Sqare a day 2/5 - 18

Seems like the only sketching I have time to do recently is my 'Square a Day' journal.  ;)  Still enjoying it!  Here are the last couple of weeks worth; Superbowl Sunday through yesterday...

In case you missed the beginning of these (just scroll down) the inspiration for the 'Square a Day' format came from Gwen Diehl here; Real Life Journals

A Recent Project

I recently completed a fun acrylic project.  I used to do LOTS of these wall plaques, and other acrylic tole art projects along with lots of wall murals.  Because styles have changed, this one was enjoyable as it brought an 'old' craft form into a 'new' look, more in line with contemporary designs.  (most tole painting is traditional or folksy, which is fine too)

So the project was at the bequest of my step-sister whose baby girl was turning one.  I had painted plaques for her 2 other girls who are quite a bit older (in their teens).  Baby Sofia's room is in a pink and brown asian theme, featuring a damask crib quilt of intricate cherry blossom design.  Here's what I came up with...

First I scoured the internet for Asian themed fonts and graphics.  I printed out my choices, seen below.  Then I sanded the plaque and sealed it with an off white acrylic base coat. 

                            (click on photos to view larger, if desired)

Next I sanded the sealer coat and painted another coat of base color on (this one a soft golden beige by Cremacoat, which I prefer.  I used the Plaid brand for the sealer coat).  Then I drew the designs on the plaque with transfer paper.  And began painting the blossoms, like so...

First light pink, then adding darker shading and highlights...

Next I used a dark brown acrylic to paint the stems and letters...  (several coats required, here's the first layer)

You can see the transfer lines here and there, so the next step is to use a soft eraser and get rid of them all.

Since the baby's crib bedding had a frosted gold satin finish, I added some metallic gold highlights to the flowers and a thin glaze of frosty gold acrylic (Cremacoat) over the whole plaque.  I painted the birds eyes with gold and repainted their wings with brown, to stand out from the frosted bodies.  Here's a close up...

Lastly I painted the beveled edge of the plaque pink, and coated the plaque with several layers of clear acrylic top coat.

The whole project only took a couple days, working intermittently, and was fun.  My lil sis loved it, and that's the most important thing.   Hopefully Sofia likes it too!  She's the cutest baby... almost as cute as the grand-darling.  ;o)   (now, if I could just get some inspiration to finish that huge asian landscape I'm doing for Jesse's room!)  Hope you enjoyed my little project.  Bye for now.

I love tea-cups and coffee mugs and blogs about the same!

I also love art blogs... today one of my favorite art blogs 'Greetings from Kimberly Shaw'  (http://kimberlyshaw.typepad.com/my_weblog/  she paints GORGEOUS tea cup cards and gifts) posted about a give-away at another blog, so I'm passing on the opportunity, and a gorgeous blog all about Transfer Ware.  Nancy's Daily Dish... check it out!  She often includes amazing recipes and her table decor design is exquisite!  Enjoy.  ;o)

http://nancysdailydish.blogspot.com/