Chickadee in acrylics

This acrylic painting of a Black-capped Chickadee is done on a 10" X 8" canvas board.  I painted part of this piece during an acrylic painting demo I gave recently.

 And here is "Fluffy," one of the Black-capped Chickadees we've tamed, checking out the painting.  It looks huge compared to a real chickadee!

Painterly portrait of McKinley

My latest pet portrait is of a much-loved spaniel named McKinley. Her portrait is done in a painterly style on a deep stretched canvas. It was commissioned as a gift for McKinley's owners.

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.

From the Sketchbook - Giraffe cartoon

This was a very random just-before-bedtime sketch that I decided to make into a finished drawing. I have no idea what made me want to draw a giraffe, but I had a lot of fun doing it. I used Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens.

 

Random Project of the Week - Tiger study (with new paints!)

I can't remember the last time I painted a tiger. It might have been a decade ago... 😲 Anyway, I used a reference photo I took at a zoo a few years ago to paint this 5" X 5" acrylic study. I used Golden Fluid Acrylics, a paint I'd never used before. Although I had heard these paints are opaque and have a great consistency, I was still surprised when I tried them myself. Looks like I might be switching to Golden in the future!

From the Sketchbook - Acrylic studies of my dogs

I got out a new mixed media sketchbook for these small acrylic studies. I was inspired by artist James Gurney who paints amazing sketches in gouache and watercolor (from life, which I struggle with, so I used reference photos).

The first painting is of my Boston Terrier, Dorie, warming up in the sun on a cold winter's day. The second (with my hand for scale) is of my rescue mutt, Luna, running with her frisbee in her mouth.