"Frenchy Flamingo" - miniature drawing (SOLD)

Title: "Frenchy Flamingo" (SOLD) Date: Jan 31, 2006 Medium: Prismacolor Colored Pencil & ink Paper: 100lb Smooth Bristol About this Project: This is not meant to be a lesson, I'm just showing a work in progress =)  This is Small Format Art (SFA) - artwork that is under 14" in any one direction.   Pic 1: The flamingo is inked, and I started the background in pencil using one curvy line. The rest of the background will be done freehand using ink only (no pencil). Pic 2: I've started adding a bunch of funky designs to the background. Pic 3: Added more detail to the background...this took a while. Pic 4: Now I've started coloring the flamingo. Pic 5: Here the flamingo is almost finished, I added more color & shading to the legs, face, and accessories. Pic 6: To make Frenchy flamingo stand out more, I shaded a block behind her in gray ink & added a shadow behind her. Pic 7: I cut off the excess paper & scanned the drawing with a dime for size reference.  Finished size: 1.5"x3".

Knitting: Horace Update!

Amanda Hone, the artist who originally created Horace, the knitted bear is now releasing her pattern to the public! Visit bearsunited.co.uk to purchase your own Horace pattern & take a look at other knitter's Horace bears. The pattern is easy to follow, and takes a few hours to complete. My Horace is pictured below, and he's also featured in The Horace Gallery at http://bearsunited.co.uk.

I've started knitting another Horace, a light blue one for my friend Tami Tangerine. Her Horace shall be submitted to the Horace Gallery within a few days (I love this pattern!) :D

Some of my ACEOs from 2005

These are some ACEOs (2.5"x3.5" artwork) I made in 2005. They are all original drawings done by me using Prismacolor colored pencils & different ink pens. One of these cards is unsold (I tried to sell it but no one wanted it!), two won awards, and the other one sold for around $126, my highest ACEO sale ever.

So here they are (in random order)...my group of winners, a loser, & a record breaker:

Knitting Project - "Horace"

Title: Horace (pattern by Amanda Hone) Date: Jan 28, 2006 Yarn: Moda Dea Wild, "Hot Tamale" Needles: 4mm/Sz 6 US About this Project: Amanda Hone (aka pinwheel) is a fellow artist who created this cute little bear named "Horace". She made the pattern herself, and shared it as a project to do while waiting for paint to dry. Being a fan of knitting, I was excited to try, so here is my Horace :D (Thank you Amanda for sharing your pattern!) Here is my Horace sitting on a leather chair.   And here he is posing sideways Here's Horace with his parents. He didn't turn out exactly as he was supposed to.... the sample "Horace" that Amanda made is much nicer. Mine looks like the hairy hippy version of the real Horace lol. But I still love him :)

Work In Progress - Domino Art (unfinished)

Title: Untitled (Unfinished) Date: Jan 25, 2006 Medium: Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyd Paints Canvas: 2" x 1" Domino About this Project: (unfinished) This is my first time painting a domino (actually it's my first time painting on anything tiny.)  Let's hope it doesn't get messed up! This is not meant to be a lesson, I'm just showing a work in progress =)  This is what my domino looks like so far.  It's not finished yet - but hopefully it will be by tomorrow.  Work-in-progress pics are below.   Pic 1: First I penciled in the koi & lotus. Pic 2: I painted the background with different shades of blue.  At this point I'm not sure exactly what I want my background to look like, but I know it's going to be blue... Pic 3: I started painting the lotus, using a medium-dark shade first Pic 4: Here I started painting the koi Pic 5: Now I have added more color to the background, adding a little depth to the water. Pic 6: I fixed up the lotus, adding highlights and shadows.  I also touched up the koi, defining the shape a little. Pic 7: I played with the background colors some more, adding green,  leafy details under the lotus, and lighter blue above the koi.  I've decided to cover up the 3 "bubbles" that were unpainted. Pic 8: (larger view of Pic7) This is what the domino looks like now, unfinished.  I will post more WIP pics when it's done :)

