It's all gone to the birds (seagulls)

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.

Purple Poppy

By now you must all know that I have a thing for Poppies.  I think because they are simple flower, but look fantastic.

I started with a light wash of a nice reddish purple color.  Then, kept adding layer upon layer of paint.  Each one just a bit darker than the last.

Throw on a nice background that helps to make the flowers stand out and you've got a nice little painting.

Hope you enjoy


For anyone that wants to see a video of my painting this, there is a video below.

Some Sketching on the Bus

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.

Boob, Boobs, Boobies

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.

Fork Picture Holder

 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.

Poppies

This is a fun painting I did for the coming of spring.  It's Poppies!!   The state flower of California.  I've got these growing wild everywhere around my house.  They add a beautiful splash of color.  

Many poppies have a dark center.  This variety instead has a bright vibrant yellow center.  I thought they would make the perfect subject to paint.

Oh and as for the background.... Well, I wanted to play a little and let these have some fun.  So a half wash and some splatter were just what the doctor ordered.

I painted this picture with a very limited color palette, and was delighted to see that even with that you can paint a beautiful paintings.  I really hope you enjoy it.

Oh, and if you are curios about a video of this painting, I've got just the thing for you.  I did make one and posted not long ago.  (yes, I've been delinquent about posting to this blog).  Anyway, you can find the video below.

Grumpy Cat

So, I've been trying to get better at painting animals.  I love cats, so it made sense that I would paint a few of them.  I've tried to paint animals in the past and have always been disappointed in how I painted fur.  At that time I was trying hard to make photorealistic paintings.   It was all ok, but thats not really how I want to paint.  I want to give the impression of a thing.  When you look at one of my paintings I want you to get the emotion and feeling that I put into it out of it.  If the painting looks exactly like the object it was taken, great, if it doesn't so be it.

So, here I am painting this cat, and wanting to convey to you a bit of grumpiness from this cat without explicitly painting a perfect cat.  I think you get a bit of that from this cat.

Want to see how I painted it?  Check out the video below.  Want me to paint something for you?  Curios how someone would paint something.  I'd love to take a crack at whatever you can dream up.  Leave me a comment or shoot me an email. Thanks for the quick read, and enjoy the video.