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.
 

Sheep cartoon

I painted this 5" X 7" cartoon a few months ago using a pencil sketch I drew years ago. The sheep is one of my Katahdin ewes named Muffin. The cloud shapes in the background make it seem as though she is floating through the sky like a balloon, which is fitting because she is so pudgy and round!

Cardinal on geometric background

I just added the finishing touches to this large 30" X 15" acrylic painting today. A video of the painting process is in the works!

If you like DIY art projects like I do, you probably know that tutorials on how to create simple geometric paintings using masking tape are all over the internet. It's no wonder they're so popular - they're fun and easy to make and they look great. I used pretty much the same technique here, but I wanted to mix in a little bit of realism, so I added a bright red Northern Cardinal perched on one of the lines of the black and white design.

Happy Teddy Bear Day! 🐻

To celebrate National Teddy Bear Day I have started on a 20" X 16" acrylic painting of my teddy bear (who I named Bradley when I was a kid) holding a little teddy bear.
Here is a very bad photo of the block-in stage.

Monochrome Boston Terrier portrait

I haven't been posting here much, but that doesn't mean I haven't been creating much art! I have been working on several art projects, including some watercolor bookmarks, a few quick acrylic pieces, and even a wooden wheelbarrow planter for my garden (that's art, right?). I'm also in the process of filling two watercolor journals which I might post pictures of here one day. I'm just having fun experimenting and making art for myself.

For now I'll show one of the quick acrylic pieces - a monochrome portrait of...guess who. Yep, it's Sissy the Boston Terrier again. I'll paint a different Boston Terrier once I adopt another one!😀 This 8" X 8" painting took only about three hours to complete.