Amazing artists pages for your Christmas or early Valentines shopping!

Hi!

As Christmas is drawing near, I thought it's a great idea to share with you some amazing pages from dear friends who are extremely talented and have wonderful wooonderful pieces at different price points, from the most affordable to the OOAK original piece for you to make someone smile even more!

Let's jump into the features!

(Images link to their respective sites! )

Her Floral Unicorn is beyond cute!
Get your prints at: http://www.storenvy.com/products/12305261-8-x-10-floral-baby-unicorn-art-print

Tamisery's talent is beyond words!  I've known her since she entered the MLPArena and asked her for some advice on how to improve my art. I consider her one of my best friends in the whole wide world, even if we still need to meet in person!

I can't honestly tell you how amazing she is. She's good at drawings, paintings, sculpting, digital art, vectors. You name it, she will make an excellent job! She has some amazing pieces that I just drool and drool for, I need them all in my life T^T

I own 2 prints from her, and sculpted earrings from a long time ago (I lost one at Space Mountain in 2012 T^T) ,  you can definitely feel the love and care she puts on her products, amazing quality on her homemade prints and incredible attention to detail in every image she produces!

"Behold God" Limited edition print by Tamisery <3
https://www.etsy.com/listing/248377289/behold-god-13x19-limited-edition-museum?ref=shop_home_active_3

"Dripping" limited edition print by Tamisery
http://www.storenvy.com/products/10988736-limited-edition-signed-and-numbered-8x8-dripping-art-print-on-archival-p

And she has this awesome AWESOME art for the Moon Crisis show last year, called "I remember you" !! <3  Featuring Chibi-Usa and the gorgeous Pegasus <3  (Saving for this one! )

Click click clickety to get your signed and numbered print!

 http://www.storenvy.com/products/9611260-moon-crisis-gallery-show-sailor-moon-inspired-art-print-i-remember-you-m

Support her work by following her and purchasing products directly from her!

http://tamisery.storenvy.com/

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Tamisery

https://www.facebook.com/Tamisery

https://www.instagram.com/tamiserystreet/

http://tamiserystreet.blogspot.com/

Those are the main sites you can find her art, as well as purchase her homemade amazing prints or commission special pieces!  She will be displaying the original "Dripping" piece at the last show in The Cotton Candy Machine 's physical location, so if you're in the Brooklyn area, go ahead and assist to this amazing event!

Next one is:

I loove her ID! ^

Piquipauparro!

Where does her talents end? No idea!

When I was introduced with her, on an online group, she made this curious, fabulous digital and traditional drawings. From there, she started to make adorable fabric kitty companions (I have some of them !)  and today she makes the most amazing, impressively detailed characters plushies! She's another example of attention to details, fromt he fabric choice, to what she uses for bases and accessories and final detailing for her works.

Beautiful handmade Toothless plushies!

She has also made needle-felt dolls and sculptures, fur suits for a local business in Mexico City, tiny polymer clay sculptures, oh gosh, you won't get tired of her work!  She's aiming to increase her range of products to a more affordable range as well with some DIY projects!  I can't wait to check on her future projects!  I know some, but I won't tell you ! =D

You can mainly check her updates on her pages:

http://piquipauparro.deviantart.com/

https://www.facebook.com/iquipau

As far as I know, as she lives in Mexico, international shipping for the holidays makes it difficult for her to send items to other countries during this months. But you can write her for future commissions info or for her to include you in her wait list for next year!  She's a busy girl that spends all day trying to get more ideas flowing!  (you need to rest! >:( )

I love my kitties! I will bring them with me in January <3 Visit her page for gooorgeous plushie art!!
http://piquipauparro.deviantart.com/

She is currently trying to help her family as she works from the time she gets up to the time she finally decides to go to sleep at night.  Please, support her work by purchasing directly from her and by sharing her pages! =D  So she can sleep more and be strong, healthy and happy to keep doing what she loves more in the world <3  ^-^

Starting with the custom vinyl toys section, my list is too wide, but I'll be featuring my favorite customizers eventually.  For today, I'd like to start with one of my friends and amazing supporter, Studio JujuB !

