T Stands For Baby G

Baby G's due date was 4. April, but a due date is a best guesstimate. First babies are usually "late" though babies arrive on their own schedule. Baby G was no exception. She arrived on Thursday, 12. April at 3:18 PM. tipping the scales at 7 pounds 1 ounce and 20.5 inches in length.

While the rest of the family were no doubt pestering inquiring of the mom-to-be when the baby was arriving, I was working on this piece for Baby G's room. Rather like Baby G, it occurred to me too late to take process photos. This is at the very end.

Baby G's room has a nautical theme with whales. The room is painted a pinky purple or a purpley pink. I thought a mermaid in a Chibi anime-style would be cute. So at this point, the drawing, lettering, gilded boxed initial in 23K gold, starfish in her hair painted with shell gold is done.

I used a purpley pink color in gouache for the background of the boxed initial. Gouache is an opaque watercolor and stands out nicely against the gold gilding.

I wanted a softer aspect to the mermaid so used watercolor pencils. Her fins have been washed with Schminke silver watercolor because a girl can't have too much bling.

You won't see a beverage as I've been known to dip my brush in tea or spill it all over the desk. There's a reason Ma didn't name me Grace. On my desk you can see two, small, plastic cups. One with dirty paint water and one with clean, distilled water along with distilled water in a dropper bottle.

Since the background of the boxed initial is colored, it needs something so it doesn't appear so flat, Traditionally, white work, (doodles painted with white) would be done. And I did, but the traditional designs looked wrong for such a whimsical picture. I painted over and decided to add simple, white dots.

My brush work for such fine work isn't that great. My brush dots tend to look more like commas so I use the end of a small, ball embosser. That's the white tool resting on the brush rest next to my brush.

For the white, I use Chinese white, a very opaque white, recommended by Valerie Weilmuesnter when I took her Illumination class 3 years ago at the Sacred Art Institute on Enders Island in Mystic, Connecticut.

The final embellishment to the piece is a small, (costume) diamond (April birth stone) earring. I broke the back off and sanded off the nub so the fitting will stand flat. I wondered what glue to use and asked the question on Facebook. Jacqueline Sullivan, a calligrapher who does a lot of work with metals, advised using Crafter's Pick Ultimate Glue. I had the pleasure of taking a workshop from Jacqueline many years ago. I ordered the glue and am waiting for its arrival.

After the gluing all that's left is to mat and frame.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.