Rooster Fun!

Rooster With A Checkered Past
Gouache on Aquabord. Sold. 

Artist Note. 

This is a painting that was in a
Rooster show
almost two years ago.
Decorative and fun to do!

I have almost finished
transferring
"art stuff"
from my home studio
into my downtown studio.
One more weekend should do it.

I have been listening to old episodes
Of the Savvy Painter Podcasts.
The one on Gamblin paints
link below is very interesting
Podcast

And for those who follow
Jillian Morrow
on Shifting Light
 will enjoy this great interview
Podcast with Julian

I hope you enjoy
Savvy Painter. 
There are
Some really interesting
interviews on there.
AND
The amazing
Carol Marine is the juror.
for their upcoming competition 
information HERE

Cactus Wrens

Cactus Wrens

6x8in oil on canvas panel NFS

Artist Note.

I decided to keep this one.

The Cactus Wren is a 

favorite of 

mine. 

Hard to spot with their 

very effective camouflage

markings when they are

in the desert and nest.

Did you know they mate for life?

Their beak is long for a reason,

they can be quite aggressive,

but the ones I have visit me

are models

of decorum with the other birds

at the feeders.

Happy St Patrick's Day!!

Look what I will be wearing.

A gift from a good friend.

She knows I love fun socks.

Thank you, Gail!

Lunchtime!

\

Lunchtime

6"x 6" Oil on canvas panel  $110.

Purchase HERE

Artist Note.

In an effort to be broader 

in my painting subjects, I am 

hoping to enter DAILY PAINTWORKS

weekly Challenge on a regular basis.

Carol Marine has chosen

Critters 

as the theme this week.

I admit to having to look up what 

defined a critter!

A pleasure to participate.

See everyone's entry

HERE

Kat - day 24

Kat 

6x6in oil on canvas panel. Gifted to self!

This is my dear companion, Kat. A Blue Heeler.
She died a year ago and I have tried to paint her
several times. This is how this one came about.
It caught her anxious look perfectly

After making an abstract gesso 
mono printing on my canvas
I turned it around looking for an image to
appear...something...anything.
The one below said waterfall!
Done that already.

This one said dark stream, snow 

and shadows

In this one you can clearly see a 

Native American's head in the middle 

with outstretched arm

and then this one...

I could clearly see the dogs eyes and nose

in the middle especially the nose.

Can you see it?

(click to enlarge.)

It inspired me to paint my
beloved dog in a way I had not done before
-  it was more about my memory
I am very happy with the results. I have had too
many failed results going from a photo.

If you are interested
Here is a previous Utube

video gesso demo

I showed some examples on my blog of painting
in color over abstract mono printing on canvas.
See back post gesso mono printing

and this post gesso mono waterfall

Watercolor Studies of Mr. Chomp

Looking for Lizards

unfinished watercolor study

It has been a long time, but I have painted Mr. Chomp before.
He belongs to dear friends and is a rescued cat
...saved from a nasty traffic accident 

after being discarded in the road when he was
about 2-3 weeks old. My friend stopped her car
and dodged the moving traffic to grab him safely up.

(There has to be a severe consequence somewhere 

along the line for people who casually discard animals)

Much loved and taken outside on a leash for an hour

each day, Mr. Chomp rewards everyone by being affectionate

 and entertaining.

Artist Note

Using a Moleskin book, I didn't draw first, 

but went right into using washes of color.
Mr. Chomp was not staying in one position for long

The paper is smooth and buckles slightly with watercolor.
it adds nicely to a bit of puddling.

 Mr. Chomp kept moving around in different positions, but finally...slept!!!

Bat That Ball

Bat That Ball

5x7in  oil on linen  sketch  $75.

This is a quick sketch as I was trying to capture
a kitten with the fracturing technique.
I rather like the feeling of movement I managed to
capture so I stopped before I lost it
...and that is why it is just a sketch.

Artist Note.

I enjoyed seeing another artist having fun doing the
fracturing from the Artbyte video.
Click on Sharon Rose Smith
Scroll down one post to Red Peppers and a Squash.

Sharon wrote,  "I am a realist by nature, but you 
piqued my interest and released a wild part of me."

She did a great job. Thank you Sharon

Celeste Bergin worked more on the red chair from
yesterday so take a look and see how well she did.

Please send me a link to your blog if you try the
fracturing. It is fun to see what everyone does.

Sleeping Cat

Sleeping Cat.

6x6in oil on canvas  panel  $100. SOLD

A verrry contented grandcat.

I want to thank Mary Hibbs, OH,  for buying the painting
of Mr. Chomp yesterday so that $125. donation
will go to an animal shelter of need back east.
My hubby is doing the research for the best one .


Artist Note.

I had a full day of teaching and now I want to go off and
vote so this will be short.
Question.
How do you show closed eyes on a cat who has black fur
where the eyes are? Especially in the fracturing technique.
What a dilemma
Answer. Its NOT EASY!
If at first you do not succeed then try try and try again!
At first they were too obvious and lost the effect of fur.
Paint, scrape off, paint scrape off, four times!
I looked very carefully at the subtle changes of value
and I remembered the principle
BLACK in the light moves close to a middle value
It helped a lot.
The other part of that principle is
WHITE in the shadow moves to a middle value.
I used the same pile of gray to lighten the black and
darken the white.

Mr Chomp Resting

Mr Chomp Resting

8x6in oil on canvas panel  $125. SOLD



I have been concerned about the animals lost
and hurt during Megastorm Sandy
and will donate the proceeds
of this painting to an animal shelter in
New York or New Jersey.


I have painted Mr Chomp before.
He is a very special rescued cat with
a wonderful disposition and adores his owners
...most likely because he is so grateful to them.
I have no doubt he knows exactly
how he almost was killed, and then saved.
Animals are very special and bring a wonderful
element into our lives.

Meet Mr. Chomp!

Meet Mr. Chomp!


6x6in  oil on canvas board

Mr. Chomp is a rescued cat. My close friend, Pam, witnessed a car almost hitting him when he was a wee little kitty and because the car didn't stop, Pam did. After taking him home and then to the vet, Pam and her husband adopted him. He is a gorgeous cat with a sociable disposition.
I love his name and it came from a book of short stories that Pam's husband, Stephen R. Cox, had recently published, called, of all things, Confessions of a Dog Assassin
Mr. Chomp is also a very  lucky cat other reasons...one of which is they take him for a walk every day ( in a cute harness) and he loves it.