Yesterdayafter.com – Page 21 – Carolina Russo Art

50 Words Story, Challenge, Creativity, Featured, Poetry, Published work, Short Stories, Uncategorized, Writings

Poetry – Visual Verse Published my Short Story – Poignant Pondering

May 10, 2016May 10, 2016 Carolina Russo

ChsSCcUWkAA9NXx — Visual Verse Image Starting Point

I am thrilled again!

This month I received an invitation to participate to this interesting Anthology of Art and Words on VisualVerse.org I found it to be very interesting and challenging to write something inspired by a picture as starting point to a creative, timed, writing process. The antique image that you see here was the starting point to write in a limited time and words a poem or story.

Visual Verse gave these instructions:

Visual Verse An Anthology of Art and Words
One image, one hour, 50-500 words.
The picture is the starting point, the text is up to you.

“we present an image will surely prompt some challenging responses. Taken from a 17th Century text, it is an illustration by French artist Alain Manesson Malett of two women in Syria. The image invites questions about identity, perception and the assumptions we make about those who are different from ourselves. And being over 400 years old, this image also reminds us that our quest to understand each other, to accept and to be accepted is nothing new”

I have been staring at this image and I let my imagination fly for awhile. I wrote and submitted a short story of 65 words “Poignant Pondering” is the title.
This short story is not published here on my Blog yet. I am very happy to share it with you as a nice archivement of my creativity that now is part of this interesting Anthology and published on:

Visual Verse Anthology – Vol. 03 Chapter 07 – Poignant Pondering #75 .

I link the Archive with all the images and writings published until now!

I hope that you like my short story please let me know what you think
I love your comments!

©Carolina Russo

©Copyright Carolina Russo – yesterdayafter.com

Art, Doodlewash, Drawings, Illustration, National Days, Nature, Sketch Book, Watercolors

#DoodlewashDinner – National Shrimp Day!

May 9, 2016May 10, 2016 Carolina Russo

Shrimp - Original Watercolor ©Carolina Russo — Shrimp – Original Watercolor ©Carolina Russo

Today I found out that is National Shrimp Day which is perfect for our Doodlewash Dinner!

Shrimps are delicious and a great source of Omega3 they are consumed worldwide and there are numerous dishes and recipes to choose from paired with some nice white wine. I was born on a city on the Mediterranean Sea in Italy “Naples” which is very close to the famous Capri Island and to the well-known Amalfi Coast where there are amazing places to go to eat fresh and great seafood which is a favorite to many!

Think about a great Shrimp Saute or a fresh Shrimp Cocktail, or more a great quick Shrimp linguini and so on… I know we’re getting hungry here! 😉
For my watercolor today I painted a single beautiful Shrimp I couldn’t choose any dish… so I wanted to paint the beauty of the shrimp itself which is a lovely sea creature!

With this National Shrimp Day I join Charlie at doodlewash for a #DoodlewashDinner! You are welcome to join with your doodlewash!
Tag your image #DoodlewashDinner.

#doodlewashaday #DoodlewashDinner #NationalShrimpDay

Happy Doodles!

©Carolina Russo

©Copyright Carolina Russo – yesterdayafter.com

Art, Digital Art, Emotions, Illustration, Life, Love, Poems, Poetry, Published work, Writings

My Poem “Emotions” Published on Spillwords

May 8, 2016 Carolina Russo

Emotions - Digital Art ©Carolina Russo — Emotions – Digital Art ©Carolina Russo

Today is a very special day for me!

I am so thrilled to have my poem “Emotions” published on a wonderful platform and great Literary Press.
I am honored to be listed as one of their writers!

Spillwords.com
“home for all that live and breathe words, spilled or inspired, through literature of every genre, from writers and poets of every walk of life”.

Here you can read my Published Poem: Emotions

I want to thank the editor of Spillwords for choosing and publish my poem. Thank you!

Please If you have the time and opportunity, head over Spillwords.com and check it out is a very interesting platform where you can have some good reading!

I wish to my mother and all the mother’s around the world
a wonderful Mother’s Day and a lovely weekend!

©Carolina Russo

©Copyright Carolina Russo – yesterdayafter.com

Art, Doodlewash, Drawings, Illustration, Indie, Life, Sketch Book, Watercolors

Illustration – Friends

May 3, 2016 Carolina Russo

Today my doodlewash is not about food, but I would like to share an older post and I hope that you enjoy it!
Anyway will be good for #doodlewashaday

Friends and Sennelier…
I wanted to use my new French Sennelier Watercolor! So I needed to create something!

