Well I’ve had a strange few weeks. On 8th August I had a little accident and am now recuperating. It has meant that I’ve had a lot of time to craft, but little energy or inclination to do it. I have been in a lot of pain and this is the main reason for the lack of inclination.
That doesn’t mean I haven't done any however.
A few days before the accident my grandchildren were asked to chose one colour each for me to use in this wonderful digital image
Love in Spring by Ching-Chou Kuik Available here:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/230698242/love-in-spring-digital-stamp-instant?ref=shop_home_active_16&ga_search_query=love
My grand daughter Ruby chose pink, and my grandson Ty chose gold. So we worked together choosing where each colour would go before I started the piece, then when they went off to play and swim and enjoy the summer days, I coloured the image up using my Prismacolor pencils.
Following on from this image I chose an Andreia Silva image. Andreia is the artist at MoonFlower Digistamps. Once a month around the 15th Andreia sends out her newsletter and in each newsletter she gives a free image.
This one was from the August newsletter, and is called Gypsy Flower,
and can be found now on her sales page at:
https://my.digitalgoodsstore.com/product/1ceft
For this image I chose to use my Artist quality Marco Raffine pencils which are oil based pencils. They were not the most expensive crayons out there, and are made in China, but the colours are rich and deep and the ‘leads’ give a nice smooth texture and are nice and easy to blend. The only negative I can say about them is that there are only 72 pencils in the range two of which are gold and silver metallics.
I started this one at around 12 one night and got as far as the hair before deciding to leave her for the morning.
The hair turned out better than I could ever have dreamed, next stage was to do the skin, because this is the element I usually do first, just in case it goes wrong and ruins the image.
So with a deep breath I set to work, and got the skin just so. Then I chose a pale yellow for the dress. With the pale yellow I added a shade deeper for shadows and took a rubber to the highlights and eventually finished this little lady off. I think for a first attempt she looks fine.
Facebook Groups.
I am a member of several Facebook colouring groups. Each one has it’s own merits. If I find an artist whose images I like I will join their Facebook group or the group set up by their fans. For two of the groups I am in I have done a couple of challenges in the last month.
Stamps by Aurora Wings.
This is one of the first groups I joined. The artist whose work is showcased in this group is Mitzi Sato-Wiuff. Again you can find Mitzi’s shop on the Etsy platform.
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/164726619/digital-stamp-instant-download-red?ref=shop_home_active_11&ga_search_query=red%2Bpoppies
The first image I did this month was not for the Facebook group challenge though, it was one I was sent after donating to one of the charities being supported – Colouring for Clean Water for which Mitzi did this image.
This is my finished piece. I used the Marco Raffine pencils again for this image, then chose to put an iridescent wash of pearlescent paint over the top of the mermaid’s skin and the shells.
Now I had a very strange experience with this image. During the night, after getting to this stage 
with the only light in the room the laptop screen behind the picture I woke up with a start. Now I’m very short sighted, so all I saw glowing on the desk was a skeleton with holes where the eyes should be. Her shoulders arms and face are done in such a way that the ‘bones’ were done in a pink tinged pearlescent paint. You can just see the colour on the shoulder and face, – unfortunately the eye shadow does not glow, and neither does the lips hair or shell. Creepy is not the word.
My Autumn challenge piece for the group is from the Red Poppies image, my all time favourite Mitzi piece – and I have a lot of her images 
This image was done using my Spectrum Noir markers to lay down a base of solid colour then I went over the top with the Spectrum Noir pencils to build up the image. Using the two mediums together gives a depth to the image that you cant get with just one or the other.
I chose the Poppies image this time though as for me Autumn means the coming of the colder nights, and seeing everyone wearing the poopy in their lapels or tucked into top pockets of their shirts. The red poppy is the iconic symbol in the UK of our Remembrance day, the day we stop and spend time thinking about all those brave men and women who have given their lives fighting in wars to safeguard our freedom and way of life. This is always celebrated on the Sunday closest to 11th of November. We also have a minutes silence on the actual day 11th November at 11am.
MoonFlower Digital Stamps.
MoonFlower’s August challenge was On the Blue -
This was done using Spectrum Noir pencils on their own. I was trying to get more Afro Caribbean skin tones but the colours didn’t give enough depth of tone once the rest of the image was coloured up. I began this image with the skin and thought I had it just right, but once the hair and clothes were completed the skin just didn’t work.
which was followed this month with Autumn Colours.
I chose to use the Spectrum Noir markers to lay down a base of colour again for this image, but instead of sticking with the Spectrum Noir brand I went instead for the Marco Raffine pencils to finish the image.
The image I used for the Autumn Colours challenge is called Tumbelina Faery.
Well that's all for now. My crayons are calling to me, and so are the cats. Must give them their hourly cuddles and start on my next colouring piece.
