Perseverance (in progress) and Sentinel: January 30, 2010

I did some minor changes to "Sentinel", mostly to the raven as well as some highlights on the tree. The main shapes of the rocks in "Perseverance" are done. The next step is to add lichen to the rocks.

Sentinel (complete): January 29, 2010

The name has been changed for this painting from "Reverie" to "Sentinel". This is an 8"x10" oil painting on stretched canvas.

Reverie (in progress): January 25, 2010

This was started during an adult education intermediate oil painting class. It is 8"x10" and of course not finished. The raven will not be hovering in the air once this is finished.

Perseverance (in progress): January 25, 2010

More rocks have been added. Isn't this exciting?! It's like watching rocks grow! You need 'perseverance' to watch the progress of rocks being painted.

Perseverance (in progress): January 23, 2010

The background rocks have been partially painted in. I'm working from left to right to keep my hands out of the wet paint.

Perseverance (in progress): January 21, 2010

This is the beginning of a 20"x30" oil painting.

Pelican Panorama (finished): January 5, 2010

"Pelican Panorama" is complete. This was painted using acrylic on 12"x24" stretched canvas.

Pelican Panorama (progress): January 4, 2010

The pelican's entire head and beak are complete. Next is his body and wing.

Pelican Panorama (progress): December 31, 2009

The pelican's eye and some of its bill has been painted.

Pelican Panorama (progress): December 30, 2009

The background was painted awhile ago. The background colors on the pelican have been blocked in.

Gizmo: December 11, 2009

"Gizmo" is a commissioned acrylic painting, 2.5"x3.5", on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

Crockett (complete): November 2, 2009

"Crockett" is finished. This is a 5"x7" commissioned acrylic painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper. The color here is not as red as previous photos of the progression because a camera was used to capture the image instead of a scanner as was the case in the previous images. This is closer to the true color.

Crockett (in progress): November 29, 2009

"Crockett" is still in progress. His face needs quite a bit more molding and lightening.

Crockett (in progress): November 25, 2009

Crockett's chest is done as well as his tongue and eyes.

Crockett (in progress): November 24, 2009

"Crockett" is an acrylic painting in progress.

Bob Marshall Wilderness (Saw): November 14, 2009

"Bob Marshall Wilderness" is complete. This is a commissioned acrylic painting on a handsaw. Here are images of the entire piece as well as a couple of closeups.

Bob Marshall Wilderness (Saw): November 12, 2009

The rear horse is complete and the middle horse is about half done.

Bob Marshall Wilderness (Saw): November 11, 2009

Still in progress. All is done except for the pack string.

Bob Marshall Wilderness (Saw): November 9, 2009

This is an acrylic painting (in progress) of a pack train in the Bob Marshall wilderness. The saw was first cleaned, then primed with several coats of primer and a couple of coats of acrylic gesso. The drawing was laid out and an undercoating of a warm mid-tone of acrylic was painted in. This layer is a light brick red which can still be seen on the foreground hill. The mountains and creek bottom are the areas that are complete.

Nina & Julio: October 13, 2009

"Nina & Julio" is a 5"x7" oil painting on stretched canvas. This was a fun one to paint because there is more of a sense of place compared to a lot of my pet portraits.

Homeslice (finished): October 12, 2009

"Homeslice" is finished (pending client's approval, of course). This is an 8"x10" oil painting on stretched canvas.

Just for fun, I am showing the reference photo from which I painted "Homeslice".

Homeslice (nearly complete): October 10, 2009

"Homeslice" is near completion. He needs his whiskers and a little more touching up and then he'll be ready to hang.

Homeslice (in progress): October 9, 2009

Homeslice's haunches have been painted in along with the lower portion of his front legs.

Homeslice (in progress): October 7, 2009

This is the beginning of "Homeslice", an 8"x10" oil painting.

Pansy: August 18, 2009

"Pansy" is a 5"x7" acrylic painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper. She has a smile now.

Pansy (in progress): August 16, 2009

"Pansy" is still in progress. She looks a little sad and she needs some adjustments to her body.

Pansy (in progress): August 14, 2009

"Pansy" is in progress.

Tana (3): August 13, 2009

"Tana (3)" is a 2.5"x3.5" acrylic painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

Tana (2): August 12, 2009

"Tana (2)" is a 2.5"x3.5" acrylic painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

Tana: August, 9, 2009

"Tana" is a 2.5"x3.5" commissioned acrylic painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

Acrylic background: July 30, 2009

Here is the background for my next acrylic painting which is 12"x24". I got this look by painting the background black and brown. After that dried, I used a sea sponge to dab on a mixture of colors: greens, grays, browns, off-white. I sprayed water on it to allow the colors to mix. You have to be very patient and not disturb the paint as it dries. Let it do its thing and this is what you get.

Dying continued: July 24-25, 2009

These silk scarves are almost finished. All that is left is to take them to the dry cleaner to remove the gutta resist. If I do more dying in the future, I think I will try other types of resist that don't require dry cleaning to remove them.

After the gutta dried overnight, I applied a couple layers of dyes. I scrunched up the fabrics, dabbed the fabrics into dye and sprayed with a water bottle to distribute the colors. Using two complimentary shades and randomly distributing the colors gave the silk interest and visual texture.

Once the background was dried, I stretched the silk and painted leaves using the dyes and a brush. The gutta left negative leaf shapes and the painted dye made positive leaf shapes as you can see in the close-up photos.

Dying to Learn Something New: July 23, 2009

I was cleaning out closets the other day and came across this tie-dyed t-shirt. My son loves wild colors including tie-dye but this shirt was just not bright enough for him. I got out some dyes and set to work to brighten up the colors in the t-shirt. You can see the before and after results.

While I had the dyes out, I thought maybe I should try my hand at dying a couple of silk scarves. My mom is a quilter and dyes her own fabrics so I borrowed supplies from her. I dampened my two scarves and dabbed dye on them, one with green and blue, one with purple and blue. I wanted this layer to be light in color. After this pastel layer dried, I added a clear gutta resist by outlining leaves from my yard. This leaf outline should retain the pastel color as I add the next layer of color.

In the images here, you can see the pastel colors of the first layer. The close-ups show faint outlines of the gutta resist.

House Numbers: July 20, 2009

These are some house numbers that I painted with acrylic on wood cutouts.

Trinket (finished): July 10, 2009

"Trinket" is complete. This is a 5"x7" acrylic painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper. Trinket is a very bashful little Yorkie and, oh, so cute!

Trinket (in progress): July 9, 2009

I've finished Trinket's body and legs and put in the background layer of color for her face.

Trinket (in progress): July 8, 2009

"Tinket" is the third Yorkie in this set, a work in progress.

Cookie (finished): July 7, 2009

"Cookie" is complete. This is a 5"x7" acrylic painting on 140 lb. watercolor paper. Cookie is an adorable little Yorkie who has a pet parrot who calls to her, "Here, Cookie, Cookie!" So cute!