Sun to Nele

I created this last year for Nele, and decided to send to her in April b/c of the Solar Eclipse!

I only messed up her name just a bit, as I didn't like how I lettered it over the address (it was in pp). So, I redid, and pasted over it (hope it stayed on!) I painted in gold and used my paint shaper tool to do her name in semi-Neuland.

It went on a bit crooked though. 😒

For the name "rays", I used various tools and gouache:

italic, uncial, foundational, b-nib, pp, script, neuland, etc.

Close up of name -- had to touch up a bit.

Plus, I had to add more lines around it, as part of the old name was showing under. (THAT I don't like.)

With insert.

For the insert, I again used gouache, and my tiny italic nib. Then, for the sun part, I used pastels.

The rays are songs with Sun in the title:

Here Comes the Sun, the Beatles

You are my Sunshine, various

Let the Sunshine in, Hair musical

Good Day Sunshine, Beatles

Pocketful of Sunshine, Natasha Betingfield

Seasons in the Sun*

Walking on Sunshine, Katrina and the Waves

*So for this song, I went to look up who sang it (I know the Terry Jacks version) and when doing so, I came upon this:  

"Seasons in the Sun" is an English-language adaptation of the 1961 Belgian song "Le Moribond" ("The Dying Man") by singer-songwriter Jacques Brel^[2] with lyrics rewritten in 1963 by singer-poet Rod McKuen^[3] portraying a dying man's farewell to his loved ones. It became a worldwide hit in 1974 for singer Terry Jacks and became a Christmas number one in the UK in 1999 for Westlife.

I just found that a kinda fun fact (Belgian song) since Nele is in Belgium! 😊