"Hearts Alight" in Progress

I found this beautiful crystal heart dish in my favorite thrift store and just knew I had to use it.
So I put together this set up where all the contents are heart shaped.  I placed this in an east facing window and found my view with strong sunlight shooting thru the glass.

I always spend a lot of time on the drawing part of the prep.  I love drawing detail, always have, so I often linger on this before beginning the painting.  No amount of color will fix a bad drawing.
I have never painted crystal before.  The more I have worked out ahead the more confident I feel when I pick up my brush.

Laying in washes and beginning details.  I was most concerned about making that foil wrapped chocolate heart look convincing (never painted foil before either!).  But I think I've got it worked out so onward I go.

"Hearts Alight", Watercolor, 14" x 20"

© Carmella Tuliszewski

I knew painting the crystal would be challenging but I did not realize how difficult rendering the light refracted through the crystal would be!  Needs more play but so far so good.  Also it's all sitting on tissue wrapping paper.   I love the way the tissue looks in that upper left corner but the rest needs work.

Well, here I go into unknown territory with that crystal dish!  

I hope to have a finish to show in a few days.

Kaleidoscopic Names

I consider these elaborate "doodles".  It was originally done as part of a Color Theory Unit for my students.  I love the puzzle of working out the design and hiding the name in plain sight.  It also is a productive way to experiment with various color combinations.

"Larry",  Watercolor, 12" x 12"

© Carmella Tuliszewski 2011

As you can see from the title, it reads as "Larry", for my husband.  Can you find it?

I'm sure there are ways to do this through computer art but there is something about the process and results of hand made items that I still hold dear.