Love, Lydia - Notes from a geeky, plus sized artist.: Days 11-13

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Days 11-13

Well everyone,

My weekend did not go as planned.  haha  Just show what I get for trying to be an overachiever!  Saturday our power went out around lunchtime...right before we made lunch.  So, we hopped in the car and headed to Bryan's parents home, picking up something to eat on the way.  We played a lot of Magic the Gathering and I got my press releases written and sent out.  Since we'd reported our power outage we got a call around 8pm saying "not to expect a return of power until 6am Monday.  So, we were just a touch panicked and went home to pack up the contents of out refrigerator and pack overnight bags thinking we'd stay with Bryan's parents.  When we got back to our home the power was on and things were fine.  We returned for dinner (and to collect all the things we'd left thinking we'd be staying a while), more Magic, and some episodes of Doctor Who with Bryan's family.  (Yes my geek side will be showing up here sometimes too...it just means if you want some fun fan art or original game/tv/movie themed work I might just be your gal!)

Sunday was spent doing all the little boring things around the house we didn't do Saturday, and I really still have more to get done, though I've been working on it today.  I also completed my first piece of the year today.  It's very unlike my usual pieces, but I had a hankering to work on a self portrait for the first time in years and gave it a go.  I'm pretty pleased with the results.


This piece was created with some found paper, Neocolor II Wax pastels (some of the new ones I got for Christmas!), pencil, ink, and iridescent lavender tone acylic from Golden(on the white stripes and background area as well as the glass portion the the glasses), all on a 5"x7" oval canvas from Fredrix.  It looks like I'm going to have to go back to Askew Taylor (an absolutely fantastic local art supply store!) and pick up several more canvases like this one.

Today was the kind of day where I was having some hints of depression tugging at me, and almost just did nothing except be lazy.  However, when I started thinking about doing the self portrait, I knew it was just the right thing to do to help.  So this piece was done from start to finish in one day.  I have 10 other pieces started, but sometimes I work better if I interrupt my routine with something like this to give my emotional energy levels a jump start.  I've now got much more energy to work on a couple of the other pieces, though they'll have to wait a bit til I'm done here and with a few other projects online.

This piece is going to go up in my Etsy shop ASAP, and hopefully I'll have some more newly completed pieces for tomorrow as well.  Remember, my Kickstarter is up and going HERE and if I'm unable reach at least my minimum goal I may be retiring from art for quite some time, which I really don't want to have happen.  The thought scares me and is half the reason I deal with depression these days to be honest.

So, lots of brutal honesty here today.  Hopefully not too much for you all.  I look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings and am glad I get to share it with you for at least a little while longer.

Love, Lydia


2 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about the power outage. Winter losses like that are indeed the worst. My brother Matt's fiancee Becca and her family had their's cut out on Christmas Eve, and didn't get back for at least a week! Glad that you had some place nearby to hole up in the meantime.

    Curious coincidence that I was thinking about tinkering with a new self portrait as well. Though what should I do to make this one different from previous ones? I was thinking maybe a full body shot, (inspired by some of the publicity photos for the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special) maybe holding some kind of prop, or a background that indicates the things that inspire me or that I like to draw. Something more than just a face, maybe include some color, use it to liven up my website homepage more than that thumbnail sized number I have as a placeholder. Its a work in ongoing development.

    I'm feeling that seasonal depression tug too, especially after a Monday that while busy, didn't leave much to show for it. I was thinking of practicing with some Photoshop brushes over top of some scans of pencils of artists I admire so that I can be active and yet still be able to breath in between personal projects.

    I like the oval shape of this portrait. It has a classic turn of the century shape and expression while the red hear and teal background reminds me of this midcentury American look: https://www.etsy.com/storque/media/bunker/2010/02/Retro-kitchen-with-Geneva-metal-kitchen-cabinets__.jpg

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    1. You should definitely work on a new self portrait! A full body one would be a fun way to do it too. And color definitely couldn't hurt, for use online it catches the eye a bit better. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

      I really have some general depression, but not enough that I have to see a counselor...but every once in a while, usually when stress or circumstances are plaguing me it'll give me a bad day or two and interfere with doing what I'd like to. The weather doesn't help though....yesterday was indeed a rainy day here. Though it never gets all that cold here...I kind of miss all that mid-western snow!

      Thanks for the compliment! I really love working with those sort of colors, and some of the colors from the midcentury palette fit right in. And the designs are fun too. I'm sure I could make an interesting piece of work in a setting like that. It would make for a fun upcoming piece!

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