I'm meeeelting

Can't Art. Too hot out.
/bluh

Fabric

Working on this next painting is really interesting,

because I'm doing a windy thing and the subject is wearing

clothes this time. Today was all about working

on putting texture in the blowy fabric. 

Jealousy and Distraction

How Does a Pirate Feel? Preview

For my niece Rebecca's birthday, I'm making a touch book - twelve pages, each with a different texture of fabric making up part of the illustration. The book is called "How Does a Pirate Feel?" and is all about... well. Duh.

I had the whole thing scanned today so that I can vectorize the images for reproduction - Becca gets the originals, but I've been encouraged from all sides to try to get this book more widely distributed and I'll be darned if I'm going to draw more than like... two of these from scratch. But anyway. Here is a preview of a few of those hand-drawn pages!

Sometimes, a pirate feels embarassed!

 

Unrelated sketches

Anatomical Sketches

Sketches from a little while ago; newer ones to follow.

 5-minute heart, sans vena cava.

Musculature of the throat and neck

Embroidery projects

This was also way too much fun. I've taken a break from these to focus on painting, but I think I'll get back into them soon! All of these are the titles of favorite books. Each hoop is freehand embroidered, with a painted background. 

Jillions of photos after the jump!

OIHS animals

SO MUCH FUN!! This project was a blast. 

At Oakland International High School, the biology class is sorted into lab groups that are named after Animals and color-coded (so, there's a pink dolphin, a white bear, a green zebra, etc.). 

We got permission to paint a picture of each animal on the lab tables. Each animal was handpainted in acrylics and then covered by a few layers of varnish. 

Check it out after the jump!

Freefall

...and a close up of some details after the jump, plus a 

bonus shot of pigment!

The Kiss

Blindness

Life and Growth

 This was a really fun and challenging one. The 

canvas is 2'x2'. 

If I ever revisit this theme, I'll want to work more

on the teeth and jaw - I feel like they came out 

a little two-dimensional. 

The photo with flash really brings out all of the texture, 

while the one without highlights the shading more. 

Red on Black

I'm still not sure how I feel about this one. 

Would love input and feedback and thoughts.

Reaching

One of my other favorites.

This canvas is 2'x4'.

Close-ups after the jump!

House in Thorns

If I'm being totally honest? This was mostly just me having fun.

The thorns around the outside were really a blast to get into.

Bird on Thorns

Most of my work is on a dark background, 

but experimenting with dark on light was really fun too.

 Not fun enough for me to adopt it full-time,

 mind you, but still. 

Fun.

Another departure from my typical style is the nest in this piece - 

I love the way it came out, and that's made me do 

a lot more work with my tinier paintbrush.

I'm still not totally satisfied with the bird, though.

Tree Triptych

This giant tree triptych was one of my first pieces! 

The left and bottom canvasses are both flat, while 

the upper right one is a gallery wrap. The blue background 

took a while to perfect - but it was a blast to mix! When

 diluted, it washed out to a fabulously bright blue. 

...It also left lovely bright blue paw prints 

wherever the kitten walked after she trotted 

across the canvas. 

Close-ups of each separate canvas after the jump!

Octopus triptych

This big octopus triptych is one of my favorite pieces!

 The whole thing covers an area that's about 5'x4.5'.

 Close-ups of each canvas after the jump!

Moon

This is the moon from the Sun and Moon 

commission, also 4'x2'. I am still hoping 

to get better photos of these pieces hanging,

 but until then this will have to do!

Sun

This is the sun from my Sun and Moon 

commission - the canvas is 4'x2'. Kittens

not included in purchase.