Today begins Week #26 of my 2009 weekly graphite portrait giveaway! Each week, one winner will be selected to receive one 5×7 graphite (pencil) drawing from their photograph.

Last week was another very busy week, so let’s try this again! I encourage you to share my giveaway with your friends, and thank you to those who have!!

 

Weekly Contest Announcement!

 

WEEK 26 : CALL FOR ENTRIES
Theme

: Open (pets, animals, people)

Deadline

: Friday, June 26, 2009 (around 5pm CST)

To Enter

: Leave a comment, include a link to your photo. If you do not have a photo uploaded online, please indicate that you are e-mailing the photo and e-mail the photo to: gallery *at* intricateart dot-com.

Your entry must be left below, or it will not be considered.

Note: *G* Rating only

A note on framing for portrait winners: I recommend
Nielsen Bainbridge Archival Gallery Frames

available through Dick Blick. Sox & BJ (below) are framed using this frame:

The Details…

 

Each week, I post the weekly Call for Entries along with the previous weeks completed portrait (above). I may change the subject theme each week, or leave the theme open, so please pay close attention to the details in each announcement.

Entries will be accepted through Friday afternoon around 5PM CST, at which time I will close comments and select one winner from the entries received. I’ll announce the winner on Saturday and post the completed portrait with the following week’s Giveaway announcement.

Qualified entries will include a valid e-mail address, and the comment should include one link to a photograph owned/taken by the entrant. If you do not have a place to upload photos to link one, you can e-mail it to gallery *at* intricateart dot-com. Your entry, however, should be included in the comment section below, with your story – should you choose to include one.

The Selection Process: In case you’re curious, I’ll share my little artsy process in selecting the winner. First – I do not read any entries at all during the week. I do not read them because I don’t want anyone’s entries to have any more time than any others to settle in my creative brain. At the end of the week, I close comments. When I sit down to go through all of the entries, I read the story first, and open the photo link in a new window. When I finish reading, I flip over to the photo and my initial reaction is what I go by.

If your entry is not chosen, you may enter again. I encourage you to include a short story with your entry.

Once you have won a portrait, I ask that you refrain from multiple entries, to give others an opportunity to win one as well.

Your challenge? To inspire me! Choose your photo wisely – I will select a winner based on how the photo and/or story moves me.

Good luck!!

 

Put this button on your blog to remind yourself to enter each week!
Link it to:
http://intricateart.com/browse/blog/getting-creative/graphite-portrait-giveaway/Or just copy and paste this code:
<a href=”http://intricateart.com/browse/blog/getting-creative/graphite-portrait-giveaway/”><img src=”http://intricateart.com/wp-content/uploads/leannewildermuth125.jpg” title=”Leanne Wildermuth, Artist by Nature” alt=”Weekly Portrait Giveaway” border=”1″/></a>Get the latest updates – Subscribe by Email!
Don’t want to wait? Commission your own 5×7 graphite custom portrait
for just $70.00 right here in my shop!
(Checkout using PayPal)

Phew! Long overdue progress shots of Pete’s under painting! I’ve been busy trying to rescue my garden from the flooding along the house, and since it flooded again yesterday (well, the half that I don’t have complete), I’m now waiting for the mud to dry out so I can get the raised bed finished and back to non-back-breaking labor!

So, I did get Pete’s under painting complete and took a few pics along the way so you can see how he’s coming along. I’ve darkened in his wrinkles, then move along with bigger brushes to fill in the base coat of darker shades.

Here I’ve got most of his cute little pug face finished, and start filling in blocks of color around his neck and chest.

This is the completed under painting, of course I am sometimes tempted to call them done at this stage because I like how they are coming – but of course it doesn’t take long for me to want to kick it up a notch and get my pet portraits looking much more photo realistic!

Will be finishing up his portrait very soon – stay tuned!!

The problem: My foundation planting bed is flooding every time it rains. I have roses in there on the verge of death from all the moisture. I must raise the bed, and I have these two choices. The pavers, standing on their short end, give me approximately 7 inches in height. The cedar edging gives me about 5 inches.

I’m having a truckload of topsoil delivered tomorrow – so I need to figure out (quickly) which edging I’m going to use! Help!

