Painting to relieve stress

Hey Cheeky,
I've not been feeling the greatest lately, my emotions have been shite and I've had to spend a lot of time on my own so I don't freak out. So the letter you posted me was perfectly timed.

On Tuesday I received the postcard you sent of the Dutch Royal Family, and also the stamped Gorjuss Girls you did up for me. I needed something to do so I could be creative without having to think too much, and painting some of the girls was perfect. I took my watercolours, my water brush, my pallet pad and the images and I sat at my desk, listening to a Baroque playlist on Spotify, and I did some painting.

First I painted the hearts, just to see what the paper was like. It isn't brilliant, but it was ok as long as I didn't overwork things, or add too much water. I'm still trying to get my head around watercolours. The fact that I have two books on my desk that I borrowed from the library doesn't seem to have helped. I guess I'll actually have to read them. Waiting for the information to absorb just from proximity doesn't seem to be working. Oh well
Once I'd done the hearts I started on the girls. Thanks for putting the names on the backs of each of them. I really want to buy so many of them, they're lovely.

Fly Away with Me

I'm not sure if I like the shading on her dress for this one, but as I said, I'm still learning. It's not too bad though and the final result is pretty sweet.

The Winter's Night

I thought that this one looked a bit like Merida, or at least very scottish, so I decided to try painting Tartan on her coat and hat. The scarf looks a bit like a snake but oh well. It was fun trying to get the pattern to work and I'm really happy with how it turned out. 

Puddle of Love

This one I had fun with as I tried to get the umbrella to look dimensional. Adding the white gel pen dots and hearts was fun too, and I coloured over the rainbows on her gumboots because I had tried painting them and stuffed them up. She's a bit of a cutie, don't you think? I'm happy with the colour of her coat. 

Dear Alice

I know that this is probably meant to be Alice in Wonderland, what with the hearts and the cards and the cup of tea, but I thought she looked Japanese so that's what I went with. I think it's the ear muffs - sometimes it seems that something like that only looks cute on small children and Japanese girls. 

Again, I wasn't super thrilled with this, but the longer I've left it the more I like it. She looks relaxed, so that's something, and her hair is just beautiful. I want hair that long, but I doubt it will ever happen. 

This is my paint pallet. I don't know why but I like this. I thought it was pretty. I guess because it didn't get too muddy, what with all the colours I was using. 

This is my attempt at trying to draw one of the girls. I was going from memory, and I'm happy with how it turned out, but I don't think the designer for Gorjuss girls is going to be in any danger of me taking over her job! 

Thank you again for sending me these pictures. I have no idea what I'll do with them, if anything. It was just really good to be creative without having to think too much about anything beyond what colour might look nicest. I need to find a way to be creative every day. It's good for my sanity. 

*hugs*

Hope you feel better soon. 

Love Dorky.