Drive-by, nearly

This was at the McQueens’ on Sunday.  The rule was, “Don’t shoot the water gun at someone who is holding breakable technology.” Hence the wave-off, “No, he’s innocent, he has a phone.”  I like the matter-of-fact delivery, along with her sister’s look of disappointment. I got off this time; next time, I won’t be so lucky.

Exterior Wall Faux Finish

Here are before and after photos.

Last night I decided I was done--but that's "done" without really meaning DONE done. I can call it done. I'll stay away from it for a few days. However, there are some little things I want to work on, such as highlights on the window trim, and touching up paint smears on that overhead gutter.  Also, at some point, I may try to tackle the very top of that low wall in the bottom image, which I didn't paint because so much of the wall had dirt over the top.

Faux stone wall

 Here's a section of the retaining wall and concrete outbuilding that I am nearly done painting. I'll be going back to work on it tonight.

 

Painting a big wall

I’ve been putting in quite a few hours over at my daughters’ school painting a bare concrete retaining wall and concrete shack (which used to house a boiler) to match the stonework of the school building.  It’s about 675 square feet, so it’s far and away the biggest “canvas” I’ve had to work on.

I’ve done my best to keep the budget low, so in purchasing the exterior latex paint I’m trying to work with the fewest number of colors possible.  I have white, black, a blue-gray, and a yellowish orange.  It’s been a challenge.  As of the night before last, I finally got all the fake stones painted in with at least one coat of paint.  I’ve been altering my technique and experimenting as I go, so I feel like I’m getting better…and right when I got to the last few stones I feel like I figured out what I was doing. I wish I knew when I started what I know now!  But I think I can pull it all together.

Now I’m going back over it all, altering colors, shading, making it more uniform, and looking for ways to put in a sense of shadow and highlight.  I was putting in shadows last night, but it was getting so dark that I couldn’t accurately see what I was doing.

Face in the window

Pen and ink house portrait

 

Here's my most recent completed house portrait (and a detail), ink on Bristol paper.  The size is 11 x 15.

Velvet Ant

 

 

While I was painting outside the other night, I saw this bright red velvet ant.  I tried to get a photo, but it kept ducking under leaves and was running erratically, so none of my pictures came out.  This was the best one; you can see its red abdomen in the middle of the screen.

 

I think this is only the third time in my life I've seen a velvet ant (actually not an ant, but a flightless wasp), so I was happy to notice it.

Thppppt

House drawing in progress

 It still requires a lot of shading, and it's not a very good photo, but here it is anyway: the current house portrait I am working on.  It's a very pretty house.  I hope to have it done within the next week.

Monopoly

This photo is from a few weeks ago.