Hey I'm alive....and working

I know I fell of the face of the earth for a while but I have a really good excuse. I had this little guy two weeks early on September 5th:

Our little guy

His early arrival was quite unexpected and I wasn't quite wrapped up at work yet. Actually the day I had him I planned on getting everything set up for the person covering me. At least I made my anniversary date on the 4th.

So here's the show I had to abandon:

Carousel. The real problem with this, besides being 9 months pregnant in a very hot shop, were the renderings. This designer relies heavily on PhotoShop, which renders fine detail into a blur of pixels. If the original picture is poor to begin with, then it is just hell.

I started with the cut drop trees. As usual square out a box, staple down the muslin and starch. Here's a great photo of the magic of starch.

Starched and unstarched

I do have to admit I was proud of myself being able to square these out perfectly by myself despite being so very, very pregnant.

Drawing
End of first day

At the end of the first day I had it drawn out and basic color laid in.

The second day:
Next day

The third day:
Stage right day 3
Stage left day 3

The fourth day:
Stage right day 4
Stage left day 4

All done:
Complete Stage Left
Complete Stage Right

We rolled up the drops to store until closer to load in. They were cut and attached to netting later on (after I went on maternity leave).
It was working on those that I had an epiphiny. Working in my socks while pregnant was killing me. I got the bright idea to get a pair of Crocs to wear on drops. It gives my feet support and is gentle on the fabric. Plus, I can dip them in a bucket to scrub them clean.

Here are the grassy hills:

Ground Row Base

This is how I painted the grass...with an ostrich feather duster.
Feather Duster Grass

Grass first coat

Ground row complete

Small Fence

I did a few other pieces but didn't get pictures. The next, and last thing I worked on was the carousel top. The rendering for this was the worst I think I've ever been handed. It was blurry mess of pixels. I think it was a photo scanned in and colored. I took a lot of artistic license with it out of necessity. Here it is:

Carousel top finished

Carousel top detail

And then the next day I went into labor at 4 am.

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