IF - craving + Artarazzi # 25 meets Art On The Darkside

Craving

For Illustration Friday. To see how others have been inspired by today's IF prompt, click HERE.

I know I've said it more than once, but there are so many fun art challenges "out there." I really need more hours in a day (& the energy to use them). If you have the time, check out a few & play along. Or just enjoy what others have submitted. The variety is always so exciting!

The Mix it up with Melange Challenge changes on Wednesdays. This week is FLY.

Art Freebies Soartful Saturday changes soon - for now the prompt is this lovely lady here:

Artarazzi's Challenge #25 is to use this in your digital creation:

And Art On The Darkside gets you thinking about Tattoos this week.

I decided to combine the last 2 challenges for a noir novel / pulp fiction feel

Red Handed

Started with the tattoo prompt & a scan of an old charcoal study. I was thinking about how a tattoo on the leg would look like a bruise which led to a tattoo of a hand print. So I inked & scanned my hand. This reminded me of the Artarazzi challenge pic, so I tossed that in as well. Finished it off with a few tweaks.

The dime novel look came about because the words caught red handed kept pushing to the surface. I've also started reading The Hardy Boys books to little dude before bed so I'm sure that's got something to do with it.

Thanks for popping by! Go check out some links, make some art & show us what you're up to. Or just go see what cool stuff everyone is creating this week. Before you go: Please leave a comment to be entered in the new Thursday Giveaway. 1 random winner will get inspired by their prize, A copy of Alisa Burke's book Canvas Remix. For book & contest details CLICK HERE

MM x2 = Atarazzi #22 + Altered Ancestors

okay, I kinda stink at math but this isn't really about that.

it's just another Melding-Monday.

meets

Both ask "What moves you today?" For obvious reasons, Mothers have been on my mind a lot lately. Both my Grandmother & Mother in Law passed away last spring. They've inspired several paintings that are still stuck in my head. Something about the latest Artarazzi challenge photo triggered one that I'd been thinking about for a while.

Started fiddling with something yesterday.

MariaPia (My husband's Mum) is on the left with 2 of her siblings.

Last night I dreamed Mercutio's Queen Mab soliloquy ...again.... yes, I am a dork. Had to memorize the blasted thing in high school & it's been haunting me ever since. Mind you I can't even remember my own cell phone number - bah!

So the faerie queen was rattling around in my nut while I played with the Artarazzi piece today. I was also trying to remember a Donovan tune from a million years ago (1971) called Queen Mab. Couldn't find a listen online but there's a teeny tiny snippet on Amazon (#27). For the curious, lyrics are here. I remember hearing this album a few times as a kid (Though where, I don't recall - all we had on vinyl in our house were Xmas carols, The Carpenters, John Denver & show tunes....seriously). Think I'd like to track down a copy but not willing to shell out a hundred bucks for nostalgia.

Where am I going with this?
I added this lovely lady from the Art Freebies blog

Then I tweaked some butterfly wings I had lying about.
And here's the final:

Somehow all the jumbly bits came together in this digital collage tentatively called Queen Mab's Children. To see more interpretations of the original challenge photo (or to play along) click here & then visit the Mr. Linky section on the upper right.

Tuesday Note: Came to grips with the fact that I probably won't get my Mother piece for the Melange challenge done in time, so submitted this one instead. Click here & go thru the comments to visit the other Melange entries. Also check the Melange Team blog Wednesday for this week's new Melange challenge prompt

Fri 29th note: Am I milking this post or what?! I just heard about inspiremethursday.com & they're talking about Altered Ancestors. This piece seems to fit. Click through & Go check 'em out. Or link your own creation. There's also lots of free stuff & giveaway links. Pretty cool place

Happy Mother's Day! - WIPs

I had some time today to play with a couple of mother-themed pieces.

Still have some work to do on them.
Hope to find more time this week to finish.

Both feature my Mother in law Maria Pia (on the left)

Hope all you Moms are having a fabulous day today!
Actually, I hope that everyone is having a great weekend

Artarazzi Challenge #21- Spring Flowers

The modest Rose puts forth a thorn,
The humble sheep a threat'ning horn:
While the Lily white shall in love delight,
Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.
- William Blake

This week's visual prompt from Artarazzi is the painting Spring Flowers by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema . I've added some lilies I shot a few years ago & some corner brackets from a scan of an inkadinkadoo stamp package. Pop on over to the comments section (& Mr. Linky) at Artarazzi to add your own creation & enjoy the variety of submissions.


While I'm a big fan of William Blake, I stumbled upon this poem by A.E.Houseman that also feels apt. The Lent Lily is a name that I haven't heard in years. That's what my grandmother,who spent much of her time in the garden, used to call her daffodils.

'Tis spring; come out to ramble
The hilly brakes around,
For under thorn and bramble
About the hollow ground
The primroses are found.

And there's the windflower chilly
With all the winds at play,
And there's the Lenten lily
That has not long to stay
And dies on Easter day.

And since till girls go maying
You find the primrose still,
And find the windflower playing
With every wind at will,
But not the daffodil,

Bring baskets now, and sally
Upon the spring's array,
And bear from hill and valley
The daffodil away
That dies on Easter day.

- A.E. Houseman

Artarazzi Challenge #9 Vintage Beauty

Supposed to be doing some "serious work" tonight, but it was so much more fun to goof off with this great image from the Artazzi challenge! You can do anything with it, as long as it's digital. Pop over & have a go this week if you have the time.

What a fun opportunity to play with some of the public domain stuff I have tucked in the nooks & crannies of my computer. The man is from artfreebies.blogspot.com. The silhouette - publicdomainpictures.net. The telegram has been in my free use folder so long I don't remember where it came from.

The Telegram

Do you find you get a phrase stuck in your head while creating, like you're forming a back story for the characters? Found the gent 1st & he said to me "I remember... she was very beautiful - but her sister ... ooh la la!"

In case the telegram text is hard to read: Reference yesterdays cable lost government money had to cash checque on Parrs at Anglo Egyptian for the amount - Coles

Pyrrha

Child of Pandora, Pyrrha was also the niece (& daughter in law) of Prometheus. When Zeus decided at the end of the Bronze Age to flood the world, Pyrrha & her husband Deucallion built an ark, survived & repopulated the world by tossing rocks over their shoulders. The rocks became the next generation.

I recently discovered the Artarazzi challenges & made this for Challenge #8 (Alter Waterhouse's Boreas & use orange)

The fire in image is courtesy of PDPhoto.org