I found a picture of this bird while surfing the web nearly a year ago. I printed it out and then it got lost in a drawer somewhere. I found the picture the other day and realized that I needed to paint it. I was thinking what could I do to this picture. There really isn't a lot going on with it. Just a bird standing there.
So much like the beach here where i live, when you look, the beach just kind of disappears in the distance and the sky starts. There is no real line of demarcation. I tried to make this painting resemble that. A nice gentle transition from sand to sky.
As for the bird, i really like everything except its head. I just don't understand what happended there. Love the wing, love the underbelly, like the legs. Head.... meh. Oh, well, I guess thats why they call it practice. Thanks for taking the time to read, and check out the picture. Hope you enjoyed it.
I've been invaded by seagulls!!! Living near the ocean, it's hard not to see seagulls every day. Usually I try to pay them as little mind as possible. For some strange reason, I got a hankering for painting them. Here is what I came up with. One I did on my lunch hour, and one I did in the studio.
There are bits of both that I really like, and bits on both that I wish I could do over again. I'll not go into what things are which, but let you all take a guess at it.
On both of these, I started drawing from the head, and, as it turned out, should have either made the head smaller or started higher up on the page. The bird kind of ran off the bottom of the paper. For me its not a big deal since I don't like painting feet anyway, but it would have made a bit nicer picture if the bird was planted on something.
As in the past, I did make a video of myself painting this seagull. If you have an interest, please check out the video below.
Thanks for the quick read, and I hope you enjoy the paintings.
Here are just a few of the people who ride my bus. I've taken to sketching on the bus from time to time, and this is what I've come up with. I am new to drawing figures, so they aren't perfect. But even though they aren't perfect, I think they look great nonetheless. You can clearly see what these people look like an what they are doing.
I am looking forward to painting more bus people as the days go bye.
Since most of the people are sitting in front of me in the front of the bus, they have a pole next to them. That's just the way our bus is lined out. The woman with coffee was actually sitting behind me which is why there is no pole for her.
Please check back from time to time to see more sketches. And be sure to let me know if you like these or not.
Ok, the title is a little misleading. I kinda did that on purpose. Every time I put a title like that I get a massive amount of hits to that posting. I am sure the same will happen to this one.
But what I actually have is a Blue Footed Boobie. Fantasticly weird bird. He was fun to paint, and fun to research, I'm gonna keep going with painting odd, different things that most people wouldn't paint. This one is a start. Anyway, he's fun and funny.
I struggled with two things on this painting, and if I had to do it again I would change a few things. First, I would put some green in the lower half of the sky. Make it look like very far away hills. His right foot just gets lost. I don't really like that at all. Secondly, I would barely tap in the shadow that is under him. I got a bit carried away with it in this painting.
I might just have to paint this guy again just to make those changes, or maybe I should do a whole series of paintings of boobies. I'll think about it. At any rate, there is a video that goes along with this one. You can check it out below. Thanks of the quick read, and the view.
So here is it, the first piece I've made to display my art. I've got stacks of painting in the studio and yes, I could pin them to the wall, but that would put holes in the paper. I don't really want that. What I wanted was a quick and easy way to display my paintings. Something I could move around at a whim, was cheap, and something I could make all on my own.
Enter Mr. Fork. The perfect utensil for the job.
The fork is nearly perfect. Its got a long handle that will help support the paintings as they as standing upright. The tines can be bent so that the ones in front hold the picture in place, and the ones in back provide stability. If the handle isn't quite at the right angle, its just a quick bend away to make everything perfect.
So with that in mind I set about trying to make one of these. Yes, before you ask, I do have a video of my making one, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. This one is actually the only one I've made to date. I've got a stack of other forks, but have yet to set about bending them. You can see that it really doesn't take very many bends to make a highly effective holder. The only thing to watch out for is that you get the two upward bends of the outside tines as close to the same as possible.
Once you've gotten the outside tines bent, the rest really is just adjustment. You can make the fork sit up higher, or lower, you can adjust up or down the handle. Whatever you want.
But you know what? I don't want to give away too many of my tips here. If you want them all, you are gonna have to watch the video below. Don't worry, its short and painless. LOL.
At any rate, enjoy the picture, enjoy the video, and thank you for the quick read.
With Valentine's Day approaching, I thought it appropriate that I put up a Valentines posting. The first was the idea I had to make a heart into two lovers heads This one has the man on the right and the woman on the left. I added the extra splashes of paint and water to give the picture a little bit of life. I'd do it just a bit differently if I had to do it again, but I think that it tuned out quite nice regardless.