Miss C, owner of Studio JujuB, is a very talented artist as well!  She makes this incredible Dreadlocks My little ponies that add a really incredible piece for your collections! I believe her works deserve much more viewers!  As a customizer, I know materials can get really expensive and doing any kind of weird idea consumes time, effort and an incredible amount of patience to be developed!  

G3 TE Masquerade with dreadlocks!  how amazing is that? ! 

She's currently starting to develop more digital art of her amazing selection of OC's, as well as small crafts if you're looking for a little special gift for someone in your life! I own a little cute clay bear she gave me as part of a little giveaway she made, it's a gorgeous piece I have on display in my small studio, on my inspiration shelf <3 She takes commissions, don't forget about that!

Don't mind my shelf <3  <3  Go and check her art and crafts and get something for yourself of a loved person!!
https://www.facebook.com/JujuzBoutiquezNCrafts

Visit her sites for more info and more pics of her pieces!

http://badjuju86.deviantart.com/

https://www.facebook.com/JujuzBoutiquezNCrafts

https://www.etsy.com/shop/StudioJujuB

Last but not least important! (you know, it's difficult to choose orders between loved friends and awesome artists!), let me introduce you to BlueAlhena <3

More of her awesome art at http://bluealhena.deviantart.com/

This wonderful lady is also one of my favorite persons in the world, she works non-stop, has an EdD. and she's aiming to publish books for children <3  She's also into drawing, painting, craft making aaand ! She makes awesome dishes and desserts! <3   But it's hard to show you how good she is cooking, so I will focus on how amazing she's at drawing =D

Her images are usually made with markers, which she adoores. But she developed a series of 4 paintings depicting Seasons for a local little dessert store ran by a dear friend:

 https://www.facebook.com/pixypasteleria 

paintings she made with acrylics and are now showing on the store <3

One of my favorite pieces from her is "Hada Morgana"  which I think I've seen in person (she's also the girlfriend of one of my best friends <3 and he had this little collection of her drawings  * melts * ).  Hada Morgana has all the details I love of her works, watching it in person lets you see all the details and blending that she develops as well as her amazing style for making cracks on drawn walls and jewels <3

Hada Morgana by BlueAlhena
http://bluealhena.deviantart.com/

I'm not sure if she's taking commissions, but you can always ask!  She's really fast and dedicated and has this impressive attention to detail that you will love to see your OC in her style!  She uses to go to a local convention in Mexico, last one was this weekend =)

Do you want a wonderful pic for your loved one this next Valentine's day?  Visit her page, drop her a message and open the door to her wonderful world of magic and color! I'm sure you'll loooooove what she will make for you!

You can follow her work at: 

http://bluealhena.deviantart.com/

https://www.facebook.com/bluealhena

Oh!  Forgot to mention...

Not even kiddin! =3 I love and miss visiting them for coffee <3
<3 <3 <3

And, that's it for today =)

I will see if I can get my ideas together and try to make a weekly feature for my favorite pieces on a week ^-^  So I can feature more and more of my dear friends and favorite artists!!  This group of girls is really close to my heart, they're gorgeous persons as well as incredibly talented artists and crafters (multitasking as well!! ) 

This plan will start next Monday!  I hope to be able to make it during the holidays!  My phone is not the best way to feature anything, I swear =|

Well,  I'll have to get back to work. I hope you liked this little post, remember to support your friends and favorite artists by sharing their work with your people!!

See you tomorrow! <3

Dianita

www.artbydianita.com

dianitaarts@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/dianitaart

Kitty girls and Pony pendants

Hi, good day to you!

