fishy tales

Posted on January 25th, 2009 by mountain girl  |  1 Comment »

 

Here is a little speciman of marine life I found in a box by my pillow the morning after we visited Boston Harbor.  It must have been left for me by some rowdy seaman who wanted to get my attention. Well, he certainly succeeded at that. As you can see, she’s simply charming.

 

 

If the truth be told, matey, I really do have a bit of a soft spot for mermaids. I think you could even call it an affinity (or should I say, af-FIN-ity). I’m not sure why; probably because they have red hair (like me) and can swim good (unlike me; but hopefully like me someday). 

 

 

 And below is a mer-momma with mer-babe that I just finished. I used Prismacolor and watercolor pencils on cold press watercolor paper along with my Caran d’Ache water soluble crayons (which I love very much).

 

 

 

 

 As you may have guessed, I’m not a traditional watercolor purist, so I accented the finished art with a metallic gold pen

 

 

then layered decorative papers under and around it, to create a fairytale look.

 

 

 

 

 I like the way the illustrative style contrasts with the ancient mariner-feel of the papers, and I think the circular format works well; it’s reminiscent of a porthole or spyglass. I also really like the gold flecks and threads in the papers, and the way the gold braid edging reflects her braided hair.

 

 

 

 

 

 Here it is in its waterless residence, the living room:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice the rather short Geographica aficionado in the foreground. Or should I say, a-FISH-ionado…

One Response to “fishy tales”

  1. 3 Amigos says on :

    hi honey…………WOW!!!!!!!! on the painting 🙂 ! Now, 🙂 write a little story and make a little book……….I KNOW U CAN 🙂 IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!! luv u/MOM and lil bebee is BEAUTIFUL in her little dress/shirt :O