I wanted something cuter than a regular plastic bag holder so I added an African-American rag doll with angel wings to a bag I already had. The doll itself is hand stitched and hand painted. I painted her skin with burnt umber oil paints then allowed it to dry. She was heat treated then sealed. I then added facial features and hair from a doll purchased forever ago. I have to say I like the finished product. I think what I like about her is she has a slight primitive appeal. I really like primitive black dolls but for this project I only wanted soft prim.
My plastic bag holder is currently hanging by the door so I can remember to return the bags for recycling when I go back to the store.
Thanks for visiting SUNDRIP – Art for Life
fma
It usually doesn’t take me 7 or 8 days to complete one painting but it looks like this one will need even more time. Seven days now but I’m getting closer.
The painting shows a young African-American child walking through a field of sunflowers and wildflowers while being guided by an older Black angel.
Painting Details: The sky and flowing water meet and roll around her skirt into a field of flowers. There are two small butterflies floating above a sunflowers, one single white daisy. The child has small green leaves as trim for her clothing and is holding a tiny little flower.
I believe the final version will make a slight distinction between the sky and water. I may also add a few tiny details to the adult angel but other than that Watch Over Our Children is nearly completed.
Update:
Ah yes, it sometimes takes awhile but the end result is worth it.
The colors have been changed dramatically as were the flowers but I like this version best.
Thanks for visiting,
fma
Here is a picture of step three in the process to complete the little black angel painting. In step 2 the little girl’s arms are to her side which was done to make it easier for me to go back and change to the position I wanted them in. Since I wasn’t certain I practiced first on my scratch board shown in front of the large painting.
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I tend to get hyper and over zealous about my art from time to time and think an idea is a good one so I go ahead and do it only to discover it wasn’t’ a good idea at all. The scratch board allows me to make mistakes without royally messing up the main project. If I see it’s a good idea I can stop working on the scratch board and transfer the idea to the larger painting having first practiced the strokes and the idea.
I mentioned in a different entry that I also try working digitally. Below is an example of the scratch board with digital alterations that give me ideas for step four.
So, this is step three. Step four will show the angel’s arms exactly as shown on the scratch board. I hope to have facial features in place and a few more details on her clothing.
Keep watching, she’ll be finished soon.
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At first I was going to resize the oak board but I decided against that but instead continue on with her standing tall. Later I’ll add a flower in her left hand and re-do her facial features. I want to keep the painting simple with an aged appearance. When viewed in person she looks almost like a painting on the side of an historical building. The painting itself has an aged appearance which I really like..
Ironically while working on her today I watched the same movie which inspired the original drawing. I’d forgotten what I was watching when I drew her and forgotten where it was I heard the quote that stayed in my head since then.
At this time she is untitled but by the time she’s dry and ready to be purchased she will have a name. All progress for this piece can be seen by following me on Flickr.
Although this is an oil painting I’ve also relied upon digital programs to assist with planning steps for her completion. After scanning a photo I can open that photo in my art program and add different things to see if I like it. I also have a smaller canvas I’m working on to see what those changes would look like before I actually put them on the main project.
Say for some reason I decided it would be a good idea to fill the background with roses or something, which I won’t do but for the sake of argument lets say I want to do that. I’d first do it in photoshop. If I liked it I’d do a few on the small canvas then make the final decision from there. This allows me to get creative without messing up the main project. Most of the time I can just paint and not worry about it but sometimes I get this thought in my head, “Oh you know what would be really cool to do?” Then when I do it I’m disappointed. Photoshop and the small canvas have saved my projects more than once. Now you know why it takes so long to finish paintings. 
Hopefully this painting will be completed within the next two weeks and find herself in my Etsy shop.
Medium: Oil on 4 x 2 oak board.
I had no idea I could use a basic crayola marker this way. All I did was draw a little of the picture then brush over it with a wet brush. Some of them I really liked but others I wish I’d done a few things differently.
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fma
An Experiment With Crayola Markers – September 29th, 2009 7:50AM EST
I wanted something cuter than a regular plastic bag holder so I added an African-American rag doll with angel wings to a bag I already had. The doll itself is hand stitched and hand painted. I painted her skin with burnt umber oil paints then allowed it to dry. She was heat treated then sealed. I then added facial features and hair from a doll purchased forever ago. I have to say I like the finished product. I think what I like about her is she has a slight primitive appeal. I really like primitive black dolls but for this project I only wanted soft prim.
art therapy
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