I'm doing my best on get my pages updated and get them up and running <3  Let's say that I'm trying to get my act together and prepare for next year =)

This 2015, I did some projects with polymer clay.  I started some during 2014, but didn't have a clue and just froze, leaving them blank and without hope. I took this projects and started a few more, and this are the results:

My Kitty Girls.  This lovely girls are made with polymer clay, without using any kind of mold. Ears are in place thanks to Sculpey glue and a tiny wire. All are painted with a mix of Americana acrylics- Golden acrylics and Grumbacher acrylics. Sealed with Jo Sonja's gloss varnish and finished with lovely little findings with a tiny bell on top. This lovelies are pendants you can use <3 or a little tiny addition to your cute handmade figures collection!

$40
3 1/2 in from clasp to base.
Polymer clay, metal findings, acrylic paint, gloss varnish.

$35
3 in from clasp to base.
Polymer clay, metal findings, acrylic paint, gloss varnish.

$35
3 in from clasp to base.
Polymer clay, metal findings, acrylic paint, gloss varnish.

$35
3 in from clasp to base.
Polymer clay, metal findings, acrylic paint, gloss varnish.

$35
3 in from clasp to base.
Polymer clay, metal findings, acrylic paint, gloss varnish.

$35
3 in from clasp to base.
Polymer clay, metal findings, acrylic paint, gloss varnish.

$35
3 in from clasp to base.
Polymer clay, metal findings, acrylic paint, gloss varnish.

$35
3 in from clasp to base.
Polymer clay, metal findings, acrylic paint, gloss varnish.

$35
3 in from clasp to base.
Polymer clay, metal findings, acrylic paint, gloss varnish.

$35
3 in from clasp to base.
Polymer clay, metal findings, acrylic paint, gloss varnish.


You can add a 17in necklace for $3 usd each to any order.  Combined shipping of course applies! <3


This one was purchased by a wonderful friend and long time supporter  JujuB. from https://www.facebook.com/JujuzBoutiquezNCrafts






<3  It's always so wonderful when your work is loved this much <3

And, something you haven't seen from me. A couple of  hand-sculpted pony pendant <3

Spring
Pendant is 3in x 3in
Chain is approx. 18in
$40 + shipping

Sakura 
Pendant is 4in x 3in
Chain is approx. 17in
SOLD

Sakura  (closeup) 
Pendant is 4in x 3in
Chain is approx. 17in
SOLD

This pendants are quite big for an usual pendant, I imagine they're called "statement"pendants.  I don't have a strapless blouse, so I didn't find a good way to photograph them on me =(   Perfect for a fearless woman who loves colorful horses! 

I can also make your pony persona if needed!  If you have questions, drop me an email to dianitaarts@gmail.com

Or if you would like to purchase them, let me know. They will be also on my Storenvy waiting for their forever home <3

http://artbydianita.storenvy.com/

That's it for today blog's posts about my pendants!

If you read this far, let me know in the comments what pendant is your favorite and what would you like to see in the future!

See you tomorrow with a new post! <3

Dianita

www.artbydianita.com

dianitaarts@gmail.co

www.facebook.com/dianitaart

www.twitter.com/dianita_art

www.instagram.com/dianita_art

Unicorn Galore

2nd post of the day!  I decided to make a separate post to keep each one focused on one thing at a time ^-^.

After some trials and errors, I finally have my prints set !

I'm starting with this unicorn, which I love, I made some tweaks to the original scan as it was kinda muted, so I increased a bit the darker parts and tried to achieve a whiter background. It took me longer than I wanted, but I'm happy with the results.

Prints are made with a Canon printer, using Chromalife100+ inks and watercolor rag paper, which is acid free. This are not giclee quality (pigment inks on archival museum quality paper), they're made with love at home with the materials I can afford at the moment =)

If you'd like to purchase, send me an email to dianitaarts@gmail.com!  or through message at www.facebook.com/dianitaart  <3

Jump!
5 in x 7in
Printed on Watercolor rag paper.
Frame not included.
$8 + shipping.

