Bulldog's Fuzzy Mug

6" x 6", Transparent watercolor
The latest in my Mug Shot Series. This cute little guy was with his person at a Farmer's Market one sunny Saturday. He was very sweet and had an interesting face, so I had to paint him.

Illustration Friday - "Worry"

DON'T Worry. It doesn't do you any good anyway. Just sit back and enjoy the sunset. 6" x 8", Transparent Watercolor.

I painted this card for my husband for our anniversary.

Call for Action!

Corporate greed once again prevails and is now threatening artists' creations and the money they stand to make from them. Current copyright laws protect an artist's work automatically once it's created without forcing them to register each and every piece of art they create. However, a proposed bill is threatening to destroy the current system. Who will benefit? Large, private corporations with whom we will be forced to register each and every piece of artwork we create lest it be considered "Orphaned Work".

The linked article by Mark Simon is a bit long, but I encourage all artists and photographers to read it in it's entirety, then take action. We must do all we can to prevent this ridiculous bill from becoming a law.

Splotchy Giraffe

"Splotchy Giraffe" - 17" x 23", Transparent Watercolor on Arches CP.
Stripy Horse needed a friend to hang out on the wall with him. So here he is.

Illustration Friday - "Garden"

Butterflies and Flowers, 18" X 24" Transparent WC on Arches CP paper.
For Illustration Friday.
When I first saw a picture of a Madagascar Sunset Moth, I didn't think it was real. They have nearly every color of the rainbow on their wings. They're just beautiful. That was the inspiration for this painting.

Stripy Horse - Finis

Stripy Horse - 17" x 23", Transparent WC on Arches CP paper.
He's done and ready to hang on the living room wall. But he needs a friend...

Stripy Horse - In Progress, Step 6

Almost done. Just some slight tweaking left on the Zebra and then the dreaded background.

Stripy Horse - In Progress, Step 5

Yep, I'm being pokey on this painting. Here's step 5.

Stripy Horse - In Progress, Step 4

Step 4 - darkening the black stripes. There will be at least 3 layers of color on the dark stripes. This should give it some nice depth and glow.

Stripy Horse - In Progress, Step 2 & 3

Stripy Horse - 17" x 23"
Step 2 - the under painting on the black stripes.
Step 3 - The eyes.

Stripy Horse - In Progress, Step 1

Stripy Horse - 17" x 23" Transparent w/c on Arches CP paper
Step 1 - laying in the color for the white stripes. Note how dark the white stripes appear now without dark colors to offset it.

Toots

Toots, 6" x 7" Transparent W/C on Yupo
Second painting on Yupo. This synthetic paper is so fun to paint on! You have to be careful not to touch it in the painting area. You can see the fingerprints in the green where the paint wouldn't stick.

Illustration Friday - "Blanket"

Blanket3.5" x 2.5"
A quick illustration/watercolor for Illustration Friday. Theme is Blanket.

Kona's Wiry Mug, #3

Kona's Wiry Mug, 6" x 6", Transparent W/C on CP paper.
This painting turned out better than the last two, for sure. However, I'm still not completely satisfied with how the wiry fur looks. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. This has been the most frustrating subject I've painted to date. Not the dog, but her fur.

Kona's Wiry Mug - Practice painting #2

Kona's Wiry Mug #2, 6" x 6", transparent watercolor on Arches C/P.
Boy, is Kona's wiry fur difficult to paint. I still need a LOT of practice on this, but I think it's better than the first attempt. A little.

Tatiana

Tatiana 6" x 6", Transparent Watercolor on Yupo
This was painted in memory of Tatiana, the tiger who had been caged at the S.F. Zoo. The events that transpired that day are still untold, but it seems that Tatiana was being taunted by some punks who were carrying sling shots. She escaped her grotto and behaved like a tiger, killing one guy and tracking down and mauling the other two. So, she was shot and killed. One less tiger this world could not afford to loose. If humans would leave wild life in the wild, where it belongs, tragedies such as this wouldn't happen.

As for this painting, it's my first attempt using Yupo synthetic paper. It was very fun to paint on something that responds like nothing else I've used before. It's almost like painting on glass. The paint pools and can be hard to control. Obtaining tight, photo-realism is not an option using this type of paper.

Kona's Wiry Mug - Practice painting #1

Kona's Wiry Mug 6" x 6"
Wow! I haven't posted anything new since September 11th? What a slacker I am! Anyhoo...This is a practice portrait I did of my hairy "niece". I need a lot more practice on this type of wiry fur. I used hot pressed instead of cold pressed paper like I'm used to. It gives different results, for sure.

Tree Frog

Transparent Watercolor 9" x 12" Backgrounds are usually my least favorite part of a painting. This painting was no exception. Aside from the background, this was a fun painting. I had to paint one of these little frogs. They're so beautiful, but you don't often see the purple/blue stripe that's on it's side.

Tiki on Wood

Tiki - Acrylic on wood.
I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post.
Anyway, this was my first attempt at painting with acrylic on wood. It was a fun piece.

Sadie's Fuzzy Mug

Sadie's Fuzzy Mug - 6" x 6", Transparent Watercolors
Fourth in the series. Sadie is my friend's cute, little, blonde Pomeranian. She is quite the Diva.