Turning Over A New Leaf....

Color Theories.....

I Find it hard to believe, Dear Readers, that it has been a half a year since I began to make the Lilac Blossoms in earnest! I don't know where the Time has gone, but my one blossom a week program has yielded a cluster of Twenty-five completed blossoms, and the partial one I finished assembling over the weekend. For this blossom I needed to change the assembly strategy a little bit... because it needed to be assembled onto the "tail end" of one of the other blossoms. This is because frequently the lilac blossoms are in pairs at the tip of their branch, and in order for them to attach to the branch correctly, they needed to be on the same stem which will wrap around the branch... I know it sounds confusing, but you will see what I mean. Above you can see my high-tech working "clamp" system, allowing me to glue the florets onto the other end of an already finished blossom! And while I was at this change of process with the lilac blossoms, I realized it would be a good idea to test the plan for how the leaves will be attached to the stems... just to see if that was going to work as I imagined. And also, to spur me to making those leafy branches which will be needed in abundance when the blossoms are done!

So I started a bunch of stems.... 

with the twigs ready for the leaves... 

to see how the production line would work....

I took measurements so I know how long to make the pieces...

And started gluing on the punched heart leaves

 while I was also starting to build the blossom... 

a floret at a time!

And when I was about to start to paint the tiny leaves,

 I realized that Now, before the leaves turn color and fall,

 would be the time to investigate the color of the RL Lilac leaves

 and make sure I was making a good color match!

So I went out to my shrubs and picked a few leaves...

You can see that the size and the color vary a bit... 

one leaf has a much darker blackish pigment in it...

(probably a result of weather conditions....)

And when I put the branch of leaves I had made last spring

 next to the real leaves you can see that

 the color is quite a bit off on my mini ones!

They have too much white mixed into the paint.

So I pulled out my paint and discovered that

 using the chromium oxide green full strength,

 not mixed at all, gave a much better color match!

 That makes things much easier!

 

And then I needed to see how they would look with the blossoms.....!

Ooohh... I am liking this!

 

And then I painted the undersides of the leaves in a paler version, 

using the same green with more white added

 (trying for the simple solution)....

Here you can sort of see the comparison with the RL leaf... 

except that the lighting glare is really interfering...

 such is the nature of color... the lighting is so important!

But I wanted the simple version to be good enough, Dear Readers,

 telling myself that  nobody was going to

 ever see the under-sides of these leaves!

So I made myself a sample paint "chip" card,

 so that I would be able to match the colors on future batches of leaves....

 

 

The top of the leaf matches beautifully, 

 

 

 

but the underside really needs a whole lot of yellow mixed in....

 

 

There was no escaping it.....

That is so much better!

(And really not difficult!)

And has the added bonus of making the "stripe"

 on the top of the leaves for the vein

 look much more subtle and natural than the first version!

So I re-painted them all....

And kept working on the blossom number twenty-six...

Because I really wanted to see how the parts

 would look all assembled together......

Here is the new plan.... 

blossoms will get added to the already made ones.....

And new leafy branches will get made too....

(one stem-worth per week.....)

Sort of like this....

(temporarily twisted around the branch but not glued....)

Because I really need to be able to see how they are adding up... 

in order to know how many are needed....!

And then we really need to test the Springtime shrub

 in place on The Folly Garden.....

to see how it will look.... 

can you imagine...?

One branch per week.....

 times twenty-five ..... 

or Thirty......

Before we even know it 

the lilacs will be in full bloom!!!

Well, Dear Readers, 

I have turned over a New Leaf...

 the New Plan is underway....

In theory I know the colors....

But only Time will tell 

how well it Turns out!

The Tinker's Dream.....

Sweet Summer Solace....

I Had a week of Vacation, Dear Readers, during which one would think I got a Lot done because I went Nowhere at all, except perhaps to Travel far far away into a land that never was and perhaps will never be, trying to find the Tinker's Dream. That elusive place where the horses are always running free but never running far, where the sun is always just rising, or just setting, and one can sit and watch the shadows shift with the promise of peace and go nowhere at all! And there is a soft mattress in a quiet corner where the Dreams find you and steal you away....

Perhaps some of you will remember that A year ago 

I got swept up in building a Gypsy Caravan.... 

and as with so many of my in-progress projects,

 I came upon a challenging place 

and jumped to an easier project instead!

In this case the challenging place was the realization 

that in order to complete the outside of the wagon, 

I had to first complete the inside!

Which meant first of all adding glass to the windows!

This kit comes with lovely frames, but no glass panes.

(I wanted real glass panes)

Here you can see that the windows are finished....

Including the ones in the front door panels 

which here are open wide to give you a view inside. 

They required quite a bit of fancy measuring, cutting 

and additional interior framing to hold the glass in place.

(The roof is only temporarily in place.)

But that was just the beginning! 

Because a Gypsy wagon has to be very well organized... 

and all the spaces have to be carefully planned.

And in this case the sleeping compartment was so dark and gloomy... 

even with the two windows.... 

It made me think that perhaps the Tinker had painted the walls

 to bring in a feeling of the outdoors he knew so well.... 

and perhaps he had painted all his beloved horses...

