I'm so happy to say I have completed the challenge today, just in time! So many great artists participated, be sure to check out the other 135 if you have a chance, really some amazing work! Here are my last two faces and at the end, a compilation of all 29. Thank you to all who visited and supported me! I made some wonderful new friends!
Spring pixies in the garden :) I have one more day to go and two more faces, be sure to check in tomorrow for my last 29 faces post!
I spent the last month and a half working on a redesign of our backyard garden area. When we moved in to our house four years ago there was a designated vegetable garden in the backyard along the side of the garage. I worked with it as it was for three years but wanted to update it this year. So,on Easter Sunday my husband and I took measurements and I began sketching out my ideas. I was hoping to finish by Memorial Day and guess what? We were sucessful! I'm so happy with the results and can't wait for my plants to start filling in the raised beds. I have a combination of herbs, flowers and vegetables all growing in rich, organic soil.
My inspiration piece for a focal point came from a Pinterest pin my aunt found for me, the original post is from Better Homes and Gardens:
Here is the beginning of the project, I had just started clearing out weeds and some raspberry plants:
We added four raised beds, our plan was to do a little bit every weekend, section by section adding raised beds...(these raised beds are from Home Depot, ready to assemble and they are the best! easily put together in 5 minutes or less!)
then soil and chips...
Here is a view from a different angle...
one of the more labor intensive parts of the project... removing sod from this patch of the yard, serious workout that day.
My pile of sod, it was stacked all nice and neat but fell over and made a mess...
Jumping ahead here, I missed a couple photos in between but here I had already added more raised beds, two whiskey barrels and more soil. At this time my husband had already dumped washed gravel in the middle section and I had leveled out the area in order lay pavers down for a little patio area.
As you can see along the garage, this is where I built the garden bench...another super labor intensive part of the project, pavers and cinderblocks are a bit on the heavy side. Muscles were sore by the end of the day...but we were on the home stretch, only a few more steps to go...
At this point, we had cut plywood to fit the bench and my husband painted it to give it some color and protection against the weather. I added four cushions for the bench that I found at World Market, they fit perfectly! It was time to rearrange the wall decor...we added two antique windows to the mix, they are from the late 1800s and I just love them! All that remained after this was the last load of chips.
I love how the garden looks as I walk from the front of the house to the backyard...
A view from another angle, this is after the final load of chips
One of my favorite photos, I love our new sitting area and will be adding a small umbrella to patio area this weekend. You can also see I added two planters to the bench area, one on each side. I had asked my husband to buy 30 cinderblocks for the bench and had four left over. They make great planters, I planted geraniums in the front pockets and climbing sweet peas in the back, they should look great climbing the trellis on each side.
I'll be sure to post updated photos as the plants begin to grow and fill in the raised beds!
I have four more faces to go, only two more days left in May. I think I can do it! Here are the results from the weekend, sketches in watercolor, they seem to go the fastest and that is what I need right now!
I tend to add quotes, poems, words to my journal pages after I am done with the drawing/painting, I don't plan what quote or poem or words to add, they evolve with the page. Today this page led me to a quote from Alice Hoffman's Incantation
“If every life is a river, then it's little wonder that we do not even notice the changes that occur until we are far out in the darkest sea. One day you look around and nothing is familiar, not even your own face.
My name once meant daughter, grandaughter, friend, sister, beloved. Now those words mean only what their letters spell out; Star in the night sky. Truth in the darkness.
I have crossed over to a place where I never thought I'd be. I am someone I would have never imagined. A secret. A dream. I am this, body and soul. Burn me. Drown me. Tell me lies. I will still be who I am.”
I hope you enjoyed #20, only 9 more to go!
I have a book of Mucha posters that I love to look at for inspiration and face #18 and #19 are both inspired by his work. These are both done on 6"x9" watercolor paper using graphite and watercolor crayons by Caran D'Ache. Only ten more to go!
Just a quick post to catch up with my 29 Faces challenge, I am a bit behind but still determined to make it to 29 by the end of the month. Thank you for checking in with my progress!
Here is #12, graphite on watercolor paper:
Four ATCs for #13-16, still have some work to do on these before they are 'done'
and here is #17, mostly done with watercolor crayons...
I'm a couple faces behind but I'm sure I will catch up over the next day or two, been busy, busy, busy! This is a quick color pencil on watercolor paper.
I have been super busy for the last two days, as expected so I am a couple days behind. Tonight I did a quick sketch/watercolor inspired by Mad Men, love that show! It's the lovely Betty Draper(from the early years, ha!)
It's a twofer today! I am scheduled to be super busy tomorrow so I did a combo for faces 8 & 9 today. This is a mixed media painting on wood using acrylic paints, stamping, collage, charcoal and pigment powders.
I started this painting out with a light color pallete and as I continue to explore this style I am realizing that it calls for certain color combinations. I soon discovered that pink and yellow were not working and ended up adding more blue. You cannot tell in the photo but I also used some Ranger Perfect Pearls pigments that give it a little luminescence, so pretty in person!
