A painting from the past

Titel: "Songs from Anneland: I told you a secret tonight" 

Acrylic paint on a wooden panel. 

25x25cm

This little painting is one of my favorites. The little black cat is sharing secrets with the gothic full moon. 

My abtract studies are finished.

Abstract painting is bloody difficult! How does one know when the painting is finished? What are the guidelines? Are there any rules, or does anything go?
I tried to finish up these two paintings, but I suspect I made a bigger mess instead.... I think I liked them better before ;-)
Also, I painted the sides black, but my art teatcher says that all painting must have a frame. I don´r know about that. I like the somplicety of the black side of the canvas, but sometimes a painting looks much better with a proffessional frame... What do you think?

"The Princess has left the building"

Just a little funny painting to make my Sunday a little brighter. We have a new snowstorm coming soon, so I´m cheering myself up with a bit. I painted Rapuntzels´s tower,  but the princess already left the building ;-) 

I used acrylic painting and the painting measures 9,5" x  7". 

Studies in abstract painting from last night

Not finished. Have a blessed weekend!

Please welcome Hannah (Part 8) Finally finished!

Part 1: http://www.solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/10/starting-new-art-doll-please-welcome.html

Part 2: http://www.solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/11/please-welcome-hannah-part-2.html

Part 3: http://www.solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/11/hannah-has-got-new-ears-and-hands.html

Part 4: http://solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/11/hannah-is-coming-along-nicely-now-with.html

Part 5: http://solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/11/please-welcome-hannah-part-5.html

Part 6: http://solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/12/please-welcome-hannah-part-6.html
Part 7: http://solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/12/hannah-has-got-some-more-clothes.html

Hi, I´m back to share the promised photos of Hannah! The weather is terrible here in Denmark, so it´s really hard to take really good photos without daylight, but I have tried, and here are my results:

My husband said she was a bit pale, so I gave her a little more rosie cheeks and nose.  I also made her eyebrows darker, and added clear varnish on her eyeballs and lips ;-) 

I love her pose! She is standing firmly on both her feet, relaxed and in balance. 

Today, I would like to talk about armature. In a artdoll, the armature is really important. It makes the doll sturdy and strong, and will prevent parts from breaking off and so on. It will also help the doll hold it´s own weight. Hannah has hot a strong armature, made with 4mm aluminum wire, steel wire, wooden sticks to control the joints and rock hard Magic sculpt to make hips and legs very strong.

Even though I thought the armature was strong enough, it wasn´t. Another thing that was annoying me was, that her legs kept bending in the wrong direction. And then suddenly her left leg broke of at the hip! I had to remove alle the quilt padding, the wooden sticks and open the entire armature, to discover that it was the aluminum wire that had broken apart! It had become weak after too much motion. 

I therefor resculpted her entire legs with Magic Sculpt, then covered them with paperclay. Sanding, sanding and more sanding ;-) Not a fun proces, but necessary. The Magic Sculpt was probably getting a bit old, because it was really hard to sculpt, and that´s why I covered it up after with paperclay. 

So, aluminum wire is not strong enough! I liked it because it was light and very easy to bend and work with, but the armature can´t brake like that! Depressinly, later on it braked again... This time at the shoulder.... It broke after she was almost done, so there is no way I´m opening her up again. Her arm is protected by layers of masking tape, quilt padding and glued clothing, but it was a tremendous dissapointment to me after all that work, to discover that the alumium wire broke again! I confess, that I have been posing her a lot, back and forth, up and down, to find her right posing statue, but a doll shouldn´t be sold as slightly poseable, if she has a aluminum armature, and that is what I thought I was maling. Over time, she will eventually brake, so this is my advise to all you doll artists out there: don´t use it aluminium wire.  Use strong and hard steel wire instead. 

Even though she isn´t perfect, I still love her. She will stand in my studio radiating good vibrations. Thank god I didn´t sell her or a similar doll. What a shame to discover that it would brake one day. 

 Another funny thing is her facial expression. I think she´s looking very friendly, but my husband thinks that she looks worried. An old friend on Book of Faces found her a bit condescending! I thought to myself: "What??" How can it be, that we all are seeing her expression so differently? How do you see her expression?

Well, I guess it is back to the sculpting table for me. This time I´m bringing my new book with me, as recommended by Dee Schiller from Oddfae: 

I´m off again, thank you for showing interest in my ramblings ;-) 

Please welcome Hannah!! Finally finished!

Just dropping by to post a photo of Hannah! Jay!!!! She is finally finished, and I am very pleased with her!

I will post netter photos of her tomorrow, and write a blogpost about my experiences during her making. There are several things I need to share - especially about her armature. See you tomorrow!