So I had to see if I could find that place and bring it here....

 

The beginning is many coats of gesso...

And then a rough sketch and the beginning of layering the sky.....

You might be shocked that the next layer is the yellow ocher for the ground...

 but I wanted the warmth of sun to infuse the land.....

But there would be deep shadows 

so next came the burnt umber wherever the shadows lay.

At this point I began to need to be very specific about the source of the light in the painting... 

which is the sun just tipping the hill....

And then I start to add the greens....

 first the chrome green which is an olive yellow green....

And then the pthalo green which is a very translucent and blue green.... 

layered on top for the shadows....

And then I started to place the trees in the middle foreground..... 

to start to define the distance of the horizon...

And the ones at the "corners" which would frame the illusion 

of the outdoors on all sides of the wagon....

Arching their branches over the top of the "view" to enclose it....

To make it more sheltered and intimate and moody...

And of course, there will be horses!

They need a coat of white under-painted first...

But it has gotten very late and I had to pause for the night, Dear Readers, 

lest I begin to make too many mistakes...

And I go to sleep dreaming of grassy meadows I have never seen before...

And in the clear light of morning, start chasing shadows again.....

feeling my way into the left-side of the wagon...

Here I need to check that the shadows "run straight" 

once the wall is at 90 degrees angle to the main panel....

Of course, it depends entirely on the exact point of viewing to see it correctly....

And there will be another horse there too!

The horses will be colored... 

but their coats require the layering of colors too...

 

And too many details to enumerate... 

and shadows to ground them....

Being careful to leave the highlights of the lighter color where the sun strikes them.....

(sorry the surface is reflecting too much....)

And more close-up of the left side....

And the right too.

And another day has flown and I must stop for the night.

And with the fresh eyes of morning I can see 

that the central horse needs to be patched with black markings too....

And shadows added to ground the shire on the left.....

And highlights added to the leaves at the top....

And shadows in the trees....

 always tweaking the shadows.

And at some point Dear Readers, 

one must decide that enough is enough!

And move on the the framing.... 

here being the "structure" of the wagon...

The arched piece comes with the kit, 

but I have added the corner pieces....

because by now we are desperate to see how it will look when assembled!

Looking through the open doors to the sleeping compartment....

 (the blue tape is still on the inside of the door panel 

which has not been finished yet!)

Closer.... to see the right side panel too...

And the left hand side.... 

I know it is dark... the sun has set....

Can we feel the Tinker Dreaming?

So you can see Dear Readers, I did not go anywhere at all...

but I spent my Summer vacation in search of solace...

chasing the Tinker's Dream.

I hope you did not mind that I brought you too!

Anniversary Giveaway!

It's About Time!

One YEAR, one Month, and one Day after I started this Blog, I am finally ready (sort of) for my Anniversary GIVEAWAY! I had a hard time deciding just WHAT to offer for my gift! So many of you fellow miniature lovers are so adept at making so many little items... books, pillows, needlepoint carpets, mini cupcakes.... and the list goes on and on.... and most of those things I have yet to ATTEMPT to make myself.... and so I feel very unsure of offering them as gifts. So I thought and fretted until I realized that there was one thing that I DO know how to do and that is PAINT! But then I had to decide WHAT to paint..... and How MANY to paint...... and so I fretted some more! But at last I have completed a couple of tiny painted Offerings. The first subject that came to my mind was Cherubs.... so you can see below the beginnings of the paintings.

And here is a closer look at one of them after I added the gold frame. I am not entirely sure I like the gold frames.... but they are the best I can do for now.......

And here is the other cherub....... these paintings are about one inch by one and a quarter inches.

But, of course, I wasn't content to have only a couple of Cherubs to offer.... so I made a couple of tiny painted Medieval Icons too. Here is the first and smallest one I did...... it is about three quarters of an inch tall.....

Here is another view of the two Cherub paintings.......

And here is the tiny Icon on the Altar of the Castle Chapel. It is shown with the Miniature Icon I bought on a trip to France. I was fortunate enough to visit the Pilgrimage Site at Rocamadour and this Icon is my memento of that Amazing place!

And here is a picture also showing the Larger Icon I painted. I was inspired by the Image of the Rocamadour Icon..... but obviously have not copied it exactly! Here you can see them both to compare......

This is the Rocamadour Icon, closed. It is carved wood with the printed images attached inside the open panels. The whole Icon is maybe two and a quarter inches tall.

Here you can see the Icon open.........

And a closer view of my two versions of a Medieval Icon......
They are painted on a wooden panel with the ornamental framework made from cardboard...

So here is the CHOICE I am offering you if you are interested....... you may choose to be in a drawing for the Cherubs or a drawing for the Icons...... or if you are like me and can't make up your minds.... you can be in BOTH drawings!!! Just leave a comment on THIS post with your preference. I will do the drawing on May 31 which is Memorial Day and a Holiday here!

And just one more view of the Icons on the Altar of the Castle Chapel.........

So It's about TIME I got ready for my Blog Anniversary Giveaway!