Free-for-all-Friday tomorrow but you have to tell me what's in your purse today!

Free-for-all-Friday is here early this week. With a little help. I've wanted to try out what another painter does. He's Dave DeVries and he runs Monster Engine. He takes children's drawings and turns them into paintings. He asks kids to make monsters and then takes it to another artistic level. I'm not into monsters but love'd the transformative idea. To see what I mean here's some of his work.

Well, you can see where I'm going with this. One mom sent in her kid's drawings this week after I asked. I didn't ask for monsters because I didn't want to do that.  I didn't know what I'd get or how I'd do any transformation. I figured I'd just see what happened. That's what Free-for-all-Friday is all about - collaborative experimentation. This is nothing like I usually do but here you go... Eliza & my painting.

When I saw Eliza's drawing I just loved it. (Thanks Eliza for letting me experiment with your artwork.) It was perfect on it's own but I was excited to try this transformation out. I kept faithful to her drawing but added color and a story. I call the painting Me & the Moon - Our Midnight Celebration. Since I just ended my 50th birthday celebration last week this just seemed fitting. The photo's a little dark since it wasn't that light out this morning when I took it.

I kept the same dark color palette DeVries uses. The only thing I wish I did differently was to put a face on that moon. Which I leave the right to go back and do. This doesn't look like anything I normally do but it was such fun. I may have to try this again sometime. Do you think I should?

I had some ideas about how I thought the 50th Birthday Celebration would go but  didn't know exactly. At first I thought I wanted to do 50 paintings of individual people. But, after seeing that you sent in more than one person per photo I changed it to 50 portraits or 50 faces in 50 days. (I said I'd be flexible.) That way I could paint couples or multiple people and still reach 50. I liked that change even though it wasn't my intention to begin with. So, I've finished 50 faces in 33 paintings.

It's been a great challenge to do this. I've spent at least 125 hours painting these portraits. That's 12 and a half 10 hour days, over 2 work weeks, or painting day and night for a little over 5 days. I've done images I wouldn't have usually tried, I have images I can use for my portfolio, I've pushed myself to paint, and I got to celebrate with some fine people. 

Here is my last portrait for the celebration. I haven't done a self portrait in about 7 years. I don't much like to but I think I will every birthday, it's a great record.

In the beginning I said that I wasn't giving the paintings to those who turned photos in. Actually, when I started I didn't know what I wanted to do with them. I just started and thought I'd figure out the details later. And, I've figured it out now.

For those who participated and want, I will give everyone their painting with a couple requests. 

First, if you live far away and I have to mail the painting, go to my website here and pay for shipping. I'm doing a flat fee of $12.00. Your's might be less than that and other's will be more, this is so that I don't have to worry about a separate price for every single painting. This also saves me from spending a few hundred dollars on shipping; that wouldn't be much of a celebration for me to do that. If you don't want the portrait it won't hurt my feelings. I've been through some rough art critiques before so I'm pretty tough. 

Second, if you live near by, I invite you to my 50th Birthday Celebration to pick up your painting. It's an Open House type of celebration from 7-10 pm on Friday the 31st. (8567 NE Crouch Road) This way all the paintings are out of my studio in a quick time frame. 

Third, I'd like you to send a donation for a local Cameron charity, click here. I haven't decided between the women's shelter or the food pantry, or to split it. But, what we gather this week I will give. So, by Friday night you can make a donation ($25, $50, $75) here. I usually never sell a painting for less than $800 so this is actually a good deal. If you are totally strapped and can't make a donation the painting is still yours.

If you didn't get a portrait but just enjoyed the journey and want to be part of the Celebration Donation you can help too. Just go to this link as well. 

So as the 50th Birthday Celebration comes to an end, I just have to say THANK YOU to all of you who were brave enough to send in photos and those of you who just liked seeing the new paintings. Either way, it's been a fun 50th birthday celebration for me. I hope it's been for you as well.

Before you go you might want to check out this post. To continue the fun, there will be some collaborative, artsy experiences every Friday. 

These are sisters. The photo I worked from wasn't the best and I think that the one girl on the left really had some teeth missing but I couldn't tell for sure. So, she got some teeth. Hope it's okay that I took creative license. 

Nearing the end to the 50th Birthday Celebration. Tomorrow, I'll tell you how I'm going to wrap it up.

Today's 50th Birthday Celebration was hard and easy at the same time. It was hard because the image was such a low resolution that it came out only about an inch square. Tiny! The only way I could do it was because her features were so easy. Kind of classic. So that's what saved me. Actually, I don't know how well I did compared to her in person, since I've never met her before. But, I think I did as good as my abilities would let me. I also don't think I'll challenge myself that much again. Painting #32.

Here is today's 50th Birthday Celebration. It's kind of a redo. I did the girl on the left earlier in the 50th celebration. I knew doing all three would take a lot of time so I did her by herself. I also tilted her head upright. Not all paintings are great and that one was kind of a fail. So, I just felt I wanted to redo it, with all three of them.

It's a mother and her daughters. Nice. And I even did it during daylight hours. Amazing.

Here's today's 50th Birthday portrait painting. Logan and Erica. I have a few things to fix on it but I'll do it when I get home. Having FHE at Leila and Sky's home right now. Hard to believe I finished this before 3 am. Nice. 

I got this photo early in the 50th Birthday Celebration and it surprised me that this one was sent in. It's not a high quality photo - faded and out of focus. Just a snap shot really but looking at it makes me smile because she loves it despite what it isn't. It makes me think of those moments when love is really good, despite what life is or isn't. And it's usually not the moments you think they're going to be that make you cherish them. So, I wanted to do this one even though I knew it would be hard to do, because I know that feeling.

Since it was a hard photo to work from I decided to make it a miniature. It's about 2" x 2". It makes it a little easier to deal with when there's a lack of clear detail. I don't think I've ever painted this small, and I've even tweaked it a little after this photo. But, this is the photo I'm posting until I take the for real photos of the paintings. 

Painting #27 for my 50th Birthday Celebration. The photo for this painting was sent in by Kathryn as a tribute to her friend who passed away this week after his battle with cancer. A thoughtful gesture and remembrance. 

50th Birthday Celebration • 50 Portraits in 50 Days. Painting 26.