Flashback Friday: Nite Owl Nugget time

I like this one because it reminds me of a favorite quote from theology professor Abraham Joshua Heschel:

"When I was young, I admired clever people. 

Now that I am old, I admire kind people."

Here, then, is the short post from February 2006:

(can click to enlarge)

I had fun drawing the wooden frame around this illustration...was just in the mood for a "different" border.

Happy reminiscing,

Retta

Virtual Paintout 3: Vevie Goes to Chile!

Hola! 

This month Vevie (rhymes with Stevie) got to practice her Spanish. We "traveled" to Valparaiso, Chile via Google Street View, with the Virtual Paintout gang.  

Here is my finished painting, with the making-of details to follow (Can click on any pics to enlarge; I kept them small here, to keep the page from loading like a snail):

"Beacons in the Moonlight"

Punta Angeles Lighthouse 

Valparaiso, Chile

9 x 12 acrylics 

on wrapped canvas

Last month I promised I would explain why I am including a moon in each painting of this series. For me, it carries a spiritual significance. The moon is beautiful and glows in the night sky. But on it's own, it would be dark. It's actually just a reflector of the light from the Sun. 

I am a Moon. My God is the Sun. He lights me up, filling my life with love, joy and peace. Oh, I still have my share of struggles in life, with lots of stuff yet to learn. But through it all, that love relationship with Jesus gives me hope and joy. And I would love to learn how to infuse my art with that joy!

Here then, is the making of Beacons in the Moonlight (there are actually 3 sources of beacons... can you guess?)

This is the original Google Street View 

image I used for my inspiration:

Once again I played with ideas in Photoshop, 

then printed it out as a mock-up to work from:

Textured gesso onto the canvas,

then line drawing:

Red Napthol Lt underpainting,

then Mars Black over line

drawing with brush:

 Starting the block-in of

the sky and ocean:

Continued block-in of lower

half; started clouds, moon,

lighthouse, etc:

Finished sky, ocean 

and lighthouse beacon;

then added the trees in 

front; continuing details:

And a couple of close ups 

for those of you who, like me, 

enjoy seeing the details:

And so, the finished painting:

My plan is to create one painting each month for a year from Google Street View, then have a local show. In the meantime, I am slowly learning how to offer images of them (prints, greeting cards, etc) in my teensy Zazzle store. I might even get caught up there soon, LOL! 

This was my third painting venture with the Virtual Paintout  gang (HERE). 

And it was so much fun! Each month our leader, artist Bill Guffey,  picks a new spot somewhere in the world and we all "go" there and choose our own spot to paint. You are welcome to join us! Visit the Virtual Paintout blog for all the details. 

Happy painting,

Retta

"Send forth your light and your truth, 

let them guide me." 

Ps 43:3

My Favorite Commission!

It's funny... back in April I posted about commission work (HERE),  and now I seem to be remembering that I've done LOTS of it over the years! 

So, on that topic, I thought I'd share my all time favorite: a handpainted watercolor and ink book.

The book was a surprise gift from a gentleman to his wife on their wedding anniversary (awww, how romantic). It was based on the book of Proverbs in the Bible. Her name began with R.

In the finished book, each chosen verse was on the left page, with the matching illustration opposite it on the right. 

Here's how each set looked in the book, side by side:

There are quite a few, so I'll show the rest as thumbnails below, to enable faster page loading. If you'd like to see them enlarged, just click on them.

The book was watercolor and sepia ink on heavy watercolor paper, bound into a leather book. I loved painting this. The gentleman told me later his wife loved it, also. I think when we feel deeply for what we are doing, we do better at it.

I hope you enjoy this favorite of mine. :-)

Thanks for reading, 

Retta

Some Favorite Proverbs

This year is almost a memory... about time to post some favorites. These are 3 prints from my Proverbs series. The originals were painted on watercolor paper... acrylics and watercolors. Each one contains a scripture verse somewhere in the painting.




This first is "Wisdom... Search for it as for hidden treasure."

Besides the obvious meaning, at the time I painted this I was

starting to really believe that we all are like unique Treasure Boxes...

and if given a chance and opened, we are full of precious treasure. And in spite of the dangers--shark, poisonous Rockfish, stinging jellyfish,

giant octopus, etc--it is worth the journey to discover our true selves.

The next one has: "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."

The baby bears are intently watching from the safety of their cave, as the Momma Bear is approaching a hive hanging from a dead snag, to get her prize: fresh honey.

And the last one says: "A friend loves at all times."

When I painted this, I was going through a very difficult time in my life and my marriage. I felt alone. Yet NOT alone. I experienced such friendship, hope, companionship and love from God... I discovered that when you feel that you have nothing left but God, you discover that God is enough. And then... He sent healing into our lives, and our relationship.

Enjoy,

Retta

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Catching Up & Playing with Color

I'm soo behind here. I've been spending all my time with my health blog (here), and thought I'd just post some little projects here that I had fun with.


Here is one from Christmas. I had fun adding digital color to a black and white illustration. I blogged about it (here). (click to enlarge)

Enjoy,
Retta
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Another Nite Owl Nugget

I had fun drawing the wooden frame around this illustration...was just in the mood for a "different" border.

Rettakat
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Nite Owl Nuggets

Thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite illustrations I did for a regional newspaper, The Christian Journal.

They are all black and white, ink on paper.

Wish I could make them bigger; I love lots of details, so hope they are not too hard to see....

Enjoy!
Loretta
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