My second picture is two chili's that come together to form a heart. One pepper is just in front of the other. I guess if you have a spicy hot lover, you could give this to him or her.
As with other paintings, I do have videos of these two, you can find them below.
Today I give you two felines for your viewing pleasure. I'm trying to figure out fur, but it's proving a bit difficult I know it has a certain texture, but getting it just right is tough. I want to paint a million little lines, but in addition to taking forever to do, that really isn't the style I want to paint in. I want to be a bit looser than a literal interpretation of a cat. An getting too loose just makes the cat look like a blob. Im working on it and will get there soon, but it might take me a little bit.
For those of you who want to see how I painted these two, I'm attaching two videos below.
I'm back again with another pin up girl. This one is sitting outside on a picnic blanket. She has a basket of fruit a jar and a lollypop.
I'm totally stoked about the blanket, her skirt, legs, and the jar. I had a bit of trouble with the color of the shadow on her arms and so it is a bit of a drawback for me. Also, I like the shading of her top, and her bangs.
I tried really hard to make her pretty lifelike. I think I really got it, save her face. I know thats a somewhat important part of a painting. I don't think it turned out too bad, just not quite right.
This one won't be my last, so stay tuned for more pinups.
I've painted a few statues in the past and really loved doing them. This one is no different. I started with just a bit of paint to put on a base color of this statue. Then I just painted all the shadows. I allowed those to give form and shape to the statue. After several layers of shadows and a little rounding of the edges, this statue looks like it is 3 dimensional.
I also put on a very dramatic background. Mixing reds and blues around this statue that has lots of yellow and green in it make the image jump off the page. Contrasting colors will always make images pop from your paper.
Like I said I had a great time with this. If you want to see how I did it, take a look at the following video. It's sped up because the whole painting took me about an hour to do, and I didn't want anyone to have to sit through an hour of me talking. Check it out, its pretty good.
So, I got on a little bit of a mermaid kick lately. It started a couple of weeks ago, and has just about run its course. This might be about my last one. I really think her tail fin turned out great on this on. Also, I'm really happy that the shading of her skin turned out pretty good.
Under her hair is darker than her face and chest. Her left arm is darker than her right. She even has a little shadow on one butt cheek. Not too back on a little painting.
The hair didn't quite turn out like I thought, but it isn't too bad either. I'm totally happy with this little painting.
If you want to watch me paint this, you can view the video below.
For those of you who still make valentines day cards. I thought that instead of just a heart, it might be nice to do something a little different. The difference is, of course that each lobe of the heart is a persons head. On the left a woman, an don the right a man. They must be in a passionate embrace.
I did a little splatter over the top of the heart to give a little more movement and life to the painting. It's just a valentines day card, but I think its a whole lot better than any card you could buy in the store.
I don't think I'll ever be able to get all the way away from painting birds, and I don't think I want to. Like most areas of the country, I've got plenty of sparrows flying around my house. I thought it might be nice to paint one. I think I did one years ago, but they are nice birds and I always enjoy watching them at the feeder and flitting about too and fro.
This isn't any particular sparrow, but one of many that could be around my house. He's just sitting there on a little branch looking for his friends to play with.
He was great fun to paint. If you want to see a video of how I did it, check out the video below.
My daughter's best friend is going through a mermaid phase right now and asked if I would paint one for her. I, of course, said I would. I first had to find an image, then draw it out of course. What followed is this painting of a mermaid. It's not the best painting of a mermaid, but I think its a really good first try.
My favorite part of this painting is the ribs on the tail. I think they turned out really well. The next painting will probably have some scales, or some such. And I'm always looking to work on hair.
I got about half way through this painting and then thought I needed to have her sit on something, so the rock is somewhat improvised, but I think it mostly works.
I've also made a video to go along with this. As if you hadn't seen that coming.
Back again with another bird painting. This one is a great blue heron. These prehistoric birds are all over the place where I live, and I hope you have them where you live too. Here they stalk the tide pools and seashore looking for small fish to eat. I've even seen them in the fields and on the golf course looking for mice or moles. A big one can stand in excess of 4 feet tall. I don't know what its wingspan is, but its big. They will stand motionless for quite a while waiting for a tasty morsel to come into range. As soon as it does,... Whammo! Thats is. Feeding time.
I've got a nice heron her for you to view. He is in a classic standing stance. Just surveying his surroundings, waiting, biding his time. I've used a healthy dose of cerulean blue in this painting. Used it both in the bird and on the background. The bird itself is tempered with a little mix of my own grey too.
For those of you interested in seeing how I painted it, you can view the action below. Even if you don't give a view to the video, thanks for taking the time to read a bit about this bird. Enjoy the video.
