Half a Dahlia

Half a Dahlia
Pigment markers (Faber-Castell PITT artist pens)
plus watercolor
(Click image to view much larger.)

This is my last piece in Molly's Mole--half a Dahlia for Molly to finish--a collaborative piece.  I think I got carried away and did more than half, sorry Molly!

I started with pigment Markers but was distressed by the lack of subtlety and painted over it a little with watercolors.

I am leaving tomorrow after voting for a week-long trip to Upstate NY to see my grandson Frankie for his second birthday.  May be incommunicado until I return.

I may or may not attempt to finish this on the computer at some point.  The painting is in Molly's Moleskien Sketchbook and she will finish the original.  But I can always finish the scan.

Discovery at Little Hog Island, Chapter 1, part v

Glenn Angry
click image to view larger

Discovery at Little Hog Island, Chapter 1, part v

i, ii, iii, iv

-- v. Glenn

"I gotta hand it to you,” Simon said, "You're the first spy who penetrated our defenses."

"An unprecedented act of heroine-ism," Garrett added. They all laughed. Willie nodded.

"I'm not a spy. I'm a camper. I was just curious."

"More than curious," Glenn said. "Downright nosy."

"Now, Glenn," Buck said, "be polite. Dana is company."

"Unwanted company," Glenn snorted, "Unwanted and unwelcome."

Willie nodded. The others all nodded along with him. Everyone but Buck.

"Put your hands on the table, Dana, palms down," Buck said. Dana did as she was told.

She looked down at her hands. They were not typical women's hands. They were tan and scratched, covered with cuts, bruises and reddened bumps of poison ivy, some of them scratched open and weeping. Dana liked taking pictures of wildflowers and was always crawling around in the bushes. She remembered an advertisement for some dish detergent, Dove maybe, or was it Palmolive, where a mother and daughter laid their smooth, lily-white hands next to each other. Their perfect unblemished hands. Dana's hands did not pass muster.

Buck placed his hands on the table beside Dana's. Buck clearly worked with his hands. They were thick and strong, tanned, scarred, and had as many cuts as Dana's. Grime embedded the cracks in his skin. It appeared as if Buck had tried to scrub it off and mostly failed.

The other men stared. Then Willie placed his hands on the table. They looked much like Buck's. Garrett followed suit. His hands were similar, except Buck's fingers were longer. Simon laid his hands down. The hands all nearly matched. They were sturdy, battered and dirty.

Everyone turned to look at Glenn. He stared at Dana. His eyes were black, narrowed, and full of hatred.

*

i, ii, iii, iv, vi

*

Notes:
1)This is part 5 of Chapter 1 of my novel hopeful, Discovery at Little Hog Island, in Serial form.
2)The image, digitally painted by me on Artrage, was partly after a Gatherer Magic Artcard which can be viewed here

Asher as Garryd and Billy

Asher/Garryd high in a tree
watercolor
click image to view larger.

I've been traveling, went to a workshop called The Writer as Shaman, camped on the way.  Was unable to work in the mole while I was gone.  So, this is my fourth painting.  I have a half a one to do, and I'll be done.

This boy, Asher, I met on top of Bradbury mountain in Maine, while I was traveling.  I asked if I could take his picture.  He looks like Garryd, one of the characters in in my children's novel Frog Haven.  I'm going to paint some pictures from the photos to use as illos for the book.

I am also going to use this in the serial novel, Discovery at Little Hog Island.  There the boy will be Billy Owens.  That's an adult novel and the other is a kid novel so I can use the same image twice.  (I think.)

Asher, like Garryd, loves to climb trees and goes way up high!!!  You can't see here how high he is.

So, Here's a photo, and even this doesn't show how high he was:

Asher/Garryd in tree, Bradbury Mt., Maine

I am leaving Tuesday ad will be gone for another week.