Dog circle painting

A few weeks ago I heard from my friend Janel that she was having a bad day...my first thought was, maybe I can make her something to cheer her up. I was thinking of a circle painting and this one turned out to have a bit of a Mardi Gras feel to it.

Janel's favorite color: purple

Janel's favorite animal: puppies

Now I can't remember the last time (if ever) I tried to seriously draw a dog, let alone a puppy. Turns out I have no idea how dogs are shaped. Most of them came out real faily and either dumb looking or birdlike.

I got a bit frustrated at one point...hahahhaha


Yep. Dogs.

materials: pencil, Prang semi-moist watercolors on Canson Montval Watercolor Block, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen (brush) in #177.

Penguin paintings in watercolor

After doing the fox circle paintings, I wanted to do something similar with penguins...



















I think these also came out pretty cute :)  I love baby penguins...they're all fluffy and awkward. Here are my sketches beforehand:

 Some detail:






















I think I prefer this look for the sky:

Yay penguins!

Fox paintings

A friend of mine is expecting a baby boy this summer and her nursery colors are green and orange (sort of a woodland theme) so I thought I'd try painting a fox picture for her.

Pretty cute huh? 

The funny thing is, in my first few sketches the foxes looked kind of like birds (eg the sketch on the far right)! 

Snow day art projects

I had off yesterday afternoon because of the snowstorm...and since I was stuck at home, worked on some pear collages that I'd been thinking about for a while.

I like how this one came out...it is pretty much how I pictured it...only I'm not sure it is "weird" enough...despite the odd bandage illustrations I glued on there in places.

materials: Strathmore Bristol (smooth), Plaid Royal Coat Decoupage Finish in 1401 Clear, Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens (#169 and #177), various books, magazines, paper tape, paper towels, transparencies (leftover from my Kaplan days) and other paper ephemera.

 

Even more tiny bird paintings

I made a little bird watercolor painting for my friend Amy for her baby shower (she's having a girl)...and it turned out so cute I made a few more similar ones. Which colors do you like better?

 

 

I really love painting these, they are so much fun. What other animals should I do?

 

materials: pencil, Prang semi-moist watercolors on Canson Montval Watercolor Block, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen (brush) in #177.

More tiny bird paintings...and other stuff I'm doing...

While I was sick a few weeks ago, I worked on additional bird paintings because they were just so much fun! I've found these are actually easier if you work on multiples at the same time, so you don't get impatient while some sections are drying off.

These are great for kids or babies' rooms, baby shower gifts, or even for adults! My brother liked these two so much that I gave them to him to hang above his computer desk in the living room. I love how the pictures are small but still feel generous in scale, and like bright little painted treasures :)

 

I'm sure I'll be painting more of these in different color combinations too. I was thinking about trying a red bird on a yellow or pale blue background. I love doing them while semi-watching tv :) Last time while I was painting these, I believe I was watching the recent movie adaptation of Jane Eyre, old episodes of Gilmore Girls, and What Not to Wear.

Tonight I'm getting to work on my newest project: hoot owl Christmas tree ornaments! I made my prototype yesterday and it turned out awesome--I stuffed it with quilt batting so it is all puffy and round and perfect. So, more felt owl ornaments in 8000 color combinations forthcoming! Pictures soon, I promise...

And I'm thinking for tonight's sappy movie marathon, I'll be choosing from: Anne of Green Gables (the sequel), Howl's Moving Castle, IQ, Little Dorrit, and perhaps the final episode of my newest (yet sadly short-lived) guilty pleasure, Breaking Amish!

Materials for watercolor paintings above: pencil, Prang semi-moist watercolors on Strathmore Wet Media paper, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen (brush) in #177, IKEA SONDRUM  frame.

Bird paintings for babies

Several of my friends have just welcomed new babies so I've been busy working on paintings for their gifts! 
 

 

 

 

 

 

I just love how cute they turned out!

 

materials: pencil, Prang semi-moist watercolors on Strathmore Wet Media paper, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen (brush) in #177, IKEA RIBBA frame.

Decoupage frenzy! Baskets, plaques, and boxes

I spent most of the day yesterday working on additional decoupage projects. Here are the ones I finished!

Close ups of some of the pieces...

Small ship tins--I have about 100 of these cute little circle tins lying around so I thought I might as well decoupage a few.

Castle wall art--love the fairy tale look!
 

Ship wall art--I never get tired of this image.

The backs of the nesting ship boxes are painted with a palm tree on a beach.

I'm so excited to be using up a big chunk of my stash of wooden and other boxes, frames, trays, drawers, etc. More coming soon!

What else should I paint on these? Flowers, octopi, leaves, Sean Connery?

Hobo craft fair this weekend! Plus projects in the works...

A quick side note: today is the 226th birthday of John James Audubon...please check out the Audubon Society and what you can do to help birds in your area!

Over the past few weeks, I've been working on a bunch of new items for the upcoming 4th annual Riverdale Park Arts Fest--yup, that's right, this is the craft fair Brie and I refer to as "Hobo Craft Fair" (due to the rain, cold, and our other assorted hoboness from the last time we did it).

It's going to be this Sunday, May 1 from 11am to 6pm and there's food and live music too--and hopefully no rain! Last year I was sick and couldn't make it so I'm excited about attending this Sunday.

The main projects I have in the works right now are my felt flower and leaf cuffs, and more decoupage wall art.

Three of the cuffs here were ones I finished while in New Mexico...the other three are still in progress.

And I have a bunch of the decoupage wall pieces ready to be painted. I draw in the pictures with my favorite Faber-Castell Pitt brush pen...and then they will be colored in, and sealed with another coat of decoupage finish.

On this last piece, I am still deciding what to do with the middle square. My original intention was to draw an anchor in that box, if I can manage to make it look normal. If this was going to be a personalized piece, I'd paint a big colorful letter for the person's first name in that box.