Two mixed media pieces from this year

It hasn't been the most productive year for me as far as art goes, but I've still been making some art.  Here are a couple experimental mixed media pieces I drew this past year.

This portrait of my bearded dragon, Zuri, was done on a 10" X 7" retro boomerang birch panel by Trekell.  I had the perfect image of Zuri and her long shadow to fit in this unique shape.  The small size called for very small marks which I decided to do in colored pencil over an acrylic paint base.  I'm digging the interesting texture it created.

This kitten is named Mittens and I drew him for an online art swap.  I used a little bit of everything in this drawing - acrylic paint markers, watercolors, colored pencils, and India ink pens.

Some more shots of these two pieces.

BIRDTOBER 2024

I finally finished the BIRDTOBER bird art challenge!  BIRDTOBER is an art challenge hosted by @kaylafiskbirds in which artists draw a bird from a list of prompts every day in October.

 

After failing to complete the challenge the past two years I was determined to finish this year.  I decided to do very small ink and watercolor sketches this time.  The size and medium helped me from getting bored as it allowed me to do several at a time, quickly and easily, and I actually enjoyed the process of choosing the species, sketching, inking, then painting all 31.

 

 

THIS YEAR'S PROMPTS

1. Hooked bill
2. Forest dweller
3. Ooo shiny!
4. Red
5. Warbler
6. Adorable
7. Backyard bird

8. Corvid crew

9. Marsh

10. Vagrant

11. Flycatcher

12. Nest

13. Grasslands/prairie

14. Swifts and swallows

15. One word name

16. Eyering

17. Fruit-eater

18. Long-distance migrant

19. Starts with the letter B

20. Elegant

21. Introduced species

22. Beach-bum

23. Grouse/quail

24. Common

25. Precocial

26. Conservation success story

27. Flock

28. Nocturnal

29. Water-lover

30. Secretive

31. Black-and-orange

From the Sketchbook - Painting of two horses

 It's been a while since I've painted a horse!  I just finished this acrylic over watercolor study of two - a mare and her foal.  Thanks to Jonathan Troyer for the reference photo.  The mare in the picture is half Gypsy Vanner and half Appaloosa - her markings were fun to paint!  I also enjoyed capturing the intense shadows in this piece.

BIRDTOBER 2023 artwork

Here are the rest of my drawings, paintings, and sketches for this year's BIRDTOBER art challenge.  This year, like last year, I couldn't complete the challenge, but I am glad it gave me some motivation to draw more.

 

1. Spark bird: Eastern Phoebe

Ink and colored pencils

 

2. Duck, duck, or goose: Snow Goose

Watercolor 

3. Long-legged: Greater Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs

Graphite pencil, watercolor, and acrylic paint pen

4. Backyard bird: Tufted Titmouse

Ink

 

 

7. Wren: Marsh Wren

Ink, watercolor, and graphite pencil

9. Yumm bugs! (Insectivore): Common Nighthawks

Acrylics

 

10. Courtship: Black-capped Chickadees

Ink and colored pencils

BIRDTOBER Art Challenge - Week 2

Two weeks into BIRDTOBER and I am already struggling to keep up!  I feel like the quality of my drawings suffered this week due to a lack of motivation, but at least I got it done! 

THIS WEEK'S PROMPTS
8. Mimic
9. Yellow
10. Baby Bird
11. Ocean
12. Unique Beak
13. Forest
14. Free Choice

BIRDTOBER Art Challenge - Week 1

 This month I am taking on the BIRDTOBER challenge!  BIRDTOBER is an art challenge hosted by @kaylafiskbirds in which artists draw a bird from a list of prompts every day in October.

I am working in mixed media for this challenge, specifically watercolors with colored pencils, and most of the bird species I have chosen can be found in my area.  The first week and my first page is done!

 

Thanks to Susan Elliott for the reference photos for the Golden-winged Warbler and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

THIS WEEK'S PROMPTS
1. Last Bird You Saw
2. Blue
3. Woodpecker
4. Swamp/Marsh
5. Locally Threatened
6. Cavity Nester
7. Free Choice

From the Sketchbook - Sheep painting

 More from my mixed media sketchbook!  This is an acrylic painting of one of my pet Katahdin sheep named Muffin.  I've done a couple other paintings of her in the past, my first one almost ten years ago!  Muffin is a special sheep and will be turning 14 years old next year.

