Here is another Calvin and Hobbes picture I drew.  I used pencils, crayola markers and watercolors.  Pretty snazzy supplies! 

I'm a huge fan of Bill Wattersons's illustrations.

This is how a lot of us feel this time of year. :)

Now I must wait for the first layer of oil paint to dry, so I will take a break from the bird for a week or so.  Here is a still life I started last summer.  I coppied it out of a book to practice my drawing, then I must have tucked it back in the book an forgot about it.  I finished it today.  Enjoy!

Ahh! my favorite part of painting!! This is the step where I just look at the main colors and pick out a dark, middle and light value of those colors.  Then, looking at the photo, I just put the color where I see it.  This is the most free and refreshing step of painting.  As you can see from the picture, I haven't totally blocked everything in yet, I still have the beak and the talons.  The photo I am copying doesn't include the talons so I'm going to have to do some studying of those and come up with some that fit the composition. 

Here is the same picture with the green background.  I used a stiff bristle brush to put the oil on the canvas.  Yet, this brush tends to leave very defined brush strokes, which creates a choppy and unfinished look.  I then took an extremely soft brush and ever so lightly went over the entire canvas.  This created a soft blended look and gives the impression of a wooded background.  This blurred look will be a beautiful contrast to the details of the bird.

Today I would like to share the early development of one of my bigger projects.  A few years ago, I took a picture of a falcon at our friends house in CA.  This is a picture at it's very first stage.  I primed the canvas with bright yellow acrylic paint before I began sketching.  This is a new technique for me, but the idea is that when I put the different shades of green in the background this beautiful color will peak out behind it.  Oftentimes, when I paint, I spend a lot of time going over things I have already done, just because the little white dots from the grain of the canvas bother me.  This should remove that annoyance and enhance the beauty of the picture.   I will post the picture with the green in the background when I paint it tomorrow.

I have decided to start a fresh, slightly ambitious project.  For the next few months, I am going to post a different art project every. single. day.   I have to admit, the idea does scare me.  But the good that I can see which will come of it is entirely worth it.  This way I will have a definite goal which will give me sufficient motivation to produce (or at least work on) an art project daily, practice writing outside required essays and such, and of course there is always that chance that someone might notice my art and decide to hire me to paint something as astonishing as... the Sistene chapel, or Van Gogh's Stary Night!  (Hey, I can dream, can't I?) 

My first project is this picture of the humming birds.

This is a rendition of wallpaper we have in our house.  I enjoy finding beauty in the small things in life, and for the past few weeks this particular composition of the humming birds has impressed me.  I love how the bird facing us is the most prominent and is the focal of the picture, but the bird in the back, although smaller and not as detailed provides and sense of comfort and company to the painting. 

I started to sketch this while sitting on the stairs up to the second floor.  With my pastel box the step above me and my paper and pencils the step below, I took advantage of a peculiar, yet accommodating studio. 



11X14 oil on canvas

Pastel

                                                           

11X14 Pastel on Canson