A little bull dog sketch I made last week. He is so sweet!
Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell
Author Archives: janellmithani
Aqua, A Mermaid Painting
Aqua, a sweet little mermaid slumbering in the waves. I love the colors of this painting.
I did some traveling in September, visiting family in Oregon. I had a wonderful trip, and it took me a week or so to wind down and get back to work in the studio. This week, I got back to my paintings and this painting was still sitting on my easel, almost finished. She seemed to be calling to me… 🙂 Finish me, please!
Here are a few pictures of my creative process.
My original sketch 
The background is painted and then I sketched in the mermaid with charcoal.
Finished painting with a bit of tulle that I had in the studio.
Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell
A Blue and Yellow Watercolor Flower Painting
A lovely little daisy just called to me and said…Paint me! 🙂
Actually, I’ve been creating a few dramatic watercolor flowers for my upcoming “Expressive Flower Painting in Watercolor” workshop. A fun introductory workshop to free style watercolor painting that I am teaching at the end of the month.
This summer was pretty wild, I taught quite a variety of workshops to people of just about every age!
I had a lot of fun, but I am looking forward to getting back to my Fall schedule of painting workshops, private art lessons and spending more time creating art in my studio. I sat down and made a “To Paint” list the other day… from flipping through my sketchbook, it seems I have quite a few sketches that are ready for painting. 🙂
So I am off to paint!
Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell
Violet and Grey, A New Painting
I finished another painting in my ‘Wildish Spirit’ series. This painting is in honor of my daughter and her love of horses and I titled it “Violet and Grey.” She took a lot of horseback riding lessons when she was young, so when I decided to paint one of my FAE characters based on her, I felt a wild horse needed to be part of the painting.
She left a couple of weeks ago, returning to college. I miss her SO MUCH! I used her favorite color palette — purple, grey and black. It is a very cool toned palette and very different from my usual warm tones. I did give her bangs and a bit of a wild hair-do to go with the horse’s wild mane. I plan to hang the painting in her room, so when I walk by and glance in, I will see her in the painting, instead of her empty bedroom.
Of course, I am counting the days until Christmas break and I get to hug her again! 🙂
This is a close up picture to show the details of their faces.
I didn’t do a sketch this time, I just worked from photographs I took of her in the garden last December. And the horse is a merging of about 4 different horses I looked at as reference, definitely a fantasy breed… with my usual big eyes. 🙂
Here are a few pictures of my process…
I painted the background in and then did a charcoal sketch on top of it.
Here is a picture from the side of the gallery wrapped canvas. I don’t think I have shared the sides of my paintings before on my blog. It’s a little hard to see in the picture below, but I painted the name of the painting along the thick edge of the wrapped canvas.
I hope you have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell
A Miniature Fairy Dress
One of the fairies who frequents my garden studio asked me to make her a pretty party dress.
I think both of our inner girlie-ness is what attracted her to my studio, in the first place.
Since she has admired the painting I created that hangs over the window, I decided to make the bodice with paper made from prints of the painting.
Here is a picture of the painting.
Forever Love, Acrylic on canvas, 20″ x 24″
To make the bodice, I shrunk a print of the painting in Photoshop to a couple of different sizes (2 to 5 inches in length) and printed out a sheet of them. Then I tore the pictures into a bunch of tiny pieces of paper that I modge-podged together to form the bodice. (I used a $1 store doll covered in plastic wrap as a “pattern.”) I glued about 3-4 layers, letting then dry completely in between and then added glitter to the last layer before it dried.
To get my bodice off the doll, I simply cut it in half up the back. Then I did some trimming until I had the shape I wanted for the bodice. I used one of my beading tools with a sharp point to punch holes along each side of the back opening so I could lace it up like a typical corset. I then sewed all of the trim to the bodice with embroidery thread.
For the skirt, I dug around my fabric stash and found some sage green tulle and sewed it to the bodice as well. Then I painted the tulle with some green and pink acrylics that I watered down a bit. On the last layer of paint, I added in some glitter and some of the printed flowers from the painting.
