Maud and the Fawn

I decided to join the Monthly Challenge over at Willowing. I have always love deer and developed a special affinity with does after becoming a mother. I think of them as protectors;  nurturing the soul in times of mayhem. Step into the cool glade with a doe, look into her eyes and everything seems alright.

I think that it can be fun to share to creative process, so here is how this assemblage came into being. Maud has become my favourite girl to draw at the moment, so I knew she had to be in my picture. The tree is inspired by a Ficus macrophylla or the Moreton Bay Fig. At the beginning I wanted to draw a doe, and so I decided to browse some images online to get a reference for the animal. I wanted it to be semi-realistic rather than cartoonish. Given the scale of Maud, I quickly decided that perhaps a fawn, laying next to her would fit into the overall picture better. And then I found the perfect fawn picture. It was so adorable that I had to draw her.

I started by sketching out the images in my Mole, and adding shading to the fawn and tree (HB pencil)

The next stage was probablly the most scarey - and seems to be shared among many of my art friends ADDING COLOUR. The fawn, tree and border were coloured using artists Colour Pencils. I love the way that they do not completely cover the paper and that some "light" shines through. To me it adds a textural quality.

After working on the fawn and the tree, my next task was to colour in Maud. In this case, because she has such a large area to cover, (and because I wanted to experiment) I decided to do an underwash of watercolour. I used my Watersoluble Crayons. I also use Colour Pencil to colour the ferns, and added random flowers and leaves around the twisted vine border.

Once the underwash was dry, I then added the details with Colour Pencil.

At this point there was some dilemma; real forests are super dark and gloomy. But given that Maud's hair is black, I decided to start with a light wash and see how I went. I used the Watercolour Crayons to create the wash.

After consultation with a fellow artist (Kelly from Yesturday)  I decided not to go any darker. A skill for another day. Finally I added Maud's signature socks.

Maud and the Faun

.

Maud the Mermaid

Or The Impact TV can have on Young Minds

About 5 months ago the family was watching the Disney move Splash. It had been ages since I had seen it, but figured it was one of those harmless films that would be ok for Miss 5 and Master 3 to sit through. All was well until the end of the film, where the ??secret service?? government agent type people (ok I wasn't really paying that much attention) are chasing Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah (aka Allen Bauer and Madison). The kids started to get a little scared. We comforted them by saying "Its all going to be okay" and other such platitudes. Almost at the end, Tom and Daryl leap into the water, and the "bad guys" fire shots into the water. Again we made soothing noises, and indeed the film ended well. The kids were happy and we thought no more about it.

Until a week ago.

I was collecting Miss 5 from after school care. As we were leaving, another mum arrived, still dressed in her army fatigues. After Miss 5 politely established that  yes she was a soldier, Master 3 boldly walked up to her. Smiling he asked:
"Are you a soldier?"
"yes I am" she replied, bending over to his level, and returning his smile.
"Have you killed any mermaids?" he asked very seriously.
"No I havent killed any mermaids, or anyone for that matter" she kindly explains to him.

Satisfied he starts to walk away. In the meantime I AM MORTIFIED and hurridly try to explain that this comes from watching the movie Splash. She reassures me that it's ok, and that children get all sorts of funny ideas about soldiers from the tv (and I am left wondering what other strange questions she has been asked).

You just don't know what things are going to stay with your children.

Maud Lin Mermaid

Love is Patient

I love my kids dearly, but some days it seems like they never stop talking :)

Maud Lin Mum