Prints vs. Printmaking and a Question

... also titled : "I'm EXCITED !"

One of the good things about getting a kid is that I can get a small allowance to stay home with him for six months after my maternal leave. Which I AM going to do. That will take me to about the end of the schoolyear. A whole schoolyear without work... That means I was finally able to take some classes at the art school. I had my eyes set on a nude drawing class for years (my Grandma was kinda kicking my butt on this one but it always clashed with my work schedule *sobs*), and when I started scheming this art classes plan after I got pregnant, I saw the art school also offered a *printmaking class*. AWESOME ! I wasn't able to attend the first two courses but yesterday I was able to leave the kid with his father, leave the house and just worry about learning printmaking stuff and doing art for four hours.

I was just experimenting with drypoint on plexiglass, without a real plan, but I'm already really, really happy with what I got. Now I have to buy some materials for the class... this is also my entry for this week' EST challenge, "Mythology". My only problem being that I'm not sure I want to put the first print I'm really happy with up for sale. :s

This is from the "prints" category, although it won't be technically a print, but a reproduction of a digital creation. I hope to finish it sometime this week. All the work with ink and paper is done, all that's left is the computerized magic.

And since we're talking digital, I'm begging for and advice from the crowd. My digicam is dying, and I want to upgrade to a DSLR. I want a Canon, because I want to be able to talk, get advice, compare and try lenses with Argyronete and our friend B, who both have a 450D (if I recall correctly). I'd need a standard lens, and maybe a macro one to take good macro pictures for the shop (and because macro is FUN :D ). Most of all, I'm hesitating between the 500D (which seems like a step up from the 450D, and isn't tha tmuch more expensive anymor) and the 1000D (which is a bit lower-class compared to the 500, but also a lot cheaper, so that I could splurge more on lenses). What do you people use ? What would you suggest ? I'm taking non-figurative pictures and some landscpae pictures when I'm doing the one-picture-a-day-thing (I've stopped trying to call it a 365 project until I actually manage to do one year in a row), close-ups of the items I'm putting up for sale, and well... baby portraits. Soon to be kid pictures.

My current pet peeves with my old Ixus, beside the fact that I have to hit it every time I turn it on to get the screen to work, are :
- no personalised adjusting of the white balance,
- horribly grainy pictures without natural light.

Fishy dilemna

I drew this for last week's EST challenge but wrangling four kilos of screaming monster prevented me from finishing it in time to submit. And now that I can take a step back to look at it, I'm not sure anymore what I should turn it into. My original plan was to make the blue very light and use the pattern for a writing set. But I'm starting to think it would work great as a print as well. What do YOU think ?

Monday Moodboard - a little bit of sunshine

It's grey out there, but here you have a splash of color ! By JKphotography, ZsBcreation, JuliaFelt and Binkaminka !
More moodboards ? Go check Fleur Fatale's blog !

Just a quick note...

Monday evening has been a little chaotic, so I com-ple-te-ly forgot to post an official announcement here... The final winner for the "Life on Mars" challenge is LeelaBijou, and you can see the new theme with already a LOT of entries on her blog.
I'm working on my entry tonight. I'll have to tweak my original plan quite a bit, because I couldn't find one particular component at the nearest store and I don't think running around town in search of it is a good idea with the boy being due any day now*. So I'm trying to find some creative solutions and hoping I can get it done by Monday.
And I just realized now that I could use some green ribbon for my entry, but don't have any either, bummer... Though I could probably locate THAT easily.

* This ia also a kind of warning to my lovely readers, don't worry if this place goes silent for a while in the next few days ! :)

Monday Moodboard

Today it's all about Black and white !

Berniolie, palepink, Babongo and Vaisto
More moodboards ? Hop over to Fleur Fatale's blog !

My creative space...

... is a day late, I know, I know... I actually took the pictures yesterday, but after a busy afternoon I didn't feel very well in the evening, and just vegged out with my knitting and pencils (okay, so that's not technically vegging out... but still).

Two big changes ! First, the antique craddle. Isn't it pretty ? We're still waiting for the mattress, we had it custom-made and it should be here next Thursday. The craddle was in a really sorry state when we bought it, but my Dad is an awesome woodworker and redid the damaged pieces, you can't even spot them now !
Second, you might notice it's the first time I post a picture of my computer desk from that angle. The reason being I can now open the window right next to said desk and step out on the balcony ! We replaced the old window and door with two big sliding doors. now I can show you the big mess that is my work area... I just need to have all that inspiration around me, the pictures, the materials and the projects in progress. I know some artists can't work amidst chaos, but I can't create without it.
As usual, see more creative spaces (from yesterday) on Kootoyoo's blog.

