On My Desk Wednesday

Sometimes the artist monkey mind doesn't let me rest until I get a new idea out into the world. Dishes collect in the sink, laundry piles up, but I'm glad I'm able dinner ready on time.

Monday night I thought to myself, "hmm, I wonder if anyone's painted a The Land Before Time tattoo flash sheet." I searched Etsy and other tattoo flash sites and nothing turned up. Plenty of tattoos, but no collection of drawings. So, OF COURSE I had to get to working on it.

The Land Before Time is one of my most cherished animated movies. My brother and I watched it and re-watched it throughout our childhood. We still quote it when we're feeling especially silly. I recently watched it with my daughter and she loved it as well. It's definitely near and dear to my dinosaur-loving heart.

So, without further ado, here's a little sneak peek at some drawings I worked on.

Over the next few days, these will be painted on an 11x14 sheet of watercolor paper. Perhaps my monkey mind will allow me to do some laundry and other household chores in between painting sessions. 

"Creativity Takes Courage" A Muse in Watercolor

Last week I considered a few ideas for a new watercolor. It seemed as though nothing new worked and I kept coming back to old ideas and old themes. Looks like I have a habit of creating paintings of women, with lots of hair, in profile, and with roses thrown in for good measure. I guess if it works, then keep going. That's how I came up with this new painting:

After discovering the quote, "Creativity takes courage", I sketched up this gal. Originally I wanted a banner around her collar with the quote but decided against it at the last moment. 

All my watercolors start the same, by adding all the blacks. I use a new Sharpie marker for the lines.

Then color!

I didn't get many progress shots of this because I powered through it late one evening. But here she is in all her watercolor goodness. I'm hoping to get prints of this soon!

11" x 14" 

From Start to Finish - Mermaid Mama Watercolor Painting

It starts out as a pencil drawing on paper.

Lines and a background.

Then some late night painting while watching HBO shows on my iPad.

And the finished product!

Detail of the fin.

More detail.

And prints are made!

Prints can be purchased on my Etsy.

Leviathan - Full & Detail

Folk art has been a huge influence recently. This idea of a tree inside a whale came to me out of the blue, and I tried to research where this may have originated but only came across stories of a man inside of a whale. So I primed a small sheet of plywood and doodled away. This is the result:

I used acrylic paint, an oil paint stick, and paint markers to create all the detail. 

This piece is created by gluing two pieces of plywood together. The whale is one piece and the water is another.

"Leviathan and the Tree of Life" is about 36 inches long and 18 inches tall.

Celestial Folk Art Series - Ursa Major (Great Bear)

Lately my art has been inspired by folk art and space (see The Sun and The Moon), and my third painting of 2014 added to the celestial series. I painted my version of one of my favorite constellations: Ursa Major, or the "Great Bear".

I used a large canvas that had been sitting in my studio for a little over a year. Sometimes oversized canvases just stay blank, looming over your head, saying "paint me paint me..." And you're too scared that you spent all this money on canvas, just to mess it up. 

Thankfully, I didn't mess this one up. 

The only in-progress shot I took.

The details.

And all of it! Super hard to get a decent photo of this. 

After posting it on Instagram, a friend asked about it. He stopped by the studio and took it home with him! This is the first time I've ever painted something for myself, then have it sell within a month of completion. Wow!

Thanks Jarrett!