Tag: fun

Throw Back Thursday Tidbit

Posted on by omordah1
Bicky-Bear

This is a color pencil portrait I did years ago of a much loved cat that we had. When we adopted him, he was about a year old. Out of all of the cats that we saw, he was the only one that wasn’t reaching toward us, or shrinking away, he was just…watching and was so cute. But also there was just something different about him. When I walked up to him he let me pet him, started to purr and rubbed against my hands. We brought him home to our other pets. He was so interested in them, and calm. Someone had named him Bic, (after the pen?), kind of silly. Being a Tuxedo cat, I get it but… We were going to change it, but eventually decided that it suited him. He was very human like, and even people who said that they didn’t like cats, loved him, and his strong personality. He was smart, and sweet, and welcomed anyone to our home, human or otherwise. Years after he passed, when people would get together, they would still talk about him, everyone loved him.

At the time that I did this portrait, I was very into using color pencil. It can be slow, and tedious, but also somehow satisfying. I used Prismacolor pencils which have a rich, creamy texture. Looking at this, it gives me the feeling that revisiting color pencil would be fun.

I hope you and yours are doing well, and as things “open up” again, remember to continue to be careful as you enjoy getting back to it.

Playing With Mixed Media

Posted on by omordah1

Abstract paintings have been something that I have enjoyed doing, especially in the last few years. I particularly enjoy figurative abstract art. It produces a type of freedom to let go, as well as results in a more exciting piece to view. Having never been one to use mixed media, I have preferred getting the look I was striving for with the paint alone. But the other day, while waiting for something, I pulled up a photo of a painting I had done, and started to play around with the photo editor on my phone. I was pleasantly surprised with the results. So I decided to share them with you here.

This first piece, so far, is my personal favorite. It also happens to be one that I did, after finally deciding that this painting was as finished and refined as it was going to get. (More on that later.)

Isaiah At The Waterfall

Although the painting itself was not as spontaneous as when I incorporate the abstract elements as I paint, I do really like the outcome. And using a computer editor, gave me the chance to add to, or completely change how I wanted it to look, which was kind of fun. Below are other versions of this painting as unfinished, and unrefined, with and without embellishments. When I do a portrait of a specific person, it will go through many changes to get to where I feel it represents the person, and I am satisfied with it, as you can see from the photos of this portrait.

The painting itself went through a lot more changes after this to get to where I was good with it.

Some of these changes may appear very subtle but they make all of the difference in capturing the spirit and personality of the subject. There were a lot more stages, but I thought I’d move on to the fun part, goofing around with my phone!

Some of the tools on the app could be taken pretty far, such as this bit, where I went overboard with pixalating it. But I thought it was kind of interesting.

I threw in just a few pixels on this one, and thought the overall effect was cool. Also this was still not a “finalized version” of the painting itself.

The next three images were manipulated on the final version. And although sometimes never completely satisfied, I have to know when to say, “done.”

I hope you are all well and safe, and join me next time! (PS I know I had mentioned that I might go over some of the tools that I use, in this post. I still hope to do that in the future.)

Today’s pOp or Public Opinion Poll

Posted on by omordah1

I say ‘Today’s pOp’ even though I’m pretty sure this won’t be a daily thing, but it sounds good, heheh. It will probably more of a weekly or by-weekly thing. OK, in my quest to figure out where my art, and therefore this blog is heading, I have decided that one thing I’d like to do is to expand this blog into making it interactive. So I give you the “pOp”.

Ready here we go: In your opinion, which of my blog posts here on oMordah, the Art of Susan M.L.Moore, have you found to be the most enjoyable, interesting, or meaningful?

This is an informal poll but in the future, for each pOp, I will send a small piece of my artwork to a random person for providing an email and participating in the pOp. (I have to figure out the logistics on this.) But I think it will be a way to better get to know each other and have some fun.

