Phished!

Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to let you all know that I have had one of my emails hacked or phished. So if you received a strange email message about me being stranded in Scotland PLEASE DISREGARD!!!!!!
This message went out to ALL of my contacts. If you received it, I do apologize, and ask that you use my other email address on the right, for now.
Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Teacher "Thank-You" Gifts

Since my oldest child was in SK, I have made my own "thank-you" gifts for the wonderful teachers of our local elementary school. I have 3 children in school now, so I have to start thinking, sketching, and planning a little earlier every year. I don't mind though, because I really appreciate these fabulous teachers, and all that they do. And it is nice to give them a heartfelt gift that, I think, shows them how much I truely appreciate them.
Above you can see one plasticine illustration I did for my middle son's SK teacher last year. He really loved the ocean unit they did, so I thought I'd do a little illo. depicting him (orange shirt nearest the teacher), and his classmates listening to a story about oceans and the wonderous imagination that unfolds through her story-telling.
It was fun to do, now to get going on this year's ideas.....

Busy Little Fingers

The other day I decided to try to get some artwork done while my guys were all outside playing in the backyard....riiiiiiight...just when I thought I had the kitchen table to myself, thinking I could work and watch the kiddies at the same time, my 6 year old son comes flying through the sliding door " Whatcha doin' Mom, ohhhh...can I do plasticine too??" Sure I said. So I now had one little apprentice quietly working away next to me, trying to make camouflage after a quick demo. in colour mixing.  He created a great soldier (see above)  and had enough camouflage left over for some funky boots. Funny how all boys this age (and his brothers) are very interested in anything army related right now...well better a soldier than a weapon for once(geeesh)!

But wait... then there were two! About one minute later there was another little voice from beyond the screen door....."Mommy.....ummmm...can I play too?" This time it was my 4 year old son, not wanting to miss out on anything, and hoping to play too. Well, the more the merrier right? He pulled up his chair and got down to business pulling and kneading with fierce concentration. He was very proud to hold up his Seadoo (see above) half an hour later. He has had our cottage "on-the-brain" and can't wait to get up north once the warm weather is here to stay. Good job boys! Yup...another proud mommy moment.

Luckily my daughter, who is two, was very preoccupied in the sand-box and my oldest son, who is eight, was out with his Daddy for some "Daddy and me" time.  It could have been pretty cramped and crazy around the kitchen table!

And to top it off, I actually got a bit of my artwork completed too... yippee!

Plasticine Illustration Part 1-My Process

I thought I'd do a little tutorial of my process of how I go about creating a plasticine illustration. Since it is a bas-relief, I start with the background and work forward. So to begin, I cover a piece of illustration board with a thin layer of plasticine. This gives the other layers of plasticine something to adhere to. I usually choose a colour close to my background, so in this instance it is a light blue for the sky, and brown for the dirt and ground. I basically press and rub the plasticine into the illustration board with my thumb and fingers. I leave a 1/2 inch gap or so, of illustration board around the artwork, so that it can be framed without loosing any of the edge detail. I also cover these edges with "Press-n-Seal" to keep the edges protected and clean until it is framed. 

Next, I smooth out the rough, rubbed-on plasticine with my fingers, and begin to add and blend-in more colours for the background sky. As you can see above, I have added some darker blue at the top, and blended it into the lighter blue. I also added some light yellow, which will be at the horizon-line. I then added  some distant clouds.

From this next image you can see that I have added green rolling hills in the background, to map out the horizon. I added some light texture by stippling with an old toothbrush, and added a bit of warm yellow to the hills in the middleground, to begin to develope some depth to the illustration.

This will serve as the background for my two little mice in rubber boots.  I posted the sketch a few days ago. I plan to have my little mice walking along a muddy, gravel/grassy path, so now I need to develope those elements.

Next, I added some longer grasses, intermixed with some grey gravel. Again I used a variety of tools to give the gravel the proper texture and movement to the grass. I plan to add more once my mice figures are in place, but it is easiest to lay down some ground elements first which will be just behind them, and fill in more as I go. So, you can see how the background is taking shape nicely, and we are slowly progressing to the foreground. Of course, there is always a chance I have to fix something, or something gets smooshed :( If this happens I basically need to tear off the layers on top and do my repairs and then repeat the process to get back to this point.

  

For this illustration I decided to start to work on my little mice seperately since they are right in the foreground of the piece. I either use tracing paper or a sheet of Press-n-Seal to cover my sketch and work on top to get the proper sizing and keep true to my sketch. In this image you can see that I have begun to work on the dress and head of the mouse on the right. This is the really fun part because I get to add lots of details and textures...which I just loooove!

Well...this is as far as I have gotten so far, so stay tuned for Part 2 when I have more to share! I hope you found this mini-tutorial  interesting, and have now gotten the urge to rummage through your craft cabinets to find some of your kid's plasticine and try it yourself!! 

So go...go now...and try it, I just know you'll luv it too! :) Happy squishing!

The lollipops saved the day

I did this plasticine series for a friend of mine who has 5 great kids.  I am sure anyone with one or more children close in age, can totally relate to this dilemma. Why is it, that once you focus a camera on a set of otherwise happy-go-lucky children, and yell "ok....everyone say ...stinky cheeeeese", suddenly, as if someone flicked an invisible switch, everyone goes bonkers.... arms and legs are flying in a tangled mess of hollering kids?? I just don't get it?? Thank goodness digital cameras were invented. Now, at least we can delete those 50-100 doozies and keep that one golden gem of a shot that makes you melt.

If you look closely you will see that in the first illo the hubby is waving a hand filled with red lollipops to use as bribery...heehee...haven't we all resorted to this sort of thing at one point?? At least we can all laugh and find comfort in the fact that we are not alone in our sweaty, migraine-inducing, frustrating quest for that perfect family photo.
I know my friend got a good chuckle, and it was a blast to create for her. She writes a hilarious blog that chronicles the daily life of a busy mom. If you get a chance, DO check it out at "Five All Mine".

Spring Sketch

I did this quick little sketch the other night, with the thoughts of spring dancing in my head. I was outside a bunch this weekend playing in the backyard with my "little ones", as the weather was so great. Doesn't the smell of spring, and the teeny chirping birds put everyone is such a good mood? It works for me!! My daughter was the inspiration for this piece as she just loves to clomp around in her pink rubber boots, no matter what she's wearing. And she is a magnet to puddles, so I gladly support her footwear choice!!

 I thought I'd do a "work-in-progress" post to show my process of doing a plasticine illustration. So stay tuned in the days to come for that! I think I may use this as a new header for my blog. My daughter is busy playing with the playdoh, and making me playdoh hamburgers and spagetti...yum! Gotta go, our tea party and yummy imaginary feast is about to begin! ;)

Muskoka Boathouse

Muskoka Boathouse
Originally uploaded by sdelrizzo

OK ...Who ordered this crazy cold weather. Mother nature can be sooooo mean! After giving us that glorious spring-like weather all Easter weekend, my kids and I were very annoyed to have to search for mittins and winter hats again in the rush to get out the door to school. So, as I sit with my cup of hot tea, wishing wistfully for warm sunshine to toast me up a bit, I am thinking about warm summer days lounging on our dock at the cottage.
My mom aways has a count-down of sorts, that begins in late winter of how long it will be 'til we open up the cottage. Because of that I decided to do her a plasticine illustration of our cottage so she can hang it up in her house and have a piece of it with her all winter long.

Doesn't it look sooooo inviting and relaxing.....ahhhhh summer, I can't wait!!