Olympic Painting

"Most other competitions are individual achievements, but the Olympic Games is something that belongs to everybody." -Scott Hamilton

Getting in the mood for the Sochi games just around the corner, so I decided to do a painting to help set the Olympic spirit.  This was my first attempt just painting without being told what to do and just going off a picture.  I think I did alright.  I used the oils I got for Christmas, so the leaves, the fire, and the torch bases would blend nicely.  (Thanks for the paint M&O)!

If you want to try doing something similar, I did find a lesson on painting fire, but it was in acrylics, so it didn't work for me.  Let me know how yours turns out if you do decide to give this a try.

A book, at least from the same area as the games this year, is The Tsarina's Daughter by Carolly Erickson.  This is a historical fiction piece that tells of the Russian Revolution through the eyes of Tatiana Romanov.  It is a pretty interesting book and does focus on what was happen around that time in history.  An interesting read, if not directly linked to the Olympics.