Empresses, IF and Different Strokes

We have and edition of Empresses

this week's block print fits right in with this week's Illustration Friday challenge. The theme is "intricate." This tarot card and the symbols within are definitely very intricate.

I like the way my Empresses came out. the colors worked great. As for the black overprint on the slightly larger cards...nah don't care for that but a ruler, a bone folder, a little water and some careful tearing will eliminate that...Next edition is the Emperor.


Current Different Strokes From Different Folks Challenge

The "Different Strokes From Different Folks" (http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/) painting challenge fit in perfectly once again with my Abstract Composition class. The mid-term for the class was to be an abstract of any still-life set-up of our choosing. The sushi photo for the Different Strokes challenge is of course a still life and sushi looks so abstract to begin with that I could take it even further...this really did become a challenge when I bumped the easel and all fell with the painting flat on it's face. I was able to take a pallet knife and smoosh goopy paint in the messed up areas to fix; although it did become a different painting afterward.

This is the photo for the Different Strokes challenge. It was taken by Karin Jurick; the moderator of the Different Strokes from Different Folks blog. These are obviously California Rolls sitting in shoyu; let me just paste what I wrote in an email about the subject matter:

"I have to say I love sushi, but California rolls are my least favorite -- why -- because most places don't make them right. Most places only put avocado and that fake crab in the roll; a true California Roll is supposed to have cucumber, avocado and REAL crab! Also it seems these days at every Japanese restaurant the combo meals come with fake California Rolls. They've become a flavorless cliche... "