New Art: It's Raining Hearts

Whew, it's been a busy day at the ol' Keys household! Thought I would share this little illustration:

It's Raining Hearts
7x9.5in Watercolor on hot press paper.

This was originally created for an EBSQ show, “Reinterpreting Children's Art”. I based it on a drawing my sister did for me when she was a child, of a girl standing in the rain (except the rain was hearts!). The duck with the red umbrella just showed up on his own, I think he saw her dancing there and thought it looked like fun!

Original is available in my Etsy Shop

And, this is the original drawing my sister did, lo these many years ago :)


Time to get back to work, I'm afraid I haven't much to say this evening!

Gnomish goodness and toys!

Well good afternoon!
It is really quite hot here in Northern California. I am wishing for a pool...
This is how my Pa's birthday present turned out:

We had a fun time yesterday, went with my Pa, the Grandfolk and my Mommy to a cheesecake restaurant and I had a REALLY good salad and a REALLY good piece of almond amaretto cheesecake. Oh, raptures! I think that was the best cheesecake I've had, ever. Dut went to check for Green Lights again last night but I didn't go. He found one, and then another bioluminescent caterpillar!! It had a row of glowing dots on its back. Rats, I missed it. So maybe we'll go again and THEN I'll bring my camera. :)
I decided to dig out an old dollhouse of mine and paint it brown:

I think maybe some rusty tan or cedar red type color for trim accents... still have to do that. The bear family is moving in! Remember those Sylvanian Families from the 80s? I still have most of my Evergreen grey bear family from when I was a kid. So they are moving in to the dollhouse. Looking rather sparse still... maybe I'll figure out how to make furniture, as buying it is rather too expensive!

As many of you know I am a big fan of toys. I don't think we should ever have to give them up, or our imaginations! Perhaps that puts me in a special class of geekery, but oh well. ;) No sense in changing that either now that I'm a big girl.

WIP Gnome Girl and Garden Madness

Good afternoon, world!
Here's a peek at my WIP of Araya for my dad's birthday. Ack, have to finish today, his birthday is tomorrow!

After this I have to get seriously busy on another painting (haven't even drawn it yet, agh) for a show at EBSQ, an online artist gallery I am a member of. You are supposed to find a drawing that a little kid has done and then make your own version of it! Think the show is called "Childhood Re-visited". I found a cute one my sister did for me probably at about 11 years old that I am going to re-visit. It was between that and one of my youngest brother's "rug cats" that he used to do. They were so cute! He'd always draw these cats curled up on a rug full of crazy patterns. I miss both of their childhood selves...
So our garden is really working! The "downstairs garden" as I call it is growing tall, the tomatoes are starting to flower, the zucchini is starting to form. The upside down tomatoes aren't growing as fast but they still seem to be doing well. Maybe it just takes them longer to get to the fruiting.

Here is a cute little tomato flower:

Zucchini madness in a tupperware "pot":

Look at the little guys! The zucchini is what is growing beneath those funny hairy flower-things.

We inherited a pot of oregano. Have to put it in a much bigger pot so it will grow nice and large, and then we can pick off pieces for cooking!

A view of the sprouting "upstairs garden". No, we don't have any stairs, it's just that this one is in back of the house on top of the hill. Those cucumbers are going crazy!

Lastly, the Oleanders are starting to flower. I'm not a huge fan of Oleanders, but I thought this shade of reddish-magenta was pretty. They'll lighten a bit later to more of a fuchsia.

Thanks for hanging in there with my garden pictures! I'm just too excited that it is actually working.

Mermaid goodness, macaroni salad, and an Interview!

It's been a good and busy Saturday -- had a barbecue with our church family, which was full of the lovely foods that pop up at potlucks. I brought macaroni salad and spice cake. :) I couldn't even try it all there was so much! Got too full. It's a huge blessing to be able to say that, really. So many people are going hungry and homeless especially nowadays, I'm really learning to count my blessings. This means no more complaining about how dirty my house gets with all this red clay dust around here!! Ouch, conviction for me there! Seriously, I'm lucky to have food and housing.