Jump!
5 in x 7in 
Printed on Watercolor rag paper.Hand Embellished with watercolors. (no piece will be the same!).
$12 + shipping.

I also made some stickers! I looove them!  This is the first batch, I used sticker paper (sorry, indoors only! not waterproof!)  and used Crystal Clear spray by Krylon to add a bit of contrast =)  (they're a bit smelly at the start, but it wears away in a few days! (I have one on my sketchbook ^^ for testing)

Jump!
Stickers (M)
4in from horn to tail.
Pack of 2.
$4 + shipping

Jump!
Stickers (Small)
3,5 in from horn to tail.
Pack of 3.
$3 + shipping.

I would love to make tote bags and shirts with this design, but will have to wait until I know about a good supplier that could keep the traditional feeling of this drawing <3


That's it for today posts! (I think!) .  I wanted to focus this day to show what I have worked in, as well as show products for people who showed interest in my facebook posts as well.

Remember!  Christmas rush is about to start, I can't guarantee items will arrive on time for Dec 24th-25th, please, bear with me on this =(.

Also, I will not be able to ship items from Dec 16th to Jan 10th as we're taking a little holiday break.

=)

See you next time! Stay safe and happy!

Dianita
www.artbydianita.com
dianitaarts@gmail.com

Many many little drawings of ponies!

Hi hi!

I have abandoned completely this blog and hubby recently urged me to retake it and make it part of my work, and I'm here to show a bit of what I'm working on, and then, if you want to read more, I'll tell you about this past months =)

First of all, let me start with my personal project. My G1 ponies tribute, in my own style, with a little extra detail. I made cut outs for them, so they can be displayed in a lovely floating frame or with a colored background, whatever you chose!

Blossom
4in x 4in
$20 + shipping
Glitter color gel pen, Sakura micron pen on mixed media paper.

Blue Belle4in x 4in 
$20 + shipping
Glitter color gel pen, Sakura micron pen on mixed media paper.

Butterscotch #14in x 4in 
$20 + shipping
Glitter color gel pen, Sakura micron pen on mixed media paper.

Cotton Candy #1
4in x 4in 
$20 + shipping
Glitter color gel pen, Sakura micron pen on mixed media paper.

Minty4in x 4in 
$20 + shipping
Glitter color gel pen, Sakura micron pen on mixed media paper.

Snuzzle #14in x 4in 
$20 + shipping
Glitter color gel pen, Sakura micron pen on mixed media paper.

Snuzzle #24in x 4in 
$20 + shipping
Glitter color gel pen, Sakura micron pen on mixed media paper.

Butterscotch #2
4in x 4in 
$20 + shipping
Glitter color gel pen, Sakura micron pen on mixed media paper.

Cotton Candy #2
4in x 4in 
$20 + shipping
Glitter color gel pen, Sakura micron pen on mixed media paper.

 As you can see, there are 2 versions of Snuzzle, Butterscotch and Cotton Candy. This was because I had so many ideas that I just went through with, I started Snuzzle and Cotton Candy and then thought in other poses that might work better. I loved both versions and I decided to finish them both.  For Butterscotch #1, she was actually the first version but I closed my drawing pad without noticing a bent corner, right on the left bottom original corner I planned for the drawing. I decided to make it round as it helped a lot to preserve some of the white paper but also get rid of that awful damaged part. and it looks lovely as well! 

All are finished with handmade cut-out backgrounds, using nothing but a sketch pencil and an Xacto knife. This project got delayed mostly because I hurt my wrist making our DotD cut-out paper, I had to use a support band for a week and a half =\ and then give this a bigger rest until my wrist stopped hurting.  Then, we went for a small trip to CA, and resumed work after that =D

If you like them, let me know!

PAYMENT INFO.

Paypal is preferred.

