Okay, so I totally had to get a replacement iphone. My oldie was born in 2009 and really was through it’s lifespan last year. I couldn’t track contractions during my labour with Meekly, because the circle button (love my technical jargon) just wouldn’t register. A short while later, my volume started going, then the ringer died. So essentially it had internet connectivity. And I could — theoretically — still call out if I used ear buds. And starving artists can’t really afford new cellphones. So I made it work. But then 4 weeks ago, Sneaky lost it.
If you have a 3 year old toddler, chances are he’s probably obsessed with Youtube clips & regularly steals your phone on you to watch them when he knows he’s not supposed to. All my favourite videos are Wheels on the Bus renditions, opening Kinder surprise eggs, and demos of diecast reveals of Cars cars, and the hip hop dance video (LOL!) Well, I tore the house apart and it still hasn’t turned up. And I kinda need a phone when we no longer have a landline. Oh modern first world problems.
So I got one. And just as I suspected, I’d downloaded Instagram before nights end. Erg. And renewed my iphone love affair all over again. Should I mention old iphone didn’t take pictures any longer, and the screen was almost entirely black? Well, it was. And forget about videos! Until yesterday, I was still using my beloved Flip to catch my kidlets cuteness – which takes batteries (yes, it’s that old) & cursing Cisco for taking the Flip out of commission if the unthinkable should ever have happened and that died on me too. BUT NOW, NOW I HAVE AN IPHONE! AND IT TAKES VIDEOS! & I’ve already taken fifty pictures and 5 videos & lost my soul to instagram!
Okay, but here’s the thing. I thought I’d do a behind-the-scenes via instagraming (so that it wasn’t all in vain) of my Portrait a Week (PAW) endeavour. And hashtag copyright the #paw proper! And here’s the result:
Step 1- loading picture! #PAW #makingart – for winner Joanna R’s adorable son Nico (who, I’m quite sure, is Sneaky’s identical hair twin!)
Step 2 #PAW in progress … Sifting through some lovely styles!
#Meekly naps in her favourite spot!
Step 3 hand-drawn elements & a Hortons fix #PAW in-progress
Finishing touches #PAW – drop shading & a few memory crashes later : ( #makingart
No pictures of Sneaky eating chicken fried rice & boiled eggs nearby, or the fit he pitched when the ipad died on him and he was unable to watch — what other than — another Wheels on the Bus video. (Though it looked remarkably similar to this: (from the night before’s pitched fit over the ipad).
Oh & this. . .
Just a little post work work.
So, it’s a pretty accurate representation of my process, and the joys of being a PAFHM. (That’s Pop Artist From Home Mom).
& in the end, it became a synthesis of these (as my #PAW-spiration).
& actually a bit of this:
Which was entirely unintentional, but my favourite part – being it’s one of mine & Sneaky’s favourite books!
The end result?
This week’s #PAW! Which will be up officially, along with the giveaway, tomorrow!
If you’d like to see a behind-the-scenes #PAW next week, let me know in the comments!
Happy Hump Day, everyone! 