*News!* I have recently been interviewed by the wonderful Elena of Elena's Easel, if you'd like to read more about the behind-the-scenes part of my art! Also check out Elena's adorable colored pencil children's illustrations, I love the jungle animals. :)
Here is the interview!

I finished painting the two little mermaid art cards, which were fun. I wonder what a mermaid town would look like?

I decided to do auctions for these girls. Click here for the auctions!


Coral ACEO
2.5x3.5in. Watercolor on hot press paper.
Coral is a very curious girl from Mermaid Town, and she likes to collect shells from all of her explorations and bring home many strange pets.


Kara ACEO
2.5x3.5in. Watercolor on hot press paper.
Kara is a girl from Mermaid Town with a big imagination. She hopes to live in a sand castle someday!

I think my Pa and I might go look for Green Lights again tonight. If so, I'm definitely bringing my camera. Night, all!

WIP Sketches and "Green Lights" glow worms

Great scott, it is after 1am! And I'm still sketching... might call it quits after this blog post though. Today is all about works-in-progress, and I thought I might share some of them.

(Click picture to see larger version!)
So these are the things I'm working on right now. The little gnome girl is actually my niece Araya, and it's supposed to be for my dad's birthday. :) He never reads this blog, so he won't know! I looked at so many cute pictures of mice for reference that I might just have to go snuggle my cat from cute overload. Not that I wouldn't have snuggled him anyway. ;) Anyway, I'm really excited about the painting that is half-finished in particular! Here is a close-up of the girl's face:

Like I had mentioned in an earlier post, I'm trying to get the look I used to achieve with acrylics and oils, except with watercolor. It's actually started to work!! Getting the contrast right is rather challenging I must say.
Oh dear, moth just bit the dust literally in my floor lamp -- doesn't smell pretty. And now it is on fire!!! @_@
Had to turn it off. That was alarming. Back to our regular scheduled programming.
So last night my dad and I went on the annual trek to go look for "Green Lights" as we call them, which are a species of glow worm that are really rare; wish I could remember the scientific name for them! Anyway they only come out for about a week or so of the year, in mid to late May. We've only ever found them around this particular pond, and go every year to look. They look just like little green stars shining out from the grass and rocks! We found 3 last night and we shall go back a little later to see if any more come out. Next time I'll bring my camera and hope I can keep it still enough to get a good picture. It was really pretty out last night, the big pond was glassy and reflected back all of the stars.
It is sad that the more they develop the land around the pond, the less Green Lights we find. I guess that is getting to be a big problem for glow worms the world round, they need such specific conditions to survive. They are beautiful creatures!

Rabbit illustration!

Time for a new rabbit painting....

Leaves for Stew
5x7in Watercolor on hot press paper.
Lily and Mother Rabbit are collecting aromatic leaves for the stew they are going to make for that evening's supper.

Click here to buy original
Click here to buy prints & such

These rabbits were fun. Last night I started painting a sketch I've had laying around for months, and I am really loving it! I was wistfully wishing for the kind of look I used to get with acrylics and oils, and so am trying to achieve something like that with the watercolors. It is a bit more time-consuming I must say, but it looks super cool I think.
Today is my baby brother's birthday! He is 15 years old. I'm old enough to be his mom really, and that's kind of how I relate to him by default. I suppose I get less mom-ish the older he gets. We are all going to see Wolverine at the movies.
My tomato and zucchini plants are getting ready to flower!!! I can hardly believe it! As a first-time vegetable gardener, these things are exciting. ;) The zucchini plants are getting absolutely huge.
Okay, now SOMEBODY make me stop eating crackers and get down to some more work.

Garden for a Princess

It's high time I posted my latest painting!

Garden for a Princess
5x7in. Watercolor on hot press paper.
This royal maiden is enjoying a stroll within the castle gardens.

Original is on Etsy
Prints & such are on ArtWanted

It is warm and summery here in the hilly forest, and the heat makes me feel slow and stupid. The constant guzzling of water is helping, though. I have a stack of paintings waiting for me to get cracking on them! I'm trying to decide if time would be better spent painting as many paintings as I can, or if it would be better to spend most of my time on the marketing of it. Half and half? It won't matter how many paintings there are if no one can find them, I suppose.
Nose to the grindstone for me.

