TJ's Commissions: Be a Disney Princess.

Ah! Today will be a peek at a personalized header commission I completely a while back.

Pearliology is a Beauty Guru on Youtube and I got to know her via my sister Cilla. She is a huge Disney fan and she wanted to have herself captured as one for her header. Of course, I said "Yes"

So obviously I went a bit in stalker mode and checked out her blog. A header space isn't that big, so I had to keep in mind what I wanted to paint as I didn't want lots of details to go missing. However, it was clear from the start that there had to be one big princess Sarah, as all Disney princesses have their moment of prettiness on a poster. Then after a bit of research I decided to add 3 little princesses. 1) She loves to snap pictures as much as she can (and her blog is filled with lovely peeks in her life), so because of this I chose to have one mini Sarah holding a camera. 2) She loves slushies! 3) Disney princesses always seem to have cute birdies around them (and then they burst out into singing...)

I don't have a whole lot of pictures this time as the design was pretty straight forward and the sketch was right in one go. I wanted to add frames around the 3 little princesses, but decided to leave them out in the final sketch as it would take up too much space. Also on the original I hand-painted "Pearliology"

She absolutely loved it and hearing this just makes my day! It's always a challenge to create something that the client will love, but so far the response I get is way beyond amazing.

Little updates:
1. YAY! The SOS Sahel painting is sold during the auction! The lovely Betty Dravis is the proud owner of the Goddess of Nature and the painting is on her way as I type this post! She is a writer AND a celebrity interviewer (she interviewed Clint Eastwood back in the days. How COOL is that?!) and if you're interested to see her work, please go to her site, Betty's Dreams.

2. All the giveaway prizes are on their way to their new owners! AND there will be a new one up in a week or two.

3. I'll be doing some major redesigning of a lot of things soon, but I will update you accordingly when the time is right.

Thanks for reading lovely readers! Till  next time.

TJ's WIP: Sahel the Goddess of Nature

Hi Everyone!

In my previous ramble update, I spoke about a painting that I couldn't show you, but now with the auction coming up on September 16th, I can! A bunch of you have already seen the painting floating around on Facebook, but I thought a few more peeks would be fun to stare at!

I didn't had a real idea of what I wanted to paint. I only wanted to incorporate a sense of freedom. How vague does that sound huh? Haha. Either way, I googled some references and came across one with the pose you see below, I think that printed the reference as soon as I saw it as I can't find it anywhere on my laptop! Either way, I was immediately drawn to it and decided to use it as a base.

Sketch, sketch! I drew the lady on a smaller scale first and after scanning, I drew her on an A4 size paper. I had a vague idea about the background and flowers where the only thing floating in my mind. I decided to only focus on the lady first.

With colored pencils I drew the flow of the water and then I started to add layers of paint. I also got a better idea of the background, but looking back... it was kind of a big risk that I took. I started to drop colors, like blops of greens, blue and a mixture of various colors to create a nature background...I seriously had a few moment where I though "Now why the %*^&* did I do that?!"...

At this point I was also thinking "Ehm...this doesn't look like something I'd normally paint...", so I proceeded bugging my sisters and asking if it was looking okay. I usually just have to keep on going when I reach this stage of pondering haha. So that's exactly what I did...

Excuse the light. The day turned in to evening before I knew and I was working in the living room and the light gets pretty crappy for pictures there. As you can see, I started to bring out the flowers and grassy areas at the front and soft, misty bushes and trees in the back.

Final touches!! Some sparkles here and there!! She just had to have some sparkles haha.

Voila! The Goddess of Nature is born ^_^. I hope she brings lots of luck to the cause and that she goes to a good home as well. The illustration is done completely with watercolors and a touch of black, pearly and gold ink. The size is 30 x 25 cm.

My painting and many others, will be auctioned this upcoming Sunday, September 16th. As soon as I know more about the auction details, I'll mention here, Facebook & Twitter. All proceeds go to the cause and I will be shipping the painting. So the buyer can expect a lovely TJ package ^_^. For now you can read more by going to this article "Countdown To Song of Sahel Auction". You can find more art over there as well!

With this, I shall leave you...

Till next time, everyone!

TJs Rambling Updates! Well, just two for now...

Ah this post is going to be about a few little updates. Two to be precise. It's getting way too hot here for sitting behind the laptop for long periods of time, so I'm typing in one go...hehe. Ready? Set? Go!

Ramble update 1: Kids Need More Art
A few weeks ago a came across a Facebook page called Kids Need more Art. They have a campaign going called Around The World and if you want to join, you can contact them and they will send you a shirt or bag and the only thing you have to do is answering a question and snap a picture with it. They want to see how far the shirt/bag travel around the world while collecting cool answers. Well, when I was out and about I managed to spill coffee on the shirt so I still ended up taking the picture at home with the bag (which I didn't want as I wanted to have a cool picture outside -_-)...anyway...I tend to be quite clumsy sometimes! Here's the picture that has been up on my Facebook yesterday.

I hardly post my own pictures on my blog huh? That aside. There's still some time to participate, but not sure how much time there's left yet. This is specifically aimed at people who live outside the States as the shirt does need to travel to you first. So wanna join? Check out their site or their Facebook page here.

Karen *waves* I loved our email exchanges! You're so sweet and can't wait to meet you one day!

Ramble Update 2: A Song of Sahel SOS
I'll be donating an original painting to the cause A Song of Sahel SOS. Every now and then I do a little side project that has more meaning to me than others. At least, whenever I read about it, it sparks something in me and I just have to act on it. I had it with e.g. the Red Dress Movement by The Bloggess.

A lot of parts in Africa are struck by starvation and dehydration, people have so little, though often their smiles are the most genuine ones you'll ever see. I've never visited Africa, but I do have heritage from there. And you know, it's very easy to only focus on the tragedies that covers Africa like a black cloud, so one must not forget about all the wonders in the form of beautiful landscapes and gorgeous animals that live there. I've wondered many times why a land as Africa is still in such severe need of help. Many theories have crossed my mind one more depressing and shocking than the other. So I won't bother you or myself with it anymore. What is needed is a helping hand is needed and Niamh Clune is one of the people who extended hers and set up an event to raise awareness and money to help the people who live in Africa, specifically around the area of Sahel. Sahel is a place in Africa struck by extreme drought and no rain for extended periods of time. I'm already melting when the temperatures in Holland go above 24 degrees Celsius...and when I think about how hot it can really get without the rain...I definitely should not complain. Not one bit.

Unfortunately I don't have bags of money around, so I am donating an original painting solely for this cause. It will be auctioned soon to raise money for the cause, however, I can't show you what I've painted just yet. What I can say is that the style of painting is quite different than I'm used to and my sister Cilla is completely in love with it. I always, always have to get used to my own stuff though. However...stepping outside my comfort zone is a good thing right? The event will be taking place on September 15th and you can join the event on Facebook. In case you're interested in knowing more about the cause and how to join, please read this post.

Ah. We can all dream about a better world, but in the end....our actions make all the difference.

Last ramble: MY GIVEAWAY is still open...so do join if you want and ask me question. The questions I've gotten so far, will be answered in the posts to come. :D

Enjoy you Sunday...the weather is getting waaaay too hot to sit behind my laptop!

Ciao Ciao everyone!