Urban Wild

Urban AND Wild

Here it is.  I'm calling it finished.  6.5" x 7.5" colored pencil on vellum

Coy

Yes, I know it's really "koi."  Just playing with words...

Now I have to decide whether to enter this as my Wildlife Artist competition drawing or not.  It's 8"x10" colored pencil on vellum.  But again, I'm not sure the koi are prominent enough in the composition.  It's funny, because I have painted SO many animals.  Now that I'm trying to paint a wildlife subject, I'm finding myself more focused on the backgrounds....Those lily pads were fun to draw!

Shannon's Art

Here's the truth - My 12 yr. old daughter is a better cartoonist than I will ever be.  She was bored last night, so she sat in her room, listening to Christmas music, and doodled these - NO photo references, NO thought to composition or form - just doodles.  Maybe someday she'll dream of being an artist.  Right now, she aspires to playing her viola in an orchestra and being involved in the theater.  Sigh....

Wild Enough?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I've been working on this piece, thinking I'd submit it to a wildlife artist contest.  But now I'm having second thoughts.  My plan was to make the urban background faint and soft, so the seabird in the foreground would be the main focus of the art.  I couldn't do it.  I just can't do faint and soft.  So now, I've got my seabird to work on, but he really is in a concrete jungle, and I'm thinking this will just get disqualified for the unnatural environment. 

I'll finish this drawing, but now I'm back to the start, trying to think up something wild enough to enter into the contest, and the deadline is fast approaching.  Hmmmmmm.

MPSGS 2009

Today, I spent the afternoon at The Strathmore Mansion in Bethesda, MD.  That's where the opening of the Miniature Painters, Sculptors, Gravers Society of Washington D.C. was.  The show runs through Jan. 2 on the 2nd floor of the mansion, and it is well worth a visit.  Those are my 3 pieces in the lower right of the photo just above these words.  As you can see, while I'm thrilled to have 3 works accepted into this exhibit, there are so many artists I strive to paint more like in this show!

I couldn't photograph all the cases.  There are many, many more.  Bring your own magnifier if you visit.

Baxter

These are two very special commissions of a late dog named Baxter.  He was much loved.

Mother Hen

For Sale Here

I'm calling this piece finished.  I've darkened and lightened, painted and lifted, worked, reworked and manhandled every inch of this piece, under magnifying lenses, and in the true spirit of miniature art.  The funny thing is, I've enjoyed it each step of the way, and I could probably continue playing with the values and tweeking it for eternity, and still never be done.  Some pieces are like that.  The more you play with them, the more you can keep playing, until that little voice inside you screams "ENOUGH ALREADY!!"

Okay.  Nuff said.