"My Chinese Mudmen" - days #1 and #2

I discovered my first "Mudman" back in 1968.  Jim and I were married in February of that year and one day I was going through some of his "stuff" and I came across this curious yet charming little figurine, removed him from the box and placed him on the window sill in my kitchen.  I later learned that Jim had received Chang (I had to give him a name and Chang seemed to suit him well) from his beloved Aunt Bess.  Chang used to sit on Aunt Bess's piano and when she passed away, Jim inherited Chang.  I learned from Jim that Chang is actually a Chinese Mudman and was probably created sometime in the 1940's.

I have had Chang in my garden plants, in a bonsai (that I killed), in a fish bowl, but he always seems to end up back in my kitchen window.  I have grown very attached to Chang over the years and I think he has become attached to my kitchen window.  A few weeks ago we had gone treasure hunting (my term for rummaging through second hand stores) and lo and behold I came across three Chinese Mudmen!  Of course I had to purchase them, Chang needed some friends to hang out with in my kitchen garden window.

As I would pass them, they would bring a smile to my heart and I finally named Chang's three new found friends ~ Chung, Ching and Chong.   As I was looking for inspiration for my next art piece I kept stopping at where Chang, Chung, Ching and Chong were congregating in front of a piece of amethyst crystals and finally thought "I'll do my Chinese Mudmen!".

I had done a rough pencil sketch and then inked over them, erased the pencil marks and began coloring Chung with Prismacolor Verithin colored pencils when my husband came over and suggested I scan the work in progress at the end of each day and share it with my friends on my blog.  Thus began the latest post of my blog.

Allow me to introduce Chung, Ching, Chong and Chang (he is the little guy in the middle) to you...

From left to right, Chung, Chang (little guy in the front middle), Ching and Chong.

I began my drawing on Monday, January 24th, and this is where I stopped that evening:

On Tuesday, January 25th, I colored in Ching and began defining my border....

Today is Wednesday, January 26th, and before I begin working on my illustration I decided to take out some time and get my post started ... will share with you tomorrow how productive I've been today!

Til then,

Take care and God bless,

Karen Anne