Sketching, it's what's for dinner

Hello world!
Thought I'd make a post of recent sketches. It's been suggested that I make a whole series of Jane Austen-y (and suchlike) illustrations, so I did some practicing for Mr. Darcy. There was a whole page of men, but here's a better one (heh).

That's Doctor Who on the left, by the way. ;) Hm... is Darcy stuffy enough? Dashing enough? Men are a lot harder for me to draw!
I have taken to quick-sketching things around me, as I am rather weak with manmade objects drawingwise. Hey, it's an episode of Fringe on my laptop! I think I like how the headphones turned out best. These really are fun, and I've done some whilst sitting in the passenger seat of the car sketching other cars. And I *hate* drawing cars, but this way was fun.


Whilst in one of my frequent artist blocks I remembered that a really great way to get ideas is just to draw a bunch of thumbnails. That is what I did here, and have already sprouted many drawings to paint off of it. Must remember to do this more often!!


Lastly, here is some gratuitous Kiba spam:


Had a busy weekend full of being in a parade (yipes!) with smiling and waving until my face fell off. Plus, a photographer came up and took a picture of me and I hope I don't wind up in the paper. *nervous laugh* Also I went to my good friend's wedding shower, whom I've known since we were 11 or 12! Can't believe she's getting married -- she used to be my ONE friend in 6th grade, seriously. If she was not at school lunch I ate it alone with the dandelions. And, I hung out at my mommy's house making delicious things and attempting to watch Ghost Hunters on an annoyingly skippy internet connection.
I had wanted to draw when I got home tonight, but instead got an urge to sew a dress. And thus now it is 12:30pm and time for bed!

Garden Obsession...and Art!

Hi everyone!
I know, long time no see... I've been so wrapped up in planting the front and back gardens that it's been a little bit of an obsession, heheh. Finally today I got everything planted, so I should be around more! I tend to be a bit all-or-nothing with some things. Also, we've had some unfortunate family drama and I still don't know how it's going to work out -- lots of worry and stress! I am trying to follow God's orders, "Trust in Me" and leave it to Him to work out. I just hate it when little children get stuck in the middle of big fat drama; it really hurts them the most. :(
Anyway, I've discovered that even when I go quiet on the blog front I still manage to do a bunch of Twittering! Easy to get in those little thoughts, eh.
I've got a new painting to share! This little girl was fun to paint, I was really digging the bright green in the background. And the cherry tomatoes make me hungry...

Unexpected Friend

Original is on Etsy!

I have so many things to say backlogged that I've forgotten most of it. Sigh. Who wants to see my garden? :)

My little box of zinnias, with remnants of old sidewalk chalk underneath. I think that was a crow saying "caw", heheh.


I found this WONDERFUL SMELLING basil at the store. I can hardly wait for it to grow up so we can have pesto!! Even just looking at the leaves makes me want to eat it.


Part of our big vegetable garden up on the hill behind the house. This, of course, is corn. There are also carrots, beets, peas, cauliflower, watermelon, cantaloupe, squash, cucumbers, onions, peppers and okra in the big garden. Besides the front garden of tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers and herbs. I am weird, I dearly love okra. At least fried in cornmeal, I don't know about any squishy soup. ;) Surely *something* will grow, yes??? It's our first real vegetable garden, went a little crazy with it.



This little "volunteer" squash was found growing in the compost heap. It is growing right out of the old squash! There are some green onions sprouting in the compost as well.


The front yard with various potted things. The plants are already much taller than this, they are growing like crazy!


These are the wild sweet peas that spring up every year in the little meadow at the bottom of our hill. I always have to take pictures. ;)

Perhaps I will begin a practice of writing several blog posts in advance so I will not get backlogged again and won't feel pressured, heh. In fact, I will write some more now as this is already too long. Good evening, all!