Installments can be arranged via email to dianitaarts@gmail.com

HOLDS:  I will hold an item for you up to 5 days. If I don't receive payment for said items on that time, they will be relisted as available for the next interested buyer without further notice. 

SHIPPING INFO.

Shipping to the USA will be made through First Class, insurance or any other kind of extra safety measure is advised. I cannot guarantee that they will arrive for Christmas, so, plan ahead of time. 

*** I will be not shipping items from December 17th 2015 to January 10th, 2016 ***

****International orders will be ON HOLD until January 10th, 2016  as Christmas rush is about to start and the Mail system gets really busy and it's easier to lose a package. ****

International mail will be made through First Class International. 

Sorry for the little big post!

Will be posting a bit more in a couple minutes for my available prints and sticker sets <3

Commissions and further info, please email me to dianitaarts@gmail.com

Follow my art at:

www.facebook.com/dianitaart

I hope you like this little drawings !  Have a wonderful day!!!!

Dianita <3

www.artbydianita.com

"Old as the sky, old as the moon" My tribute to The last unicorn (includes progress photos!)

Hi everyone! How are you?

First, let me show you what you came to see:

Art: ©2015. Diana Vargas Sampieri (Dianita). All rights reserved.
The last unicorn is property of Peter S. Beagle.

"Old as the sky, old as the moon"

Tribute to The last unicorn

Acrylics on wood.

8in x 6in painted area approximately.

Dianita

2015

$125 usd + shipping.

Sales info: dianitaarts@gmail.com

She was supposed to be participating on Slushbox Gallery show "Nerdcore", but having my wisdom teeth removal surgery scheduled for April 30th distracted me and couldn't develop the idea properly on time. I tried to finish it, but those days after surgery I experienced painful muscle spasms and 2 sleepless and uncomfortable nights in a row. So, yay me.  Hugs to Amanda and all the team from Slushbox, they're amazing!  Go visit their site http://www.slushbox.com and check their current show pieces there!

I documented the process as well as I could, there were some steps I missed and I blame my meds for that!

Enjoy!


1.  The sketch.

Messy messy!

Just right after surgery, this dumb girl tried to woman up and start doing things right away. Good, you might think. WRONG!  But one thing came up well that day, and it was this final sketch. I had the idea lying around for weeks, but when your doctor sets the day for your first surgery ever you can't really focus on much =|

I didn't spend much time on details here, I knew what I wanted, I aimed for a cute, dynamic pose that could fit on a wood piece I got from Michaels (http://www.michaels.com). I love those wood rounds!

Anyway, my advice to you, sketch your ideas!  Basic sh!t, right?  well, I fail horribly on it. I always go "Leeeeeeroyyyy Jeeeenkeeeeeeeiiiins" when I'm excited and yes, as you imagine, I never finish those pieces because I get lost in the middle of the process. Sooo, plan as much as you can!


2. Sketch to wood.
And, no pic here! =D

But, it's not that hard!

You can check the process here, very very well explained by Jel Ena:

https://www.facebook.com/jel.ena.art/posts/466920026792615

In the video, you can actually see that she takes her sketch and adds a layer of graphite on the back of the sheet.  What I did was that I actually made a photocopy of my sketch, so I didn't have to tear my sketchbook apart, and on the back of the photocopy, I added the graphite with what I think it was a 2B Mars pencil.

If you have a more detailed sketch, you might see that the photocopy will not take many of the details as it should, here it wasn't my case as it was a messy one. But if you find yourself in that situation, you could add one more step:  If you have a lightbox, trace your drawing on a new paper, I would use a normal printer paper if the piece is small or other kind of cheap paper if you prefer. So you will be adding graphite to the back of cheap paper instead of your sketchbook!  (again, basic, but this is not my forte, I swear!)

