One color layer to go and then these 51 will be done (Except for the frames which is no small deal - since I build the frames myself.)

I have added the yellows for the first color layers. Different yellows can been seen below.
The second color layers have been mostly reds and some greens. I have to keep with my method of first layers light, second layers medium and third layers dark.

The paintings are looking quite bright and not too subtle! I will start the third layers tomorrow.

51 plastered boards

Below is the first batch of boards to have textures applied - you can see two joint compound buckets in the background. I estimate that I have used a third of a 5 gallon bucket of "mud." My bragging that I can do 100 paintings with one bucket might be conservative!
Since I have cutout and sanded 121 boards, I have a ways to go (70!). The textures are quite low relief - mostly between a 1/16" and 1/8". I'm sure that nowhere have I exceeded a thickness of 1/8".

The face of these 51 boards will be sanded, sealed twice with gloss polymer medium and colored with three layers of acrylic paint. Lots of drying time!

In the above detail you might be able to see that I'm still depending on doilies for a lot of the applied textures.

Doc's book is ready!!!

Doc's son Curt Heaps drew the beautiful cover illustration.
The blurb on the back cover depicts the story well.

Kathleen Thompson's touching Forward will give you a good glimpse of our friend's character.

Gearing up for two shows!

I'm committed to two shows soon - the Athens ARTSfest is the first weekend in May and "First Friday" this June in Williamsport, PA at Trimtex. I will be using some of Trimtex's products to make textures in my paintings. Former art student teacher Kristina Snook-Kohr helps manage the store and provided me with the materials. Kristina is the one responsible for getting me the store's space for the June event.
Last weekend I cut out a number of different sizes from my stock of masonite.

I had to sand all the edges and prime the boards in stages because my drying space isn't large enough to handle the number of pieces cut out.

I'm trying to organize my work table in the background. I have repainted it and now I must situatate all my "texture makers." I am anxious to get started with the plastering.

The Mighty Andar!

Andy Wales is a friend of mine who introduced me to the blogging world. I've tried to convince others that blogging is an easy way to get out into the world of cyberspace. If you are at all interested in comics, you should visit Andy's blog "PANEL DISCUSSION." Andy has been a help to my development as well as a great role model. If you are interested in the teaching of elementary ART, you should visit Andy's other blog "The Lynch-Bustin Art Room" which tells about and shows his lessons and other ART ideas.

Scrapbook page for another special kid (I mean young lady [who just turned 10!]):

Another digital scrapbook page

It was easy to use my paintings for this page because Corey is such an animal lover. He has literally a hundred toy animals - mostly jungle creatures - some large and many small. My animal stamps that I embed in my paintings fit in naturally.

Another digital scrapbook page

Another color scheme, too. Our nephew Jordan is into almost all the things on his Dad's Angus farm. Especially the things he can drive! Look for future pages because I have more very special kids that I want to honor with a page.

Digital scrapbooking partially illuminated?

I've done some research to see how creative people make digital scrapbook pages (I made my own from scratch). The image below is a packaged deal - you can purchase all the "design elements" shown (each image is already cutout and separate) for between $4 - $7. Then you can arange the elements with a photo program like Adobe Elements or Paint Pro Shop. And then you can add your family photos.
There are hundreds of pages on the internet. Do a search on "digital scrapbook pages" and you will see for yourself. Three semi-random examples follow. (I picked ones that I especially liked, but show different ways of approaching the page.)

The standard seems to be 12" x 12" at 300 dpi. The package deals seem to have specific color schemes. The added photos are usually true to the scheme.

Because the purchased elements are well photographed, the final projects have a professional look.