Monday, August 7, 2017

Aurora Wings Challenge #55- Elements using "Siren

Hello everyone and welcome back to another Aurora Wings Challenge!! This time we are playing with the "Elements" I chose water and this new beautiful "Siren" image was absolutely perfect!!
So I did a little research on Sirens before I started this project because while I knew they were mermaid like creatures I knew they weren't exactly mermaids. So here's a little of what I learns:
  • Sirens used their song to call sailors off their course and to their deaths
  • They were beautiful creatures that have either been depicted as half bird half human or half fish half human. However, their beauty lay more in their song than their physical appearance
  • They are mentioned in Greek mythology has having done one of the water goddesses wrong-- something about protecting a daughter who ended up being kidnapped; and the sirens were sentenced to a life at sea until the princess was safely returned-- If I got that wrong please correct me!!
  • Sirens generally had 1 island that was theirs and many sailors marked it on their maps as a place to avoid
  • There was one Captain who apparently wanted to hear the Siren song so much that he made all his crew wear ear plugs and tie him to the mast. That way he could hear thier song but no one including himself would be able to steer the ship off course and close the island.
So having learned all that, I really wanted to do something dark and mysterious with this image but still to reflect the beauty of the Siren. And I'm really hoping I did that! Take a look below and tell me what you think!!
This took me hours of fun to create the Mermaid Scale background!! I used a base layer of black, brushed over it with a purple metallic and then another layer of black so the purple just sparkles so slightly in all that black base.
Once that dried I got out some of my Inca Golds and used them through a Mermaid Scale stencil. I layered the Incas over and over in so many different places so that each color was blended with all the others but so that each color still shone as itself. If that makes sense? LOL
For the flowers I misted each with a Black Dylusions and layered Heidi Swapp shimmer mists over top in a couple different colors and then gave it another shot of black.
I love the use of a couple different metal embellishements. I was hoping it gave the look of what a mix match you would find at the bottom of the ocean at all different levels of breaking down.

"My home is the open sea where stars shine brighter and my soul is free"
I really hoped that the different colored mediums I used would all pull together nicely and highlight the colors already used in coloring the mermaid and I think I succeeded!!!
Lastly I just really wanted to show you all the different metallic colors shining in the Mermaid Scales. I hope the picture shows enough of them!!
It really is just stunning!!!!

You can grab this amazing "Siren" image here:

Come play along on the Aurora Wings Challenge Blog!!
Thanks so much for popping in today!! See you again real soon!!!



I am entering this project in the World Wide Open Design Team Challenge.

8 comments:

  1. OOOH, Sara! You've definitely captured the dark and mysterious mood of the Siren. Gorgeous coloring with her red hair just glowing against the night sky and water. Fabulous detail in the framing and embellies, too. What an amazing project! xxD

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  2. Fabulous Sara, great colouring and love I the scale background x

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  3. Argghh mysterious Siren.. love your colouring on her.. awesomeee.. <3 xx

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  4. Beautiful card and coloring. Love the dark touch of it. Hugz

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  5. You've done a wonderful job capturing the darkness that lurks behind and around the mysterious Siren, Sara! I love the contrast of the dark colors and embellishments against the bright colors in the image. Love reading about your research and seeing all the additional pics from different angles. Thank you so much for this gorgeous inspiration for our latest challenge at Aurora Wings today! Mitzi xxx

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  6. Lovely coloring on the Siren, the scale background is stunning! Thank you for sharing with us here today at World Wide Open Design Team Challenge and best of luck with your entry.

    Wanda DT World Wide Open Design Team Challenge


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  7. Such an amount of work done, but it is wonderfull. love the mermaid scales and your colouring on the image, lots of hugs, Marion

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  8. WOW WOW and WOW. Such a beautiful creation you have made here. I love it and very nice work too.
    Apologies for missing in action since June but had bad accident and have not been able to comment on entries, just starting to do a little bit now.
    Thank you for sharing with us here today at World Wide Open Design Team Challenge and best of luck with your entry.

    Annette DT Registered Owners/Admin for World Wide Open Design Team Challenge

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