Thursday, January 9, 2014

Illustration Friday - TIME

"Time is at once the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions."
                               - John Randolph

The passage of time has been on my mind quite a bit this week.  Our older son just turned 17 and, as every mother knows, the time has flown by since his birth.

A recent car conversation went as follows:  
CONNOR (age 17) - "Mom, did you realize that the year 2048 is as close in time as the year 1980 was?"
ME - "Thanks, Connor - you've managed to make me feel even older than ever." 
CALEB (age 12) - "Mom probably won't even be alive in 2048."
This girl was drawn in pencil over a wash of yellow ochre watercolor in my sketchbook.
I recently found The Ink Draw blog and LOVE how she draws hair and wanted to give it a try.
The different sections of hair do not stand out as separately as I'd like but all in all I am happy with my first attempt. 
Her eyes were initially painted only in gray and blue but a little addition of orange pencil seemed like a good idea in the moment and made such a big difference! 
Linking to Paint Party Friday,

22 comments:

Unknown said...

She is so lovely - i liked seeing your process too
Kirstin x

alarmcat said...

beautiful. the orange really made the difference in her hair…nice choice!

Oh, and i know what you mean…my "baby" is 30. I don't know what happened. one minute she was a baby, then next minute...

SLScheibe said...

Wow, gorgeous!! LOVE the girl. She looks fantastic and I love that quote. Kids are funny :)

Linda Kunsman said...

she's beautiful Michelle-as is your portrait at PPF-congrats!

Faye said...

Your face painted on the yellow ochre is so gorgeous. Thanks for the step by step process. Enjoy the time with your children. My youngest turns 50 this year.

Tammie Dickerson said...

Don't you love what the kids say? Their words are priceless! Wonderful portrait - I love the way you start with a yellow ochre wash :)

Unknown said...

Bellissimo, un volto intensamente espressivo!

Netty said...

Loving the great results, such a beautiful face. Happy PPF, Annette x

http://nettysartadventures.blogspot.co.uk/

Debbie said...

Thanks for showing your process! It's really interesting to see how she evolves into such a beautiful and strong face in the end. Funny story with your boys, too. I love those moments with mine, even if they do make me feel old!

Zue said...

Your faces have such strength of character...wonderful work!
Sue x

Maria Medeiros said...

Lovely! Happy New Year!!

ann @ Whimsyville said...

Caleb needs to go to time out. Ha. My son turned 18 and every thing these last few months is his 'last' this and that. I am a wreck. Love, love love the portrait.
Happy PPF.

Kristin said...

Oh! Your car conversation cracked me up! AND your girl is just gorgeous - I love her bright lips and big eyes, xoxo

Jane Wetzel said...

fabulous!

Jenn Jilks said...

Inspiring!
(ツ) from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!

Kimberly Jones said...

I love the yellow ochre background! Your boys are hilarious!

Janet said...

Kids really do say the darnedest things, don't they!

Love your girl! Hair is one of the things I don't like to draw but you've done it so beautifully.

AM Zafaran said...

She's so pretty...and I like her expression as she thinks of passage of time! Love the hair and the orange added on.

Anne Manda said...

Lovely piece, so expressive! Really like the way you drew her hair!

DVArtist said...

She is really lovely. Thanks for sharing your process too.
Nicole/Beadwright

schulmanart said...

I'm so excited that I found your blog through Julie Fei-Fan Balzer! I love the detail in this piece, and the uniqueness of the colors!

Julie said...

Very nice! I found you from the Paint Friday link up. I recently started an art blog and would love any feedback you could give me if you wouldn't mind stopping by

Julie
http://www.artworkbyjm.com/