For some of you readers may remember, a parcel from Japan went missing for weeks on end. So distraught I was that I painted and blogged about it Where Can it Be?! so I can just vent out my frustrations. It’s only a parcel, you may think, but if like me you’re a huge Hello Kitty collector looking forward to that big fat box of Hello Kitty merchandise, you can understand how upsetting this was. Well what do you know. About three weeks after that post, the parcel was miraculously located! And that is even after our local Dutch post office, PostNL, told me they couldn’t find it, even a huge package weighing 15kg! How could that be?? Luckily though, the sender in Japan is also a good friend of mine and she, along with her Japanese husband, was very helpful in cooperating with Japan Post who in turn communicated with PostNL and was ultimately able to find my stuff.
The Sketch
This is what we think happened: When the Dutch Customs needed to remove and review the Customs Forms affixed on the box attached with the address label, they must have forgotten to place it back properly so upon release, the post office had no clue where to send the box to! How silly was that. Still, I did get my much-needed parcel in the end which is important. And of course I had to paint about this too! Started with a pencil sketch on my Strathmore’s sketchbook. Then I traced the writing with my black Molotow acrylic marker before painting the happy faces (me!) with Neocolor II watersoluble oil pastels in Salmon.
Happy Colors
Once the hair was also painted with Neocolor II, it was time to start the background! I decided to go back to using Dylusions Paints by Ranger. Not exactly professional standard products, but I do love those bright vivid colors! Years ago, I started using them when I first got into acrylic painting but then stopped using them in favor of the better quality brands like Golden, Liquitex, Sennelier and ARA. The Dylusions set got cast aside over the years until the pots of paints dried out, which is the reason why we select quality mediums with long shelf life! Then I came across Dylusions this time noticing that 29ml small bottles are now available at €3.50 each, which reasonable enough. And if do love the colors, and if it is just for art journaling purposes rather than the more serious stuff, why not? And see how the colors just pop out! The finish is matt.
Embellishing with Hello Kitty
And now comes the fun part! As this missing parcel was about Hello Kitty, naturally we need to scatter the pages with Hello Kitty! This is where my heaving collection of her stickers comes handy, in all shapes, sizes and forms. Even on the outfits! And no happy painting is complete without some shine and hence the smiling eyes were drawn in with Ranger Stickles glitter glue, along with the collars in Cosmic Shimmer, a jar of it I had recently purchased on-line. Then some yellow Ranger Stickles glitter gel was smudged on the empty spaces in the background. The painting was then concluded with scribbling some fluorescent pink Sennelier 3D Liner on the red heart in the middle. And now!
And yes, what a happy painting this turned out to be. Of course I am happy! After six long weeks of anxiety, stress and grief over a mere package, the unnecessary drama is over. And since then, I have been excitedly unboxing and unpacking all the goodies. Just hope my poor Kitty’s were not too scared! The takeaway from this catastrophe is never rely solely on the post office address label and to handwrite the address clearly on the box as back up! Furthermore, good things most of the time come for those who wait. Never lose hope! As they say in Dutch: “Komt goed”…
My Kawaii Quarter 