Funny little painting

Title: Untitled Date: Jan 25, 2006 Medium: Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyd Paint Paper: Wax Paper About this Project: A funny little face that appeared while I was testing out some brushes I recently received some gessoed dominos from a friend, and wanted to paint them with alkyds (these are like fast drying oil paints.) It had been around 7 years since I last used alkyds, so I wanted to test them out and painted a quick face (took under 1 minute to do.) He's not perfect, but I like him. You can't tell if he's sad, thinking, worried, or just bored. He is painted on regular wax paper, which I use as my pallette, because I don't have a "real" one anymore. I've started painting one of my dominos and will post work in progress pics tonight or tomorrow (hopefully tonight!) :)

ACEO #30 - "Yin-Yang Koi" (SOLD)

Title: Yin-Yang Koi (SOLD) Date: Jan 22, 2006 Medium: Prismacolor Colored Pencils & some ink Paper: 100lb Smooth Bristol About this Project: This was my entry for the January 2006 Nibblefest Art Contest. This is not meant to be a lesson, I'm just showing a work in progress =)  This is an ACEO (2.5"x3.5" artwork).  ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions & Originals.  ACEOs are miniature works of art that are enjoyed by art collectors around the world.   Pic 1: I penciled everything first & inked the koi, lotus, and turtles. Pic 2: I've started adding color to the koi & lotus Pic 3: Here I'm working on the background, the most time-consuming part of the whole drawing. Pic 4: I worked on the background some more, filling in most of the dark areas. Pic 5: Now I've colored in the turtles & added more detail to the lotus. Pic 6: I cleaned up the background and added more shading and detail to the whole drawing, it's almost finished now :) Pic 7: I cut off the excess paper & scanned my drawing with a dime for size reference.  The finished size is 2.5" x 3.5" (ACEO size).  The sakura (cherry blossom) flowers in the space between the koi are part of a hidden yin-yang, and the koi represent another yin-yang.

ACEO #29 - "Winter Geisha" (SOLD)

Title: "Winter Geisha" Date: Jan 19, 2006 Medium: Prismacolor Colored Pencil & some ink Paper: 100lb Smooth Bristol About this Project: Thank you Tami for inspiring me to do this geisha :) This is not meant to be a lesson, I'm just showing a work in progress =)  This is an ACEO (2.5"x3.5" artwork).  ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions & Originals.  ACEOs are miniature works of art that are enjoyed by art collectors around the world.   Pic 1: I penciled everything first, then inked the Geisha. Pic 2: I've started adding color here, working on the face & hood. Pic 3: I've added more color & worked on the background. Pic 4: Added red to the kimono & worked on the background some more Pic 5: Added color to the fur trim on the hood & did some shading in other areas. Pic 6: Cleaned up her face & the background...added more detail to the hood & other areas. Pic 7: I cut off the excess paper & scanned her with a dime for size reference.  Finished size: 2.5"x3.5" (ACEO size).

Project #2 - Left-Handed Drawing

Title: "30 Minute Kitty" Date: Jan 12, 2006 Medium: Red Ball-Point Pen Paper: 100lb Smooth Bristol About this Project: This is a funny little  drawing done with my left hand (I'm normally a righty!)  A fun UK artist suggested we try drawing with our non-dominant hand for 30 minutes and see what happens.  I was sort of in an artists' slump and was not feeling up to the challenge, but then she suggested drawing for 5-minutes...so I tried it & drew a kitty (pictured below.) Pic 1: A simple sketch of a kitty, done in 5 minutes using my left hand.  It looks like it was drawn by a 2-year-old lol.  Left-handed drawing was more fun than I thought it would be, so I continued working on the kitty for 25 more minutes, making it a 30-minute left-handed drawing (pictured below.) Pic 2: Now it looks like a 5-year-old drew it! This drawing challenge was one of the most fun things I've done in a long time.  If you're ever bored, you should try it - I bet it will make you smile :)

Project #1 - Fishman Work in Progress (WIP)

Title: "Fishman" Date: Jan 10, 2006 Medium: Red Ball-Point Pen Paper: 100lb Smooth Bristol About this Project: Just a lil' something to show you how my Fishman was born :) Pic 1: A simple sketch of Fishman. At this point I'm not sure what he will look like yet, just working on a basic outline.  Pic 2: I started working on the face & now Fishman is coming to life...he looks a little disappointed lol.  Pic 3: Two faces appear on Fishman's body as his scales develop.  One face is under his fin, the other is above it. Pic 4: I added more scales and some extra curls to his tail.  He's finished!