Lion

Rembrandt soft pastels on Arches watercolor paper, 18 x 24" from this sketch I did last night. This painting is SOLD

Lion sketch

Quick, loose sketch of a lion lounging around. Ballpoint pen on paper. From TV viewing.

Badger

New pastel painting! 18 x 24", about 2 hours' work from this sketch.

Badger sketch

Drawing from nature shows on TV. Badger in pencil.

Giant Anteater

Today's painting: giant anteater, soft pastels on canson paper. For this one I tried something new; instead of sketching first, I laid out a background tone, paused a film on a shot of the anteater's body (it doesn't even show the head or feet, so I didn't really copy it, just used as reference for the locations of color on the body) and dived into color! It was really fun, quick and I'm happy with the outcome. I ought to do this more often.

Prezwalski Mare & Foal

Pastel painting of a Przewalski (Mongolian wild horse) mare and foal. Done from this sketch.

Yellow Dog

One more pastel work today... my hands are about dried up.
Painted from this sketch.

Tommy Leap

More revisions. I think it's nearly done.

impala sketch pastel

I worked yesterday's sketch into a painting. Pastels on wallis sandpaper. The tooth grips the pigment so well, it turns out creamy textured. It was delightful to work with. No more strathmore or canson for me!

Impala Leap

This is my favorite of the sketches done from tv nature programs the other day. Lively, vibrant and full of information that just flew onto the paper. I want to paint like this- bold, loose and vividly... it would be a total change in style & direction, but maybe that's what I need to get started again.

Foxes

I sat down again yesterday with my sketchbook and the television. These sketches are from a nature program on foxes living in an urban dump.

Labrador

Sketch of a yellow lab, black rollerball pen on paper.

Asher Again

This is the first drawing I have done in a long time; two sketches of my cat resting on the bed. Not the best photo; I'll repost if I can shoot a better one tomorrow. Ballpoint pen on paper.

Prezwalski

Sketches of the Prezwalski, or Mongolian wild horse. From a tv documentary. Ink on paper.

Basset

Basset Hound unhappy in the bath tub at the kennel where I work. Receiving a special shampoo that had to soak in for ten minutes, during which I had to sit with him and make sure he didn't jump out, so I drew his picture. Ballpoint pen, 8 x 10".

Sea Otter

Sea otter diving, drawn from tv show. Graphite pencil on paper.

Kitty Kitty

Quick sketches of my cat in action. Graphite pencil on paper,8 x 10".

Cat Nap

Ballpiont pen drawing of my cat sleeping against a folded pile of laundry. 6 x 6".

Zebra Blue

Ballpoint pen, from a photograph I took at the zoo. Hence the larger than real hindquarters. About 6 x 8".

Asher cat

Two quick sketches of my grey cat, Asher. Ballpoint pen on paper. 8 x 10".

Beep Beep!

Four seconds flat, this old car sketched in pencil.

Nacho

Portrait of a tan and white Boxer named Nacho. His owner said I made him look regal and proud, when really he's quite a friendly and timid dog. Graphite pencil on paper, 6 x 8".

Touching the Floor

Figure drawing from an early life drawing class; charcoal on recycled paper, 18 x 24".

I have really been feeling the itch to paint again lately, but it seems so impractical right now and is difficult for me to get into the mood and carve the time out of my day. Since I've been working at my new part-time job, it's been difficult to rearrange the way I use time. My daughter demands more attention the hours we are together, and all the usual maintenance, chores and daily tasks of keeping a home neat have to be compressed into less time. I've found myself letting some housework details slide, and when I do have a half hour to myself, it seems so much easier to pick up my latest library book or to sit down and watch a nature show I recorded on the DVR a week ago, than to pull out my art materials and arrange my work area, my thoughts and my mindset into painting.

I do finally have a corner set aside to work in after re-arranging the bedroom, but somehow it has attracted the presence of an air humidifier, a stack of boxes containing I don't know what, and a pile of my husband's clothing. The easel remains in the closet. I am just too tired right now. I am beginning to think that in order to start painting again on a regular basis, I may have to leave the job behind (or find one with a shorter commute!)

