DECEMBER DISCOUNT DAYS...DAY 16!

today's FEATURED PRINT...her royal highness, Cinderella. or, as the adorable little mice liked to call her, "Cinderelly Cinderelly". :)

not all dreams have to end at midnight....

"a girl can dream..."
©the enchanted easel 2015

especially for this lovely little flaxen haired beauty!

"a girl can dream..." my Cinderella tribute piece. 14x18 acrylic on canvas...and i enjoyed each and every single brush stroke i laid down on this painting. the pumpkin and cute little mice have stolen my heart, for sure.

PRINTS (AND OTHER NOVELTIES) AVAILABLE HERE!

{here's hoping the movie will be royally amazing!}

this little guy....

©the enchanted easel 2015

i "heart" him! :)

{having a bit of a love affair with some mice this week....}

background blues...

can you guess which princess is on the easel next?

{hint-there are pumpkins involved...hence the little vine sticking out in the attached pic.}

woodless graphite....

is a beautiful thing!

this is how EVERY painting begins....for me, anyway. well, except for my abstracts. (yes, i do fine arts as well.)

i draw/sketch out my idea in my sketchbook (sized at the same size the painting will be). in this step, i am extremely detailed and precise, making sure i have everything drawn/sketched out EXACTLY the way it will appear on the canvas. the more exact and precise i am in the drawing/sketching stage, the easier it is for me to execute the finished painting.

once the drawing/sketch is perfected, i then re trace over my own drawing/sketch with tracing paper....every line, every detail, everything...completely re traced. once that is done, i will take a piece of woodless graphite OR, if i don't have a piece laying around, i will use a VERY soft lead pencil (usually an 8B...6B at the very least). with that, i *scribble* very methodically on the back of my tracing....being sure to cover every line i have just traced so that i can transfer the drawing/sketch exactly as it appears in my sketchbook.

then, i lay the tracing (paper) with the graphite on the back over the canvas and press down with a 4H lead pencil to transfer the drawing to the canvas ever so perfectly.

and that, my friends, is how Nicole rolls...old school. that's how i worked in college...and that's how i work today. keeping it real and true to myself. 

i am a traditional painter. ALWAYS a (traditional) painter. :)

trick or treat, love pippa...and licorice :)

welcoming in fall is my sweet little character pippa...and her black bird friend licorice. pippa (who we all know is really ME-hence the uggs she usually has on) is dressed in her pumpkin costume and ready to hand out candy to all the little trick or treaters at the pumpkin patch. with the help of licorice, of course....;)

i wanted to do a painting of this, but time does not really allow for it. so...i took out my favorite *tools*...the tinted graphite pencils by derwent. OMG....i am so in love with these pencils. it's ironic because i seem to be known for (for a lack of a better phrase) for my use of bright and bold color in my paintings. yet, i am totally crazy about the look of tinted graphite. and, i'm truly a pencil girl at heart so these pencils really make me happy. AND...they are water soluble as well, so i often use a water brush pen (like a did here) filled with clear water and very gently add some water to the drawing and....POOF....magic!:)

anyway, not that i have gone off on my tangent about these pencils, i want to say that pippa here is available FOR SALE as a LIMITED EDITION print in my etsy shop found here

https://www.etsy.com/listing/111274719/trick-or-treat-love-pippa-and-licorice

and because i like to "share the love", here's a link to the FAB derwent graphitint pencils. if you try them, leave me a comment, as i would love to hear your feedback on them!

http://www.pencils.co.uk/product.aspx?mid=733

happy (early) halloween! love, pippa/me...and licorice ;)
xxx

~HaPpY AuTuMn~

ok, so technically i'm a day late, BUT autumn is ALWAYS welcome ANYTIME!:)
GOOD RIDDENS TO SUMMER!!!!

now....that means i am one season closer to my FAVORITE...WINTER....;)

~haPpY AuTumN~

just a cute little illustration of a scarecrow named fern and his adorable canary friend:)

this is FOR SALE as a REPRODUCTION here http://www.etsy.com/listing/81979891/fern-the-scarecrow-reproduction

after this one, i'm taking a little hiatus from painting pumpkins. just a little one...;)

~haPpY AuTumN~

pippa's pumpkin smoothie...yummy:)

here is a smaller size version of my FIRST entry to they draw and cook. it is for a contest entitled cooking 4 kids
http://www.theydrawandcook.com/cooking-4-kids-contest
as soon as i came across this contest a week or so ago, i knew had to give it a shot. with two other deadlines looming at the time, there was still no stopping me. i have been wanting to illustrate a recipe for the longest time now so this was the perfect opportunity.
i knew i wanted it to be easy to read, easy to follow, cute and most importantly healthy. so i figured with fall right around the corner....why not do something with pumpkins (which i love)!
i took my sweet little character pippa, some pumpkins, an easy recipe...and a cute little blackbird and voila...pippa's pumpkin smoothie!
i just submitted it to they draw and cook so i'm waiting to see how it looks once they review it and post it on their site. SUPER EXCITED!!!
***UPDATE-APPROVED*** YAY!!!!
take a peek over here and feel free to comment....
http://www.theydrawandcook.com/recipes/pippas-pumpkin-smoothie-by-nicole-esposito