Illustration Friday: Parade

Parade

Sunny growing season is here, and the children are celebrating by having their own parade across the garden, joined by their pets.


Original is on Etsy
Prints are on ArtWanted

Illustration Friday: Theater

Dress Rehearsal

It is time once again for play season in the wild wood, and the mice are working their hardest to put on a great production.

(And if you simply must have it for your own....)
Original is on Etsy
Prints & such are on ArtWanted

Jane Austen strikes again!

Good evening!
I have finally got round to scanning in this little Jane Austen-inspired illustration. It's Catherine Morland! Silly thing, sitting here reading her gothic romance novels and imagining all sorts of strange goings-on.

Catherine at Northanger Abbey

Original is in Etsy shop
Prints & such are in ArtWanted shop

Spent the weekend helping my mommy pick out new house trimmings for her remodeling she's going to have done. Wow, that was fun being an interior decorator for a little while!
I had strawberry shortcake for dessert tonight :) and I have a serious INNER EDITOR keeping me from really writing much in this post, not much for any good reason. Hm!
Added lavender and zinnias to the garden, oh boy. And I have a strong urge to drag out the My Little Pony collection. Instead, I will probably be painting.

Illustration Friday: Impossibility

Dream Tree

This little girl believes in dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem.

(And, if you want this for your very own....)
Buy Original on Etsy
Buy Prints on ArtWanted

Sun bonnets, tomatoes, and sketches oh my!

Haven't been very good at sitting at the desk today... too busy gardening! I got to wear my new sun bonnet I made and plant some more tomatoes.
Here is my bonnet!


And here are my tomatoes!

I learned how to plant them this way several places on the 'net, but here is a good page: Upside-down tomatoes (or whatever) in a 2 Liter bottle
Apparently this is the DIY recycling version of the "Topsy Turvy" thing. And it doesn't cost a bunch of money, either. I hope they grow nicely! I do need to find a sunnier place to hang them -- my mom is bringing me an old wooden ladder and I think I'll hang the tomatoes from it in some sunny spot. There are still two baby plants who need planters...
I've been trying to sketch more lately, even if I don't get to the actual painting. I've been clamming up an awful lot on the art scene this past month, and I think part of this is due to ignoring my little inner artist's need to play on paper (or wherever) without that PRESSURE to create soemthing that will sell! I really, truly need to have that non-pressure time. I also really truly need to remember this fact.
Anyway, here's a sketch:

And, this is the sketch for the painting I'm currently doing for Illustration Friday:

Have to get my butt in gear and finish it!

I want to dress like Lizzie Bennett

Hiya! And cheerio!
Well first off, I'm going to show you the new little ACEOs -- though I'm annoyed with my scanner just now for washing out the colors. Need a new one!

Hot Cup of Tea - ACEO
Click here to buy on Etsy


Tea Therapy - ACEO
Click here to buy on Etsy


Kite Flying - ACEO
Click here to buy on Etsy

Personally, I'm fond of the rabbit.
There was actually a fourth, but I ended up disliking it so much that it is swimming at the bottom of the ACEO pile, perhaps never to see the light of day.
I planted zucchini earlier today :) -- I do hope they grow because I LOVE zucchini! I love to make zucchini bread, and also just plain sauteeing it in a pan and eating it that way. It's good stuff, Maynard. It's been difficult finding spots that get full sun 6+ hours of the day around here, too many foresty trees everywhere! Guess it helps that I'm using moveable containers.
Oh yeah, and I'm almost done making my sun bonnet. I will feel like Laura Ingalls. I am hoping that this small sewing project will give me further confidence to tackle making a Regency-era ensemble.... underthings and all!! But I SO want to dress up like Lizzie Bennett. Every day, I mean it. And I'm totally using a bedsheet to make the chemise, because it's cheaper than buying that much fabric for something that never will be seen in public.
Well it's time to shut down the Procrastination Machine and update my website.