Proof that it works : two new listings in the shop. The Autumn print has been waiting for me to photograph it for some time, now it is finally online. Then comes another World Wonder, the Pharos lighthouse. I really have to thank Baahar for this wonderful challenge theme, it keeps me inspired ! I'm working on a third print on that subject and it has brought me so much... I'll have to make a separate post about it.

I do have to thank all the wonderful euro and UK peeps who included us in treasuries lately. It's been amazing to meet so many adorable and wonderfully talented people through Etsy. Thank you so much !

WOOHOO !

I'm super-duper-mega happy ! I just won the European street team weekly challenge on Etsy. The theme given by Baahar was "Seven World Wonders", and the Babylon Print won. I am soooo happy ! Can you tell I'm happy ? Because I really, really am !
This means it's up to me to host this week's challenge. So the new them is...
...
*drumrolls please*
...
LIFE ON MARS !

A short reminder of the "rules" for newcomers:
The deadline is next Monday 21:00 CET. It has to be something created for the challenge or at least finished and listed in this week. It can be showed somewhere else. Please, take at least one picture from your creation, upload it somewhere on the web and send me the link as convo on etsy.

And the entries already started rolling mere minutes after I announced the new theme !

Meteorite Necklace, by LeelaBijou


Life on Mars adjustable ring in moss green enamel, by FleurFatale


Life on Mars, Leather Journal, Suede, by Kreativlink


Traces of the past necklace, by Happyment


Life on Mars Heart Padlock Chocker, by dinafragola


Evidence of life on Mars keyholder, by barbarix


Mars Craters Red Crochet Beret, by heileen


Life on Mars Neck Warmer, by kraplap


Mars Earrings, by bijouxdellostregatto


Life on Mars felted bag, by ingermaaike


Life on Mars earrings, by gr8jewellry


Life on Mars bracelet, by staroftheeast


Black-white nuno scarf, by creationsbyeve


Life on Mars dangle earrings with black wooden beads, by karuski

A girl's day on her own

So what's a girl to do when her husband has deserted her to go to a wild party in the South ? (don't worry, he'll be back tomorrow, I'm just jealous because I'm not allowed to travel that much with my bump and will as a result enjoy neither the party nor the faboo chinese food there. Jeaaaalous !!!) Let's see.
Work on some picture editing and listing new stuff in the shop.
Draw a little while the computer busy computing stuff too heavy for its little brain. (My computer is a bit slow. He understands things quickly once you've explained them at great length)
Do some more scanning and picture editing.

Think about taking care of the laundry.
Draw a little more while the computer thinks big long thoughts by himself.

Decide to have a cleaning frenzy rather than have lunch.
Have lunch eventually. After the whole downstairs area has been cleaned, that is.
Spend some time rereading a teenage favorite. Think I should work on some illustrations from that text.
Get phone calls by Mom and Stepmom. None of those are ever short. Answer copious amount of questions about the little alien inside the bump.
Realize at some point in the afternoon that project warm bath has been forgotten. Apply oneself to said project.
Hop to home decor store to pick up a new picture artefact, as shown below. Well, I couldn't decide on which one, so I got two.

Forget about the laundry. Actually I think that happened a few steps earlier.
Come back home ravenous.
Discover that the nearest pizza place is still closed. I think they are taking Ramadan month off. Wish I was a muslim for a short while and knew the dates of Ramadan this year so that I could order pizza again - I think it ends today ? Am I right ?
Settle on a big plate of pasta with tuna and parmegianno.

Eat in front of Sex and the City. A girl has to take every opportunity to make an evening truly girly when she's home alone.

So this is my entry for this week's EST challenge, "Seven world wonders". I am *dying* to be allowed to do metal engraving again but acids are just a big no-no until the baby's born. So the design of this piece is very much inspired by my Grandma's and my own style of metal engravings, only I did it in black ink and digitally added the color. I quite like the result. I felt pretty inspired by the theme, I chose the hanging gardens of Babylon because luxurious foliage and exotic birds are a theme that regularly popped up in my Grandma's work, so it almost natural to have my own take on it. But now I want to push this further, hence the other drawing, the Pharos lighthouse, where I am trying to infuse nautical and egyptian elements into this style. It's also very interesting because it makes me work on coposition in a way I'm not used to. Now I just need to find ideas for the five remaining wonders of the ancient world ! *laughs* I have a weird addiction for working in series, even though I don't always get to actually finish the series.