"Darla, it's ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! I can't help but stare at the pic of my mom you did! Thank you Thank You Thank You. I received the original pic today too.

You can't imagine how happy I am! Thank you!!!!!"


---
Oh yeah...I love my "job!"

I'm up before dawn - again, because DD1 begged "Wake me up earrrrllllly!" So as usual, I try to wake her up but she is determined to keep sleeping.

Last night I was going to start on BH's portrait of her son, but after wrangling 14 month old DS "Taz-boy" I was exhausted.

But RP's portrait is done and he'll get it Saturday. SW's portrait is done and she'll get it sometime soon. Still working on the bull portrait, I received an answer about how to draw the ears. It's a big art piece, in color, it'll be 18x24 so it has a lot of area to cover.

I have had a lot of interested clients lately. I think it'll be one of the busiest Christmas seasons ever! I have thought ahead and already have some Christmas gifts for the kids bought and even wrapped! So I must be learning. I have been pretty sick for two holiday seasons in a row, and this year I am trying not to repeat that performance. I am taking my vitamins every day and will try to keep working on getting enough rest, which brings me back to paragraph one...the kid who wants me to get up early and then won't get up early herself! haha! I mean, really...if an old broad like me can get up, then she sure can. She must be getting ready to be a teenager.

Don't forget to enter for a chance to win some original art from me,
if you haven't already done so!

To enter, just go to my site and click on the link on
the left that says Fun Stuff! You only need to enter once.

If you'd like to enter for a chance to win some more original art
(well well well aren't you the greedy one?!?) :)
I was just kidding you...but why not try Fred's Halloween chance to
steal his art! You can never have enough paintings of robots I always
say.

It's different from mine, but take a look at the contest. You can also
read some funny Halloween safety tips
I won a piece of Fred's art a few years ago.

This portrait , drawn from a very old and partly damaged photograph is a good example of how custom portraiture can be used as a form of restoration. My artwork isn't intended to be just a copy of a picture. The intense shadows and darks of the reference photograph were toned down, the client has a larger image of her loved one and has also gained an investment in original art that will be appreciated by her family for years to come.


Posted by Hello

Last night I stayed up until 2 am on LA's portrait of her mother.
I didn't intend to stay up that late. I just intended to get a light sketch done.
But once I got going, I was really in the 'zone' and I had to continue.
It took me about 2 hours to complete. I sent the scan to LA today and she is thrilled. Man I love my job! It doesn't feel like a 'job.'

Continuing work on the RP portrait. My also artistically inclined sister is of the opinion that I SHOULD incorporate a background. I have given it more thought and I think I will do the background, but keep it light.

I took DS to the pediatrician yesterday. He had 4 shots, including the flu shot.
He did really great. He liked the Taz bandaids LOL Two shots on each thigh! Poor baby!

My sister and her husband were visiting from TX. My sister went with us to the pediatrician. Unfortunately the visit took 1-1/2 hours, and I'm sure she got really bored! Maybe I should have rescheduled the appointment, but I try to keep them...and at least now it's over with. DS is almost 26 lbs. He lost almost a pound when he had the virus last week. The pediatrician was not concerned. DS is in the 87th percentile for weight and the 99th percentile for height. He really liked the doctor he saw (she is a pretty lady!) but when she brought out her doctor's kit and the otoscope etc, he was NOT happy! He remembered it all from last time and he was not pleased with the idea at all. Some screaming ensued, but it just made it easier for her to check his throat.

I'm glad it's over anyway and I'm sure he is too!

Here is the portrait of BW's little boy. When someone has light hair, I find it looks better and has more contrast if I give it a darker colored background. This one has an image area of 8x10 and was drawn on 11x14 paper in graphite pencil.
Posted by Hello

Here is the baby portrait I completed for my client SP. The artwork is 11"x14" but my scanner only scans an 8"x10" area. So there is more 'balance' to the final piece, and it includes more of the father's arm. Lots of arm hair and tiny baby hairs that I drew. Had lots of fun drawing it, down to the baby's tiny eyelashes.
Want to read what my customer had to say? :)

"Thanks Darla,
it looks wonderful!!!! you are just awesome at what you do!
thanks for emailing it to me
Can't wait to see it in person!

and Yes you can use the artwork on your site~ you can use Brianna or Brianna Sue on the name of the photo :)

I would love to be able to show it off there too :) I have other family members I could maybe direct to see it there and hopefully help you advertise your awesome work!
Take care and thanks so much!!! "

New baby portrait

Posted by Hello

I did finish the portrait of SP's baby tonight. Awww it is an adorable picture, can't wait until I can share it.
It's one of those portraits that's just so precious that I would like to keep it myself, even though it's not my baby! Now that is a sign that I have it just right!

