Sunday, June 17, 2012

E is for Eeyore

This week's character for AlphaBooks is the ever-despondent Eeyore, from A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books. The text selection is from Chapter One of The House At Pooh Corner, & features the depressive donkey struggling mightily to simulate optimism.

I had to twist the poor fellow around quite a bit to form any semblance of an "E"-- do you see it?-- but he seems to be bearing it bravely with only a few deep sighs & doleful glances.

You might find more "E"s here & there if you look closely. And if you are flaky enough to count Morse code . . . . . . . there are lots of 'em! ;-)

Acrylic on text scanned from a 1988 E.P. Dutton edition, with some PS tinkering, ~5"x7".

p.s. Did you know that the Pooh stories were based on real toys owned by the real Christopher Robin Milne?

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Sweeps!

Announcing the winners of the first ever Oddments Giveaway! *drum-roll*

1st Prize: Jim Doran
2nd: dosankodebbie
3rd: Creations By Mit

Please e-mail me (via my profile) with your mailing address & let me know which oddment print you would prefer. :-)

(All entries were written on slips of paper, folded up, & picked out of a paper lunch bag by my son.)

My heartfelt thanks to all who entered, & all who have followed, commented, & visited Oddments during the first year! It has been so much fun getting to know you all.

p.s. About the art: okay, this wasn't technically a sweepstakes, but hey, it's close enough for Oddments. :-) In fact, I just found out that there is something called an odd entry sweepstakes. Hmmm.

I sketched out this oddment a good while ago for IF's prompt "Swept," but something came up & I couldn't finish at the time, so she has been patiently waiting in the wings for her turn in the spotlight. And now it turns out that she's so shy, she's trying to sweep it up!

Photoshop with text from a vintage dictionary-- I've forgotten which one I used.


Monday, June 11, 2012

D is for Don Quixote

This week's entry for AlphaBooks is Don Quixote, the delightfully eccentric knight from the eponymous novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Not only was this one of the world's first novels, it occurs to me that it may also be the first recorded example of medieval cosplay.

I love this passage near the beginning where Cervantes describes the Don's descent into madness due to excessive book consumption. "...and so from little sleep and much reading, his brain dried up and he lost his wits." Let this be a lesson to you, readers! ;-)

Acrylic on text scanned from 1976 Penguin Classics edition, translation by J.M.Cohen, ~4.5"x7.5"

Click to see all the sneaky D's!

Also folks, don't miss the giveaway drawing! Entries end at midnight on 12 July!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Yearlings

Do any of you remember these oddments? They arrived for the very first post (in digital form) & now they've returned (in acrylic this time) for the anniversary party.

And in honor of the occasion, I'm having my first-ever giveaway drawing! There will be three prize-winners: first prize will win this original painting, plus a signed, archival oddment print of their choice. Second & third will each win  a signed, archival oddment print of their choice. The first prize will be chosen from my pre-existing followers, while the other two will be from anyone who follows the blog, even if they join on the last day of the drawing. I'll choose the names one week from today (12 June 2012), & announce the winners on the 13th.


In order to be eligible for the drawing, just follow (if you don't already) & leave a comment below. And thank you all from the bottom of my heart for following, commenting, & making this odd year of oddments so much fun! 

I still can't believe it has really been a full year. When I started, I gravely doubted whether I'd make it this far. (I was reminding my husband of my opening post, when I said "Because it's my birthday & I'm allowed to do as I like, I'm daring myself to post an odd little creature of some kind on every odd day until my next birthday, or until I go completely mad, whichever comes first!" His response: "Define completely!") :-D

I didn't manage to post on every single odd day-- computer trouble & other impediments held me up from time to time-- but I came a whole lot closer than I'd feared, & I enjoyed the experience even more than I'd hoped!

For the next little while, I'll be easing up on the schedule a bit, but I couldn't possibly stop altogether. In fact, soon I'll be announcing a special new project. I can say no more! ;-)

Acrylic on text scanned from A Thousand Ways to Please A Husband, 1917 (much less racy than it sounds-- it's essentially a recipe book with stories), ~5"x 6.5"

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Speed Demon

Although I'm a fast walker, I'm a very slow painter. This blog has largely been an exercise in speeding up, letting go of some of my perfectionist & horror-vacui tendencies, & getting out of my own way. It's been a struggle (& to be honest, I'm still struggling) but I have learned an awful lot & had loads of fun.

And I can hardly believe it, but I'm coming down the home stretch! My next post (7 June 2012) will mark one year of oddments.* My, how those days hurried by!

Acrylic on text scanned from The Complete Instructor in Boxing, Swimming, Gymnastics, Pedestrianism, Horse Racing, Prize Fighting, Boat Raceing (sic) and Other Sports, 1881. The title is almost longer than the book. ;-)

* I'll be doing something special for the anniversary. Stay tuned!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

C is for Charlotte

This week's entry for AlphaBooks is everyone's favorite spider, Charlotte (from E.B.White's Charlotte's Web.) I've always been fairly severely arachnophobic, yet I still fell utterly in love with this character. She is one admirable arachnid.

Sadly, I don't feel this painting does her justice, but I've gone completely cross-eyed putting highlights on all those tiny dewdrops, so I give up!!

Acrylic on text scanned from a hardbound edition of uncertain date-- 1962 is my best guess-- with Photoshopical adjustments, ~ 5"x8"

p.s. I did try to throw in a few "C"s-- some clearer than others-- how many do u C?

Friday, June 1, 2012

Jammin'

When I saw this week's IF prompt ("hurry") I thought about traffic jams. I don't enjoy driving, least of all in heavy traffic. Also, I think modern cars are needlessly boring. Wouldn't it be much more tolerable to be stuck in traffic if there were interesting vehicles to look at instead of a sea of clones?

Acrylic, ink & white gouache on c.1950 mileage report form, ~4.5" x 7"