Strawberry Shortcake is now finished! I must admit that this spread makes little, if any, sense, but it’s just what came to me, and that’s a bit part of the fun of art journaling.
The text says “from the look of the berries, it won’t be long now” and “my favorite part is the whipped cream.” So, there’s my effort at rationale!
I’m really glad I put the blue in because I think it wouldn’t be nearly as nice with just the pink and green. But I’m also glad I toned the blue down a little bit (behind the smaller cat) with the bubble wrap stamping with white.
I had a nice clipping of bunches of strawberries which I was able to use as a reference for the strawberries, and I began them by drawing them in with pencil. Next I painted two coats of gesso over them, then add the details of the drawing. I fixed the graphite before continuing (a spray of Krylon Workable Fixatif.)
I thought I’d start coloring them with colored pencil then add transparent acrylic washes to intensify the color.
In my reference photo, each of the berries was either completely red (fully ripe) or completely white (not even beginning to ripen). Although that was the “fact” that the photo presented, I remembered berries that were partially ripened and I thought they were red on the shoulders fading to white at the point. Oh, and that the point isn’t really white but cream.
It was difficult to get good coverage with the colored pencil because the surface is pretty rough, but in the end it worked OK. I didn’t think I’d need to add the acrylic washes I’d planned over all the leaves and berries, but I did add some on the ripest berries and on a few of the leaves.
If there’s one thing I’d wish for, it’s for better ways of doing lettering. I often like stamping and have three or four sets of alphabet stamps, but my ink pads are very limited—black, brown, green, and some colors I just don’t use and don’t know why I bought them. Orange and purple come to mind. Maybe I just need to get better at lettering with a brush, though that seems pretty difficult. Anyway, I’d say lettering is one of my main problems.
All in all, though, I’m happy with this piece. It’s cheerful, and I think it’s a nice setting for these two lovely cats—or, more accurately, one cat and its mirror image.
I’m glad I took the time this weekend to finish this up. I’d say I spent about three hours Saturday and another two Sunday. It was thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing. The last few weeks have been frustrating and difficult, so I’m especially grateful for this interlude of no-pressure art!
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