I'm working on the illustrations for the new book, What Really Happened During Ancient Times for Knowledge Quest Inc.

This portrait of Gilgamesh is 4.75" x 7.75" and was done by combining elements from 4 different picture references.

The pictures of him that I have to work from are all of sculptures or bas relief. I tried to make him look alive. The background we want for these illustrations is a papyrus texture. The background isn't very difficult really...it's just light crosshatched pencil lines - I just have to remember to keep them only vertical and horizontal, then I go over them again in areas to give an even more irregular look like papyrus would have.

This is just a quick digital shot of the artwork. I still want to work on some fine details and the background a bit more. This took about 2 hours. I used 2B, 4B, and 6B Tombow (Homo-Graph) Mono 100 pencils and a mechanical pencil with 2B graphite. The blending was done with a chamois and totillions. I use erasers as tools for highlighting, not just erasing...the erasers I used were the Staedtler-Mars white drafting eraser, kneaded rubber eraser, and a Clik-Pen eraser made by Pentel. Snacks were peanut M&Ms and Sunkist Orange Soda.

The other characters I will be drawing for this book are Eve, Constantine, Noah, Imhotep (Joseph as known to the Hebrews), Daniel, Cyrus the Great, Eratosthenes, and maybe another figure, but not sure yet.

Links of interest:
Other books in this series: http://www.bramleybooks.com
and if you are interested in timelines of history, please visit knowledgequestmaps.com too!
Darla Dixon Portrait Art and Illustration http://www.darladixon.com/

I have to go out and buy a new clothes dryer today.
This is an example of how something that seems bad can actually be a blessing.

If you read this blog a lot, then you know I have four kids, and two of them are really young. I do a lot of laundry. I don't mind laundry - of all the housework things to do, it's actually the easiest and least gross to me. (I like that you can start the machine then go off and do other things).

But back to the story.
I need to do at minimum 2 loads of laundry a day to keep from being overcome by the sheer weight of Mount Washmore. So yesterday morning I had baby in arms while preparing the throw towels into the dryer.

I opened the dryer door and there were no clothes in it. I hadn't used the dryer for quite some time, yet I sensed hot air hitting us when I opened the door. I felt the dryer, and the top of it was extremely hot! Can you imagine the top of a dryer being hot enough to burn your hand when you haven't run the dryer for many hours?!?

Thank the Lord for waking up early and for having a lot of laundry. If I didn't wake up early and have a lot of laundry to do, I think it was just a matter of time before the dryer would have caught fire. Something definitely wrong with its electronics/electrical. I thought about having it repaired but it has other issues that make it something to have replaced.

What 'bad' thing has happened to you that actually was a blessing, whether you realized it at the time or not? I'd love to hear about it!

Portraits of Stillborn Babies, Drawn from Photos

This is something I tend to not advertise, because I never want to look like I'm capitalizing on someone's pain.
However, I have had several clients for this who told me they looked high and low for an artist that could draw a picture of their angel baby based on the few photos they had of their baby, and they had trouble finding one who either could or would do it.... so I like to try to get the word out whenever I can that I am available for this service. So many parents are afraid to ask, afraid that they will seem to be 'morbid' for asking for this. It's not morbid!
It is a TOTALLY NORMAL thing to want a nice portrait of your baby.

Parents often want a memorial picture that they can have to remember their baby...a picture without all the tape, wires, tubes, etc. I can make this for them. I can add the baby's name, the dates of birth/death, a special saying or a poem.

It is very special to me to be able to create something that can help in the grief healing process. Of course you will never forget your baby and the portraits help you remember their adorable features in a peaceful setting, instead of all the hospital equipment.

I am a mother of four children, and I try to bring a special 'mother's touch' to these portraits.

Maybe you have some tips you could share with me about how I could get the word out about this in a way that is sensitive. Here is the website page with client comments: CLICK HERE

Darla
http://darladixon.com/
darla.dixon@gmail.com

Parenting Marines

Have you ever seen the circus act where the person is spinning plates on fingers and nose while riding a unicycle?

