I hate to waste paint so, if I find I have some paint left over from a project, I smear it into a page in my art journal where it stays as a potential first layer for some future creating. One such page of leftovers was the basis for this week’s art journal page. It was created in response to the Art Journal Adventure prompt for this week: the letter O. I like vague prompts because they give me the nudge to create while giving me the scope to really do whatever I want. You may have noticed that I like to illustrate skeletons. They are never anatomically correct and I cannot really put my finger on why I am so drawn to them as a subject but I just go with it. Do what you enjoy, right? I, therefore, ended up illustrating the skeleton of an ouroboros. The O had made me think of circles and hoops and infinity and that made me think of ouroboros, which handily begins with the letter O, and it instantly became a skeleton in my mind’s eye. An ouroboros – just in case you didn’t know – is a serpent consuming its own tale, an image found in many mythologies, symbolising eternity through the endless cycle of life and death.
I hate snakes above all else. I hope they all eat their tails until they disappear into the fresh grassy lawn that you painted.
Ha ha! I’m actually very fond of snakes but I think I’m in the minority.
They want to kill you, Laura. They are evil.
Well in Britain I was spoiled because we only have two species of snake and only one of those is venomous. I, therefore, was very comfortable being close to snakes and handling them – such as to rescue them. Then I emigrated to Pennsylvania and had to learn to resist the urge to get up close to snakes. I have picked up a couple here in order to rescue them but I was fairly confident they were not venomous. Only fairly confident though.
I see. That makes a world of difference! I’m in Texas where rattlesnakes and coral snakes abound, and a rattlesnake bite can kill a person in hours, and those who live can watch the skin on their bodies basically die and melt away. It’s terrifying.
Yeah, if I had grown up around venomous snakes, deadly ones at that, then I would probably have a different relationship with snakes.
Cool art making Laura…and thanks for the definition of Ouroboros.
Thanks, Sharon. I didn’t know how familiar people would be with it so threw the definition in there to save folks a google.
A lovely result Laura – I’m the same, I hate to waste any paint and use my leftovers to create small watercolours….
Thanks, Evelyn. Art materials are so expensive. It makes sense to try and use up any excess. I cannot remember what it was I was working on but I ended up with an awful lot of various mid-green shades so there is actually another page in a journal that is green and waiting for a purpose.
Nice! Interesting conversation about our reactions to snakes. I live in Eastern Canada and our snakes are harmless, so I love them. I always get a thrill of excitement when I see them. However, I can definitely see that if the sight of them meant potential death or melting away of skin, I would see them very definitely. Same with spiders. I like them. In fact, I am continually rescuing spiders from terrified family members 🙂 Again though, they are completely harmless. Our environment definitely influences our emotional responses.
Thank you for visiting and commenting, Eliza. Yes, I am the same way with spiders. At work, everyone gets me to capture the creepy crawlies which I then release into the great outdoors again. No troublesome spiders in the UK so I don’t have that same reaction of anxiety when I encounter them. That said, since moving to the US, I have encountered three Black Widows and, since they were on my property, I did dispatch those rather than relocate them.
I didn’t know that was called an ouroboros – live and learn! Great picture.
Thanks, Anabel!
Oh very good design – I love the positive/negative space of it. I like the way you used a “pattern” background. Fun! I hear you – I don’t like to waste paint either – and often use leftover paint in my sketchbooks too. Recently I’ve discovered the “masterson sta-wet palette” – it helps acrylic, gouache etc. water based paints stay wet far longer (and thus not get wasted). So far I’m delighted with the “less waste” but I’m almost missing the times I’d smear leftover paint on a page…. sigh. 🙂
I made a version of a wet palette once and it worked pretty well across the course of a day. Often I have gaps of a few days between art time, however, so I don’t think it would work for that length of time. Maybe a proper one would. Thank you for the kind words about the art.
My new stay-wet palette has held the same paint ‘fresh’ for over a week now. I’m pushing the limits of it to see how long my paints will “stay wet”. It has now been 8 days and counting… I’ve just posted a photo of it on my blog for you. 😉
I saw your blog post. For some reason, I didn’t have the option to comment, just like. That’s cool that the paint can last at least a week. I may have to add a wet palette to my wish list.
Lol! So far I’m loving mine! Seems to help the “short bursts” of working go more smoothly. 😉
By the way, I’m still not getting the option to comment on your posts. I’ll try to figure it out when I’m on a computer rather than my tiny phone screen. Just wanted you to know I’m still reading. 😀
I can’t figure out why you can’t comment either. I’ll keep investigating. I appreciate all of your comments and look forward to seeing them! One way or another we’ll get this fixed!! Thanks again for reading – and for letting me know that you are!
I thought I might be able to make it work on a computer but had the same issue. It says I have to log in in order to comment but that I can only log in if I’m connected to your site – I assume meaning that I have admin/editorial authority. It’s weird. The glitch may be at my end if your other readers aren’t experiencing the same issue.
Oh dear. Have you tried it again within the last hour? I just had my wife comment on “time to gouache” and she was able to do so…. Please try again. I think I’ve possibly changed some things since you last tried. Please let me know. If you still can’t comment I’ll start chatting with the WordPress Help folks. Thanks for your patience.
I just left a comment. I had to fill out a little form in order to do so but I’m hoping it submitted OK.
That’s odd. What kind of form did you have to fill out?
Name, email address, and website – the latter optional.
Weird. I wonder if that’s something to do with my recent business upgrade? As far as I can tell from my Admin settings I don’t have it set up to ask anyone any questions. Weird. Just plain odd.
Laura – I’ve talked with the WordPress Help people and they looked at my site and things seem fine for commenting (I’d changed some settings after you told me of the issue). They suggested that you might just try commenting again and that if you are still having problems that you might try clearing your browsers cache https://en.support.wordpress.com/browser-issues/#clearing-your-browser-cache
Hope this helps…. please let me know… thanks again for your patience!
Did my comment appear?
It seems we’re back to regular commenting abilities from my end. How is it on yours? Thanks again for your patience…
I’ll have to see how it goes with your next post but I’m glad the last comment made its way through the ether.
Yes, we’ll see how it goes. Hopefully it will just let you comment normally without any questions asked first. I’ll be making another post soon… probably tomorrow. It’s 6:30 here and time for dinner. 😉 Hope you have a good glass of wine in your near future!
Laura, I’ve done a few settings changes on my end. I’m not sure if I’ve enabled you to comment now or not. I hope so. Recently I upgraded to the “business plan” and that changed some things. Will you please let me know if you can comment now? Thanks!
I’m hoping a comment I just left worked.
It did!!! Yippeeee!!!!!!
Woohoo!