Milos

One of the prettiest islands I've been to!! Milos is famous for it's hundreds of beautiful beaches and most of them are accessible only by boat. It belongs to the Cycladic Islands and is very similar to Serifos and Sifnos in architecture, white washed houses and narrow stone streets. The Hora is built on a hill and there is also a Kastro (castle) just like with the other islands to protect it from pirates! I climbed up to the castle and even though the temps were extremely hot...the views from up there were heavenly!!  You could see the whole island!

 

 

 

 

The most gorgeous sunsets! words cannot describe this picture..

These are from the way up th the Kastro. it's not an easy climb and it was soooo hot that day.

churches everywhere!

This is in Plaka. beautiful narrow streets and well kept gardens, white washed houses...

 

Sparkling sea..

Sarakiniko. Have you ever seen a beach like this?..Milos is a volcanic island and this beach here looks like pumice stone. something out of a sci fi movie, right?

There were also cave on the side of the hills...

Hope you are well my friend and enjoyed this little break :)

Before I go I must show you one more pic. The colored doors you see in the background used to be storage garages for the fishing boats a long time ago. They are now renovated rentals, where you open your front door and dive into the gorgeaous sea!

My next post will be on Kimolos, where I went on a day trip. It's only a twenty minute ferry ride(2 euro fare!) I only spent the day there but it was so out of this world beautiful, It will be my vacation destination next summer!

Playground

As I pack my suitcase for my vacation, my mind wonders to my latest creation, "Playground". It was submitted for a competion and although it wasn't chosen, I learned so much from it. All this is a result from my class with Lilla. I've been paying more attention to icons, using big and small ones to make my painting more visually interesting. Having more detail in each one and most important, being true to myself! Believing in myself and my style!

After the competion was over, I took a long look at my painting and decided to start all over, but this time trace each icon into Illustrator and make it digital, just to compare. Most of the entries and especially the finalists' art, was digital... hmmm Am I at a disadvantage here?.. so many questions were going through my head and although I love digital art and want to learn, I still love to paint. So I think my next step in my art journey will be combining the two and see what happens. For now, I'm focusing on learning all this digital stuff and to be honest, I've been spending day and night on my computer for the last few weeks, obsessing over illustrator. I'm just fascinated!!

So here is the digital version. I've changed a few things but tried to keep the colours as close as the original. What do you think?

My next post will be from the Greek Island, Milos!! as in Venus de Milo! I've never been so this will interesting. From what I've read, this island is most famous for it's rocky beaches, antiquities and museums. So stay tuned for Joanna, artist/travel agent  to report back :)

Alphabet series

Ok, I've putting off learning digital art for many years now, but after taking this latest class, I can no longer ignore it! Most of my classmates are experts in this field and I really need to get a move on! I've dabbled in Corel2 which is a basic software program and now Illustrator has come in the picture. yikes and yikes again!!  When I first opened it, I freaked seeing all those buttons!! So I ordered this book and joined a group for help, which is helping tremendously!  But I am determined to learn and tackle this as best I can.

In order to make it easier to learn, I've decided to make an Alphabet series,using very simple designs to begin with and then progress to more advanced projects.
I remember from when we did Mixed Media Monday all those of you creating in digital form and I would just be wowed!! It seemed all so comlpex but sooo beautiful!!
So here is my A and B. Tell me what you think :)