"Advice Animals"

   So I don't know if you've heard of these, but theres this weird sort of funny thing called an 'Advice Animal'. It's basically a  picture of an animal on a colored background with text above and below it, saying something witty or hilarious. Recently I found out that I can most relate to the 'Parranoid Parrot'. Almost every one is exactly my life!
Other Animals include:
- Alcoholic Alligator
- Courage Wolf
- Gaming Gopher
- Courage Pup
- Socially Akward Penguin
- Socially Lazy Sloth
- Hipster Mermaid
- Technically Impaired Duck

Anyways, here are some crazy funny ones that I can legit relate to, like I've thought or done these before!

I like posting paintings I've done, and I have NO time for a 'how to' blog because I am in the play 'Grease' at my high school! :o) But anyways here are 2 more paintings I did recently.. notice my obsession with birds lol

both of these are for my wonderful boyfriend :o)

A Few Paintings I did Recently

Hey there! Recently I've realized that I really like painting! So I'm going to put some of my pictures on my log every once in a while! Here are some recent ones :o) (I'm in Painting 1 at my school!)

How To Paint a Pretty Flower

                                               HOW TO PAINT A FLOWER WITH TEXTURE

I love the way this flower looks, and anyone can do it with a little direction!

You Will Need:
               -Watercolors (red and blue)
               - Watercolor paper
               - Water
               - Paintbrushes
               - A black marker
               - Salt

-Step 1:
          You  need to begin this painting by drawing a small oval on your paper. I'm sorry I draw so light with the pencil, I just don't want any grey lines to show on the finished product :). Anyways, after you draw the oval, you need to sketch 5 petals around it. The particular flower that I am painting has 4 major petals that are large and look like elephant ears or something, and 1 petal that is peeking out from behind the others.

-Step 2:
            Choose the petal you'd like to paint first and then cover it in clear water. I chose to use a smaller brush becase I don't want to put water anywhere outside of the 1 petal I'm going to work on. Next, you need to choose your colors. I wanted to make my flower a pretty purple so I got out my 'ultramarine' blue, and 'crimson' red! Then, I mixed the two together until I recieved a shade of purple I liked!
             Next, you need to get purple on your brush, and dab it around the edges of your petal! Make sure to keep the edges very dark, and let the water create the shading! Then, continue on doing this with the rest of the petals. It's ok to leave a white space between each, because will fix that later!
             The final part to this step is adding salt to the flower. Sprinkle a little bit of salt around the edges of the petals :)

-Step 3:
          Trace your petals with a nice line of dark paint after its all dry!

-Step 4:
            Put a dab of dark yellow or tan in the center of the flower. I am using 'yellow ochre'.

-Step 5:
        Finally, use a black marker to draw the 'face' of the flower!

Fini!!

Matthew 6:29

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like a flower.

A Video I Creater for a Contest

Hey everyone, I just wanted to see if this would work :o)
This is a video I made for a competition in FL. I am pretty happy with it and I won districts already so I'm excited to go on to states! Yippee!

Its called "Together we Can"
And the background music is One Day

How to Make an "Arrow" Style String Ring (ooo that rhymes)

                                            HOW TO MAKE AN 'ARROW'
                                                     STYLE STRING RING

You will need:
         -Scissors
         -A clipboard
         -4 colors of sting
         -Glue

This relatively simply string pattern may look great in a bracelet, but in my opinion it looks even cooler as a ring! I've made these for friends, and my boyfriend loves them!


-Step 1
       Grab four different colors of string. Mine are green, purple, orange, and pink! Cut two strings of each color, 8 strings in all. For a ring, you need to make them about a foot long or longer. I don't really have a set length I use, but I'd say over 14 inches.

-Step 2
       Separate the strings into two groups, both containing one of each color. Then, take both of the groups and line the ends of the strings up together.  Then tie both of the clumps of string together in a double knot close to the end... but leave some space! Then clip the knot on the clipboard and you're ready to start tying!

-Step 3:
       This step will sound super confusing in writing, but it's easy when you watch the video :o)

       Separate the strings out and decide which color you'd like to start with. Mine is green! Tie the green string around each of the other strings individually. Make sure the order of the colors that you are tying is the one you want on your ring. Tie each individual string twice, so the green knot at the top is more defined. Then stop once you get to the middle.
      Complete this same pattern except on the opposite side! The color pattern should mirror the right side so that the ring turns out correctly. Once both green strings are in the middle together, tie them around each other!

-Step 4:

           (I like this zoomed in! I think it looks super neat!) Now, you need to continue doing the same thing with the next strings in order! My next strings are purple, then orange.

- Step 4 1/2:

       Just some progress shots! It take about 25 'arrows' to go around my ring finger, but I'm going to make this one a pinky ring :o) 

       

-Step 5:

          Cut the string about four or five inches from your knots. Then, decide which side you'd like the world to see! As I tried to show you, one side it a little weirder looking than the other, so I turn that one on the inside. Next, tie the strings at both ends together. Don't tie them in one big knot, but instead tie two strings at a time until it is sturdy. Finally, grab some white glue or krazy glue. I'd recomend using crazy glue, because it dries faster and holds better, but we were all out of krazy glue, so I used good 'ol Elmers. Leave it to dry, and when you come back you'll have a funky, one-of-a-kind ring!

Here's a picture of this one I just made on my pinky, and an older one that I love!

Ecclesiastes 4:12

Though one person may be overpowered by another, two people can resist one opponent. A triple-braided rope is not easily broken.

How to Draw an Eye

Well, this is my first instructive blog!
Here it goes!
I'm going to write a few steps that correspond with a video I've filmed!
I'd like to apologize for my camera; it was unhappy with the lighting, so it goes in and out of focus! :/
I will try and have that fixed for my next project!