Gardening is good for mending me

Good evening!
Boy it's been a stretch of doing rather non-creative work the past while, lots of typing and web maintenance. I am painting now though, after being inspired by this adorable blog: Doe-C-Doe
It's full of vintage retro goodness and it made me want to paint vintage-y looking things (involving rabbits and cats!). So I am.
In other news, I am making a garden! I tried one last year and utterly failed at it, so I was rather discouraged about trying it again this year. But I've been urged from the inside to do it, so here I am. This time I used baby plants instead of seeds, so hopefully that will significantly increase my chances of actually getting them to grow!

Ah, yep -- those are cat sand buckets. Gotta recycle, right?
On the subject of cats, it is time for gratuitous cat pictures! Humor me, will you.

Must be nice to be a cat, lazing on top of bookshelves. And Kiba manages to look so bored whilst doing so.

I like this shot of Bitsy in the front yard. Spring in the forest!! She's been spending a lot of time outdoors these days, as Kiba has taken a sudden love of chasing her relentlessly around the house. Poor Bitsy!

Here's that ruffian now, with his sly look.
Well dearests, I have managed to eat nothing but chocolate for dinner. This simply won't do. I'm thinking baked potato with feta, sounds like a strange yet intriguing idea.
Hopefully there will be art to post soon!

Innocence

Good noontide!
It's a sunny but chilly day here in the forest. I'm about to go work on some website stuff for a client, but thought I'd put in a bit of a post first -- and eat chocolate. For you non-Twitter folk out there (and thus haven't heard me gush about it already), I just discovered the most wonderful indie musical group! They've been around awhile but I'd never heard of them until now, called The Innocence Mission. I picked up their album Small Planes a few days ago. Anyway, I identify so much with the lyrics and the motivation behind them, besides it being beautiful to listen to. Like I see life through a similar lens.
Just had to gush for a minute. ;)
From the sketchbook:

A bit of a pictorial "journaling" on mourning the rather destroyed life I left before I moved here -- and time to let go of it, because I've gained a much better prize when I moved to this house... and that is Jesus.

Kiba is modeling the afghan I just finished crocheting a couple of days ago. Isn't it cheerful? I think it looks like a garden.

Today I felt compelled to bring the lilac bush inside so I could look at it and smell it whilst working. It's difficult trying to keep Kiba out of the plant water though! It's sitting on my "new" shelf that my mom just gave me. I haven't had a proper bookshelf in 3 years! Finally everyone can start emerging from the piles under my bed and stand up like proper little books. :)

The bottom of our hill.... oh cheerful yard, how I wish I could roll around in the grass and dirt all day!

Childhood

Thinking a lot about childhood today... it's been a weird day!
Firstly I have been practicing more sequential art (or art from the same story) and I have this little boy and his squirrel friend to show you:

Balance ACEO
Original is on Etsy


Sharing a Meal ACEO
Original is on Etsy

I was outside sketching in the sun earlier, and made a drawing of a little boy flying a kite -- at which point I burst into tears because it reminds me of my brother Travis and I miss him! He lives in Seattle. He used to love to fly kites when we were kids.
I was feeling pretty nostalgic in general, listening to music that my parents used to play when I was very small! Puts me in a strange state of mind. I have such an emotional connection with childhood, all the beauties and fears.
Also I had a really scary nightmare last night about a serial killer who would suffocate people with plastic wrap and I caught him in the act. I woke up yelling! Boy, haven't done that in a while. Maybe I need to watch less tv.
Scary as that was, it really was a very beautiful warm day outside. Butterflies were swirling all over the air, mostly to have a meal of the lilac bush and many of them went for the periwinkle as well. While I was smelling a lilac, one of them flew to my cheek! :) My Kiba cat sure had fun watching them too -- I had to intervene once when he pounced on one. Okay, now I feel I MUST post some pictures of butterflies.

Black Swallowtail -- the kind that was on my cheek!


I don't know what kind this is, but I like them.


Another Swallowtail.

Now it is evening and we really must go grocery shopping. I made a chocolate cake and also must make hot fudge frosting for it! As you can see, I'm no longer avoiding sugar as a rule :P ... don't want to go hog wild either but hey, tomorrow's a holiday. Happy Resurrection Sunday/Easter to all!