IF: Forward

I'm still playing around with ink & acrylics. This technique keeps me loose, which I love. Here's my painting for this week's Illustration Friday:

Until next time!

IF: Twirl

So, I was not able to finish digitally painting last week's "Prepare", but it is coming along alright and I hope to finish it sometime soon.

I've been playing around with brush inking & acrylics lately, so I tried out this week's Illustration Friday, "Twirl", in that style.  It was a quick exercise for a Sunday afternoon, and I had fun painting it. 

Here's the sketch:

Incidentally, the red panda is my favourite animal.  :)

Happy New Year!

Hello!  I apologize for not having posted in a while, my muse ducked away for some fun holiday festivities!  I hope everyone out there had a great new year.  :)

While I get organized again, here is a painting I did in the fall for a small dog rescue foundation's fundraiser.  Furever After is a rescue organization on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, that finds homes for some incredibly cute dogs! 

Acrylic on mounted wood panel, 12 x 12

Happy painting, everyone!

Jeyo

My daughter loves to have red Jell-O as her dessert.  She pronounces it, "Jeyo."  Done in acrylic on canvas paper.

Painting: Lime Dreams

Mixed media, 10 x 10 canvas, 2009.

At last! Something completed for 2009! This is a sister piece to "Strawberries."

Painting: Teacup

Acrylic, 16 x 16 canvas, 2008.

For me, a nice cup of tea brings me many happy thoughts.

Painting: The Little Gatekeeper

Acrylic, 16 x 16 canvas, 2008.

I like to think that this little guy protects my dreams when I'm not asleep to be near them.

Painting: I Will Protect You

Acrylic, 28 x 22 canvas, 2008.

The lighting wasn't great when we photographed this painting. It is also larger than my typical paintings. Like the others, this sat as an unfinished underpainting for months before I started adding the foreground elements, and the girl with the cat sprang out to complete the image. This painting depicts the most closely how I've been feeling lately towards my family. Happy happy!

Painting: Adorable

Mixed Media, 12 x 12 canvas, 2008.

Like many of my paintings, this one sat as an underpainting in my closet for about 6 months before I decided to add the foreground elements. My process is sometimes frustrating because it requires a lot of incubation, then sudden impulsive action. The painting asked for a leaping figure, so I happily obliged. This is one of my favourite paintings at the moment.

Painting: The Blue Roses

Mixed Media, 16 x 16 canvas, 2008.

This painting is the completed work featured in a past entry, Process 1. I added some rice paper near the bottom left, then painted in the roses and an enlarged tree. Then, I let the painting sit atop my piano for several months, deliberating whether or not it was done. A few days ago, I put my signature on it and decided that it was complete. It did not ask for anything more to be added!

Painting: In the Afternoon

Acrylic, 14 x 11 canvas, 2008.

This one had been completed about two months ago, but was sitting in my closet. It was my first time experimenting with separating layers using gloss medium. I think it makes certain elements 'pop out' from the surface.

Painting: For You

Mixed Media, 10 x 10 canvas. 2008.

(I decided to do away with the watermarks, because they were putting me off from updating this blog. Not like that's my only excuse, but it didn't help!)

Painting: The Cat's Wish

Mixed media, 16x20 canvas, 2008.

Painting: Strawberries

Mixed media, 10x10 canvas, 2008.

Painting: The Bliss in Not Remembering

Mixed media, 10x10 canvas. 2007.

Painting: Ronin

This was a wedding gift for one of my best friends, who had been asking me to draw or paint her something for the past 13 years.

Acrylic on canvas, 18x24

Painting: Untitled

Acrylic on canvas, 8x10. April, 2008.

Painting: LOL

Acrylic on 10x12 canvas, 2006.

This work is another painting I did in early 2006 as I was getting out of my year-long creative block.

Painting: Lost in Lucidity

Acrylic, 12x12. Painted in the fall of 2007.

Painting: The Signal to Start

This one was painted in the fall of '07. Acrylic on 10x10 canvas.

I think I started painting this in late '05, with just the figure, and I left it on the shelf for a very long time because I didn't know how to resolve the painting.