Can you multi-task like THAT?!?

If so, we have a job for you in the Parenting Marines.

I have started to believe that a lot of parenting is multitasking and a major part of that is just knowing how to get things in balance and set priorities. This morning was a perfect example of that. No wait...perfect isn't the word.
DISGUSTING is more like it.

I had just gotten my 8 month old's diaper changed and was about to give him his first morning bottle when I heard my 2-1/2 year old boy calling out to me urgently, "Mom-MEEEE Halp! I got poo-PEEEEE"

Now let me tell you right off, anytime you hear a toddler cry help about poop, well you better run in there and assess the situation, so that's what I did.

There he stood, frozen with a look of panic on his face and a handful of messy dookie in his hand.
Dookie had also been nicely distributed throughout the room and was also on his foot.

My husband and I call this situation a Code Brown, for obvious reasons.

My poor Mommy Management techniques had gotten me into this. My little boy should have had 4T size Pull-Ups, and I had bought 2T-3T size Pull -Ups by mistake, because I was too involved while shopping to try to buy the best sized package for the money and didn't realize I was grabbing the wrong sized package! The massive amounts of dookie could not be contained by the weak confines of the too-small Pull Up training pant.

I run around the house in a mad dash to find baby wipes. I grab the wipes container, the baby, and a trash can, quickly deposit the baby into the playpen. Baby realizes he's being dropped off and begins furiously screaming, outraged that he isn't getting his bottle anytime soon.

I get my toddler cleaned up with the wipes, I do a quick clean of the spots on the carpet, and take him into the bathroom. I deposit him on the toilet in case he wants to do any more downloading.

Under this better lighting, I realize this is a bigger job than a mere baby wipe can correct.
So while he's sitting, I run the water into the bathtub.
I run quickly to get the baby and the bottle.
I get toddler off the potty and into the bathtub.
Throw some bubble bath in there. I put the seat down on the toilet and sit there and give the baby his bottle while the toddler is bathing.

Suddenly, the baby who was so ravenously hungry mere moments before is more intrigued by the bath and the bubbles than having his bottle. I reposition myself so that baby can see his brother in the bathtub. That pleases him, so I was finally able to get the baby to drink his bottle.
I then removed the toddler from the tub.

Like a total idiot, I put the same size Pull-Up on him again.
Well it's the only size I have here.

To summarize, if you can multitask, keep a sense of humor when everything is happening at once, and have the ability to forgive yourself and laugh at your mistakes... yes you can be a parent.

CLICK HERE to see video of our 8 month old "Little Guy" enjoying the swing.
An earlier video HERE shows him at 7 months, snoring. Make sure you turn up your speakers!

The July issue of Good Housekeeping has an article about ways to "go green..." - environmentally friendly ideas and links. Nothing seemed too extreme and I thought I'd check out the links today.

Since I'd have to type them to visit them, I might as well put them here in the blog, so you and I can check them out together. Let's see what new stuff we find out today.

Take your own shopping bag to avoid paper or plastic
Cloth shopping sacks - polka dot tote - http://cathkidston.com ;ACME Workhorse Style 1500 - http://reusablebags.com

Water Efficient Shower Heads
(low flow models can let a family of four cut water use by as much as 280 gallons a month)
http://kohler.com (look for Kohler's Master Shower Eco)
Niagara Conservation Earth Massage
http://niagaraconservation.com

Recycle Rechargeable cell phones, digital cameras, and camcorders.
The article says that wherever you live you can find store that will recycle these for you.
Visit http://rbrc.org and enter your zip code.

Adjust your fridge temperature
Your refrigerator is most likely the appliance that's using the most electricity, the article says.
Maximize efficiency by setting your fridge temp to 37 degrees fahrenheit and the freezer at zero.
I guess I need to buy a refrigerator thermometer.

