dance step

I think I'm gettin' the hang of these Zentangles. I used two patterns called akoya (braided pearls) and florz (like tiles). Then I shaded in with colour pencils. This one is 5x7". It kinda works 'upside down' too!

travelin' on

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Foxes are soooo cute!!!

$80 - 8x10" painting

email me for personal check or to buy through DPW

warm as toast

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This little fox was truly a joy to paint! I used a charcoal pencil to get a rough loose line that blends a bit with water. 

$50 - 5x7"painting with 8x10"mat

email me for check or to buy through DPW nora904@yahoo.com

escape route

Zentangles are a blast! They really encourage me to think about design. Also, it's back to basics since there are only three values to work with.

Monday Life Drawing

forlorn - 5x7"

consider - 8x10"

around - 8x10"

solve - 6x8"

Today's model was wonderful, very relaxed and still. The art room is always silent as every one is drawing, and only the sounds of pencils and brushes swishing in water can be heard. 

Here they are all on one page. : )

February Zentangle

Best thing to do when it's cold outside... curl up and Zentangle! I prefer to let the design go out of the box. I'm still learning all the patterns and I hope to be able to design them a bit better before the year is done.

tippy toe

This is today's demo for the wonderful Mississauga Art Group that I am presently teaching! We're focusing on animals this month. Today's lesson was about keeping warm yellows and browns beside cool blues and purples, as well as keeping darks fresh!

lovesick

I drew this little badger at the Royal Ontario Museum. I was shocked at how long his nails were! Turns out they are nocturnal monogamous little diggers!

This one is looking for his mate.

dance card and painting pals!

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I painted this on site at the wonderful Allan Gardens here in Toronto, again with my painting pals at Toronto Plein-Air Artists! In fact, I did one of them too!

$60 5x7"painting with 8x10"mat.

some time together

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I've wanted to paint this cute little silver spritzer thingy for a while. So, I gave it some friends and let today be the day!

$60 - 5x7"painting with 8x10"mat.

meetup

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I wanted to put 'caper' into the title of this painting, but it seems more like this is the meetup before the caper!

$60 5x7"painting with 8x10"mat

at heart

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Here's my entry for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge. It's always interesting working from someone else's still life set up, since they have objects I don't have, like this cool vase! Thanks Diane!

$80 - 8x10"painting

Art Show Entry and Sketches

The Life Drawing Group I belong to is having a group art show at The Heliconian Club, 35 Hazelton Ave. Toronto from Feb.2 - Mar.2. We are showing two paintings each that we painted while in session. These are 10 minute poses done on one 11x14" page. I do a lot of life drawing and it's great however, it doesn't teach any perspective... that's a whole other thing. So, I spent today doing speed sketches from a high angle. Here are a few...

noted

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I was drawn (no pun intended!) to the way these three people were situated around the high table. I also did a bit of scribble shading with my charcoal pencil. I think I'm going to explore this idea a bit more. 

$50 - 5x7"painting with 8x10"mat.

the morning hour

I drew this at the Royal Ontario Museum here in Toronto, while out with the Toronto Plein-Air Painters, then painted it at home. Again, thinking about design, I wanted a nice drippy foreground wash.

$80 - 8x10" painting.

page turner

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I drew this at a cafe then painted it at home. I wanted to see if the chair in the bottom left foreground would work. Trying to think a lot more about design these days.
$60 - 5x7"painting with 8x10"mat.

considering green

I have been playing around with toning the watercolour paper first, in this case with gold green and viridian, then drawing with pen and painting on top. I'm having fun with the idea and it brings a unity to the piece.

turtles and fishies

Next month I'm teaching a third session of classes for the Cawthra Art Group here in Toronto. They are enjoying my exploration of animal drawings lately and asked for a few classes about animal anatomy. Although somehow, last time I opened up my animal sketchbook, I ended up doing a page of turtles and fish! It was fun but I think we'll be stickin' with mammals : )

gotta run

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I was recently nominated to post '3 paintings a day for 5 days' on facebook. The challenge intended to flood fb with photos of art. It made me revisit some old paintings. So, being inspired by them, I thought I'd do some more horse race paintings. Please feel free to friend me on facebook!

$60 - 5x7"painting with 8x10"mat.

2 minutes each

This week's Life Drawing Session was great, as usual, and this male model always does interesting poses. These are charcoal pencil on newsprint. Once the longer (5minute - 20minute) poses start, I use watercolour. My New Years Resolution is to do these quick poses with watercolour too... although getting a drawing and wash down that fast is tricky!! 

halftime

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I thought one of these cutie patooties deserved a close up!

$60 - 5x7"painting with 8x10"mat.

haven

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$60 - 5x7"painting with 8x10"mat

These cutie patooties were so fun to paint! Maybe because they seem to be living a wonderful relaxed life! I tried to put lots of colour in the black fur, like blue, brown and purple. 

page of pandas

It's still cold out there...! So today I checked out the morgue files, recommended by Carol Marine, for free photos. The website has tons of fun pics to work from.  Like adorable pandas!

9x12"/charcoal on newsprint.

a whole bunch

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We are having a severe cold spell here in Toronto. So, the only thing to do is stay inside evenings and paint flowers. The challenge here was to see if a bright orange background would work.
close ups -

gather around

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It's clementine season! They are one of the great things about this cold season, for both eating and painting.

$80 - 8x10"painting.

tiger studies

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I got a membership to the Royal Ontario Museum for X-mas, so I figured I'd start the year off sketching there. I drew this wonderful tiger from two different angles then painted it at home. I think I'll be going back soon!

$120 - 10.5x13.5"painting.

make the cut

$60 5x7"painting with 8x10"mat.

The "Sharp" Daily Paintworks Challenge was a tough one this week. I decided to soften things up by adding a few delicate fresh cut flowers.

close ups -