Back in October, during Inktober, one of the drawings I did was a mother nursing her infant. At the time I told myself that I would paint it someday. This week I decided that someday was now. The first step was to make the sketch on the prepared canvas so yesterday that is what I did.
I coated the canvas with a red wash and then sketched the mother and child with chalk. I prefer chalk over pencil because it is easy to wipe away lines and redo things. Pencil is harder to erase. Also the chalk lines disappear when painted over. Sometimes the pencil will show through the paint.
This canvas is 16×20 inches and I will be working in acrylics.
Next is the blocking in with light and dark areas. I will show that to you on Tuesday.
Tools of the Trade
One of the tools I use to transfer an image from the reference photo to the canvas is a pair of proportional dividers. With these I can convert the measurements on the photo larger or smaller to fit the size of the painting. Once the dividers are set to a specific proportion all the details can be added in the same proportions.
The image of the nursing mother was inspired by a photo by Janko Ferlič found on Unsplash.
Trillium Temari Ball
This small Temari ball has just two faces. Each face holds my representation of the Trillium, the flower of Ontario, Canada. It is done in Perle Cotton #5 thread. Gold crochet cotton with a gold metallic thread through it was used for the center of the flower and for the obi, or belt, that runs around the middle of the ball. The ball is 24.5 cm around.
This simple design was one of the first patterns I created.
Quilting
I am continuing the process of quilting a large, queen sized quilt on my domestic sewing machine. The machine is an old Sears Kenmore that I have had for over 40 years. With solid metal construction, the machine has only had to be serviced twice since I got it new. It sews beautifully. My only concern is that they don’t make parts for it anymore. Someday I will have to replace it, but I hope that day is long in coming!
