Sunday, December 24, 2017

Somersaulting Santa!

Santa's on his way! 
Happy Holidays to you all 
and
have a Wonderful Creative New Year!
See you in January. : )

Friday, December 22, 2017

sharing a piece of chocolate cake

$60 - original watercolour painting with 8x10"mat.

It's the holidays! I spent my first afternoon off at a cafe, drinking a hot chocolate and drawing some people. These two lovely women took a break from shopping to share a piece of chocolate cake. : )

Sunday, December 17, 2017

the bus home

8x10" original watercolour
This is a work in progress. I kinda like the white left in the background but I haven't decided if the piece is balanced. This isn't a painting of me, but it feels like me, as a university student heading home for the holidays.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

purple tresses

 $80 - original 8x10" watercolour painting
I've been experimenting with my new Fude fountain pen. It's got a bent nib!
The nib allows you to move sideways across the paper with a thick strong line. It's actually quite heavy to hold, but it's wonderful. I got it on amazon. It's called The Duke.
The ink I used was not waterproof, so it's a bit tricky adding watercolour. It's from Scriptus '17 which is a Pen and Writing show held every year here in Toronto. The Confederation Brown was this show's handmade specialty ink. It's beautiful. It's olive green when drawing with it then a slight brown warmth emerges when it gets wet. Lovely stuff.
I believe waterproof ink in a fountain pen can cause it to clog up the nib, due to the shellac that is in it (which makes it waterproof). So, it was challenging to add water and colour to this free flowing ink. Fun though.
I got the photo ref from the awesome app called Sktchy.

Monday, December 11, 2017

guess where I hid it...

$60 - 5x7" original watercolour painting with 8x10"mat.
This little Jack Russell may have hidden his toy in a place you'll never think to look. The question is, will he remember where it is!

Tuesday, December 05, 2017

cute bangs

On Sunday, at the awesome Don Valley Art Club portrait session, I got about half way with this one. I thought, just get the drawing right in the 25 minutes we have, since I can always finish painting it at home. Usually, as is the exercise, I try to completely finish the painting in the allotted 25 minutes.
I am very happy with the finished portrait. However, despite having a photo to work from at home, I really think finishing the painting from life at DVAC is the better choice. I think some slight kind of energy or freshness escaped the portrait. So, for now, I'll finish from life whether I have 25 minutes or 3 hours... ; )

Sunday, December 03, 2017

true stripes

$60 - 5x7"original watercolour painting with 8x10"mat, ready to frame!

The pleasure of being an artist is being introduced to all the subtlties in life like... I never noticed the white blobs on tigers ears until I painted one. Wild cats markings are truly marvellous! The stripes were a joy to discover and paint. This guy has big meaty paws, one of the few ways to tell a male from a female.