all my troubles seemed so far away ….

I visited my aunt & uncle yesterday. They live in the prettiest house in the country, with stables and a beautiful garden.
The atmosphere is really magical and I got to ride one of the horses for a bit which was a-ma-zing !

life is good. <3

today was gorgeous. probably the last sunny day of this year, so we decided to go out for a stroll.

hope everyone had a great weekend !

also, a big welcome to all the new followers! its lovely to meet you ^^

{ love }

Only one day until the weekend !

{ me hard at work checking my tumblr }

I just finished my gynaecology internship last week … I had loads of fun (lots of babies <3), but I also worked my ass off hehe

Lucky for me, I have two weeks off before my next internships (at a general practise) starts !! So, time to do some art, catch up on my reading … and relaaaaaaaax ….

Hope you all have a lovely week !

XX Chantal.

As promised … some of the pics of the shoot I did with Sue while I was over at her place in Norway ….

I really like these !

Photographer: Suzanne van Pelt (anathematixs.deviantart.com)
MUA: Suzanne van Pelt (anathematixs.deviantart.com)

Hi there ! Just a quick little update to let you know I am still alive ^^

We returned from Norway a week ago … had a blast, although the weather was a bit harsh on us ! We made a trip to Bergen by car. We drove through and over the mountains with some amazing views ! Norway was as beautiful as ever <3

I also did some photoshooting with Sue … we did some natural shots and some crazy make up :) I will post some of the pics later on.

I didn’t get any art done the past few weeks, just some loose sketching that is not even worth putting up here. I did catch up on my reading though ! I picked up ‘Dragon Keeper’ by Robin Hobb in Bergen and I have already finished it (amazing read, as expected !!). I really didn’t know she had started on another series .. and it takes place in the same world as the other 3 trilogies that I LOVED ! So I had to buy it immediately hehe. I am reading the second book of the series by now .. and I really really love it.

Right now I am trying to get some rest before internships start again next week … it’s gyno time !

Until I have some real art to show you guys … enjoy some Norway :)

With my painting so rapidly progressing it’s already time for another update!

Ok, let me break this one down for you. Once I had blocked out all the basic shapes (the hair, the skin, the leafs) I started working on the face. I always try to start on the face as late as possible .. because I tend to loose interest in a piece once the most difficult part is done (which is most often the face since it has the most detail).

As you can see in the picture below I did the eyes first .. then worked on the skin tones a lot ! They were to ‘flat’ at first .. but I started to add little touches of blue and red in the shading .. which made the color more interesting. I also added some small details with colored pencils! Because the canvas is very rough it’s hard to get the small details in with paint .. so I used my Caran d’Ache watercolor pencils :)

{several stages of the painting}

I was not very happy with the composition and felt like the painting lacked a little depth. I did not want to do the cliche antlers here (I draw those all the time!) .. so I settled for a goddess-like halo that loosely resembles horns or antlers. It’s there, but it does not take the attention away from the face .. perfect!

{“she has a halo …. I really adore her”}

Right now it looks like this. The shading doesn’t really come out right because of the light coming from the window (on the left) .. but you get the basic idea! I am very satisfied with the composition and I love how she really seems to be gleaming out of the painting :)

{painting so far … and my messy work station}

Ill be working on this one a lot the coming weekend .. so expect some more updates!

XX
Chantal