I love and enjoy Illustration, and sometimes I like drawing cute whimsical characters a little bit out of my ordinary watercolor paintings and sketches. Creativity it is something that there are no words to describe it! Inspiration can come to me from anything and anytime, everywhere, and often start with something to ends with something totally different from what was at first inside my mind, it is a very fascinating and abstract process, that’s how I call it!

While I was thinking what to begin with to start my drawing, the word “Friends” came up to my mind I don’t know why, at the same time I was on my Pinterest (Follow me) pinning things for my numerous boards. I came across some very cute little dolls. I was captured by their sweet, nice faces with big eyes and instantly I felt the wish to draw them. I quickly made my sketch, when the word “Friends” came back to mind again and that was it!!! It was perfect for my new illustration. I am going to dedicate this drawing to all the amazing Bloggers Friends and Artists I found here on WP community. 🙂

Some technical details
I quickly sketched first with a pencil #2 HB few light lines just to give me an idea to the two figures and the flower then I painted. For this Illustration I was very excited to use my new French Sennelier watercolors. I use many different brands of watercolors I love Sennelier their watercolors are beautiful so vibrant, very pigmented, they are rich, luminous and honey-based. I purchased this metal travel box on Amazon it is small and easy to carry almost the size of an iPhone it can fit anywhere.

Sennelier Watercolors Travel Box — Sennelier – L’Aguarelle French Artist Watercolors

This Watercolor set is inspired by the bright and lively palette of Southern France. Each set contains 12 half pans of top quality French Artists Watercolor and two built-in palettes within a compact and sturdy metal case. Reformulated with an increased honey content gives each watercolor incomparable brilliance and luminosity while acting as a preservative to extend the paints longevity.
I love the fluidity of the colors a little goes a long way. I am very happy how my illustration turned out. I gave the finish touch going over with a black ink Pigma Micron pen 0.3 to finish and add shades. I painted this with a very light wash not on a watercolor paper but on a mix media ProArt Sketchbook size 9×11 inches.

#doodlewashaday

Happy doodlewashes!

©Carolina Russo

Art, Doodlewash, Drawings, Illustration, Indie, National Days, Sketch Book, Uncategorized, Watercolors

Happy May! National Chocolate Mousse Day! #DoodlewashDinner

May 2, 2016May 2, 2016 Carolina Russo

Chocolate Mint Mousse - Original Watercolor ©Carolina Russo — Chocolate Mint Mousse – Original Watercolor ©Carolina Russo

Happy May everyone!

This Month there are many things on my plate!
First of all Charlie at Doodlewash invited all of us for a month of a virtual doodlewash dinners!
The month of May hold a new sketching and watercolor adventure the theme that Charlie choose is “Food” so you will see from me lots of delicious food illustrations!

Today according to this List is National Chocolate Mousse Day!
I choose to watercolor a traditional French Chocolate Mousse and I am giving to my own w a mint twist flavor! ❤

The word mousse in French means foam, and chocolate is for chocolate. Mousse au chocolate translates as foamy chocolate.

With a few rare exceptions, all chocolate mousse recipes have two ingredients: dark Chocolate is the essential element of the dessert, and egg white, whipped into a foam and added to the melted chocolate to provide the light and foamy texture essence of the recipe.

This is the traditional mousse, additional ingredients can be added to change the taste and texture of the dessert, if you search you can find many recipes.

Details about my doodlewash:
I used a basic watercolor palette Artist’s Loft Fundamental watercolor pan set this pan set is considered for beginners but I enjoy use it for the variety of colors and for sketching. I also used a Pigma Micron Black Ink pen #005 Brown #01 and a Pink gel pen over a Mix Media sketchbook!

With this celebration I am also join Charlie at doodlewash celebrating a #DoodlewashDinner ! You are welcome to join with your doodlewash!
Tag your image #DoodlewashDinner.

#doodlewashaday #DoodlewashDinner

Happy Doodles!

©Carolina Russo

©Copyright Carolina Russo – yesterdayafter.com

Doodlewash, Drawings, Illustration, National Days, Sketch Book, Uncategorized, Watercolors

National Bugs Bunny Day

April 30, 2016April 30, 2016 Carolina Russo

Bugs Bunny - Original Watercolor ©Carolina Russo — Bugs Bunny – Original Watercolor ©Carolina Russo

National Bugs Bunny Day!