For the background I applied a watercolor wash of a lighter teal then painted the pattern over top in acrylics using a stencil.

From the Sketchbook - A couple bird studies

 Back to my normal subject matter!  The American Redstart was done in watercolor and outlined in pen, and the Eastern Bluebird was painted in acrylics.

I'm having so much fun with this mixed media sketchbook.  I love that I can keep my watercolor, acrylic, pencil, and pen studies all in one book.

Two more watercolor cartoons

 I've painted a couple more watercolor dog cartoons to practice in my new style.
This is Baxter and Molly, two of the dogs I grew up with.

New watercolor cartoons

I am now offering custom cartoon portraits in a new style! My new Watercolor Animal Cartoons are painted in watercolors and outlined with Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens.

These matching portraits of my two dogs, Luna and Dorie, are in the standard 6" X 9" size. I painted the moon behind Luna since that is what her name means, and behind Dorie is a hurricane (a pink cotton candy looking one 😁) because she was named after a hurricane.

Want me to paint a custom portrait of your pet?
Head on over to my Order Info page!

From the Sketchbook - Horned Larks in pencil

On a recent birding trip I was able to get up close to and photograph some Horned Larks that were foraging with a flock of Snow Buntings on a dairy farm. These are some graphite and colored pencil sketches I created using my photos as reference.

Random Project of the Week - Two bird sketches

I drew a couple birds this past week - a Great Blue Heron in colored pencil and a Bohemian Waxwing in watercolor, both outlined in pen. I discovered that I really like the look of loose outlines done with a small brown Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen, and it's fun to do, too!

 

Introducing Dorie!

Meet Dorie, my new a-DORIE-ble Boston Terrier puppy! Dorie is a typical Boston. She enjoys pestering her big sister, Luna, then snuggling with her in the sunshine. She loves to give kisses, hop on two feet, sleep under the covers at night, and...eat everything off the floor and roll in smelly stuff. 😄 She reminds me so much of my first Boston, Sissy!

Here are my first sketches of Dorie done in pen, marker, and pencil on toned paper.

Ever since I painted the monochrome portrait of Sissy in 2018, it had been my plan to paint another portrait of my next Boston in the same style and size. Finally, here it is! It hangs next to Sissy's portrait.

Watercolor bird journal 2019

To finish off the year once again, here are all the watercolor bird paintings I created during the past year. Not as many as last time, but I did fill the rest of the pages in the journal.

Introducing Luna!

This is my new rescue mutt, Luna. I'm sure you will see more portraits of her in the future. So far I've only done a few sketches and cartoons...and taken photos, of course.

Luna absolutely loves to play with basketballs, so I had to paint a cartoon of her pouncing on one.

Random Project of the Week - Robin cartoon

I painted this American Robin singing its cheery song for the first day of spring. I used Sennelier La Petite Aquarelle watercolors and Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens on Bee Paper.

Random Project of the Week - Shoebill cartoon

My first piece of art of 2019! This painting is the result of one of my evening sketching sessions. The creature is a very strange (and awesome) bird called a Shoebill. These birds already look cartoonish, so I guess I really didn't do much to it to make it a cartoon...

I used Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens, watercolors, and acrylics on 100% cotton watercolor paper by Bee Paper. I haven't used this paper much, mainly because I haven't created much art that is worthy of this higher quality paper, but last year I did make my first watercolor swatch chart with it.


 

Don't pay attention to the order in which I swatched the colors... 😳

Watercolor bird journal 2018

This past year I spent a good part of my art-making time painting in a couple 5.5" X 8" Strathmore Visual Watercolor Journals I got in March. I am filling one with bird paintings and the other with paintings of places I've been. I've really enjoyed practicing with watercolors and freehand drawing in these journals. I even tried painting en plein air once (it didn't go too well, though!).

Below are all twelve watercolor bird paintings I created in one of the journals. I used reference photos taken by myself and my brother. Each month I chose one or two species that we saw that month. The outlines of the first four are done with a Zebra Sarasa gel pen (my favorite pen), but I found out it wasn't exactly waterproof, so I switched to a Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen for the rest.