The new banner is up!

Hello again! So, "At the stroke of 5" is finally ready and, with my husband's kind contribution,  it now welcomes visitors at the top of the blog page. So glad this time things worked out properly. ;)

Here is the drawing without the writings on it. As always, I used Copic markers with some Prismacolor markers for the background and I worked on precious Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper, which has a lovely texture and helps a lot with color blending.

At the stroke of 5, the young Duke invited his fiance to have tea at his family's residence.  Needless to say, his parents were surprised.                          

 What do you think?
            

Still alive

Many things went on the past month: catching up with work after my vacation, visits from old friends, lots of fun, taking classes...but I am still drawing, albeit rarely. Here is a newer image of the "At the stroke of 5" mermaid.

I actually finished her yesterday, but I don't have my camera available (my husband who is traveling in Asia took it with him...so wish I could follow them!), so at the moment this is the best I can do. ;)
Tonight I will pick up a project I started in Italy and promptly abandoned when I came back. Hope to be able to show you something soon (no mermaids in this one, promise!).

There and back again!

So my nice three weeks vacation is over. I am back to the cool and rainy Chicago weather after days of pure blue skies in Italy.

As I expected I did not have much time for drawing, but I had a great time visiting, among other fine places, Tuscany and enjoying the fabulous art and architecture of Siena, Volterra and San Giminiano. By the way, if you happen to be in Siena, I recommend to try and eat in this great restaurant we randomly found while walking through the winding roads of the city: La Taverna di Cecco (Via Cecco Angliolieri, 19, 53100 Siena, Italy 0677.288.318). It's simply amazing! Too bad we could not stay longer!

Anyways, here I am ready for the winter, rested and restored. Lots of new activities expect me in the next months. I'll give my best effort to fit my little artistic projects in all this...Talkt to you soon!

Another mermaid...and Arrivederci!

Mermaid in the leaving room Banner: second take...this time I think I am closer to the right dimensions...So, while in "Tea with the Mermaid" the living room went to the sea, this time the mermaid actually did go to an actual living room in the home of a well-to-do family "At the stroke of five"...quite a surprise for the guests! I still have quite a lot of work to do on her, but i am leaving for Italy tomorrow and I am pretty sure I will not progress much (so many places to see, so many people to visit). Here is the very preliminary sketch. To be continued...
Talk to you all in October!

Tea with the mermaid-finished

It's done. Sorry, I was too lazy to make a WIP progression on this one...
Ok, I don't think this will fit, unless somehow I change the size of my banner here (or, to be precise, I ask my husband to try and do it for me) or I cut mercilessly the picture. Oh well, I think I'll have to make another attempt, paying more attention to the spatial contrains...

Meanwhile enjoy the freshness of tea under the sea with this kind and hospitable lady.

ED Contest Prize

It's here! Actually, it's been here for a few days now, but I haven't had the opportunity to take pictures until today. Marina Bychkova of Enchanted Doll (see my previous post...) sent me the marvelous prize for the 2011 Birthday ED contest (here are my entries for the contest): a silver doll hand pendant of exquisite beauty and uniqueness.

The hand came in an elegant white box. The picture at the bottom of the box depicts Necrophilia, one of Marina's earliest projects and her interpretation of the Snow White tale. I always loved that doll for the sweetness of her expression. This same picture happens also to be my avatar in the  ED forum...and I suspect this didn't happen by chance. I really appreciate it. ;)

My poor photographs don't make it justice, but you can find far better ones on her blog here
The tiny lines of the palm are delightful.... I can't stop admiring them!

I am beyond happy and feel very privileged to own such a lovely piece of art. Thanks a million Marina!

PS: I bought the silver necklace at a local jewelry and the sale person was really impressed by it too...asked me lots of questions about Marina and her works. ;)

New Project: Tea with the mermaid

Somebody rightly pointed out that my blog still misses a personalized banner...so I thought to start working on it before I leave for my italian vacation. Of course I need to have a mermaid in it...this is the first design I came up with. It seems to me that it's growing too big and detailed (there are also parts that are difficult to see yet because I haven't inked them yet) for allowing the blog's title to show. I might have to make another attempt and use this for something else. ;) What do you think?