orange lanterns

"Orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow."
~ Wassily Kandinsky

I painted these Japanese lanterns from an ad ripped out of a magazine some time ago. I was trying to work on getting some intensity from my watercolors without letting them get thick and muddled, as is my wont. And because I just thought that they were pretty. The days are so wretchedly hot now ~ I can't bring myself to work outside, and oils are too messy for the available space indoors. So maybe underwatercolor is a good place for me to be. It sounds so cool and refreshing.

But not yet. Tomorrow I leave for Houston, where I'll be enjoying the same heat I'm sweltering in here, only Texas style, with higher hair and humidity. Which means that I'll be sweating and swearing like a cowgirl for the next ten days or so. If I survive, see you when I get back. If not, stay cool. In fact, stay cool anyway. I need to hit the gym and go pack my good jeans. Maybe I'll catch you later. Underwater...

sketchbook diaries

Playing around with my new Adobe Elements 5.0 ~ an old sketch with new text addition imposed, thanks to the Miracle that is Photoshop. Several hours and many FCC-banned words later (I swear I still do not get the whole layer issue ~ just do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it, OK? I'll let you know if I want to change my mind. When I say SAVE, you say HOW MANY? And when I say EDIT, you best let me at the whole text...) I do understand that I could actually just have written on the actual page. With an actual pen. Just as we all do, everyday. Woulda taken' one, two minutes tops. Silly girl, with your silly time-saving devices. When will you ever learn?

Still. What fun would it be if it didn't involve much saving and tossing about of psds, jpgs, bss' and gds?

None, of course. It is what it is. A pleasantly indolent way to recover from yesterday's barbecue. I love my parties.