The Buds....

One More Tiny Detail....

This is not a Last Minute idea, Dear Readers, to add the buds to all those little lilac stems, but has been a part of the plan all along! It is just one of those details that can't be added until almost all the other parts have been completed. So I have finally reached that step for my Winter lilac shrubs! I had hoped that my weekend could be spent accomplishing great strides forward with this detail... but it was not to be. There were too many distractions and the weekend disappeared almost before I could blink! At the last moment I decided that I should at least TRY the idea I had for making these buds... to see if it would work the way I hoped it would. So I added buds to only one of the lilac stems, way at the back of the shrub in case they did not go well! This involves the "Glue Trick" which is essentially making a blob of glue where you want a bump... and when it is dried thoroughly, painting it to look like a tiny bud. This is easier said than done! The branches wiggle... the twigs bend..... the entire shrub is unwieldy and it is hard to reach the glue only onto the piece of branch you intend and not all the other branches in the way. This is not going to be a quick little step! But I think it will work! Above you can see the single branch I added buds to.....

Here you can see it again, already painted....

 because the glue bumps alone are really hard to see once they are dried!

It is hard to photograph in a way that you can see the buds clearly....

those brown bumps on the twigs...

Here you can sort of see them with the bush in place by The Folly porch....

Here they are even closer...!

But that is just one of the smaller branches....

This could take a while!

Meanwhile, Dear Readers, 

I made a little more lichen....

 

Because it is surprising how much is needed for Four bushes!

And of course, I completed blossom number Forty-one... 

or is it number Forty-two?

 

 

Whichever one it is, here it is in the box along with the others!

So you see Dear Readers, 

The Buds are starting to be added...

A Not So Tiny little detail!

 

A Little Bit Of Lichen....

I'm Liking It....

First of all, Dear Readers, I want to thank you all for your wonderful comments on my Christmas Card! It did take longer than usual to draw, and it was more complex and detailed than previous ones... and I wrestled with the precise perspective for a long time, but in the end I am happy that I finally drew my work room (formerly the Dining Room) in almost all of it's chaotic detail! I have fallen way behind on reading blogs and commenting and even answering your comments on this blog, but I needed to stay focused on the drawing! Now that Almost all the cards have been sent to their destinations, I can finally try to return to the mini making that I love so much. And because I am on a Mission to get the lilac shrubs finished.... they are the highest priority! You might recall that I was planning to add the finished blossoms to the shrub as I completed them, but then decided I really needed to finish the shrub stems completely before I added the delicate blossoms. I had achieved a bark texture that I was happy with, but there was another detail that I wanted to add before the stems could be declared finished.... and that was lichen! I have never known a Lilac shrub that did not have Lichen! In the above picture you can see the stems of my little lilac shrub.... (picture taken the day before the snow arrived) with the delicate lacy gray-green lichen growing on the bark.

Here is another closer view..... it grows even on the younger stems.

Here is some more..... 

it is a very delicate texture and soft color......

And I was having a hard time deciding how to make it in miniature!

I had decided that maybe I would try to paint some sawdust

 and clump it together in little patches....

when my eyes fell onto the package of 

landscaping supplies sent to me by Birgit....

(Thank you again, Birgit!!!)

And I wondered if I painted this material and clumped it together..... 

would it make a lichen-ish impression?

I mixed up a greenish gray color with my acrylic paints....

And smothered bits of the landscaping material in the paint.....

I "painted" it onto the plastic bag

 so it would be removable when dry... 

and let it dry thoroughly.

The I pulled apart little bits of the dried clumps..... 

and attached them to the lilac shrub stems....

Can you see it there?

 

How about now? Can you see the little clumps?

I have tried to add little bits in likely spots.... 

without overdoing it.....

It is supposed to be a subtle detail!

So far I am Liking how it looks!

And while I have been writing and

 sending out all those Christmas Cards, Dear Readers,

 I have also been sticking to my Blossom-a-week schedule!

Here is Blossom number Forty completed!

And in the Box with the others!

 

Soon, very soon now, 

I really will begin to attach all those blossoms... 

except I have thought of one or two other little details

 that might have to come first.

 

 

But for now, Dear Readers,

 I am adding little bits of Lichen...

And so far I am really Liking it!

Blossoms And The Card.....

A Little Attachment....

