Ritratto di Bimba (Bella's Portrait) finished

It's done. And I think I sort of saved it.
Thank goodness for my husband's constructive criticisms and the mixed media approach that allowed me to correct at least partially my mistakes with pencils!

What did I change?
-Her eyes were/are not aligned. I used a dark brown pencil to redraw the lower and upper lids outlines to create the illusion of new boundaries.
-Her lips were vampire-like, way to red and dark, like if blood had congealed on them (yuk!). I used a white pastel pencil to tone down the redness.
-Her smile was sort of uncertain, so with a dark violet and brown pencils I pushed the corners of her mouth further sideways and upward.
-Then I used  dark and reddish brown pencils to define better her cheeks and the smile-puffiness under her eyes (what do you call those thigies?...8 month old kids cannot possibly have "bags" under their eyes!).
-After this, I darkened the left side of her face, because somehow it looked too broad before. This also, I think, helped giving a more 3-dimentional look to the face.
-I added wisps of hair here and there, to avoid the impression she was wearing a lopsided wig.
-Finally, I toned down the contour of her face and collar overlapping white pastel pencil to the too severe and bold multiliner sign.

I think that's about it.
I feel better about it, now...so I think I can safely hang it in Bella's room without making her cry in fear of creating an unpleasant "mommy thinks I am ugly" complex. ;)

Hope you guys are all happy and enjoying this beautiful September day. Hugs and kisses,
Astera and family!

Two Cherries...Finished

Sorry for the delay, guys...these past few days we were victim of an awful GI bug that has been plaguing Bella's daycare...No Easter luncheon, no parties, no walks in the sun, no energy for drawing or posting on the blog.

Possibly (I don't feel like claiming victory over the infection yet...it's really nasty) things are getting better and will allow me to go back to drawing. I have a small project I want to complete before our trip to Italy in June.

Meanwhile, here is the picture of the finished Two Cherries piece.

Why the cherries? Bella and Pit look so much alike that they could be siblings: they made me think of two cherries. In addition the cherry tree symbolizes rebirth and new awakening and these two little angels have brought new life to our families, new hope, and new adventures.

Happy Pasquetta (the Monday after Easter is a holiday in Italy...not in the US unfortunately...)!

After the archery lesson

I mentioned the other day that I almost participated to a third contest.

That was the Lara Croft Reborn contest on deviantArt.  used to play Tomb Raider a  few years ago and I loved it. When the new game came out and the contest announcement appear I was busy with other stuff and did not pay too much attention to it. A week before the deadline, I remembered about the challenge and came up with a quick idea, as you see on the post-its below.

My idea was to depict Lara in a rather unconventional way, picking on the description found in the "assets package". She was said to be naturally beautiful, studious, not a social butterfly, wealthy, but not ostentatious, etc. All these characteristics are not typically represented in LC art, where she usually is in a combactive stance, covered in dust and sometimes blood. Instead, I wanted to show a young innocent girl with an interesting background and a hidden strength.

When my husband saw the drawing half way through the inking, he first could not identify her, then reminded me that the contest was supposed to promote an action game and that composed and calming views of the main hero were not going to appeal to the panel of judges, the company, or the target audience. As a former player of the game, I begged to disagree on the last point. However, I recognized he might be correct on the rest. Because I was also extremely tight on time and very busy with work and the baby,  I decided to relax and finish the piece for my own pleasure. Here is the result.

Message in a bottle

And this is my latest mermaid...in a big trouble. Was it chance or the will of a cruel entity that put her in such a desperate situation? Who will help her? Will she grant three wishes to her savior?

Poor thing...it might take a while for somebody to find her tiny island. They might not even notice her bottle, as the treasure chest might prove a more obvious point of interest.