april 26, 2017

04-26-17 "the perfect woman"
04-26-17 “the perfect woman”

9-5/8″x6-5/8″ acrylic, marker on 1903 book cover

In honor of today’s premier of the book-turned-series A Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu, and in dishonor of the 2017 Iowa Republican legislators, here is the cover of an actual book called The Perfect Woman, published in 1903. The book has lots of “helpful” advice to women that might make its way into future artworks.

I removed the two original, badly damaged photos on the front and replaced it with my own painted image. I enhanced much of the original decorative aspects (some of which were nearly rubbed off) with new paint. I tore off the front from the shell of the book cover after I had done most of the painting, which really is not a good time to tear apart something that old. But it worked out for the most part.

And no, this is not a daily. I have been pondering what to do with the book for a long time (and still have more ideas I will use the content/pages for at some point). I worked on this cover over time—removing, adding, drawing, painting, etc. I could have (and still might) work on this cover more. It just seemed like today is an auspicious day to upload it for now.

april 14, 2017

04-14-17 "this week"
04-14-17 “this week”

4×4″ acrylic, marker on cardstock

This was a color block painting wanting to be something more. So I added a thin, transparent layer of yellow and didn’t like that. I added some zinc white and only liked it over the blue. Then I added some marker lines on several colors. I like it better. Still not what I saw in my mind’s eye, however. I’m getting a little out of practice. I am working on a longer term project, though, and made some progress on it. Maybe next week? (I doubt it….)

april 7, 2017

04-07-17 "rainy doodle"
04-07-17 “rainy doodle”

2.5×3.5″ markers and acrylic on card

I made this on one of those cloudy, gloomy days we’ve had recently. I’ve been working on other artwork, but it’s longer term. So, here’s a little colorful doodle for today.