Saturday, October 19, 2013

Tody Bird

These little tody birds are pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen. With all those bright colors on such a soft little ball of fluff, I just couldn't resist! Enjoy!

6x6 Oil on Museum Quality Panel


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Cedar Waxwing

This painting was inspired by the flock of waxwings coming through to eat berries from our tree. The tree sits right in front of our kitchen window, and I always look for those yellow tail feathers that look like they've been dipped in paint. They might be around all year, but I only see them when those berries are ripe!

8x10 Oil on Museum Quality Panel

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Sphinx Hummingbird Moths

This painting was done as a request from one of my sons. For the past two weeks or so these moths have been visiting our zinnias. We all run out to watch them up close and I captured some amazing photos with my I-phone of all things. They look so much like hummingbirds, but even smaller! For a while it was one at a time, but then two would appear together. I was thrilled with this photo, and the memory of my little guys being so intrigued and excited by them. Love capturing special moments like this in a painting!

8x10 Oil on Museum Quality Panel



Thursday, October 10, 2013

Lucy the American Bulldog

Lucy is the companion piece to the commissioned dog Bruno. These two dogs were such a joy to paint. I realized how much I have come to love painting dogs while doing these pieces.

Painting a white dog was a bit more challenging for me than doing the brown one. I solved this by using the Paper Canvas app. This helped me to see the different values more easily. 

12x12 Oil on Museum Quality Panel



Saturday, October 5, 2013

Bruno with Process Photos

This dog is one of two done as a commissioned piece for a collector who wanted an "avocado--the color of old kitchen appliance" green background. Once again makes me appreciate commissions as it may not be a color I would have originally selected and I absolutely love it. It gives a kind of vintage feeling to the portrait.

I started with a black background, light grid lines, and drew the images with a white pencil. Painting on black was always my thing when I first started painting with palette knife, and I'm so glad to be revisiting it again. I love the way the color pops, and love the effect of allowing some chunks of black to peek through. On occasion I will do this with reddish-orange, but really love the black the best. Here are some process photos:



























12x12 Oil on Museum Quality Panel 


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Queen Anne's Lace

I have taken so many great photos of Queen Anne's Lace this summer and fall and have been wanting to paint them for months! What has held me back?? It was the thought of painting those curved lines (of "the nest" as I call them) with my straight palette knives. 

This last round of pictures were taken recently. My three-year-old and I were on a bike ride and saw these along the trail. We pulled over and trekked through to an opening, got down on the ground, and started exploring angles. I loved how this particular image showed three phases, so knew it was the one. 

8x8 Oil on Museum Quality Panel