(final product)

What you will need:
           -Pencil (not mechanical; i find them too stiff for most sketching)
           -Paper or a sketchbook


- Step 1:
        Construct the outer shape of the eye, this will usually end up looking like a football! It doesn't have to be perfect, every eye is different. Draw the outline of the iris looking upwards. Then draw the pupil inside of that. On the edge of the pupil, leave a little space for a 'glare'. A glare will make the eye look more realistic when it's finished. The glare can be any shape you want, but I usually make mine cylinders or in a heart shape.

      
- Step 2:
        Create eyelashes around the eye. You'll go back and fix them later, so don't make them dark. Eyelashes begin small then gradually get larger towards the opposite corner of the eyelid. Then, below the eye, the lashes are small and barely noticible. Remember that this is just the begining sketch of the eye lashes, so keep them reletively light! :)
         Once you've done that, you can fill in the pupil. The pupil is that darkest part of your eye, so you need to apply a lot of pressure on your pencil when you are sketching this in. Also, remember to avoid coloring in your glare spot!

- Step 3:
        This step may be the most difficult if you aren't used to shading. Shading is when you begin with a very dark pencil mark and slowly fade it to dark grey, medium grey, light grey, and then white. To shade in the iris, you draw a DARK ring around the line you've already made. Then, slowwllyyy let the pressure your using on your pencil get lighter and lighter as you move towards the pupil. In the eye, this gives a nice contast between the pupil and the colored part of your eye! Make sure it all blends together nicely! Sometimes I smudge it with my finger to make it turn out smoother. Also remember not to color in your little glare spot.

    - Step 4:
            To begin this step, you need to draw 'eyeliner' on your eye! On the top just below the lashes, draw a thick dark line. Then push that darkness up into your eyelashes to give them a more bold look. Apply a thinner line of 'eyeliner' below the eye too, and darken the bottom lashes a little bit. When you reach the corner of the eye, leave annother little circle of glare and then shade around it.

- Step 5:
        Finally, lightly shade in the corners, and around the edges of the eye. This will make it look a bit more realistic, and also prettier then just a plain white eye! You can also add an eyebrow, or a line that would connect to the nose :)

I really hope this helped!

I had fun doing it!

Remember there are many types of eyes to draw!

  Psalm 121:1-2     
 I lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.                                                    

The Purpose of this Blog

I was having a long discussion with myself today about what my blog would be about! Since, I do need a purpose. And I decided that I would focus on something I love to do! And thats draw, paint, sculpt, or involve myself in any type of art!

At this point, I'm thinking maybe I'll do some tutorials and break things down to make art a little more easy! Because, really, anyone can be a great artist! You just need instructions to follow and some practice!

So, I'm here to provide the instructions to the best of my ability!
Thank you!

The Beginning: My Story

Well....
Here it goes.
My first blog.
I suppose this is start of something new, and hopefully exciting.
The beginning.
Well, not my beginning, but the beginning of my blog site. At the moment It's named, "Paintings on a white fence," but being as indecisive and young as I am, that will most likely be changed many times. So don't get comfortable.
But, seeing as this is my first blog *ever*, I figure maybe I should start with, well me! My beginning.

          Now, this isn't going to be a super huge winded out version of my life. This will be short, concise, and to the point. I'll focus mostly on how this effects my relationship with God... because that's really the most important thing here, right?

         So, I was born in Orlando, FL. I was a part of a big city with a BIG church. I'd always loved God, I just didn't really understand what He was. And to tell you the honest truth, it's still difficult to explain God even today! But anyways, my grandparents were the ones who brought me to church. My mother wasn't really a big 'believer' shall we say. And as for my father... he must have been excited with the idea of making a baby, but when it came down to parenting and all, he couldn't handle it and split the scene. For the next four years of my young life, he was in and out. I only saw him a few times, and I saw my little brother once. It is heartbreaking that I didn't have a relationship with him, because at four years old, my father was shot in a '"drug deal gone bad". (I never look at it like that though. In my little perfect world, it was all just a misunderstanding.) Needless to say, I don't support the 'right' to bear arms.
        Skip ahead a few years, and my mom is married! To a huge pooper. I mean HUGE. Like abusive. And it took a toll on her and me. So, the divorce papers were signed, and we moved back in with my grandparents. Who, were taking me to church and filling me up with God-stuff! I had this little voice always saying, "Nobody loves you, your dad's gone, you don't have a father, your mother can't provide for you.." And it hurt. A lot. But, my mother was finding love in other places... like the cold screen of the computer. E-harmony, match.com, you name it, she had a profile. She ended up meeting this guy "Stephen" and she moved to California, leaving me, back in Florida. The little voice in my head pretty much turned into a hard slap in the face. She had the choice and left me. THAT hurt. So, I went to church still. And this time something clicked.
   My first God moment, I was sitting in the chairs at a Methodist church and the singer was beautifully doing a song that said "child of wonder, child of God. I've remembered you... remember me." and all of a sudden I felt like.. crap... with my family forgetting about me, there's one person who isn't. That's God. And I told myself I'd ALWAYS remember Him. No matter what circumstance. Because through all of my previous ups and downs, God had stayed. I'd always had a church to go to. My grandparents became my guardians, and that's where I am now. I've learned to respect my parents (as in my gma and gpa) since they didn't HAVE to take me in. I am so thankful for them and their love of God as well.

So, that's it. That's not IT it... but that's most of it. I love my story. I am happy and thankful because of it. Some people just don't know how to look at a situation and smile, and I feel like I can. Every day is precious :)

Philippians 4:6-7
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.