Today there are many National Days to choose from and I decided to go with a fun one that I am sure will make many of you smile remembering our childhood loved cartoons! Who doesn’t remember Bugs Bunny! Well he is the star today for this National Day and for my last doodlewash for the month of April! Tomorrow a new month start and a new doodlewash adventure let’s see what May will bring!

National Bugs Bunny Day is observed each year on April 30.
Bugs Bunny is the famous cartoon character best remembered for his roles in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies produced by Warner Bros. He is known for his popular catchphrase “What’s up, doc?” Bugs Bunny first appeared in a short film on April 30, 1938, and has since been enjoyed by millions of viewers.

History facts
National Bugs Bunny Day is an unofficial national day here in USA Bugs Bunny The Trickster is a gray Hare Rabbit with a flippant personality that portray him as a trickster. Bugs Bunny is one of the most recognized cartoon characters. He is the leader of the Looney Tunes, starring in Merrie Melodies and is recognized as the mascot of Warner Bros. In a comic book, he revealed that his real name is George Washington Bunny. He first appeared in the cartoon “A Wild Hare”.

You can read more about him here:

Bugs Bunny (Character) – Biography – IMDb

A Special Thank You to Charlie!
With this Celebration of National Bugs Bunny Day, I am also join Charlie at doodlewash celebrating the month of April with a doodlewash! It was super fun for me join the amazing group of other 32 artists playing along! I want to thank Charlie for this beautiful and inspiring idea, giving us the motivation and opportunity to share our doodlewashes! Today is last day of April and I will join the new adventure for the month of May, Charlie will reveal tomorrow what the theme is, I am very curious to see what he will bring us! 😉

#doodlewashaday #NationalBugsBunnyDay

Happy doodlewashes!

©Carolina Russo

©Copyright Carolina Russo – yesterdayafter.com

Art, Doodlewash, Drawings, Illustration, National Days, Nature, Sketch Book, Uncategorized, Watercolors

National Peace Rose

April 29, 2016April 29, 2016 Carolina Russo

Peace Rose - Original Watercolor ©Carolina Russo — Peace Rose – Original Watercolor ©Carolina Russo

Today for April Celebration is National Peace Rose Day!

I know it is a bit late today I had a little time and I made my Peace Rose to honor this beautiful National Day.
I love roses, all of them, and I enjoyed to watercolor this symbolic one, for the beautiful colors and interesting history facts behind it.

History
Each year on April 29th we recognize National Peace Rose Day. The day is set aside to honor the “Peace” rose, a well-known and fruitful garden rose.

The light yellow to large cream-colored flowers of the Peace rose have slightly flushed crimson pink petal edges. It is a hybrid tea rose that is hardy, vigorous and highly resistant to disease.

French horticulturist Francis Meilland, developed the Peace rose between 1935 and 1939. When Meilland foresaw the German invasion of France, to protect the new rose, he sent cutting to his friends in Italy, Turkey, Germany and the United States. It is believed these cuttings were sent to the United States on the last plane available before the German invasion.

The rose received different names in each country it was sent. In France, it was called “Madame A. Meilland” in honor of the breeder’s mother. In Italy, it was called Gioia, meaning Joy. In Germany, the name of the rose was Gloria Dei, for glory to God. In the United States, the rose was named Peace.

As the Second World War was coming to a close in Europe, the trade name “Peace” was publicly announced on April 29, 1945, the name it was given in the United States.

Later in 1945, Peace roses were given to each delegate at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations, in San Francisco, with a note that read: “We hope the Peace rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace.” (source NationalCalendar)

Details about my doodlewash:
watercolor with pink, brown and black ink finish pens. I used French Artists Watercolors Sennelier l’Aguarelle 12 demi-godets half-pans travel metal box and Pigma Micron Brown Ink pen #01 and in Black ink #005 also a Pink gel pen over a Mixed Media Sketchbook!

With this Celebration of National DNA Day, I am also join Charlie at doodlewash celebrating a National or International Day with a doodlewash! You are welcome to join with your doodlewash! Tag your image#doodlewashaday.

#doodlewashaday #NationalPeaceRoseDay

Happy doodles!

Art, Doodlewash, Drawings, Illustration, My Paintings

National DNA Day!

April 25, 2016April 26, 2016 Carolina Russo

Self-Portrait - Original Watercolor ©Carolina Russo — Self-Portrait – Original Watercolor ©Carolina Russo

Today for April celebration I am celebrating the National DNA Day!

