Friday, November 11, 2005

Illustration Friday: STRENGTH




I have to use an existing illo because I have to work on the Houscape today. This is my painting for strength. "House of Cards" is from my 2002 HomeMade calendar. It is a symbol of the non-duality of the universe. For strength to exist the fragile must have a place.

Rat loves to play with his baby. He will bring you the baby and he wants you to try to take it away from him, then he clamps down on the baby and his jaw is real strong. He likes it when you tug and tug but he wants to win. A baby is any plush toy (he has 2 babies, 1 is a football and one is a pacifier). Rat has a lot of strength!

copyright 2001 may not be reproduced without permission

19 comments:

Unknown said...

Valerie
A house of cards when built right deffinately has strength.
Wonderful illo.

Janet said...

I like this one, too...and I really appreciate your comments on my blog! I had already discovered your site, and admired your housescapes( that must be interesting work), and house boxes, ...and now the gypsy house...who wouldn't want to live there?

Cecilia's Art said...

hi! thanks a lot for your comment, i loved it!
very nice!! i like your illustration too much!!!, what´s the technique?, besides it´s full of strengh!!, what we should have nowadays, it´s not easy to live this life.
take care and kisses!

valerie walsh said...

thanks for the tip sue, i already guessed that. I'm kinda new to all this so i'm just learning as i go.

thanks toni, janet and cecilia, I admire all of you!

Cecilia, I am just an old fashioned airbrush artist and I do tons of hand work. I only got a computer a year ago, so I don't know anything about computer graphics. All of my calendar illos are done on Canson airbrush paper Discontinued, much to my dismay) and all of my "Houscapes" I paint on gesseoed masonite. I paint with liquitex acrylics and use tiny paintbrushes and a paasche airbrush. I am resistant to change and have used and done all of this stuff the same way for over 25 years.

andrea said...

I like the yin/yang message here and the punchy illustration! Go Rat! My Zappa has what somehow became known as a "Smurfy". Currently it's a stuffed bear. He goes through about one Smurfy a year.

Janet said...

Val,I thought I was the only one who didn't know anything about computer graphics.If not for my son, who said,"mom, I've made you a blog, and YOU'RE GOING to put your drawings on it, they would have never seen the light of day.

valerie walsh said...

Janet, not only do i not know anything but one of my husbands wonderful students set this up for me and i have been working on my website for 4 years! My site name valeriegallerie.com, i have owned for 7 years without a site! That's just sad...

Caroline said...

The strength of connection and being built the right way? I love your style too. I'm glad you are finding the way to get computers to make connections to others.

Todd DeWolf said...

Wow! This is quite stunning. I love "For strength to exist the fragile must have a place"-well done. It works really well for a calender and it would look great as a poster too-postcard maybe? Cheers!

Unknown said...

Very cool artwork.

carla said...

You have such delightful illustrations here...and I really love your calendar illos. This works well for this week's topic:> And on another note...lucky you to live in such a cool place!

Catnapping said...

this would make a lovely card for many different reasons.

this is one of my favorites this week. great illustration. great entry.

Scott Henderson said...

very nice illustration, lots of nice things going on... the movement of the secondary elements at the perimeter, the limited colors, the spade-shape of the trees and of course the idea of strength... good work.

Unknown said...

This is AWESOME!! LOVE IT!! VEry imaginative! Feel like Alice in the wonderland ... love the idea a lot!! Great illo!

Cream said...

House of cards! Beautiful, Val!
It looks so fragile, just about to topple over but we know it won't.
Word Verification: Cutehw!

Wilnara said...

Val,
The illustration is absolutely beautiful. It was nice to read on your technique. Sometimes being old fashion is good enough!!! Nice work!

Jacqueline Garner 0402701450 said...

The most charming illustration I have seen this week!!! KEEP IT UP POOKIE!

陳花 said...

wow¬ nice concept! i like it :)

Kim Carney said...

Totally my FAVORITE!