Met with new client, RP tonight. I will complete the bull portrait for JC as soon as possible and then get right onto RP's portrait. Trying to figure out what is a reasonable deadline for guaranteed Christmas portrait order/commissions. I usually go with November 15th or so...

I am very tired tonight, it's turned cold here - the pilot light is not lit in the furnace (11+ yr old furnace, who knows when it's going to meet its maker) Lighting the pilot light is a job I depend on DH to do. I'm not really much of a match-lighter, so Atlanta doesn't have to worry about me being the serial arsonist. I'm not even a serial votive candle lighter.

Hurrah! The Drawing for a Drawing is on!

To enter, just go to http://darladixon.com/ and click on the link on the left that says Fun Stuff!
You only need to enter once.
Thanks so much and please tell your friends about it-my business depends a lot on referrals.

I also launched http://perfectpetportrait.com today. It links into the pet portrait pages of www.darladixon.com so I can market my pet portraits to pet owners, breeders, etc.

Getting the carpet cleaned today, living room, hallway, kids' rooms. The challenge is getting all that stuff up off the floor. The clutter is especially bad in DD1 and DD2's room, if the Police came here, they'd swear that our house had been ransacked. I'd have to sheepishly say, 'um...officer, no, it's actually always like that.'
Honestly, we hauled a huge box full of junk/toys and at least 2 laundry baskets full of junk/toys out to the garage. There is still more junk in that room. Grandparents, if you're reading this, please no toys for Christmas for those girls! I'm not trying to be mean, but really they don't need it. It's an embarrassment of riches that here are my kids having more toys and junk than they can actually ever play with (or know that they have) and there are some kids who are so poor they won't get much of anything this Christmas.
We aren't rich, just average. I blame it on the low cost of plastic. If I had a nickel for every Happy Meal toy I found in that room, I would be rich.

We do have a very materialistic culture - I've finally realized that I must not show the girls the American Girl or the F.A.O. Schwartz catalogs that seem to matrialize in our mailbox this time of year. The American Girl features dolls that start at $98. The FAO catalog includes toys in the $2,000 bracket. When my kids, but DD1 in particular - see those items, they start to salivate. They feel hurt and jealous of the kids who can have those things. She starts to feel like every other kid in the USA gets those things, but she can't. It sets up a very negative train of thought. Instead of being thankful for what she has, she starts feeling slighted that she doesn't have those fancy things. I do also wish I could afford to get my kids things like those, but you know when it comes down to it, I don't think I would buy those things, even if I could. Just because we can have something doesn't mean we necessarily should. I would love to let my kids look at those catalogs just for fun (because window shopping is fun) but for my kids, especially DD1, it's a bad idea. If they ever figure out how to make their catalogues hit my mailbox on a Saturday, I'm doomed.

The AADD (Atlanta Alliance on Developmental Disabilities) will be picking up some castoff stuff from my house today. I am so tempted to just throw in the boxes of toys. But I won't. Not yet...if they are still there in 3-6 months, not being really valued, then they're out of here. One thing that's going that I'm glad of is a hefty computer monitor. Still works, I hope they can use it. Tired of tripping over it! Hurrah!!!

Then around 6 I'm meeting with an art client. Can I possibly cram more stuff into a single day?

I continue to create - I have been doing some florals in colored pencil almost each night.
On a good night, I actually completed two, some impatiens and some lavender lilies. Just some florals that I don't have to think too much...the TV can be on and I can work with my pencils.

Last night I was able to get started on SP's baby's portrait. She is gorgeous and at first I was intimidated by my negative thinking about my skills, but as it went on I could really see the baby's personality coming out in the portrait, and I am well pleased with the initial results. The baby blanket and the baby's hair and her daddy's hand and hair on his forearm (he's cradling her) is going to take some time, but will be well worth it.