So that is why for the time being, posts on here are rather sporadic and contain art I created months if not years ago. I am trying to keep up with it, but have not been making much new work lately.

Scrutiny

Watercolor crayons on illustration board textured with gesso. 18 x 24"

Reubens Portrait

A study I did in school of a self-portrait of Peter Paul Reubens. The original was in oil, I reproduced it on cotton rag paper with soft pastel in many layers. My intent was to learn more about the amazing variety of color in the skin in his painting. The camera failed to capture all the subtle green and blue hues in this face. 20 x 30"

Cowboy

Caricature pastel and charcoal drawing of a model dressed up like a cowhand. On canson paper, 18 x 24".

Spori Building

This pen and ink montage illustration represents my years at junior college, where I began my formal art training. At Ricks College (in Rexburg, Idaho) the Jacob Spori building was the art department, where I spent most of my time. The other objects and animals in this picture are symbolic of the instructors I studied under who had the most influence on me.

The Spori building was the oldest building on campus, built with stone from a local quarry in 1890. This picture has a particular nostalgia for me because the year after I graduated, the building was torn down for rebuilding. It caught fire and burned down during deomlition. The new building has a similar character to the old Spori building, but it will never be the same for me.

White Pitcher

Even though this still life is fairly simple, it has always been one of my favorites. It used to hang in a light wooden frame (that matched the bowl here) in my kitchen, and I couldn't keep from pausing to look at it. Oil on canvas board, 11 x 14".

Little Doggies

Pug

Bull Terrier

Chihuahua

Boston Terrier

Jack Russell Terrier

Daschund

Six stylized illustrations of small dog breeds. Initially sketched on paper, then scanned in and drawn in Adobe Illustrator with the pen tool, using vectors. It may look simple, but actually took many many hours to get the shapes of the lines just right.

Quickie

 Have you ever watched a cat trying to catch a red laser light? It is absolutely hilarious. Our Asher was highly disturbed when we first introduced it- because he couldn't hear it or feel it under his paws. He would run away from it abruptly or hiss. Now he realizes it's a game and goes just wild. He spins in circles after it like a dog chasing its tail, or leaps high up the wall. Sometimes he lets out a short sharp meow. When he's had enough he lies down panting and looks away, or hisses at the light.
This sketch caught him crouched in stalk mode. He had just started to wiggle his hindquarters in preparation to pounce. Graphite pencil.

Shaft of Light

Shaft of Light Triangle Bombing in the City.
Gouache on illustration board, 10 x 10".

I am feeling the urge to get back in to pastel painting once again, dive into the subconscious images and wonders that unravel themselves slowly from my head into my hands. Strokes of color across textured rippled undulating paper weave, smudges and sneezes included. It should be easier here at my new apartment in spite of the small space because of the wood flooring. I can just sweep or mop afterwards. The small grains of colors won't work their way into the carpet, but slip and slide across the varnished floor, climbing up onto the currents of air to drift in blind circles, settling on whatever they can...

Staffordshire Bull Terriers

A portrait of three staffordshire bull terriers I did for a woman who babysits my mother's dog. Graphite pencil on bristol.

Folds

At some point early in the learning process, an art student must learn to depict form, the illusion of shape on a two-dimensional surface. That means drawing many boxes, spheres, cylinders and other basic shapes under a bright light, sitting in the half gloom bent over your paper. After getting a general grasp on contour, edges, reflected light, core shadows, reflected cast shadows, highlights, etc. more complex forms are introduced. Like folds. For some reason I always worked away at my folds until they were larger than life, with more volume and presence than the meek drapery sitting in front of us. I don't know why. Maybe I was trying to so hard to get the illusion of real dimensions on my paper that I over exaggerated every turn of the form.

Charcoal pencil on paper.

Redhead

This is the same model from yesterday's post, The Jacket. She was seated in the chair with the props on the table. The wall decorations, floor pattern and tablecloth design were all invented into this painting. Oil on canvasboard, 16 x 20".

The Jacket

White and black charcoal on toned canson paper, 18 x 24". Drawn from a model. I always liked the slight exaggeration of her features resulting in this drawing.