The Sea Girl and the Pearl

Digital - 7x8.25

The Sea Girl and the Pearl

She found a pearl,

the little Sea Girl,

upon the ocean floor.

She took it back

to add to her stack

of objects to adore.

The orb glowed bright

and offered delight

atop her trinket pile.

The Sea Girl's eyes

gazed on her new prize, 

and twinkled with her smile.

A giant eel

in search of a meal,

swam by the Sea Girl's home.

He saw a glimmer,

a shiny shimmer, 

in dunes of sandy loam.

The eel swooped down,

disturbing the ground

and searching for his prey.

The Sea Girl fled

into a thick bed

of seaweed where she lay.

The hungry eel,

who still had no meal,

went somewhere else to feed.

The Sea Girl packed

the treasures she stacked

and moved to the seaweed.

There was one thing

that she would not bring,

one thing she wouldn't miss.

She tossed her pearl,

the little Sea Girl,

into a deep abyss.

The Sea Girl and the Pearl ©2012 Teresa Rodriguez

The image above was the result of much experimentation in digital painting and painting in general. It was a rewarding venture, where I played with different brushes and techniques. Ironically, my work in Photoshop is helping my skills with traditional media such as gouache and watercolor. The main difference being the material expense that doesn't exist in cyberland.

I love to watch tutorials and demos by artists such as Will Terry, Chris Oatley and Dani Jones to see what how they develop their masterpieces. A search through YouTube can find lots of other educational nuggets by generous artists.

This week I am happy to be participating in Aquariann's Mermaid Blog Hop, where you can find lots of other sea folks who may have a less traumatic tale to tell. Click on the button below to visit. And if you are here from the Hop, welcome! :)

Aliens, Romance, and Pie

Scene from Twilight Zone's "Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?"
- Ink on Yupo

This is my favorite TZ character, Haley the counterman at the HiWay Cafe. Big spoiler for anyone who hasn't seen that ep, but it's definitely watchable multiple times.

I've been experimenting with Yupo, a synthetic paper. Painting on Yupo is like painting on plastic - since the paper is polypropylene. Watercolor will pick up easily, ink will not. Lots of layers of washes are required. The resist factor of the surface takes some getting used to. I may do more pieces in ink, watercolor and pencil. Graphite glides on it like a marker. It's very cool and makes for richness in shading.

A previous study using inks was done on hot-press watercolor paper. Gone With The Wind was playing on TCM, and it's a nice background movie as you're working. I watched a bit, however, and became intrigued with the color palette of the scene when Rhett leaves Scarlet at the bridge to go off and join the Confederate army. Simple oranges, blacks and browns. I have those inks, I thought, and out came the supplies. A somewhat decent screenshot was found online for reference. Again, the ink won't budge like watercolors, but the brushstrokes and quickness of drying do create a nice texture.

Ink on Arches Hot Press Watercolor Paper

I used inks won in a couple of different contests through the Grumbacher and Koh-I-Noor FB pages. Grumbacher holds an ATC Swap every few months. It's great fun to enter, occasionally there are prizes, but the best part is receiving a little piece of art from someone else.

Koh-I-Noor held a Supply Closet Cleaning contest, offering a box of art goodies to two winners. Entrants were to illustrate the name Koh-I-Noor. I went with one of my favorite themes - pie. Apparently the judges were pie fans as well, and mine was one of the two chosen for a prize.

Ink and Watercolor on Bristol

I expected a little box and instead, at my doorstep after work one day, sat a carton big enough to hold an ambitious contortionist. They cleaned out the closets, alright. Paints, brushes, inks, pencils - all kinds of implements of creation were in there. Enough for me and a few of my artsy friends. Christmas in June!

Jaw-dropper