And, if you don't have a lightbox, go the cheap way like me!  you might have windows at home, right? this will involve to tear your sketchbook page out, but you can carefully store it in a safe location with acid free plastic bags. I use to do this when I have to take this path.  Just tape it on the window, tape your new sheet on top of it and trace, trace, trace!  Of course, daylight hours are a must.

Or, you can go the cheapskate way (not that I've done it *cof cof*), if you have a small desk lamp and a glass table, those make good cheap lightboxes too =P   and if you're very veeery limited and only have a desk lamp... a little bird told me you can tape a sheet of paper to it and then your drawing on top, with the new sheet glued to it.  It's challenging, and sloooow...  but it works  *ehem*  yes, the bird told me so!

White lights are good and the best ones for this from my experience.


Of course, I forgot again to photograph the traced drawing.  But it's not that hard to imagine it, it was closer to the initial sketch =)

This is the transferred image with detailing added:

I wanted to add more and more details T^T  I loved the backgrounds in the movie!

After the sketch is ready, I added a couple layers of Golden Matte Medium. I love this one, it works as a clear sealant that won't add too much grain to the surface, but enough to handle oils or acrylics, or to mix with PearlEx pigments <3

I think I added 2 layers, well thinned down with a bit of water.  After the first layer dried, I added the 2nd, again, thinned down, but not watery!

You let this dry overnight and you're ready =)


3. Blocking background colors.

You can see the actual reference image on my phone.  And that spunky brush on the left! The oldest one I have!

Blocking the colors is something I've learned in this months.  Many, if not all artist I follow does this methodically. Usually, they block colors with acrylics to speed the drying process and then add the last layers with oils.  I will start doing this too, I just need to learn a bit of color theory! 

I happily understood quickly that the base color for the background had to be yellow. YAY!

By looking at the pic, I tried to come up with a practical color palette. This was, from Golden Acrylics Cadmium yellow, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, golden green, dioxazine purple, naples yellow, burnt umber, teal and titanium white.  From Grumbacher Academy I used Hooker's green and Thio Violet.  From Americana, I used Evergreen. Oh, and from Winsor&Newton Galeria, Pale Terracotta.

I took my Golden Acrylics Cadmium Yellow and made a quick wash on the whole background. I left the unicorn out of the yellow washes because I didn't want for the yellow to be too noticeable in the final stages. I'll talk about it later =) .   As you can see on my reference photo, the whole sky is yellow, the trees in the middle are more like ochre and the trees exactly behind the unicorn are like a dark gold/greenish color.  So I decided this was going to be my order.

You can see in the pic that I used a light wash of  Cadmium yellow for the sky. Then started to add a bit of a darker color on the 2nd layer with the yellow ochre mixed still with cadmium yellow.

It doesn't show here, but I tried to cover with 2 or 3 layers of each shade, to hide any imperfection but don't worry too much about it! Remember that this are only your first layers =)


4. Building up.  

YAY! Blurry pic!  just as you wanted to see!  * hides *

And yeah, I don't have a good pic of the next steps. This was the process.



* Kept adding more cadmium yellow to build a solid yellow sky on the background.

* Started to add light washes of color.  For the trees, washes of burnt sienna, sometimes mixed with a bit of yellow ochre to keep the yellow influence of the background. I also built the shadow/light areas of the trees in the right part of the painting.  Ochre + burnt sienna for the medium color areas, pure burnt sienna for the shadows.  The yellow bushes were a mix of cadmium yellow and ochre.  The green bushes I used cadmium yellow + golden green.  For the dark green bush I used phtalo green first from Grumbacher, but it's a bit blueish, so it didn't go well. So I added layers of Hooker's green from Grumbacher Academy.  This worked wonders for the round bush to the right.

* Started to build up texture on the trees using the darker tone I assigned for each one.  Burnt sienna for the bushes on the back and burnt umber for the ones closer to the front.  The tree immediately to the left of the unicorn had also some hints of golden green and ochre while working on it.