[poll id=”10″]

Today begins Week #25 of my 2009 weekly graphite portrait giveaway! Each week, one winner will be selected to receive one 5×7 graphite (pencil) drawing from their photograph.

Last week’s winner was Tammy with her daughter Autumn, who passed away at the age of nine of a pituitary tumor. You can read her entry here.

A note on framing for portrait winners: I recommend
Nielsen Bainbridge Archival Gallery Frames

available through Dick Blick. Sox & BJ (below) are framed using this frame:

Weekly Contest Announcement!

 

WEEK 25 : CALL FOR ENTRIES
Theme

: Open (pets, animals, people)

Deadline

: Friday, June 19, 2009 (around 5pm CST)

To Enter

: Leave a comment, include a link to your photo. If you do not have a photo uploaded online, please indicate that you are e-mailing the photo and e-mail the photo to: gallery *at* intricateart dot-com.

Your entry must be left below, or it will not be considered.

Note: *G* Rating only

Each Monday, I post the weekly Call for Entries along with the previous weeks completed portrait (above). I may change the subject theme each week, or leave the theme open, so please pay close attention to the details in each announcement.

Entries will be accepted through Friday afternoon around 5PM CST, at which time I will close comments and select one winner from the entries received. I’ll announce the winner on Saturday and post the completed portrait with the following week’s Giveaway announcement.

Qualified entries will include a valid e-mail address, and the comment should include one link to a photograph owned/taken by the entrant. If you do not have a place to upload photos to link one, you can e-mail it to gallery *at* intricateart dot-com. Your entry, however, should be included in the comment section below, with your story – should you choose to include one.

The Selection Process: In case you’re curious, I’ll share my little artsy process in selecting the winner. First – I do not read any entries at all during the week. I do not read them because I don’t want anyone’s entries to have any more time than any others to settle in my creative brain. At the end of the week, I close comments. When I sit down to go through all of the entries, I read the story first, and open the photo link in a new window. When I finish reading, I flip over to the photo and my initial reaction is what I go by.

If your entry is not chosen, you may enter again. I encourage you to include a short story with your entry.

Once you have won a portrait, I ask that you refrain from multiple entries, to give others an opportunity to win one as well.

Your challenge? To inspire me! Choose your photo wisely – I will select a winner based on how the photo and/or story moves me.

Good luck!!

 

Put this button on your blog to remind yourself to enter each week!
Link it to:
http://intricateart.com/browse/blog/getting-creative/graphite-portrait-giveaway/Or just copy and paste this code:
<a href=”http://intricateart.com/browse/blog/getting-creative/graphite-portrait-giveaway/”><img src=”http://intricateart.com/wp-content/uploads/leannewildermuth125.jpg” title=”Leanne Wildermuth, Artist by Nature” alt=”Weekly Portrait Giveaway” border=”1″/></a>Get the latest updates – Subscribe by Email!
Don’t want to wait? Commission your own 5×7 graphite custom portrait
for just $70.00 right here in my shop!
(Checkout using PayPal)

Pete the Pug has his green gradient background now, and once it’s dry I’ll work in his under painting.

I also started another piece that I will share once it’s complete – it’s a really big piece, one that I’ve been wanting to work on for a while. With that, I’ll leave you to wonder what it might be, and share it when it’s complete!

I’m working on a new dog portrait – this is a sweet little pug named Pete! My client was gifted a gallery bucks gift certificate (available in my shop) for a custom pet portrait and selected an 8″ x 8″ full color oil painting for Pete – he’s going to look just gorgeous!

He’s getting a green background this afternoon, so I’ll post another shot later after that’s done.

I’ve recently had the (cough) privilege (cough) of being informed that “it’s not all about me, despite what I may think.” And quite honestly (that was another trigger phrase used in the information packet I received) I have a few things to say about that.

Imagine that.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has ever heard this delicious little tidbit of news. But you know something? Those words are meant to puncture, they are meant to hurt – and above all else, they are WRONG.

If it isn’t about me, it’s gossip. It’s hearsay; conjecture. It’s not accurate information.

Think about it. If you have a blog, it’s all about you. It’s your blog – your space. Your opinion, your writing. We say things people can relate to, we say things others can benefit from. Some of us even use it as a means to DO things for other people. If people read it, if people come, then we assume they are interested. And we develop friendships.

