Fourth of July - Part 2

This was such a fun one to paint. Not only am I madly in love with the actual kiddos pictured, but I love, love, loved everything that it says about their sweet sibling relationship.

And I felt like I'd truly captured them when my kid came up to me and said this.

Big guy: "I'd totally know who that was even though their faces aren't shown."

Made my heart swell.


Here's the completed piece and below are my final steps to getting there. The edges of the canvas are painted black.

"Fourth of July" completed piece

I refined the stars, widened her shirt, and painted
over the wrinkles I had on the red on her.

I redid the wrinkles and added some details
to the sidewalk.

I added a few more details to the hydrant, sidewalk, and greenery,
and did a yellowish wash over the entire sidewalk.

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Fourth of July - Part 1

When my wonderful brother and his family were in town recently he showed me a picture of his beautiful kiddos from the last fourth of July.

Me: "Send that to me, I want to paint it!"

I painted the background gray, sketched
the image, and started adding color.

I added more colors and features.
It's acrylic, not watercolors.
Those were just on the table from another project.

I started working on flesh tones and clothing wrinkles.
Beside it is the image I was working from.
It's an altered version of the original photo.
Altering it helps me in the beginning stages of painting.

I think her shirt is too narrow and there are a few other things that don't feel quite right, but it'll wait until tomorrow. Excited to add more details, too!

This photo makes me think of how we celebrated the fourth of July when I was a kiddo. I don't remember ever dressing in red, white, and blue, but I do remember going down to the the fireworks on Town Lake and how when the cannons boomed during the "1812 Overture" I felt like my heart skipped a beat. Good family fun! And now, as an adult, I live where I can actually see the fireworks from my house...if I don't mind standing in the middle of my street and looking over a bunch of trees. Works for me...and my dog, who prefers that we stay home during the fireworks, thank you very much.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Wakey, Wakey!

We've been preparing for the start of the school year...sort of.  You know, things like going to bed a little earlier, waking up a little earlier.  I've been quite successful.  The kids not so much.  So here we are, the last day before school starts, and I wake the guys up.  Big guy?  Nope, no way.  Little guy?  Slowly, slowly, only because I tell him he has to get up to go with me to Costco to choose his school snacks or I'll be sending him with freeze dried broccoli and carrots.  So my zombie kid started moving.


We walked through the aisles..."I'm too sleepy to choose a snack."

We stopped by an end cap to wait for the main aisle to clear...and he ran into me because he was walking with his eyes closed.

We saw a teacher friend of mine...and he stood there swaying, silently, with his eyes at half mast while she and I chatted.

We got to the register...I gave him money for a Coke (yup, mom of the year here) and a slice of pizza...and he got it and lay his head on the table in the cafe area.

We got in the car...he leaned against the window and closed his eyes.

We passed a huge unused parking lot and I woke him up..."Too bad you're so sleepy, I totally would have stopped and let you try driving my car if you were awake."


Little guy:  "I'M AWAKE!!  I'M AWAKE!!"


Next time my sweet guy, next time...and now I know how to wake you up in nothing flat!

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