Try to give stuff away rather than filling up the dump with it. One person's trash is another person's treasure. Try http://freecycle.org and http://earth911.org

Disposable dinnerware that won't clog landfills...made from corn, potatoes, and limestone. The article states that they are inexpensive. Wild, huh?
http://www.earthshell.com

Clothing made from plants
"Melissa" tunic by Lara Miller...made of bamboo but feels like silk (huh?!)
http://laramiller.net
Linda Loudermilk is an eco designer and uses fabric made from a Japanese leaves, bamboo, and soy. http://lindaloudermilk.com

Organic Undies
100 percent organic cotton unmentionables (the cotton was grown organically, meaning it was grown without pesticides)...and that's a good thing for undies I would think.
Blue Canoe Brand http://goodhumans.com

Makeup with Eco Friendly Packaging
Most of Aveda's packaging is made from recycled materials.
If you want a totally organic makeup line whose name is hard to pronounce, they recommend Nvey Eco http://econveybeauty.com

Composting
You can toss the kitchen food scraps into Gardener's Supply Company's Kitchen Compost Crock...it's a ceramic composter that can sit on your kitchen counter. This sounds good to me because I don't have a disposal in my sink. I could compost and then use it on my flowers.
Let me know what you think!
http://gardeners.com

What's all the to-do about bamboo?
We are hearing so much about bamboo because it's a "more sustainable natural resource than wood" because it grows super fast. Bamboo bowls and Cutting boards are available from TimberGrass at http://lamsonsharp.com

Lose the junk mail
Register with the Direct Mail Association Mail Preference Service and after a few months you will notice your junk mail has slowed down. http://dmaconsumers.org

Organic Children's Clothing
http://hannaandersson.com
Not only organic, but some of the garments from Hanna Andersson are also certified that every fabric, button, thread and zipper has been tested for over a hundred potentially harmful substances.

Solar powered lighting for your yard or patio
Good Housekeeping liked the Malibu Solar Floodlight from http://intermatic.com

Maybe you have some ideas or comments or a product you'd recommend. If so please leave a comment here on the blog! :)

I took all four kids down to South Georgia by myself this past week. If you have ever been in a car with 4 kids ages 8 months, 2-1/2, and 12 years old, then you know that it's not a 'vacation' in any sense of the word! It's a vacation for the kids, but for the adult who needs to pack up everything, pay for everything, navigate/drive, break up arguments - it's a lot of real work.

The trip down there was uneventful, even could be considered excellent. Both of the little ones slept most of the time and I was able to make it with just one sanity break at McDonalds.

The trip back home was fine, except when we got to Hwy 20 East near Atlanta, it was a bit 'hairy'.... to make a long story short, we almost had an accident with a HUGE Coca Cola truck as it merged into the highway and thought he had the right of way! (I couldn't move over a lane because it was full of other vehicles). Maybe the real right of way is for the vehicle that is the biggest....It would be horrible to die that way. The news headline would say "Local Woman Killed by Soft Drinks."

There was a bit more child fussing, but didn't get to anything major that I couldn't handle, and I made the trip without any stops.

Here is a new picture of Little Guy, he's 8 months old and now actively crawling very fast!

Another acrylic landscape painting to share:
Waves of Contemplation
6"x6" gallery wrapped canvas (no frame is needed, the picture continues painted all around the edges) To view art from more angles here and/or purchase, CLICK HERE

6"x6" Gallery Wrapped Canvas Acrylic Painting
Misty Mountain Morning
CLICK HERE TO VIEW MORE PICTURES OR PURCHASE

Sorry for the delay but I won't be able to post about the 10 Marketing Tips today...I will try to do that within the next two days....for now enjoy the reprieve and have a great weekend!

Illustration Friday post - This is an 11"x14" graphite pencil portrait I did for my friend for a Christmas present. The portrait is of her daughter.

The 'hardest' part of this pencil portrait was drawing the freckles. I didn't want them to just look like dots on her face - I wanted to make sure they would look like freckles. I was able to achieve the look of them being freckles with judicious use of the kneaded rubber eraser to lift some of the graphite off.

I think it came out well.

