Happy Birthday Bob Ross!

Happy Monday everyone!

"We don't have mistakes here, we just have happy accidents" - Bob Ross

Google did a doodle today for Bob Ross's birthday and I was so excited to see it. He was had an influence in pushing me to paint, although it wasn't quite apparent at the time. I didn't speak English yet so the only thing I understood from the show was how beautiful colors could transform a blank canvas into a beautiful scene. That with his pleasant and clam demeanor made his show one that I watched frequently after school on PBS.

A friend of mine from college is also a big fan of Bob Ross and his techniques, so I'm sure he appreciates what Google did.

If you don't know who Bob Ross is, look him up, I highly recommend it. In short he is a contemporary oil painter known for hosting the show "The Joy of Painting" on PBS and from then became an instructor for many, published instructional books and sold a line of art supplies. He always set a very pleasant, calm and happy mood for his show and made tons of "happy little trees".

His techniques consist primarily of the wet-on-wet technique where you build layers of oil paint on each other without waiting a lengthy time for the preceding layer to dry first. The techniques he demonstrated were relatively simple, yet effective in creating beautiful scenery with gorgeous mountains, lakes, trees, rivers and sometimes cute little creatures.

Anyway, I hope that was a good treat to start your Monday. Tell me what you think about Bob Ross and if you've ever seen his show back in the day or even reruns of today :)

Take care!

<3 Kara

Sunday Surprise: Dragonfly Mosaic

Happy Sunday evening!

The day is almost over and I realized I forgot all about Sunday Surprise, and I am so sorry! So here it is, a bit late.

Today I am sharing with you all a mosaic I did a long while ago back in IB art. During that time, I experimented a lot with different mediums, and at one point I did spend a lot of time in the glass room. I learned to cut glass, and put them together, how stained glass is made and how to use tile grout. Although I enjoyed it very much, as I experimented with many more mediums, I drifted away from glass and never came back, not because I didn't want to but it just never happened.

Anyway, this one is made with glass, filled with toned tile grout on thick panel of wood and 1 inch thick. Then I bordered the whole thing with a wooden frame, which I painted a maroon-brown color to compliment the warm sky.

So here is my Dragonfly mosaic. I hope you like it, and happy Sunday Surprise!

<3 Kara

Factual Friday: Ruby Liberty Dragonfly by Kelly Eddington

Good morning Lured Ones!

It's Factual Friday again! I hope your week has been bearable, if not good.

My husband and I have started P90X and we are very much in pain. However, it is extremely rewarding to finish a workout that I didn't think I could do since I don't really have muscle at all... just bones. The other day, I was trying to eat a banana after a P90X session in an attempt to not barf. Let me tell you, this is serious business. No joke! So that's my tid-bit of the day. On with Factual Friday!

Ruby Liberty Dragonfly by Kelly Eddington, watercolor. Click here for her post on this piece. Can you believe this done in watercolor??

Today I wanted to share with you an artist I discovered recently. I follow a beauty b/vloger Emily from Beauty Broadcast and saw her sister's amazing work. I've been a fan since. Her name is Kelly Eddington and she creates highly realistic portraits, still lifes, florals, and occasional landscapes using watercolors, which she calls "the most unpredictable, unstable, and unforgiving medium known to man." She always starts with a face, and builds it up in layers as they emerge from the white surface. As this happens, she "falls in love" with every thing about her subject, everything that makes them unique. She loves to paint her subjects in their environment whether it's a room full of books or any of their favorite things. She describes her method and process so beautifully that I recommend you visit her site and read it for yourself! Her site is kellyeddington.com and be sure to read her bio!

Here are some of her works. For more, please click here.

I hope you found Kelly Eddington's work as beautiful as I do! See you for Sunday Surprise...

<3 Kara

Tutorial Tuesday: Priming the Canvas

Good evening everyone!

I can't believe Tuesday is almost over. But it is still Tuesday, nonetheless, and that means it's time for another Tutorial Tuesday. I actually was uploading it earlier today in the morning and I got really sick and was in bed all day, so I wasn't able to put up a post until now.

For this Tutorial Tuesday, I am showing you how to prime the canvas as a follow up from the last tutorial. In this one, I am showing how to prime the canvas board we made. You are not limited to the canvas board as you can prime pretty much any surface in preparation for painting. I hope you like it!If you were wondering, music is again by my friend Eric, so be sure to give his Sublunary band page and Facebook page some love.


See you on Factual Friday!

<3 Kara