A friend of mine recently moved to Texas. I asked her what the state bird was, and she tole me it was a mocking bird (never looked it up to verify, but I believe her). I felt a wave of bird painting coming on and thought it might be fun to paint. Here is what I came up with.
Its a classic bird shape. Maybe the tail is a little longer than some, but for the most part it follows suit for songbirds in North America.
I looked through a number of pictures of mocking birds before settling on drawing this one. Most of the mocking birds are a light grey to a brown in color. A few, however, had a slight blue tint to them. I don't know if they were juveniles, or if at a certain time of year the feathers look a bit different or what. No matter, I chose to paint mine with a blue-ish tint. I made the eye extra dark. I want the viewer to notice it right away, and looking back at the painting, I think I made the right choice.
Like so many of my painting recently, it is accompanied by a video. So if you want to see how I painted it, check out the video below. Thanks for the quick read. Drop me a line and let me know if you like it or not, or if you'd like to see me paint something specifis.
Alas, that ever present bird has made a comeback on Dabfly Arts. Living by the water, I see them every day. Some days they look like they are having fun floating on gentle ocean breezes, others they look like they are hating life trying to stay warm in a cold winter wind. This guy falls into the former category. He is definitely loving life. Nice warm climate, a nice dock to stand on.
Birds are fun to paint. I don't know why I like them so much. I guess its because each one has its own personality. Every bird I paint gets its own story. This one is definitely looking at something on the dock. Maybe a tasty bit of food has blown onto the wood, he has just seen it, and it about to go over and have a snack.
Whatever his real story, he was a blast to paint. I hope you enjoy it. If you want to see how I did it, I have, as has become my custom, made a video of it. You can see it below. Thanks for the read, and the view if you have the inclination.
I must be on some kind of bird painting kick. Here, I've painted an Oriole. He is sitting on what appears to be a broken branch.
This bird was really fun to paint. The vibrant orange color is made from a couple of different reds, and a couple of different yellows. I did use a pre-mixed grey (payne's grey) but I augmented it myself. I don't usually use the grey right out of the tube. It's mot a bad color, just a little bit flat.
I've given the bird just a few indications of feathers. Just enough to enhance the shape of the bird.
He sits on a stick that has obviously seen better days. Its got some pitting and dents in it.
The background was originally going to be a bit more mottled, but I think I forgot to mix another color into it. As it is, the colors are phthalo blue and ultramarine blue. The green parts are windsor green and viridian. The blue behind the orange really makes this bird pop off the page.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the painting and the quick read. If you want to see how I painted it, check out the following video.
So, I went fishing and didn't catch anything. As a consolation, I painted this fish. Ok, thats not actually how the story goes. I did go fishing. I didn't catch anything. I did have fun fishing with my children. That fishing trip had nothing to do with this painting.
I've been meaning to paint a betta for quite some time. My friends over at Doodlewash painted one about the time I was getting started. I didn't want to post mine close to the time that that one was painted. So I waited. Finally, I was kicking around the studio the other day when I came across the reference photo for this. Finally, I had to paint it. I will admit that the background needs a bit of work. I wanted a really mottled background that had a lot of interest. What I ended up with it s a background that is rather plain. I will admit that I am a bit disappointed with it. But no mind. It is what it is. I enjoyed the experience painting it. You can too by viewing the video below.
Thanks for the view. Hope you enjoy.
If you want to see the video in less than half the time, there is a speed painting of it too.
Mmmmm, just like grandma use to make. Delicious blueberry muffins. These happen to be sitting on the table, but you can't have them they are mine.
I started out to paint something just a little different. You see lot of painting of trees, and flower, and pets and people, but how many do you see of muffins? I know, I know, your gonna say its just a still life like a bowl of fruit, or something, but is it really? I really like painting things that not everyone else paints. From the moment I saw this picture, I knew I was going to paint it. I didn't really know how I was going to do it, but I knew I was going to.
What I did was look at what color the muffin tops were, and develop my color palette from there. The tops were gold, and brown and a really warm earthy yellow. I decided on transparent orange oxide, yellow ochre, raw umber and van dyke brown. The brown crusty parts are really just orange oxide. and the in between parts are mostly yellow ochre. Their is an under layer of raw umber and yellow ochre. The muffin cup is mostly raw umber. I needed to make it similar to the top, but different enough that you could tell it was paper. I tied it all together with a light yellow background and a few blueberries in the foreground.
If you want a more detailed description, you can watch the video below. Thanks for taking the time to view it, I hope you like it, I had a blast painting it.