To display the mini dress, I created a little stand by drilling a hole in a block of wood and gluing a small round wooden dowel into the hole. I used wood glue to adhere the dowel to the block since it was wood to wood, but I used my trusty E6000 glue to adhere the top of the dowel to the inside of the dress.
For a finishing touch, I glued the block of wood to an inverted votive candle holder. Then I glued some gold rhinestone strips as well as three of the flowers from my prints to the candle holder so it matched the dress.
I believe my little fairy friend is happy with the results…
Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell
This Week’s Wildish Spirit Sketch
This is the sketch I created this week. She is another in my ‘Wildish Spirit’ Series.
I am still thinking of what animal or flowers I will add when I get to the painting. I’d love to hear your thoughts, too.
Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell
Another Sketch…A Sweet Face
We took a few trips to downtown Los Angeles and out to the San Fernando Valley while our daughter was visiting this last month, so I had some time in the car to do a few sketches. This sweet little face is a bit younger than most of my wildish spirits, but she just emerged with a very innocent expression.
I usually start my sketches with the eyes, nose and mouth and then get the shape of the chin and face; then I add the hair and fae shaped ears. This drawing came together that way. I sketched a few extra things around her as I was thinking about different ideas for the background and foreground when I get to the painting stage.
I am thinking of Aster(after the genus name Asteraceae from the aster daisy) for her name as I am sure some type of daisy will be in the painting. Aster also means star and refers to the fallen tears of the Goddess Astraea, known as Virgo and September’s constellation. I have a feeling her painting will be my September project. I am also considering changing the pack of firewood she is carrying over her shoulder to a big bouquet of daisies when I create the painting.
Hmmm… seems like I have a bit to think about. I would love to hear your thoughts. 🙂
Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell
Swan Sketch
I have been enjoying sketching the serene beauty of swans lately. I really love how elegant their long necks are and how beautifully they float on the water.
I think they influence and inspire my fae spirits long necks, too. I have consciously tried to draw them shorter, but my pencil doesn’t seem to listen. 🙂
One of my most favorite childhood memories was feeding the swans at Lithia Park in Ashland, Oregon… and wading in the creek during the hot summer months. I’d sure like to dip my toes in that cool water right now.
Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell
Finished Painting, “DANCING” and My Painting Process
This week I finished the dancing Fae painting that I have been working on for a few months. She is dancing among the mushrooms. Being a big fan of one word titles, I named this painting, “Dancing.”
DANCING, 30″ x 20″, Acrylic on canvas.
I had a lot of fun painting a curvy redhead. I wasn’t sure what color her hair was going to be when I began the painting, but as I painted, her hair just got redder and redder. Hmm… wonder if I was looking in the mirror. 🙂
This is the original drawing from my sketchbook.
Here are a few pictures of the progress of the painting.
And this is about 3/4 of the way finished, on my easel during the Open Studios Tour, June 3rd-4th.
Oh! And I have my comments turned back on. Thank you fellow blogger Susan for sending me an email to remind me! If you don’t already follow her, You can check out her blog about her special Narnia room for her grandkids at https://mimiswardrobe.wordpress.com/ and her adventures at Zephyr Hill Farms at https://zephyrhillfarm.blogspot.com/.
Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell
A Visit with our “Grand-Cat”
Wish I could say that I have been super busy doing all kinds of things this month and that is why I haven’t posted to my blog. But, I have mostly been doing…nothing. I suppose I just needed a mental, physical and creative break….All at once! 🙂
I have been visiting with my daughter and her beautiful cat who came to visit for a few weeks. He is certainly a charmer! And he has stolen our hearts for sure. 🙂
I am teaching an art workshop today and then I am headed into the studio to work on finishing a few paintings. So I will have a few things to share next month.
Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend! I am looking forward to seeing the fireworks display.
Have a wonderful, creative, day, Janell
janellmithani.com 
You must be logged in to post a comment.