“Table Rocks Brilliance”
I did a quick pOp on a name for the above abstract painting, I combined two to the choices I received; “Table Rocks Meditation” from Michael D, and “Brilliance” from Mary Ellen S-D. Thanks guys!

I also hope to begin working on some short tutorials in regards to different art styles and an art challenge.

OK, Go!

It’s “Inktober”, Ya’all !

Posted on by omordah1

Today marks the first day of “Inktober 2019” . For those of you who don’t know, it’s a drawing challenge started by a man named Jake Parker. Basically during the month of October, anyone who wants to join in the fun can! Everyday there is a new “prompt”. You just draw a picture of whatever comes to mind, and ink it, (but I guess it’s not imperative that you ink your drawing.) I like to, as it brings me back to my earlier roots, when I did a lot of ink work. I also like the look. Then go to Twitter, hash tag it like this; #Inktober and #Inktober2019. Let me know if you do, I’d love to see your work!

I’m starting out with a simple one, no pressure. Today’s prompt is “ring”, so I’ve done a ring of ellies! I’m not always able to do one everyday, though I do try. It’s good practice as well as fun. I don’t look at other’s work, until after I’ve done my version of the prompt. I feel this makes it less likely that I would be influenced by anyone else’s work. It is fun to see what other people come up with afterward though!

I’ve already had a stumbling block of sorts. In order to get some momentum, I did a few pictures ahead. For day two, the prompt is “mindless”. Rather than do something expected, (as it is Halloween season) and do say, a zombie, I decided to do something a little different. I had also decided that I would somehow incorporate elephants into each picture, sort of a running theme. So I drew a person mindlessly killing a beautiful animal. (I can’t even write it, uugghh). Technically, it came out pretty well. I wrote on the pant leg of the person, evil, and death, and on the poor animal, good and life. However. after looking at it, I realized, no matter how strongly I feel about this subject, (and I do), I couldn’t bring myself to post this. It is more my style to draw the beauty of what we can, and are losing, rather than go for the shock value. So I shredded it. I instantly felt better. I’m sure some would say that I should have posted it, but again, not me. I’ll leave that to others, and fight my battle, my way.

Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter; “Sweeney Todd”

I have posted a lot of my past ink sketches before, so if you’ve seen them, here are some of them for you to enjoy again! heheh. And if you haven’t… enjoy!

“Mindlessly Waiting”

I’ve decided to use the drawing of me waiting for a movie to start as my 2nd day Inktober post; “Mindless” . #Inktober #Inktober2019 (Although it was also pretty mindless, in this case it was pleasant to sit and chat while we waited.)

Happy Inktober everyone! See you next time!

Autumn In O Town And There Abouts

Posted on by omordah1

As I reluctantly say goodbye to summer, I do enjoy welcoming Autumn and all the colors that come along with it. We start preparing for Fall with red and yellow mums, bunches of golden tipped wheat, and a few last fun things before the cold sweeps down from the north. Recently, we did something I’d wanted to do for some time, go on an interactive Train Robbery! Just like in the old West, Yay!

Despite the fact that I happen to live in an area that is either cold, wet, windy, snowing, or blisteringly hot, we do have some interesting things to do nearby. Heading north of us, in the little town of Milford, is a treasure called the Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Railroad. This little gem offers rides including the Train Robbery, and Blues Express, which serves up drinks and food while you listen to some of the best Blues players around. Or so I’ve heard, I’ve yet to take this one.

What, you might ask, has this got to do with art? Well I’ll tell ‘ya ‘all. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, doing something different gets the wheels turning. And throwing in some really cool bad guys, doesn’t hurt, heheh. Also, it’s just fun. And fun should be a part of creating, in my humble opinion, at least some of the time.

Autumn bursts with bright colors, almost like nature is giving us something to burn into our retinas and store away for the graying of winter.

I’ll be heading out to ‘store some more colors’ today. I hope you get a chance to do the same. Thanks for reading my blog, see you next time!

Just a little note, I have no connection to the CCVR, or any other places I might mention on my blog, just sharing the fun. Bye-ee