painting – mind and heart

copy of Woman in Black

This is my copy of Gabriele Munter’s painting, Woman in Black. Something that drew me to this piece was how there seemed to be a softness in the eyes, even though they’re kind of just blobs of black paint. I wanted to learn how Munter could capture something as refined as a soft look inContinue reading “copy of Woman in Black”

studying Slobodkin’s illustrations

I love this illustration from the book The Hundred Dresses (page 14). The original artist, Louis Slobodkin, actually studied as a sculptor before finding his way into illustration. I had to warm up with a colored pencil sketch and then a still-not-very-precise study before I was ready to try copying the whole illustration. My finalContinue reading “studying Slobodkin’s illustrations”

cicero the cat

Meet Cicero, my cat. The day I started this I was full of disappointment about a different piece, so I decided to start pouring all that energy into something new. It started with a sketch in pastel pencils and grew into a cozy-feeling oil painting. This is my second no-gesso painting. Oil on hardboard, 11×14Continue reading “cicero the cat”

portrait in red and green

This is my interpretation of a portrait done by Gabriele Munter, one of my favorite painters. To imitate her style of painting on un-gessoed cardboard, I painted this on the un-gessoed back-side of hardboard. The texture is a little intense so next time I’ll try sanding the surface before painting. But other than that, IContinue reading “portrait in red and green”

red leaf plum tree

Watercolor on paper, 5×7 inches.

golden leaves

Watercolor on paper, 5×7 inches.

blotting paper art

This is a corner of a page I used for wiping extra paint from several different paintings. This kind of painting (unplanned, accidental, instinctive) is not what I want to spend all my time doing, but I like it as an exercise. And as a way to feel like I’m not wasting the excess paintContinue reading “blotting paper art”

a little wild and in motion

This has been such a wonderful painting to carry from beginning to end. It’s been about a year since I started putting down my first ideas for it, nearly three months since I started working in earnest on the final product, and I can tell that I’ve grown as an artist in that time. HereContinue reading “a little wild and in motion”