"I know not how it is, but this lamp on the post worketh upon me strangely. ..."

Wednesday, November 26

Nursury 1

I'm really not a fan of Peter Rabbit, but Mrs. Kreissl's baby Tristan is going to have a Peter Rabbit themed nursury, so I made this for him. Well, and for Mrs. Kreissl, since she's been one of the very coolest teachers and friends I've ever had. Don't worry Caleb! I haven't forgotten you! Tristan's birthday is supposed to come a bit sooner than yours though. That's why he got bumped forward a little bit.

Note on the work itself: This is the first time I have ever worked in this particular medium. While browsing for paper at my local art store a couple of weeks ago I came across this stuff called clayboard. It's a non-warping board coated with a fairly thin layer of a very smooth clay. Porous enough that you can paint on it, smooth enough you can draw on it, and you can also scratch away at the surface. Supposedly to bring up highlights or to remove mistakes. I scratched in the lines first, and then took watercolor over top. That way the watercolor would pool into the grooves leaving a darker color and a sharp line that had the ability to be very delicate. I could also then rub the surface wth a bit of steel wool, removing only the surface color and leaving the color in the lines. That helped to give it a fair bit of flexibility in the amount of detail and color that would build up. In any case it was a neat new way to draw, and one that I am looking forward to exploring in the future. What do you think Caleb? Does it have potential for your drawings?
Oh, and I should probably add the scale. This was done on a 5x7 piece of clayboard. So if you click on the image to enlarge it, you are actually seeing it larger than life.


Thursday, November 13

Parrots

I've been working on these off and on for a while, and now (yay and thank goodness) I am declaring them finished. They are for my sister-in-law's wedding. She's marrying someone with the last name of parrot. This is the first of many studio projects that I hope to finish before the end of the year - before christmas for many of them - and I am posting the pictures here so that I can keep up the momentum. These are being declared DONE, but constructive criticism is always welcome to build upon for future projects. I sat through college art crits, I can take it :)




Wednesday, November 12

Saturday, November 8

Cleanliness

Our cats seem so offended whenever I sweep the floors. "That's our dust!" they say. "We were going to eat those stray carpet fibers later; that bit of dirt was my very favorite plaything!"

Tuesday, November 4

Pictures Galore!


Rarr!!! I will get you, evil tail!


Pillbug Rumpelstiltskin



Handsome man with kitten

Very Belated




These are pictures I meant to post aaaaaaaaaaaages ago. They're from Labor Day weekend, the first time I went fishing in, oh, maybe ten years? Give or take a few? Needless to say, my fishing obsessed brother was proud of me.

Belated


Happy Halloween!!!

Monday, November 3