Scrapbook for Grandma

I've been spending most of this week scanning and editing old photos, and arranging them onto scrapbook pages. My grandma has recently gone to live in a nursing home. My uncle had been trying to look after her in her home, but she needed around-the-clock care. It's very sad that she can no longer remember things she once knew, or recognize some of her family or, often, her own belongings. She does seem to be cheerful most of the time in her new home, and has plenty of people around her, as she has always liked to have. But I am not sure she knows me, or many of us in the family anymore.

So, I have been putting this book together, matching our photos with our names, and descriptions of who we are. I've been told not to expect her to know anyone, and I'm adjusting to that idea. Still, I'm hoping something will look familiar to her, and will give her a sense of who her family are and where she came from, if only for a few seconds at a time. I'm also saving the pages on a CD so everyone in the family who wants a copy can have one.

This is my grandma in front of her old house with the hollyhocks I started from seed. They grew much better at her house than they ever did at mine.

"Henry the Owl" Video

Here's my second video, of me painting my second watercolor on Claybord, "Henry the Owl". I just put it up over on my YouTube channel. "Henry" is available in print form in my Etsy shop, and I'm trying him out on eBay too. He's a sweet little fellow, kind of shy :)

My owl is done!

I've still got to put my video together, but I've already printed a couple of prints of Mr Owl for my Etsy shop.


I used my Claybord tools to scratch out the whitest feathers on his head, something I would have used masking fluid for on watercolor paper. I did have a little trouble with the wash for the background because the Claybord is so absorbent and the paint dried too quickly. This will be an interesting challenge for larger paintings. I digitally "mended" some of the watercolor splash marks. I left them in the sky of my bunny painting. I think that is going to be an effect that I'll either live with or change in Photoshop in future projects. It will depend on whether I like a particular splash mark or I don't. Sometimes it gives a nice "watercolor" effect, and looks artsy, but sometimes it just doesn't happen where I might like it to happen.

Owl on the way

My owl is actually finished, but this is me painting him. This is one of the several hundred time-lapse photos I took today of myself painting. I uploaded my photos in two batches only to discover that the Roxio program I used to make my first video had taken over the numbering of my photos. It started the first batch at 001, and then started the second batch at 001-1. Without noticing that, I put both batches in the same folder, and ended up with a terrible organizational mess, with one photo from each batch alternating with one photo from the other batch, 001, 001-1, 002, 002-2, etc. I thought I was going to have to drag and drop one photo at a time onto a storyboard to make a video. Luckily, I had the second batch still on my card. So, I managed to delete that set and re-upload it into a second folder.

I still need to know how to set my preferences to have Photoshop Elements be my default photo editor again so I can have my photos numbered consecutively starting where I left off, not at 001 every time. If anyone knows how to fix that, please drop me a note!

Update: After some suggestions, some fiddling, and turning the computer off and on again, my photos seem to be coming in numbered in their old Photoshop Elements fashion. I'm not sure how it happened, but I'm glad it's working. Knock on wood. My photos are still labeled as Roxio jpgs, etc, though. So, not everything has reverted, but at least, so far today, the new photos aren't staring at 001.

Transferring my owl

I transferred my owl onto Claybord today. I even filmed myself for the video I plan to make for the painting. It was hard to get myself to do that. It takes away the whole joy of not caring what you look like when you're working at home. At least it was a short segment!

My bunny was today's featured listing in the Prim and Whimsy Girls eBay group. I was so surprised this morning to to her furry face looking out at me when I signed in. Thanks, Becky!

I joined the group just recently. You can find members' eBay listings by searching titles and descriptions on eBay for "PWGL".

I also joined the Rags to Riches Dolls eBay group recently. You can find those members' eBay listings by searching titles and descriptions on eBay for "R2RD".

Here is a close-up of my bunny's lace collar and trim. I made up some detail shots for my print ad. I'm trying it out on eBay this week, and it will continue to be available on Etsy. The lace is the part I scratched out of the Claybord with a dental pick and some of the Claybord tools. I'll be trying this technique while making my owl's feathers.

My Bunny and my video are done!

My lop-earred rabbit is painted, printed, and available in my Etsy shop! Painting on the Claybord was a little like painting on illustration board, in that the surface was more absorbent than watercolor paper usually is, but that made for some interesting effects. The detail that you can add by scratching the surface is great. I used a dental pick and some of the Claybord tools that came in the toolkit. I was able to add fine lines and textures for lace and bunny hair.

I also put together my first video for my new YouTube channel. After a couple of failed attempts using one program, I realized that the Roxio program my aunt gave us had a video-editing program included in it, VideoWave. It was an older version, but our computer is about the same vintage. So, it worked out. I had to edit out the parts of the video where I actually smiled because there were loud crunching sounds at the beginning and end of that segment when the on/off button had been pushed. I'll know to let the camera run a little longer at the start and finish next time.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Little me with my mom. Mom tells me she used to be little too :)

Happy Mother's Day!

My palette

Here's a shot of my watercolor palette, my brushes, and my applesauce jars full of water. I took a long time cleaning off my desk and setting up today.

I meant to include this with my video post but I can't seem to do much blog post editing from Flickr!

Look fast...I'm painting!

I don't really paint this fast!, originally uploaded by elizabethruffing.

I have to admit, I was afraid to start painting. I haven't painted a watercolor in a very long time. I'm not sure why I decided trying to film my first attempt to paint on Claybord or to scratch lace into my painting was a good plan, but, as it turned out, the distraction of having the camera go off every thirty seconds kept my mind off being nervous about painting. Instead, I kept reminding myself to keep my head from blocking the camera. The painful part was that I didn't take any breaks for hours...and this video all passes in about ten seconds or so.

