Bird Painting Number One

I've been wanting to spice up my dining room for some time with personalized paintings. Finally, I'm getting around to starting them. I had four canvases that I originally purchased for my spare bedroom. Instead, I decided to use them in the dining room, since there is more traffic in that space and they will be enjoyed more there! I purchased four more for the spare bedroom and chose to stick with a color scheme that will work for both spaces. I'm hoping to switch them out if I grow tired of one or the other during the year.

Deciding what subject to paint was not too difficult. I had either floral themes, birds, or food in mind. I decided to go with birds. For the spare I'll probably do floral to keep things versatile. I nixed the food, as it limits that art to be used almost exclusively in a dining or kitchen area.

Next step was to choose a medium. I settled on oil. Not only is it a great medium, but a friend is wanting a very large oil done for her living room and I figured this would give me a chance to "brush up" my skills on some simple art for my own wall.

If you haven't used oil before, you may want to practice with it a bit before you jump into it. One of the most distinct differences between oil and other paints is the ability to paint "wet on wet." In other words, you don't have to wait for it to dry. Watercolor, for example, will bleed all over the place if you have two wet surfaces touching. Oil doesn't work that way. It allows you to continually work with the painting.

For this one I started with a simple base that was a contrasting color (warm) in order to create some interest around the edges of the shapes I'm attempting to create. This adds some visual interest and also prevents any blank canvas from showing.

After creating the base layer, I lightly drew the outline of the bird, stems and leaves. I made the first layer really thin by adding paint thinner, which caused it to dry almost immediately. I then moved on to creating a blue background using prussian blue and ivory. I used several of the Burnt colors to create the outline of the bird and stem. In addition, I added some of the Cadium colors and more reds to lighten the feathers. 

Slowly, I continued to add detail and highlights to the piece and the bird. This is purely done at your preference. I also thickened up the tail of the bird as I went as well. It was challenging deciding how much white I wanted on the edge of the bird and the birds face, but ended up dulling it down a bit. 

The Veridan green was added last to the leaves. I made sure some of the bright base tone peaked through around the leaves and stem. I also allowed some to peek through at the top of the painting just to add some depth and interest. 

Overall I am definitely pleased with my first attempt at revamping my oil painting skills. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the other 3 quickly and move on to the monster canvas that my friend Nancy selected for her wall. In the meantime I'm going to enjoy the fruits of my labor with a nice glass of wine. Cheers! 

Happy Autumn!

Nothing beats a latte and how great is it to be able to make it at home! I love coffee and espresso so this seemed like an obvious purchase for me. If you haven't figure it out yet, I love IKEA. It's such an easy and cheap way to make simple updates to your home, especially when you are single and in your 20's and 30's. Some of my favorite IKEA purchases are kitchen gadgets. I would love to buy a nice espresso maker with a steam frother, but that's not exactly in my working student budget. The RÅDIG Espresso pot was a great option, especially for only $19.99! I also had already purchased the MÅTTLIG Milk-frothing jug for $6.99 and the PRODUKT Milk-frother for only $2.79.

 

The process of making the espresso is extremely simple and the IKEA espresso pot includes detailed directions in almost every language. Basically you fill the bottom portion with water to just below/at the safety valve, add the ground espresso to the funnel filter and place it on the stove! Voila! You've got espresso in no time!

I added some milk to the frothing jug and heated it up as well. The milk frother is not the most efficient and takes a lot of time to get a decent amount of frothed milk. There should only be a little left in the bottom that is not frothed. 

The best part of making these at home though is adding the flavor. The commercial chains and grocery store products have a lot of added processed sugar and I personally like to know what exactly is going into my coffee or drink. My favorite combination is vanilla and cinnamon and just simply add the vanilla to the milk before I heat it up ans sprinkle the cinnamon on top. Cheers!

Crime Scene Victim Halloween Make-Up!

Last year I decided to lay low for Halloween and instead enjoyed some pre-partying time doing a friend's make-up for a group costume contest. It turned out better than I expected and was a ton of fun to do. My "victim" was a good friend of mine who was part of a group costume that included a victim, murder, and detective. This is a really fun and different group costume that is easy to DIY

First step was to glue on the fake stab wound and add the slit throat. These items come with glue, just keep in mind that you will need to use a lot of it to attach something that is projecting out from the body. It will take some time to dry so be sure to start early enough. One tip for the edges of the slashed throat would be to run your fingers along the seam to keep the edges as smooth as possible. This way the makeup you add will look as natural as possible.

Next step was to add some contouring (any contouring kit should work just fine). I used cream based products & tried to use more of the cool tones instead of warm to help with the "dead" effect I was shooting for. Be sure to go over the lips with a light color. You don't want to blend it in too much so the natural color peeks through in any natural cracks or creases in the lips. 

Once blended I added the eye shadow to create a sunken in look. I used the Naked2 palette for this and primarily utilized the darkest colors. Be sure to take the color below the eye as well. You are essentially shooting for the opposite look of health! 

Blend the make-up around the glued seams of the false wounds. This will require thicker products or just a lot of extra. This is especially true if the fake skin tone doesn't match up exactly with your "victim’s" natural skin tone.

Next up was to add the fake blood. Most fake bloods are too red and too thin, so I went with a darker version that came in a squirt bottle. Be sure to add not only to the wounds, but the edge of the mouth or the eyes. 

Either way it is a fun and scary costume for Halloween that will be sure to turn heads! Happy Halloween and Cheers!