Visit My Website

I promised a post about our trip to the theme park. I didn't get to write it because I have been slammed by migraines for two days. This morning I seem to be doing better, so I'll post about the trip.

I won't mention the name of the park,
but it sounds a lot like Styx Flags Over Gouge-Ya.

We received "complimentary" tickets, so it sounds bad to complain about a "free" visit - also I keep in mind that I did take all 4 kids there by myself, so it was especially tiring and we weren't able to enjoy many rides. That being said... if we had to pay for the tickets ourselves, they would've been nearly $40 each. Styx Flags is nice enough to make the ticket prices $39.95, so you save 5 cents right there, whoo-hoo! LOL

Parking is $15.
Cash.
No they won't take credit card for parking. No, you can't pay any of the parking with Quarters (or any kind of loose change). I almost turned around right there. They were turning down American money! It ticked me off as un-American until I realized they have logic behind not accepting loose change...but they should accept credit cards if they are charging that much for parking!

Once they have you committed by the parking fee, you are a captive audience.
Go to the ATM to get some cash, because obviously it's needed: $3 fee.
Lunch for myself, two 12 year olds, and a 2 year old (baby had his bottle): $46
Then once you are in there, you would expect that everything would be covered, except the food, drinks, and gift shops, right?!? Wrong...there is a separate fee for Go Karts and some of the other rides. The carnival area is extra. Most of the carnival games are at least $3 to play.

At least my daughters had fun. I really tried to keep my muttering to myself about the obscene greed of the place.

Finally after the death march in the heat to the car in the "D" section of the parking lot (not too far back, since we arrived early thank goodness), we were in the car, exhausted, and on our way home. Yes, I missed the exit off I-20 East for GA Hwy 124 back to Snellville (hey, stop laughing), but I soon found the right way again.

We stopped at Burger King for milkshakes. After the heavy duty price gouging at the theme park, my wallet was shaking in fear. But when I saw that the milkshakes were only $1.29 back in the real world, (rather than $5 each at theme park) I shouted "milkshakes for everyone!"
I almost bought some for people we didn't even know.

It's Not Brain Surgery

Please, I beg of you, if you send those emails that say "send this to all your friends!" be suspicious and use the search field of Snopes.com to check it out. Almost all these things that people send me are false, and it only takes a minute to check them for validity before you forward the email!

You may or may not be aware of a website called IllustrationFriday.com - on Illustration Friday, someone submits an idea for all the artists and then the artists share a link to an artwork they have done for the subject. Today I checked and the topic is 'portrait.' Well, you know I have quite a few of those!

The next thing was to think about which one of the portraits I've done that I would pick to share on Illustration Friday.

I decided on this Memorial Portrait I did of my Uncle, Richard Lafayette Taylor, of Leonard Texas. I did this one in pencil on bristol paper for my Aunt Ruth.

Uncle 'R.L.' was a licensed funeral director for 40 years. His total number of funerals directed is unknown, although it's estimated that it was well over 2,000. He performed funerals for people in up to 8 nearby counties.

I have a newspaper article about my uncle dated 2002, after his death. The article mentions many times about how Uncle RL would show his compassion and love for people...not seen in facial expression, but by his actions, and that there were many kind things that he did that were unknown. That sounds about right...that teaching came from his Christian mother (my grandmother) who I never knew...she died before I was born - but my father said they were taught that if you do something nice for someone and it gets found out because you told people about it or bragged about it - then it doesn't count.

My uncle lived in Texas and I lived in Michigan while growing up, so I'd only see him every two years or so, but he was a special uncle to me and made a big impression. I remember once when I was about 12, he let me come in while he prepared the body of a deceased elderly lady. He took great care and his professionalism was evident. This was at the stage where makeup is applied and the final touches of jewelry, etc are added. His goal was to prepare her to be in a lifelike pose, to cover the bruising she had from the IV tubes with a lace handkerchief, to spare her family from seeing her that way. The goal was compassion and service to the family of the person. It was not a horrible experience for me - if anything, it made me less afraid of death.