Here is Blossom number Thirty-nine, Dear Readers, completed at last! But I must tell you that this is actually Blossom number Forty.... except that the first number Thirty-nine never got completed in the usual way, but got scattered to the World.... and so now this one is called number Thirty-nine... and I will be forever mixed up about which blossom I am working on now! Let me explain....!  You might recall that I showed you the florets for number Thirty-nine all finished but not assembled a couple of weeks ago. Well, as I was working on the Christmas Card Drawing one day, I decided to see whether the florets in RL were the same size as the ones I was drawing on The Card (because you can be sure they were to be included this year no matter what!) so I brought one of the florets up to my drawing to compare.... (Be warned, if you don't want to see The Card yet... stop here!)

I set the unfinished floret on the drawing.... 

and yes, the florets in the drawing were just about the size

 of the RL ones I have been making all year!

Can you see the little floret on the drawing here?

Or maybe you can see it better in this one?

Well, never mind.... I still had a long way to go to finish the card...

But it gave me an idea that wouldn't go away....

Here are the finished florets for Blossom number Thirty-nine....

but I had not had time to assemble them

 while I was working so hard on the card.

 But what if...... I thought.... 

What if I attached a floret to the finished card....???

Days and days later.... 

the idea still would not go away.

 I am testing the color here....

The Card still has days and days of work to do before it is done.

But somehow, Dear Readers,

 the florets refused to come together into one blossom....

 they went into a little dish

 and at great risk to their fragile existence

 they have been attached, one by one,

 to the first forty-eight cards I have sent out!

Can you see it there? 

A single three-dimensional attachment to the drawing?

(I have never done something like this before!)

I have been needing to warn the recipients

 so they will not accidentally brush the little blossom attachment away!

But yes, The Card is finally finished

 and on its way to many on my list,

 and hopefully the little blossoms will stay attached!

Oh, and you wanted to see the whole card?

I had a hard time getting a good picture... 

the printed surface reflects the light......

 but here it is at last!

(8.5x11inches pen and ink and watercolor on arches paper)

You will need to poke the pictures to see the details!

So there went Blossom number Thirty-nine... 

in fragments all around the World....

While Blossom number Forty...

 the new number Thirty-nine

 is waiting in the box with its buddies.

And The Card is going forth

 with  a Little Attachment!

New Year..... Same Old Story....

Patience.....

I am Sure you will Not be surprised Dear Readers, when I tell you that I am not quite finished with painting this (last?) year's Christmas Card! I have been devoting every spare minute of every day for weeks now... but it is a slow process. At least I can tell you that it is Nearly finished, and I am at the point where I am confident I will be happy with the results when I am finished, but I really can't afford to hurry the process and make mistakes...! (There is no "correcting" watercolor painting!) So I am stopping by here to let you know that it is coming along nicely and we just have to be Patient. But that doesn't mean we can't Dream while we are waiting. The Winter nights are long, after all, and the imagination wanders to all those Projects that are still waiting for an update. And most especially to the Castle, with those recently (relatively) acquired Doors..... which both conceal from and tease the Imagination!

They are so Raw and unfinished....

 yet at the same time they completely Define the structure

 in a way I could not imagine before I added them!

And those windows just Beg to be looked into...

or out of, it would appear!

Who have we here.....?

It looks like the Hounds are keeping guard in the Great Hall!

I am not sure who they are expecting to see....

But I was hoping to have a glimpse of that Still Unfinished ceiling.....

With those Patient Saints! 

Remember them?

I had intended to work on them last summer 

when I decided I needed to finish the structural parts first.... 

and hence the doors....

and I didn't get to the painting.

(Thus the Patience of the Saints!)

Oh, you want to actually See them, Dear Readers? 

And not just a dark and moody ceiling...?

Well, here is the view with the "flash"... 

although this view would never be seen in RL 

if this were a real Castle.....

The lighting would never have been good enough.

But we can imagine....!

And I can Hope I will find time 

to work on it some more sometime soon.

But not before I finish the Card....

and the lilac blossoms....

Which I confess, I have fallen a little bit behind on.

You see above the florets for blossom number thirty-nine.... 

not yet assembled.... and a week overdue.

But it is all in a good cause...

Because I am Nearly finished with the Card!

 So there you see, Dear Readers,

It is a New Year, but it's the same old story...

We can Dream....

 but we have to have Patience to see the results.

 

(And I hope to get caught up on all your blogs soon!)

Happy New Year!