I should be cleaning

But I'm drawing instead.


Figures

Why I never drink and paint...

When making a mad dash for the water cup, this never fails to happen:





Note: Cadmium Red is not a good addition to Raspberry flavored Coco.
(Though it may indeed make your coco look more Raspberry-ish.)

Merry Christmas! (a few days early)

The kids in the classroom I work in have been studying dinosaurs,
so for xmas this year, I decided to stick with that theme:


Front



Inside:

The Cats McMillan

Co-worker asked me to paint her cats.


Ok, Black Gouache is kinda evil. I will tell you why. Well firstly because of the obvious reason: it's just a strong overpowering color. Secondly Black gouache in particular is very velvety, it appears to have its own special texture. Lay it down too thick and it jumps right out at you. (All the other colors are like, "la la la doobe dooooo," and then you have black and its like BAM VELVET DARK PATCH RIGHT HERE!!!! I STAND OUT YOU SEE ME???!!")
It can be quite a chore to temper it, to try to convince the black that it needs to be as nice and quiet as all the other colors...

What inspires?

Fellow blogger, "Ninakatz" asked what paintings/artists inspired others, so I decided to write a little.
Currently one of my fav paintings is:
"The song of the Lark," by Jules Breton.




I love the light in this painting. Also, it stood out in its time because it wasn't a romantic portrayal of a female peasant worker. (Which was in vogue.) At the end of the day she looks beat and even a bit contemplative.

I love Winslow Homer for doing a tribute/follow up to this image:



"Hark the lark"

For some reason I have always been attracted to "Gloaming lighting," or rather the light at Dusk. The dimmer it is the more I love it.
I also like when at dusk/dawn trees become silhouetted against the brighter sky and you can see pieces of the sky in-between the branches and leaves. Like little pockets of light.

Michael Sowa paints some lovely trees:



Sowa is an illustrator with a wicked sense of humor. Most of his illustrations feature animals. Funny, playful and always well painted.

Also:
William Low's paintings always inspire me.
I love his landscapes. This one is my current favorite:





Georgia O'Keeffe's NYC night paintings are pretty cool too, this one I like the most:





but my favorite painting is Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper.





(As a testament to this paintings fame, while looking online for a decent image file to save, I kept running into lots of spoofs and copies where people inserted themselves into the composition!)

Welp, speaking of painting...I should be doing that right now.
Till next time.

A Love Triangle of Sorts

Winter (again )

That little dot is the moon!
(Lexington, MA)

One of those nights

At least my German lessons are OVER. Pain in the back. We finished the semester by dipping into the lovely world of "Präpositionen."

Who knew little words like: On,by,from,and to, could be such nightmares. Sounds easy but every language and culture has different qualifications for when to use which. Never thought about it till learning a foreign language.

Winter

A soldier contemplates the snow.

Tis the Season...

For christmas commissions. I have been requested to do 3 cat portraits. sketch for one:



Painting to follow.

Holy Snow Batman!

Note to self: Turn flash off.
Day off, Snow Day today. I love working at a school!

Pride and Prejudice

Saw it a few days ago. Makes me want to run around the English countryside.
I liked all the quiet moments in the film, just the shots of the household and it's
inner workings. (The tire swing scene too, though it made me a bit dizzy)

Magpie Press

Look out for new Holiday cards by Magpie Press.

Coming to a mail box near you!!

Untitled