My movie making skills are, um, nonexistent. My last attempt involved filming the seat of my pants, while thinking I had turned the camera off and not on. I got that backwards a few times. This time I got that straight at least. If I can film a part two, slow these things down, and splice them together, I might be able to make something more watchable.

Reworking my work

I basically redid everything I just did, only in a 5 x 7 size instead of 4 x 5. I blew up my drawing, extended the clothing and added a border at the bottom, retraced it, and re-transferred it onto my Claybord. I didn't mask it because, frankly, I have no experience with Claybord or scratchboard of any kind. So, I don't know if that would work. I don't want a mess with masking fluid stuck in the textured surface. I might be able to look up the directions on using Claybord, but I haven't gotten to that yet. I'm just skimming their tips now...It says "don't worry about using masking fluid." I'm not sure what that means. The implication seems to be "don't use masking fluid" or "don't bother using masking fluid." I'm trying to read between the lines, I guess. I suspect the paint will wash off rather easily, but I hope not too much. After skimming, I am also wondering if I would be happier with the smooth Claybord, since I am used to hot press (it's smoother than cold press, which is rough in texture, but not as smooth as smooth Claybord) watercolor paper. We'll see.

I found I had to press quite hard with my pencil while transferring. I didn't need to lighten my lines, which came out faint even though I pressed hard. Ouch. This is a good time to mention the perils of repetitive strain injuries. Susie of boygirlparty.com did a great demo on a tip to help avoid this. If you work small or with fine detail especially, it's a good idea to read up on how to avoid injuring yourself. This is important information not only for painters, but for anyone who works with their hands. I've also heard that taking a ten minute break out of every hour is a good idea. Unfortunately, I tend to take that time to check my email! Typing definitely does not count as a break for your hands! ;)

I also got a "tool kit" for Claybord. Usually, I scrounge for everything I might already own that might work for any given task, but since I don't technically know what I am doing, I went with the recommended route. I usually wait until I am extremely frustrated before I cave in and take the recommended route. I thought I'd skip that step since I've been frustrated enough lately.

Incidentally, has anyone noticed the remarkable ability cats have to land on your things (or steal your chair) within seconds and still manage to look like they've been dozing there for hours? How do they do that?

Masking

I got my masking done on my little watercolor. Masking at its best is still like painting with thin rubber cement, and here I was trying to "paint" a lace collar with masking fluid, which was quite difficult. I can do this, I know, but I may take a departure here. The handout on the Claybord I recently bought says you can scratch the surface with a wire brush to make hairs. I might experiment and see if there is a way to scratch lace onto it. I think it might make an interesting effect, if it works.

In "Window Box with Pansies", above, I used masking fluid to paint the lace. Then I painted the watercolor over it. The masking was removed with some dried rubber cement. You can make your own eraser out of rubber cement by pouring some into a cap and letting it dry. You pry it out when it's dry and wad it up into a ball. It works very well for removing masking fluid. You press and lift, and the masking fluid comes up with it.

Masking has its challenges aside from being somewhat "gunky" to work with. First there is the issue of your brush getting ruined. You can put plain soap on your brush (I wipe it on a bar of Ivory soap) as you paint with the masking fluid to protect your brush. Rinse your brush with water, wipe it on a paper towel, and re-soap your brush frequently before dunking it into the masking fluid. This will keep your brush hairs from getting glued together. Then there is the problem of not being able to see the masking fluid well on your paper. It used to be easier to find gray masking fluid, but now most of what you run into is yellow or white, which means you can't be sure what you are painting as you paint. Then there is the issue of your watercolor shying away from the masking. Watercolor doesn't always like masking fluid and doesn't always stay right up against your masked lines. All in all, it's a bit hit and miss.

"The Frost Angel", above, was done without masking, by working "dry brush" in sections. This means the whole background wasn't wet to begin with. You work on dry paper. This gives you more control, but it isn't feasible in some situations, like when you want a larger, fluid, or blended background, as you would with a sky. The masking fluid protects areas where you can't stop to control everything. Also, working out the details and having to be conscious of where you are going in a painting like "The Frost Angel" is like being lost in a maze sometimes. You have to remember what you want to be light and dark at all times, and not mix them up.

Watercolor purists use the white of the paper for their whites, and they avoid using opaque paint, which is, technically, referred to as gouache. I was taught to be a purist. Why this is important, I cannot tell you. I think some of us embrace the sheer difficulty of doing this. I do love a challenge, but I have also done this, and I know I can do this, already. Right now I am curious to see what else I can do, and I am thinking I want to scale this drawing up to fit my Claybord and give it a whirl. I'm interested to see if I can scratch lace into a painted area...just to see if I can.

Guess who came to town?!

I didn't think we'd even get to vote in the primaries, and I certainly didn't think I'd see Bill Clinton out this way. We got there two hours before his arrival, but it was worth it. He was a truly great speaker, as he's been whenever I've seen him...only this time I got to see him in person. Pretty cool.

I was a little worried when I saw the vintage Ford pickup they had set up for him to stand in, and when I heard the loud twangy country music over the speakers. I was afraid the whole thing was going to be in a talk-down-to-the-country-people vein, but I'm glad to say it was not. He has a way of really connecting with people, getting their attention, and keeping it. He talks to them with great intelligence and respect. It's impressive.

Anyway, not something you get to see too often, either in a person, or in this town.

So, tomorrow we'll be on our way to vote here in North Carolina...