Thursday, June 6, 2013

Illustration Friday - SWEET

"Are you old enough to go off and take a nap without being told?"
                                          - 1940 HEALTHY GROWING

What is sweet to you?  A cookie? A flower from your child? A chance to spend a few minutes alone in blissful sleep?  SWEET = NAP in my world.  She looks a tad embarrassed - probably she has been caught sleeping by a "non-napper".   "Non-nappers" are the killjoys in the napping world - the wet blankets at my slumber party!
This girl is the first girl that I've ever painted on an easel.  Too bad I only have two long paintbrushes - I had a couple more but I cut them off because, "Why would I need long paintbrushes??!!  It isn't like I paint pictures on an easel."  Perhaps that helps to explain her abundance of blusher - either that or she has a healthy glow from just waking up from a refreshing nap. 
She started on a piece of hot press watercolor paper and had a bad haircut - maybe it would have helped to paint hair on the other side but I had grown weary of mixing paint so I cut her head out and pasted her in my ledger art journal. The background colors come from Panpastels.
Misty Mawn uses these four colors for her "go to" palette - I felt like a grown-up buying tubes of heavy body paint and mixing my own skintones.

29 comments:

Faye said...

She's beautiful, Michelle. It looks like a healthy glow to me, but I have rosecea which gives me rosy cheeks. I hope you will try more easel work. This one was very successful.

Ayala Art said...

I'm a wet blanket then hahahaha :oD
I hate naps, I have to be very sick to take one, and have been that way since little. :oP
Your lady in the page is sweet, that was the first world I thought before reading anything!
Happy PPF

sharon said...

She is lovely!, I tsake naps and often get embarressed if a friend turns up, um I wondedr if my cheeks get red like that?

Erika said...

Love your Lady with this beautiful lips :)
Happy PPF and hugs

Anne Manda said...

Love how she got rosy cheeks from her nap, she looks beautiful! <3

www.dorissdaughter.com said...

Beautiful skin tones and I like the way you have painted the shadow on her neck. I seem to have phases of napping so I don't do it often but always feel refreshed when I do:)

soulbrush said...

ha ha I guess I am old enough to have a nap without being told. Fab art.Happy PPF.

Unknown said...

Shes lovely! I would tell her that to nap is to retain sanity!!

Šolanje na domu-Waldorf said...

She's gorgeous and i love your art journal page. :) I find it hard to paint on the easel. I guess it's all about practice. :)

denthe said...

She's beautiful! love her lips and her pinky cheeks ....

alarmcat said...

she's very pretty...haircut and all :)

Anonymous said...

She's lovely and does look as if she was woken abruptly from her blissful nap. Happy PPF

Mary C. Nasser said...

Gorgeous pages, Michelle.
I love the rich colors you created in this portrait.
♥♥♥
Happy PPF!!
Mary
Mixed-Media Map Art

Breesmimi said...

I'm old enough for a nap and I don't need to be told to take one! Love this painting and the layout in your journal. HPPF!

Monique said...

She looks wonderful. I love how you cut het hair =).
Have a lovely weekend.
xx

Ivy said...

She's lovely! Love your color palette. HPPF!

Tam Hess said...

haha cute napping story. I love naps too, especially on the weekends when the house is full of my boys and their noises, for some reason it's soothing! Even Andy's drumming!

I actually liked her funny hair cut! She looks good both ways. The colors you used are wonderful. They give her the most beautiful glow :) Thanks so much for sharing your work. Happy Paint Party Friday!

janice smith said...

Great save, Michelle. She looks good with her hair pulled back. I'm all for naps as well...she need not blush in front of me :-) Happy PPF! - janice

Alexandra MacVean said...

Michelle, this is lovely. I just love the expression on her face - captured my heart this morning. :)

Janet said...

I enjoy a little afternoon nap once in awhile. I think your girl looks rosy and healthy and beautiful.

Rita said...

Just gorgeous! I love it. Lots of comments mention her glowing and it's true! She is lovely.

Tracey FK said...

Painting on an easel is a whole different animal... I quite like a table easel as I ca get a bit closer... bad eye sight you ... and napping is the sweetest thing int he world... nothing comes close top the feeling of flopping onto the bed mid afternoon... xx

Unknown said...

Great job. Painting on an easel is not always easy. I have mine set at table height so I can sit down on my swivel typing chair... Your girl is beautiful and love her rosy cheeks..:)

Valerie-Jael said...

Your girl is beautiful, love the rosy cheeks! Valerie

Silke Powers said...

She is gorgeous, Michelle, and as a fellow napper, I can tell she woke up refreshed! I could so relate to you getting weary of mixing paints - I sometimes think I could get much nicer-looking paintings if I weren't so lazy about mixing paints... ;-) Loved my visit here! xoxo Silke

Tammie Dickerson said...

She is beautiful! Love the mood and the feel of this!

pauline said...

such beautiful portraits Michelle...love the kindness in her eyes. :-) xox

manomij said...

Lovely work and Happy belated Paper Saturdays! ManonX

barefootedwanderer said...

I love, love, love, your artwork and have been inspired by your portraits...


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http://barefootedwanderer.blogspot.com/2013/07/whimsical-womanin-progress.html