For my daily watercolor I challenged myself like never before!!! I had to be able to draw my DNA which comes up to me in form of self-portrait!
The person depicted today is supposed to be me! ❤ You can give a look to my About me page or my profile photo and see if my watercolor portrait is a looks-alike. My daughter recognized me soon already from my starting light pencil sketch. She was like wow! This is YOU!!!
Her reaction told me that I was on the right path!
I have to say that I never did my self-portrait before. I was too scared! but today I tried and I am pretty pleased with the result and proud that I tried!
In the past I did lots of fashion design sketches and other figures but never myself!

About the DNA what I can say more than we all have a unique one, and no one else can have the same as yours! Let’s Celebrate our uniqueness!!!

Details about my doodlewash:
watercolor with brown and black ink finish pen. I used one of my favorite French Artists Watercolors Sennelier l’Aguarelle 12 demi-godets half-pans travel metal box and Pigma Micron Brown Ink pen #01 and #005 in Black ink over a Mixed Media Sketchbook!

And I am also join Teresa at Teresa Robeson’s #SelfieArt day

#doodlewashaday #NationalDNADay #SelfieArtday

Happy doodles and have a great day or evening!

Art, Doodlewash, Drawings, Illustration, My Paintings, National Days, Nature, Sketch Book, Uncategorized, Watercolors

Happy Earth Day!

April 22, 2016April 22, 2016 Carolina Russo

Yellow Flower – Original Watercolor ©Carolina Russo

Happy Earth Day!!!

Today I am celebrating this day thinking about how important it is to preserve our Earth, respect the Nature and environment.

I painted these flowers with pure colors from Nature without using the classic watercolor pans.

I wrote a post explaining all the interesting details about my experiment painting with Nature and I will link it here for you to read “Watercolors from Nature”

National Earth Day is observed each year on April 22.

National Earth Day is held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Every year around the world, Earth Day organizers promote green campaigns to save the Earth.

Details about my doodlewash:
I painted with colors that I experimented using straight from Nature. The yellow is Turmeric powder mixed with water, the Pink is juice from the Dragon fruit straight from the fruit and Pigma Micron black Ink pen #005 and #05 over a watercolor paper pad cold press 140 lb by Strathmore.

With this Celebration, I am also join Charlie at doodlewash celebrating a National or International Day with a doodlewash! You are welcome to join with your doodlewash! Tag your image#doodlewashaday.

#doodlewashaday #EarthDay

Happy doodles and have a great weekend!

Art, Doodlewash, Drawings, Illustration, Sketch Book, Uncategorized, Watercolors

National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day

April 21, 2016 Carolina Russo

Today for April month celebrations I celebrate a (bit late) National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day!
I am surprised that there are so many unofficial National Days and some of them are very inspiring and great prompts for my doodlewash motivation!

This cake has a fascinating history
It was invented because several other convenience items were developed that gave the housewife time to make a cake pretty as well as delicious.

The idea of cooking a cake upside down, is an old technique that started centuries ago when cakes were cooked in cast iron skillets. It was easy for cook to add fruit and sugar in the bottom of the pan and a simple cake batter on top and put it over the fire to cook.
Then flipping it over onto a plate was a natural way to show the pretty fruit and let it run into the cake as well.

The idea of the pineapple soon after 1911 when one of James Dole’s engineer had invented a machine to cut his pineapples into nice rings. Soon the convenient and pretty rings were used in this age old technique of the skillet cake. The invention of the maraschino cherry added the necessary color needed to make this cake stunning.
(Source: kitchenproject.com)

This old-fashioned cake is truly delicious I made it several times and it is always a joy to eat!
I couldn’t find my own recipe but I found one here that looks similar and pretty good to me I will link it in case you like to try and if you do it let me know how turned out! ❤
Pineapple Upside Down Cake – Recipe

Details about my doodlewash:
watercolor with brown ink finish. I used one of my favorite French Artists Watercolors Sennelier l’Aguarelle 12 demi-godets half-pans travel metal box and Pigma Micron Brown Ink pen #01 over a Mixed Media Sketchbook!

With this Celebration of National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day, I am also join Charlie at doodlewash celebrating a National or International Day with a doodlewash! You are welcome to join with your doodlewash! Tag your image#doodlewashaday.

#doodlewashaday #PineappleUpsideDownCakeDay

Happy doodles and have a great day or evening!