* The yellow bushes on the left were the ones I started detailing. It was easier to make this decision as the layers were ready for detailing already in that zone (burnt sienna for shadow, ochre/cadmium yell. for the medium color and pure cadmium yellow for the lighter.  I didn't add white as I wanted the unicorn to be the whiter element there.  So when starting to add the leaves, I used burnt sienna for the darker ones, ochre for the medium ones and naples yellow for the brighter ones on the top.

* For the ground, it was an easy choice. Ochre washes until the surface was evenly covered. Then cadmium yellow for the rounds.

This was how it looked after doing all I mentioned above:

Still in the ugly phase, but something it's certain. A few layers after, it always get better, I promise!

5. The Unicorn and adding more detail.

Again, looks like a magic step here =o

Patience! Building layers takes patience, it's worth it!

I took this photo after doing just a bit of work. Looks like a lot, but I discovered that it's just matter of following steps when it's the time, not rushing anything and enjoying the process.

What I did to reach this stage was:

* Trees in the right: Made sure that the base shape was well defined and lighter/medium/shadow zones were clearly covered (yellow/ochre/burnt sienna).  Then I started to add the leaves. The darker ones in the darker zones, the medium colored ones in the medium shade zone and the lighter ones on the edges where the strong yellow light hits. I played with naples yellow and cadmium yellow on this, no white so far! I also added a different tree with some flowers hanging, I liked that detail on the background of my reference pic and wanted to add it. Same happened here, Darker green in the basic shape, lighter green for the leaves.

*Bush with heart leaves: This was actually a challenge. This one had a green that I could only achieve with ochre + golden green, and golden green is a very translucent color, so it took a while until I got that shape covered. I decided to add Hooker's green for the hearts, but it wasn't offering lots of covering neither, so I used it as base and then added a layer of the Americana Evergreen, wich had enough opacity to cover the areas without messing too much with other colors around.

*Round green bush. Again, Hooker's green for the shape, and for the spikes I mixed golden green with ochre and applied with a small brush.

*Small brown bushes. I painted first the darker shades with burnt umber, then added ochre lines and then white + cad. yellow for the lighter lines.

*Plants in the front. All this lines were made with Hooker's green and a bit of golden green for lighter areas.

*The Unicorn.  Again, you can see I was only covering with a flat layer of medium tone colors.  I used Thio Violet from Grumbacher Academy + Dioxazine Purple from Golden for the outlines. Thio Violet is a warmer shade, but I didn't want to add any brown to it, as I wanted the unicorn to look out of place, but in place... I wanted her to look like a mythic creature not only for the horn on her forehead.  So Dioxazine for the darker areas and thio violet for the medium areas of her hair.  For the body I used washes of pale terracotta, a bit of white on the mix and thio violet washes for the shades. Try to build up your shapes in this stage, as in following stages you will only bringing up the lights without much hassle =D


6. The stage without pics, damn wisdom teeth extraction!

Badaboom! Magic!

Yes, I'm sorry, I spent May 4th to May 6th with growing pain on my extraction areas and couldn't sleep much. I tried to work bit by bit on this painting but was sporadic and didn't document it =(

This was the 99% finished piece.

Having explained part of the process above, you can now see how the layers were buil:

* Unicorn's body shades:  Were a mixture of thio violet, and yes, I didn't wanted to add browns, BUT, there's the influence of a yellowish - brownish environment, so some of that warmth had to be added to her, so I used very thin washes of burnt sienna on her belly, her front legs, the shadows that her hair make on her fur and around her eyes to shape them a bit more.

