Getting Wiggy

Selfie with Wig, oil on paper, 10×7“

My social media feeds kept showing me wigs (how do they know my formerly boisterously curly hair was getting thin, grey and wimpy?) The influencers looked so cute in their (probably very expensive) wigs that I decided to try one.

A dog park acquaintance who always wears a wig recommended I order one from Temu. It was cheap, hideous, huge, hanging over my eyes and shedding. It quickly went back to Temu, a store I’m not a fan of.

Then a friend pointed me to some higher-quality inexpensive wigs on Amazon. I bought the one I’m wearing in the picture because it reminded me of what my hair looked like in my 20s: long, thick, wavy, chestnut color.

Unfortunately, not being anywhere close to my 20s anymore, I looked ridiculous in it close up. But it was fun to take a selfie wearing it and then paint a self-portrait before returning the wig.

About Painting: I recently watched an online painting video with Carol Peebles. Her guidance about comparative measuring in portrait drawing clarified so many things I’d been confused about. It helped me to get a likeness with much less struggling.

Painting is so much more fun when starting with a good drawing! I’m really happy with how this turned out. I think it’s my favorite self-portrait ever and I’ve done at least 50 of them over the years.

Have a Cow

Have a Cow, oil on paper, 9.5 x 9.5”

This calf was in a photo on my Vermont friend Ruth’s Strava page and I thought it was so cute I took a break from the people portraits I’ve been working on to do a quick oil sketch of it.

Ruth told me about the photo: “It’s the dairy farm next door. Run by Sebastian Von Trapp, who is the great grandson of Captain Von Trapp. Sebastian’s grandfather was one of the Von Trapp singers!”

Back from Burnout

Portrait of Fiona’s Friend with the Mona Lisa Smile, oil 10×8”

I’m finally back to painting and drawing again after a very long break. For nearly a year I had illustrated my dreams and the daily Wordle and had posted about half of them. Then I burned out.

For the first time in my life I went for months without drawing or painting and for the first time since I started my blog in 2006, I stopped posting to0. I was afraid my passion for painting was gone for good and wondered who I would be without it.

Finally my desire to paint and draw came back (hooray!!!) BUT I was so rusty! Before the burnout I was able to quickly sketch a decent likeness. That was gone (as you can see in some of the failed attempts below!)

Some of the preliminary sketch starts (that didn’t end up in the trash)

It took more than seven sketch-starts before I kind of remembered how I draw (above).

Final painting and 2 of the failed painting starts

Then it took 5 painting starts before I felt I had a good enough beginning structure to keep going and complete the portrait.

My goal was to capture her Mona Lisa-like smile and I wouldn’t stop until I did.

Wordle: ARBOR (Day)

Wordle: ARBOR (Day)

For Wordle ARBOR I thought of Arbor Day, a holiday I remember from elementary school when people made a big deal about planting trees, which I was confused about. I didn’t know the meaning of the word Arbor nor what it had to do with tree planting.

It turns out “Arbor Day—which literally translates to “tree” day from the Latin origin of the word arbor—is a holiday that celebrates the planting, upkeep and preservation of trees.”

Arbor Day was invented by a couple in Nebraska in the 1870s. You can read about the interesting history here.

Wordle: VAGUE and Dreams

Wordle: VAGUE and Baby
Dreams

The pencil portrait on this page has a VAGUE resemblance to a dear friend who used to be vague—always a good listener and caring person but one who rarely spoke up about herself.

Then she found her voice and now she asks for what she needs. She is no longer vague; she is very specific and now our friendship is so much stronger.

Wordle: RIPER (and dreams)

Wordle: RIPER and dreams

For Wordle: RIPER I drew the stages of bananas from Green to Ick. Why do they go from green to black so fast? I learned recently that if you seal the end where it connected to the bunch with plastic wrap or foil the ripening process goes more slowly.

The dreams above were:

(1) Riding in a NYC taxi and explaining to the driver how New Yorkers are born with wisdom and know things others don’t, like how to get home when the bus stops running, and then crying because I love NY so much and want to be back there.

(2) I thought the cab driver might be homeless but he said he had to hurry and go because his wife is in a Calvin Klein Fashion show.

(3) Admiring my friend Barbara’s belt and then realizing I have one just like it. (Except in real life I don’t own a single belt but wish I did.)

Wordles: RUDDY & SWEAT (and dreams)

Wordle: RUDDY and dreams

For Wordle: RUDDY I drew the North American Ruddy Duck. These funny, cute critters need to get a running start across the water in order to take flight. Also above are some vibrant dreams illustrated that you can read if you want to click to enlarge the image.

Wordle: SWEAT(s) and dream that Adam Scott was my boyfriend

My usual at-home wardrobe consists of sweats (above) because as Mark Twain said, ”The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco.” The constant fog and wind in my neighborhood call for sweats and a hoodie most of the time, even or especially in the summer.

I’d been watching the very funny Party Down on Hulu (from 2010) that Adam Scott stars in. So in my dream (above) he was my boyfriend and we were planning our ill-fated wedding.

The 2-page spread