If you have a Twitter account or a Facebook page, it’s all about you. If it’s not – what the heck is it? If you’re putting a bunch of stuff out there that isn’t about you, then all it is is your opinion, and you’d be am informant, or news reporter or somethin’.

If we’re having a chat and you’re talking, if you’re not helping me or offering me advice (YOUR opinion), you’re talking about you. If you’re talking about other people, excluding the people in the conversation, that is called GOSSIP. If you’re sharing information or news about your family, that’s you, with a touch of gossip (depending on the topic and/or person).

Why do we do this? Because we’re human, that’s why. We share. Well, okay, most of us share. And we share with the (obviously, in this case, idiotic) assumption that the other person is actually interested. And then we pause, and we wait for the other person to have their turn. And then, typically, we share our feelings, thoughts and ideas of what the other person has shared. THAT, people, is called friendship aka communication.

Insane, isn’t it?

The information you have about yourself is the only information you really have that is factual. The rest is perception, interpretation. So when you’re in the middle of sharing your feelings with someone, those words are as true as true gets. To imply to someone that what they’re sharing with you is arrogant and self-centered is just … wrong. On so many levels.

So the next time you share your feelings with someone and they turn around and tell you “it’s not all about you”, you just buck up and explain how “yes, indeed it IS about me.” And be okay with that. And also? Be okay with never sharing yourself with that person again, because they obviously don’t appreciate you as a person, or respect your feelings.

Today marks the start of Week #24 of my 2009 weekly graphite portrait giveaway! Each week, one winner will be selected to receive one 5×7 graphite (pencil) drawing from their photograph.

Last week, there were no entries – which was a blessing in disguise. We spent the weekend getting my eldest ready for her camping trip, so time was precious.

My plan, should that happen again, is to go back to previous weeks and draw a winner from previous entries.

A note on framing for portrait winners: I recommend
Nielsen Bainbridge Archival Gallery Frames

available through Dick Blick. Sox & BJ (below) are framed using this frame:

Weekly Contest Announcement!

 

WEEK 24 : CALL FOR ENTRIES
Theme

: Open (pets, animals, people)

Deadline

: Friday, June 12, 2009 (around 5pm CST)

To Enter

: Leave a comment, include a link to your photo. For e-mail submissions,

leave a comment with your story

as your entry, attach your photo to an e-mail separately, and send to gallery *at* intricateart dot-com.

Note: *G* Rating only

Each Monday, I post the weekly Call for Entries along with the previous weeks completed portrait (above). I may change the subject theme each week, or leave the theme open, so please pay close attention to the details in each announcement.

Entries will be accepted through Friday afternoon around 5PM CST, at which time I will close comments and select one winner from the entries received. I’ll announce the winner on Saturday and post the completed portrait with the following week’s Giveaway announcement.

Qualified entries will include a valid e-mail address, and the comment should include one link to a photograph owned/taken by the entrant. If you do not have a place to upload photos to link one, you can e-mail it to gallery *at* intricateart dot-com. Your entry, however, should be included in the comment section below, with your story – should you choose to include one.

The Selection Process: In case you’re curious, I’ll share my little artsy process in selecting the winner. First – I do not read any entries at all during the week. I do not read them because I don’t want anyone’s entries to have any more time than any others to settle in my creative brain. At the end of the week, I close comments. When I sit down to go through all of the entries, I read the story first, and open the photo link in a new window. When I finish reading, I flip over to the photo and my initial reaction is what I go by.

If your entry is not chosen, you may enter again. I encourage you to include a short story with your entry.

Your challenge? To inspire me! Choose your photo wisely – I will select a winner based on how the photo and/or story moves me.

Good luck!!

 

Put this button on your blog to remind yourself to enter each week!
Link it to:
http://intricateart.com/browse/blog/getting-creative/graphite-portrait-giveaway/Or just copy and paste this code:
<a href=”http://intricateart.com/browse/blog/getting-creative/graphite-portrait-giveaway/”><img src=”http://intricateart.com/wp-content/uploads/leannewildermuth125.jpg” title=”Leanne Wildermuth, Artist by Nature” alt=”Weekly Portrait Giveaway” border=”1″/></a>Get the latest updates – Subscribe by Email!
Don’t want to wait? Commission your own 5×7 graphite custom portrait
for just $70.00 right here in my shop!
(Checkout using PayPal)