I can just see it on the late night shows now, comics making fun of Georgia because a restaurant in Georgia served up some veggies with rat parts in it. Y'all Yankees can be so picky about yo' food, I swear! LOL

On a kindler gentler note, I am feeling better...more later!

Yesterday was sort of a wasted day. I am definitely thinking I might have asthma now. I really had a hard time yesterday. The slightest little bit of movement around the house to get anything done would leave me tired and out of breath. I even broke down and used the inhaler.

I must be the only person on the planet who has trouble using an inhaler properly. It's made so it'll fit the right way into a person's mouth, and all I need to do is inhale deeply and depress the inhaler's button at the same time. Apparently for me, this is like trying to pat the top of ones head and rub stomach at the same time. I keep shooting the inhaler on my tongue. I must've done something right because it did help.

Not being able to breathe well can really get a person down. There are people who live with this constantly, and in a more severe way than I have to...God bless 'em!!! So I'm not going to whine, but I am sorry I wasn't able to accomplish much yesterday.

My chest still feels a bit tight today, but much better than yesterday. Thinking about going to see Dr. G.
I am exhausted. DS wakes up around 3 am most days and then I have trouble going back to sleep.

Today I'll just try to get caught up on some work and spend time playing with DS.

Still dealing with laryngitis. It's probably God's way of telling me I talk too much.

Well today I woke up with laryngitis. Not total laryngitis, but very hard to talk and my throat hurts all the time. Ears stuffy and just feel generally bad.

I spent about 40 minutes typing up notes of our Women of Gwinnett meeting last night, then Yahoo glitched and I lost it all. It was good too! I am pretty frustrated right now. Sick people shouldn't try to do work. It was a waste of time. I'll nap and then try again later.

DS and I have been sick for a couple days now. I took him to the pediatrician yesterday and he was prescribed a steroid. It does seem to have helped. I'm considering dipping into his steroids, but no, that would be wrong.
I tried to joke with the pharmacy technician, asking him if the steroid would cause the baby to whinney and count by stomping? WHOOSH! - right over his head. I decided NOT to try the one about my baby is a little horse/hoarse. Heheh, well I can handle the scratchy throat and stuffy ears. I have some Benadryl and lots of Tylenol. So far, I've only taken the Tylenol, and that was when my fever got to 101 degrees. The fever might explain my sense of humor, I don't know. DS is sleeping now, and I really should be too.

Going to a meeting of the gals from Women of Gwinnett tonight. It'll be Italiano (yee haw!)
I hope the garlic will open up my sinuses, but whoa, not that much okay?!? :)
We are going to have a fun time, it's a great group of women.

I hired Nikkida E. to embroider a shirt for me. It's going to be a polo shirt in royal blue and will have
Darla Dixon, Portrait Artist, www.darladixon.com on it. It will be nice, like a permanent "HELLO, MY NAME IS..." tag, but with more class, obviously. It will be fun to wear it to meetings, festivals, etc.

I am still being challenged by the portrait of the bull. It is hard to see some details. I am tempted to trash what I have so far and just start over. Sometimes if I'm off on the wrong track and I just can't figure it out, it's time to just start over. Steve H. (a great artist) told me that once - not to be afraid to trash my art and start afresh. It has been very good advice. It's always good to take the advice of drunken Scots?? hahah! Well this time it was good advice anyway!

Wow! I just heard something that sounded like a strong wind. Turns out they are testing/flushing the fire hydrant that is near the front yard. Great to know that it's working! That will probably be the extent of adventure today. LOL!

My cousin Larry and his wife just had a baby! What a cutie!

I was talking to my neighbor and her daughter last night, and they told me that the daughter still had the portrait I drew for her a long time ago. I had NO IDEA what art they were talking about, so the daughter (now 18 or 19) went in their house and brought the art out. Once I saw it again, I did have some memories come back about it. My twin daughters had just turned a year old when I drew it.

Wow, it's amazing how much aging paper can do in 10 years! That was before I used high quality art materials (what I use now is acid free) I put it on this page so people can see the difference the right paper can make - and I'm also surprised at how much I've improved over 10 years! Check out the sun damage. The paper had gotten ripped over all this time, so when I scanned it I did some repairs, and I'm giving the art back to her tonight.

Check it out!

http://tinyurl.com/3z3pb


Darla

http://darladixon.com