Art Expectations Day 102
Pip discovers that Orlick has a crush on Biddy. He is not happy about that and tries to intervene. It seems he doesn’t want anyone else to like her, even though he has already confessed his love of Estella. He is confused by these emotions. Why does he care what happens to Biddy? She tells Pip that Orlick’s feelings for her should make no difference to him. But they do.
I did this very quick sketch on another board book panel that I painted black. Remember as a kid when you would color very hardly on construction paper, then paint it black all over on top? After the paint dried, you’d scratch designs into the black, revealing the bits of color underneath. That was always so cool and created a nice, surprising effect every time. Well, this is similar to that childhood art technique. I used the end of a paperclip to scratch in Estella, trying to make it unpleasant looking. Then tried to paint Biddy in pretty, sweet, innocent colors on top of pure, white rose sketches. This got me thinking, I bet Estella isn’t really so bad. Or maybe she is also a puppet of Miss Havisham and her choices in life are limited too, as Pip’s are. Who knows her back story… what tragedies she’s encountered. I am sure some of this will unfold as the story goes on.
(Are you wondering what the weird shape is on the board? I believe this was from a kid’s book about snow or penguins. I thought the snow window was fitting underneath Estella’s name.)
Art Expectations Day 87
Day 87
Pip asks Joe for a half-holiday (half day off). He plans to go up-town to visit Estella and Miss Havisham. Orlick, the journeyman (blacksmithing assistant), also asks for a half-holiday, saying that Joe should not choose favorites. (He feels threatened by Pip if you ask me.) Orlick loses his temper, scaring Pip by pretending to stab Pip with a red-hot bar right out of the furnace. Joe tells him to “cool down” before he’ll give them his answer about the holiday.
Joe’s decision? A half-holiday for everyone! (Mrs Joe overhears and is not happy!)
For this piece, I cut out a page of an old board book for children. I coated it with white acrylic to start with, but left some of the original book showing. (It’s a circus scene.) I painted half of the word “holiday” right under a flap. Then added a very quickly drawn Estella, complete with red eyes. Painted Miss Havisham’s house on the outside of the flap, an anvil on the inside with the word “Bye!” (Pip might be saying good-bye to his blacksmithing days… trading them in for days up-town with more refined folk. Can’t wait to see what happens when Pip shows up at Miss H’s house!
Art Expectations Day 64
Finished Guitar:
I put in the last details on my Wildflower Guitar: grey gear and vines in the very center, a few other grey swirls around and added a piece of an original illustration by F.W. Pailthorpe which appears in my copy of the book. I am happy with the outcome! There are lots of things to look at and I hope it is interesting to other people.
Page 69:
We learn the names of most of the people that are talking together in the detached room behind Manor House: Camilla, Cousin Raymond, Sarah Pocket and one other unnamed woman, plus Estella is still there. Camilla is telling everyone that she begged a Mr. Tom to allow her to go buy some things for the poor children. After all her begging, he gives in and tells her to go do it. So she goes out in the rain and buys the things. (No mention of who she is talking about or what she actually bought.) A distant bell is heard and Estella says to Pip, “Now, boy!” They leave the group and the little house to go back into Manor House.
All I have left to do is put a gloss varnish over everything. I might also add some things to the back, such as this blog address and “Charles Dickens”. Yeah, almost done!
Art Expectations Day 63
MORE Wildflower Festival Guitar!! I am getting pretty close to being finished. Yeah!
Today, I read page 68 and worked more on the little pig, Estella’s right eye (argh, can’t get it right), painted the year 1860 and pasted on text from the first page of the book, Chapter 1. Lastly I will need to coat this book paper with a varnish (matte medium) to protect it. Actually I will coat the whole front of the guitar with this varnish when I finish painting.
