managed to put in some time on my giraffe painting yesterday.......

As always I wish I were moving a little faster, but overall I'm pleased with the results.  I do see a bit of a flat spot to the left of the right eye, but that is an easy fix.  I think one of the more difficult areas is the that bulging eye.....it is heavily shaded by the lid and those gorgeous long, thick eyelashes.  That makes for a very dark eye area....not much of a highlight.  I will probably try to see if I can bring the highlight up a bit more...just to add some sparkle to the eye.

So..did ya know I sew!

I know many of you are wondering where I have gotten off to.....once again.  Well, first there was the whole fourth of July event.  Now, I like fireworks just as well as the next guy.....But my poor furballs were beside themselves for most of the entire weekend.  It got so bad that taking them out to do their "business" became a battle of wills.  Finally got through that and my son calls.  He was going out of town the upcoming weekend and was hoping I could babysit the "grand dog".  How could I say no to a face like this.......

Those big blue eyes get me everytime!

Since I was going to be there the entire weekend I decided I might as well get started on a little sewing project.  I have two parson's chair that need to be reupholstered.  Found some great fabric......

and set up my sewing station in my son's spare bedroom.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a far as I would have liked.  Mesha definitely had her own ideas as to how we would be spending the weekend.....LOL!

Here is a before and after shot.....I have yet to add a little skirt and the seat....

That is about as far as I got.....this past week has just been busy with housekeeping chores, running errands, and taking care of my own furballs.  Sometimes "life" just gets you going in another direction and it is hard to put on the breaks and make that "u-turn".  Today I made a promise to myself to get back to my easel.  My giraffe painting is patiently waiting for my return.  The chairs will have to wait......as I just feel the need to paint! 

Giraffe Part 2

You can click on the image to make it a bit bigger if you like.  I'm done with the ear...at least for now.  It is time to start pulling together more of the head and then I can see how things start to relate to one another in terms of color and value.

This is a close up view of the ear in the early stages....I thought you might like to see how I start to build up the values and the textures.

 

So, this is where I ended my day and I am very pleased with how this little guy is coming together!  I am using a combination of Burnt Umber, White, Cream, Burnt Sienna, Grey, and a touch of Ultra Marine Blue on my palette.

Now, as promised here is a look at my brushes......

Starting at the top:  LC (Loew Cornell) 1/2 inch shader, LC 7300 #2 flat, LC 7500 filbert #6, Robert Simmons T85 #3 round, LC 7050 Script #18/0.  I use the filbert, flats and rounds for filling in areas with color.  The script allows me to place individual hairs where needed.  The brush that I use to block in large areas of fur is an old one.  I rarely throw away a brush....and I don't even know if it is still available.  It is an LC Mixtique #2 round, but it is not the brush so much as what I DO to the brush......

I squish it on my palette....spraying out the hairs then I drag is through my "wash" of paint to load it.  To achieve my "wash" I simply add water to the paint until I reach the consistency and value I'm looking for.....  Now these aren't all my brushes, but tend to be the ones I reach for the most.  I have a whole drawer full to choose from and experiment with until I find one that gets me where I need to be!  If you have any questions....post as a comment and I'll be glad to answer in the next post. 

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