Monday, October 19, 2009

EDM Challenge #235 Draw a butterfly


Well it started out good, I think. I thought it would fun to
do a play on words and draw Madame Butterfly instead of a
real butterfly. It came out too cutesy. And then...and this is
the big one...I forgot to allow for the handle of the umbrella.
What's it doing, coming out of her head? Sheesh! I should
have done it more like the Japanese woodcuts. In any case,
here she is.
.
The lyric is from "Tight Connection to my Heart"

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Now that is a heckava creative way of dealing with a challenge! Kudos! Love the lettering and the detail in the umbrella especially.

Ellen Burkett said...

Well, thanks Sheila. This is one of those things where you know you should have listened to yourself. I thought "I should re-draw this from another angle." But then...well, I did it the boring way, head on, little character to the face...phffft! It's one of those times where I spent so much time trying to fix it I would have been better off starting over. Live and learn I guess. But thank you for your kind comment.

donna said...

This is amazing work, as always! I didn't even notice the missing handle.

I really believe we learn more from our mistakes than from out successes.

Margaret Ann said...

I love her!!! Almost a madonna type of illo! Verycool indeed! :)

Tammy Freiborg said...

Beautiful!

Lynn Logan Roselli said...

The colors are wonderful and the lettering works with the picture. The overall picture is beautiful!! I didn't miss the handle either!

Alex said...

Aww you should be absolutely proud of it Ellen! I didn't even think about the handle of the umbrella, I was looking at her expression, her hair, the awesome designs in the background(which is the umbrella) and her dress and all... another well composed piece!

Thank you for your encouraging words Ellen :)

Timaree said...

I think it's a terrific picture. If you hadn't told us not a single one of us would have noticed the error. Now it's fun to contemplate just where that handle would need to be.

Look at Van Gogh's The Pool Room. It looks like the man's legs should be showing up under the pool table but they don't. I think they should have but either Van Gogh didn't think so or he didn't notice till too late. You are in good company it seems.

Gary said...

Great page Ellen. It is what it is - this becomes something unique (I accepted it as a kind of mandala - love the mixed media btw) If this needs to be different (ie. handle) then do another one - and let it be as unique!

alissa said...

Beautiful interpretation of the EDM challenge. I am so glad you posted it online. I love the shadows and tones on her serene face and the highlight in her hair. AND I never even looked for an umbrella handle.

Ellen Burkett said...

Thank you everyone. You are all so supportive. Dan, you're right! I'll just call it mandala! Or I'll say the umbrella was mounted on the wall! And I'll remember the Van Gogh story, freebird! It is what it is...right, Gary.

Anyway, thank you to everyone. You're the best.

Ramona Davidson said...

Lovely, imaginative, and great art. If you had not told us I would have thought the umbrella behind her was just some kind of beautiful oriental artwork. It is beautiful as is. No apologies needed.

~jolene said...

LOVE, LOVE, L.O.V.E. it!

Ellen Burkett said...

Thank you Ramona and Jolene!

trish said...

Great interpretation of butterfly! And until you mentioned it, I didn't even think about the umbrella handle not being there... it looks natural without it - kind of like when you see a movie and you know that physics wouldn't allow for such an action but because it looks so good, you just don't care. That's what I think about the umbrella! This is great!

Dan Kent said...

Ellen, this is not cutesy, its wonderful! The drawing and the colors are gentle and meditative for a very satisfying effect. Now, look carefully, the handle, expertly held in her hand is tucked between her arm and her body, and extends just behind the collar of her kimono. See it? Actually, I looked at itm took in the whole effect, liked it and didn't for a moment think that any handle was missing. In fact, I still disagree. It could be concealed just as I said. Besides - this is art. Reality is for a camera lens and even then not always. (And, oh, Gary was the genius that called it a mandala - not me, but thank you for thinking so :) ).

Ellen Burkett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ellen Burkett said...

I DID think it was you and noticed it was Gary after I posted my comment! I must have just come from your blog and confused myself (easy to do nowadays!)

Thank you, Dan...and Gary too!

And I'll buy the idea of the handle being between her arm and her body! Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket! Imagine that...to paint it and not even know I was doing it! A new school of art...the post conciousness school. ;o)