Laura K Maxwell
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Where's the "undo" button?

7/29/2014

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I've finished the key, and the original is now available on Etsy, while prints and other products are available on Society6.
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I'm moving along on the globe.
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I've added color to the water with Prismacolor watercolor pencils, which are just magical and lovely.  You can see near the bottom of the picture where I have lightly colored with the pencil, and then at the top and right I painted water on top of it and so those light scribbles become beauty.  Love it!  And you can see where I accidentally painted over a bit of Madagascar.  Opps! Where's the "undo" button?! (To get your bearings, that is Africa upside down; Europe is on the bottom)


And then today I gave myself a treat and spend a few hours at the Dallas Museum of Art.   I really enjoyed the current exhibition--
Mind's Eye: Masterworks on Paper from David to Cezanne.   It features 100 works on paper--drawings, sketches, watercolors.  As someone who loves to draw, I really enjoyed it.  Lots of fun quotes about drawing on the walls as well.  Here's a blurry one.
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I took quite a few other pictures, but here is just one more from the exhibit.
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Portrait of Guidi Arnot by Egon Schiele, 1918, Black crayon on paper
And another from their permanent collection.  A portrait I love.
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Miss Dorothy Quincy Roosevelt by John White Alexander, 1901-1902, Oil on canvas
Sigh.


Lot's more I could share but I'll stop there for now.
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Globe and Key and other ideas

7/25/2014

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Two things are in progress now. One is a globe that has been commissioned by a friend to become the logo of her new business.


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I posted this as an "in process" picture on Instagram, and  was amazed at the response it got.  So I'm scanning what I have so far--with the land blank--but then still going to add something inside the land after.  So there will be two options.  And then perhaps three when I add color

I'm also working on skeleton key--just for kicks. 

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Going to go around it with stippling (aka dots), which will take some patience.

Anytime I have an idea for something I want to draw, I type onto a "drawing ideas" note I have going on my iPhone.  That's where I got the key idea from.  I wanted to draw something for fun, so I looked back at my note and pulled an idea from there.
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You can see "key" on there in between "starfish" and "art supplies."  My notes sync with my iPad and dekstop computer; anytime an idea pops into my head, chances are I am near one of those things so it's easy to jot it down.  Technology is grand.

And so is our newly painted red-orange door!
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If you notice, on my note is says "dancing iron woman."  I'm referring to that woman that guards our door.  I think she could turn into a fun drawing.
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Pretty things

7/21/2014

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I finished the elephant.  Decided on a light gray background.  You know, like the color of an actual elephant.
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For some reason when I scanned it, the gray did not show up very well, so for my Society6 shop I made the background white.  I also created a black and white version, in case anyone preferred that.
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So now the original is even more one-of-kind, with the gray background.  Definitely a collector's piece. ;)

I'm also happy to announce I sold my first duvet cover!  Two of them actually!  Of the same design.
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Wowza!  By the way, if you happen to buy anything from my shop, I absolutely LOVE customer photos--to see what my art is doing in your daily life.  So send any if you get the chance!

There is free shipping currently going on as well, not sure for how long (I'm not in charge of these things).  I took advantage of it and bought a print from an artist Ryan and I really like,  Christian Schloe.
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Inner Ocean by Christian Schloe
That's another thing I love about being a part of Society6--discovering new awesome artists.
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Elephant

7/19/2014

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One of my oldest and dearest friends has asked me to draw an elephant for her (and by "old" I mean I've know her a long time, not that she herself is elderly).  She gave me free rein as far as size, color, perspective, etc.  Just an elephant. 

I feel like I do my best work when I've been commissioned to do something, rather than just for myself.  It usually challenges me more and I want it to turn out awesome.  So here are some process pics (which you've seen if you follow me on instagram/facebook)...


So that is where I am so far (click on the thumbnails to few the picture, if you didn't catch that).  All I have left is to think about the background.  I'm thinking maybe a softer version of one of the colors, perhaps purple.  Or even gray.  Hopefully I'll have time to experiment some today.  I'm really pleased with it though and have had fun painting.  Usually I just use pen/sharpie, I had never been this itty-bitty and detailed with  watercolor before.  I was inspired to do so by Jess Polanshek,  an artist I follow on instragram.
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Quilted Comrades by Jess Polanshek
She does all this beautiful detail in watercolor, which inspired me to want to as well.
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Love it.
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The Introductory post

7/17/2014

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So I'm trying out this Weebly thing.

I've had a blog over at WordPress for awhile (which I haven't updated since December).  I've really enjoyed blogging in the past, I just stopped updating because I got busy/I didn't know what the purpose was anymore.  At first it was a blog to share just any random thought in my head.  Then it morphed into just sharing my art process, and sometimes my art teaching experiences.  Then I just stopped.



...

The purpose of this blog and this website is mainly to share my art.  I have two online shops -- one at Society6 and one on Etsy -- and I wanted to make things simpler by just having one central location to point people to.  Plus I was wanting to blog again... So here we are on Weebly.  My good friend Heidi inspired me to get on the ball and just do it by working on her own lovely website.


I really enjoy documenting things, so I think that' why I have always liked blogging.  And I like giving things a context--an explanation.  Thus I am explaining why I started this website. 

I'm trying to decide whether I should purchase a domain name and make things all professional.  Any thoughts on that?

On my next post I'll share the project I've been working on.  But for now, it's just raining.
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    Laura

    A place to share the process. A space to be honest about the triumphs and trials of my daily life as an artist and mama. Writing motivates and refreshes me.

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    Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups
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