* Unicorn hair.  We had previously build our hair shapes with thio violet and dioxazine purple. it was just matter of adding lighter details on her hair to add light and a bit of movement. I used my tiniest brush and thin layers of titanium white to paint this, just enjoy doing it just trying to remember that she has light coming from behind and also some light from the front. Play with the idea. I honesty didn't know what I was doing sometimes, but if you're afraid, go and check books, photographs , etc. So you can have a better understanding of light and its behavior.  I know I'm no master, I have lots to learn, but if I don't finish something I will stay here sucking my finger for the rest of my life xD

And I knew I wanted a mythical cute unicorn, and this was it !  No light source was going to stop me! *cries*

* TIP:  When having your shapes stablished, don't rush!  It's tempting as you're near the end just to spit white and get over with, right?  Try something different instead, get you favorite thin brush, your white, some clean water and start with diluted white, like almost transparent and play with the fur, thin lines of diluted white on the lighter parts of your shape, next, you will dilute a bit less, so the white lines will be more visible, and so on.  Also, you will see that the shape will be forming in front of your eyes, you will also notice that the whiter areas will be smaller as you keep working.  I also added some whiter areas to show texture on her belly and back legs.  Play with your brush, you'll discover new ways to achieve the look you want for your painting.

* This was the layer where I most used white. you can see that there's no white all over, I tried to leave this for the lightest areas of this painting: The unicorn, some leaves, the flowers in front, and the flowers in the back as well as the outer line of the trees in the back.  If you use too much white, you will limit yourself a lot with the rest of the colors! It's a very bad habit of mine, so I want this to change already!

* Added the lines of the sun just for fun, as well as the butterflies, I thought it needed a bit of movement and interaction with other critters. And they serve as well as a guide for your eyes to focus on her head, I hope so!

* As I was in the last details, I adde a bit of washed down Teal for some areas to add some volume and just a bit of very veeery watered down burnt siena on the hooves.  I added some burnt sienna to build the shadow on the ground. Fixed the texture of the ground with more yellow and some white for the lighter areas.

* Finished with the flowers and the plants in front.

And, I think that's all!

Ohh  if you wonder about her eyes!  I used dioxazine purple as the darker color, and then a mix of thio violet, yellow ochre and cad. yellow for the iris and then the white spot and some little spots with a bit of watered down white.


7. Sealing -> the end!
I added a couple layers of Jo Sonja's gloss varnish with a soft brush. Let it dry and well, show it to your loved ones =D



My last thoughts.
I acknowledge I need to learn a lot about painting. Some color theory won't hurt me!  But if something I've learned in this years is that, no matter how bad you think you worked on a piece. In a couple months later, you will be proud of what you did.  Don't stop trying, don't stop educating yourself.  We all have to keep learning in order to be better!

I learned a lot with this piece, first of all, planning. And with this comes the "take it slowly".  If you see that after 3 layers you feel you have a big ugly mess, it's how it's supposed to look at that stage. That "mess" will be the strong base in where you're building your whole painting. Spend the necessary time on this and you'll be spending less time fixing stuff in the end.

Last, but not least.  Don't over do it!  I've learned this as the years have passed. It's difficult because you might want to add a lot, but if you're prone to do this, leave your brush, take a deep breath and step away from it. If tomorrow you still want to add that detail, then add it. If not, then proceed to the next area you need to work with.  Adding details while working on the blocking of the shapes will make you lose perspective about the whole scene. I believe you need to add colors at the same time you try to understand how it affects the rest of your image. It might not show on this one painting, but hopefully in the future it will, but as a learning piece, I'm very very proud!

Why? you might ask.

Because I followed steps. Which is difficult when having focus issues =o  And I use to get very sad in the "ugly phase".  So actually finishing it was quite an achievement!


So, this is it.  I hope you find this helpful in your practice.  This is more my experience than a tutorial, but I wanted to share it with you in case that you might want a different perspective and to see that we all go through doubts while working on something!

Thanks a lot for watching and remember, if you have questions about materials I used, or about a step on the process, let me know through the comments!

You can also check my FB https://www.facebook.com/dianitaart and send me a message there =)


Also, please, don't use my images without permission!


Have a wonderful weekend!

Dianita
www.artbydianita.com
dianitaarts@gmail.com