Plaques or Signs and Such'

Decorative painting attempts...

Here I have manage to make some " Welcome "signs. I know it is still not as per what I have read in the books of what it should look like but I can see some improvements in them...i dont mind saying so..ehemm..Still..I am feeling a little sad as my book orders have lost its way...I hope that it will reach me eventually..although my heart is sinking each day it did not arrive...

Anyway...here goes... the 1st. try was the one with lots of roses top and bottom..than I read somewhere it says to do the lettering first..2nd attempt I bough a template and was quite happy the letters are straight but Hannah hates it coz'to hear it looks too straight..huh...3rd attempt I do the tracing transfer and colored the lettering in first..but it is a mess..but I was quite happy with the roses and leaves...I guss as I practise it will be better...Hannah ask...No other flowers kah Ma...? Maybe later... thought if its difficult it might give me a challenge..I guess should have followed the advise to start with a daisy first...but I was so geram...in awe..of all the beautiful paintings of Aniza,Nora that I see on the web...

Decorative Painting Projects..

More projects can be found at http://decorativecrafts.blogspot.com

Free hand drawing practising the strokes...might as well get it in frame form.. the leaves and calyxs still did not turn out well..I am using PLAID as it is quite easily available in Zamil stores and it cost about SR6 per 2 oz bottle...in Jarir I can get a 15% discount but most times required colors are not available.



























The first picture frame I painted using One Stroke style..but the design doesnt turn out well..


















Terracota Flower pot..basecoat with Licorice and using comma strokes for the flowers..



















2nd.picture frame...this time tried to be more adventurous....



















This is orinally stove burner covers bought at Jameel store...after sanding and repainting the base to different designs...it looks more promising...




















For the covers..the leaves are still my biggest problem to get the right color match...but for my own use..it seems quite nice..at least I did it myself...wish I have more time to practise. For some time now I have been under the weather...mainly coughing and block nose and sometimes feverish...I hope I will be better soon...at least for the trip to London & Paris soon...

Practise...practise...and more practise....

I am still not giving up in trying to get the strokes right...I believe I am getting better at making some parts of the roses...but still impossible at the leaves which look seemingly easy todo but try putting everything together..I make a mess out of it...but I guess it will take some time to manage to get something resembling of what I can see in Aniza & Artezan..plus many2 others. I am quite happy as I am learning on my own from books...just wait till I can get hands on teaching from the experts...July will be quite hectic...but I hope I will get the opportunity...

Decorative Painting ~ My First Project..

Finally..today I was braved enough to do the painting on an actual product. Before this I was practising on paper.. and the strokes were never good enough....I was impatient to wait until July so that I can go to one of Aniza's classes...So, as I was trying not to shake so much and let my hand tries to get the forms just right..I finally finished this file box. It's free hand drawing bcos I mess up on the pattern transfer and basecoat the surface again... The pattern is mine...the colours are muddy and maybe not the correct shade but I am still proud of what I had done..No matter that there are smudges everywhere but at least I have a completed product to look at and scrutinize it on how to improve further..I got to make more on wood surface as all the paints I have are just the acrylics for these surfaces and not the enamel type to paint on glasses or tiles...

Anyway..I learn the hard way by just following the instructions in books and looking at photos and watch a video...it can never replace a real life tutor but it's the next best thing if you can't find one near...

Well...I hope there'll be more stuffs that I can do..but I got to be patient..it's actually tiring as I have to force my hand to hold the brush a certain way and create all those strokes to make the flowers and leaves..and make a mistke in varnishing when one of the egdes started to melt..maybe I was spraying too close...but it's true..even without an artistic ability you can learn this fom of art and make something out of it....

Decorative Painting..I am trying really hard...

The first photo is from the guide book..while the other two are from my practices...Only the leaves just yet... but I am pushing on as one of the things that I want to do this year is learning how to paint.. decorative painting specifically. I am never good at art but they say decorative painting is a skill to learn rather than artistic ability...hmm..hmm..I wonder how this is so.I have serve various websites and I am amazed and awed how beautiful the paintings are...I wish if I could manage just a wee bit of it I am happy indeed. I have bought some books, plan to book a lesson with Aniza in Msia sometime this July, bought various paints and brushes...I am not too ambitious as i still have a dfficult time to hold the brush straight and get he right amount of colors on the brush. But the things that I do know by now are that..the quality of brush is important so as how you hold the brush..the movement should be fluid in moving the brush rather than forcing yourself to get the strokes just right...Anyway..I am happy to say that at least i can get the petals for the daisies right and the one stroke leaf...checking all the techniques....I am going with Donna Dewberry style first followed by Priscilla Hauser..insyaállah...the strokes for the roses has come right just yet but...it will I guess with more practise...I am targetting that by next week i should be brave enough to try and paint a design....

Today also is my "first" received duit tuition...I am trying it for Aisyah and Nadira..both kids have their strength in math already so half-way is cleared.Comparing with zayd..it is less of a hurdle with them but rather I still need to find their weakness so that I can help them in comig out of this hurdle...I need to control my tone so that I don't scare them..aisyah especially...Zayd was very sensitive whenever he couldnt figure out what a word problem wants..so I hope we can clear this hurdle again...we need to sort out the clues first and know what the problems want. but I am happy that they are good wit numbers once they know what it wants but still have to memorize formulas..If they still have me..I am sure insyaállah.. the word problems will become as simple as the number problems...in fact zayd is doing pretty well on his own now...

I need to write about Zayd's adventure in learning sometime. If he can do it..anybody can insyaállah...but then again my expectations may be different..Hannah is getting all A's although she has a tendency to slip if she is rushing her work. Zayd's result is more colorful...but the best part is that he is getting them more on his own effort nowdays..although I keep reminding him that he needs to read more in order to have better vocabulary etc..

Insyaállah..patience and doa..all will be well....