But on to page 68:
Pip is lead by the lovely Estella into a detached house at the back of the property. They walk through the back courtyard to get to it. She tells him to wait by a window until he is needed. I guess he is not allowed to participate in the conversation that is being held by three ladies and one gentleman. He is feeling uncomfortable, as if he is being scrutinized by the group. He stares out the window at the neglected courtyard. The people in the room are described as being “toadies and humbugs.” That doesn’t sound like a compliment!
Art Expectations Day 62
I’ve worked on my guitar some more. I did not like how Estella’s right eye looked, so I painted over it and recreated it. I want her to have a dull, unfeeling look. I think I achieved that! For Pip I had quickly painted him in a more stylized way. I then painted an outline of Manor House, Miss Havisham’s home, right over Pip’s head. I also worked on the little piggie a bit and added some more details to the abstract shapes along the right side. So far, so good! I wish I could keep this one. Maybe I will have to go to the festival and bid on it!
Day 62, page 67:
Once home, Pip’s sister, in a rare good mood, discovers that the new shilling was wrapped in TWO one-pound notes! Thinking this a mistake, Joe runs off with the notes to the pub to return them to the stranger, who was, of course, no longer there. Back home, they hide the notes under a teapot for the time being.
Pip has a fitful night full of nightmares about the convict/stranger and the file coming at him as if to stab him!
Chapter 11 begins, still on page 67:
It’s the following Wednesday, and Pip is back at Miss Havisham’s for his second visit. Estella lets him into the yard and leads him down a different passageway in the house. Almost done with the guitar! I’ll work on it some more tomorrow and read page 68. Thanks for stopping by!
Great Expectations Day 48
PIP drinks some BEER (not his first time)
Estella beats Pip at cards. (She’s so mean!) Miss Havisham asks Pip to come back in 6 days to “play” some more. She sends the two children away with instructions for Estella to give Pip a meal. Estella takes Pip back outside and leaves him in the courtyard by the side door. She comes back with meat, bread and beer for him.
Sketch of Pip with his mug of beer and names of the people who have influenced him. (I left off his sister!)
Great Expectations Day 47
(It’s actually still day 46, but I finished another one today and will take the day off tomorrow.)
ESTELLA
This is my daughter posing as Estella. I keep saying over in my head “eSTELLA!!!” (from A Streetcar Named Desire – haven’t seen that movie in a long time!)
Pip notices that everything in Miss Havisham’s room has stopped, frozen in time: the clocks, the one shoe never worn, nothing moved on the dresser, with dust all around each object. Estella criticizes Pip for his course hands and thick boots. She is very rude to him as they play cards. Pip whispers to Miss H that he wants to go home. He tells her that he thinks Estella is very pretty, very proud and very insulting.
I had fun drawing over this picture of my daughter in Photoshop…VERY quick sketching with my tablet. I drew a red curtain to cover up the bookshelves in my living room. I looked at old drawings of girl’s clothing from the 1860s for this dress and hat. My daughter loves it!
Great Expectations Day 46
Miss Havisham
Miss H admits that she wants a diversion and that she has a “sick fancy to see some play.” (This sounds really perverted!) Pip is unable to play on-the-spot and tells her so. He feels uncomfortable in this new, unfamiliar environment. Miss H has Pip call Estella back, the pretty young lady, to come play cards with him. Estella is reluctant to play with a common labour-boy, but once Miss H tells her she can break his heart she sits down to play. Poor Pip!
I did this quick portrait of Miss H, an old, thin, withered lady wearing a faded bridal veil. At the bottom, I placed part of an Old Maid playing card (found at an antique shop in McKinney Texas), a torn bit of paper that looks like lace and a bit of a skeleton illustration found in a book published in 1851. LOVE this book! And I also love downtown McKinney, such cute little shops and beautiful homes. The ones near the courthouse were mostly built in the 1890s. So charming!
My name is Julie and I'm reading Great Expectations one page a day and also creating one little work of art (30 minutes or less) a day relating to what I read. Thanks for looking and reading. Leave a comment to let me know what you think!
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