Getting Up to Date

I had a largish canvas looking at me.  What I seem to be doing a lot now  is playing first with color and background ideas, incorporating collage.  I started with some red patterned papers and some tissue patterns and then painted and textured over them.  The girls emerge after the background is done and often the background shows through their skin and clothes.  Sometimes I use the background as part of their clothes as in the case of the lady on the right.  I think of these two ladies as sisters.  In small letters it says "Sisters of Life".  I'm not saying my work is nearing perfection, but these dollies are on my studio wall and they make me smile whenever I look at them.  My friends.  

1st picture.  This is the "ugly stage".  

Finished.

Two more that I finished recently.
The first one caused me trouble.  I had quite a DARK background going... really dark.  So I started stamping textured things on it with cardboard honeycomb stuff that came in packing material.  That lightened it up a bit.  But it was still very dark to put a lady on.  So she really has a lot of the background showing through her skin.  Her dress is part of the background too,  just lightened up with some see-through sparkly blue paint.  I'd like to put a top coat of gel gloss on it but I'm afraid to because I used some ink sprays in the background and I'm afraid they will bleed.

This one was influenced by the class I am taking.  Everyone seems to like pink and lavendar or blue or neon hair.  They also like to draw fairies.  But I like her anyway.  In this one I was learning to shade lips.  Still a challenge for me.  I need to observe lips more often and how the light hits them.  No offense if I stare at you.