Adios Little Ones!!!! :)

The last 2 weeks have been rather fruitful-- 2 large paintings and one little one out the door, into the homes of 2 very cool people. Thanks Nila and Gary!!! :)...time to work on some more surrealism! I've started a new sketch...should be kind of freaky and beautiful at the same time :)...Here are my babies that flew the coop!

A Recent Watercolor Style...

I have a tendency to work in a variety of styles...surrealism, realism..CHICKENS...and also-- abstracted nature? This is the best way I can describe this type of art I have been doing, (on and off), for the last year or two. I find it relaxing because it starts out with the wet into wet technique (with watercolors), and ends with a lot of fun detail! (and I love detail :)-- here I find the best of both worlds in terms of creation. I used both watercolor and gouache in this painting.

I'm Throwing Caution to the Wind...I've decided to list Originals..

Yes it's true! I've decided to start listing some of my larger originals on Etsy. I was reluctant to do so for the longest time, as I was not sure if people would want to shell out that much money on the internet. I've come to the conclusion though, what do I have to loose, other than the listing fee?...So here I am listing larger originals :)-- and when I say larger originals, I mean anything over 4 by 6 inches :)

I listed this one tonight. It is called "In Separation of Continents" and was created on 140 lb. watercolor paper using watercolor and gouache. I was going for a beautiful yet melancholy feeling with this one :)....perhaps with a tad bit of nostalgia...

I'm a Horrible Procrastinator... :O ...

You know that sketch I blogged about a couple of posts back? Yeah, I haven't started that one yet... :) The main reason being is that I'm going to do it in oils, and I haven't worked in oils in years...I'm kind of a perfectionist, so I'm, uh...putting it off for a little while...(soon though, I swear)! :) ...

The painting shown here I am finally starting. I began this sketch a few years ago...(It's basically about losing your mind-- something many artists can relate to right?-- here's to you Van Gogh! :)...I think I'm going to call it "Pickle Head"... Get it? The head looks like a pickle, kinda...and also it's a refererence to your brain getting pickled :)...Yes, screwey but true :) It may look quite different by the time I finish it...I will most likely put a wallpaper background in it, like some of my other surreal paintings. I'm attempting to creat a "cohesive" body of work, or so they call it... :O (we'll see how it goes-- I have a bit of artistic ADD or something)...

In honor of my procrationation, and the many ideas I have in my head, I bring you this fun and quirky video by The Foo Fighters! :) I love this song/video. This song, called "Big Me," was big in my late teen years. I've decided to do a Mr. Chicken based on this video...Mr. Chicken Eat His Mentos (perhaps?)...I think Mr. Chicken might have to sport some Dave Grohl braids :)...(Remember those fun and dorky Mentos videos?) Of course though, since I procrastinate and am working on 10 differnt things at once, it may be a while :)
..sorry I had to post the link insted of the video-- I couldn't embed it for some reason! :O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhfWzCPRPtg

My First Book Cover! :D

Yeah! It's been published!!! :) So last fall I had a bit of time on my hands...deciding not to go to grad school down here and all...so I hopped on the internet and found myself a freelance illustration gig :) Here it is! :)-- the cover anyway. The book is called The Battle For Augusta, and is for sale on Lulu.com. It's basically an allegory about the civil war and golfing...or something to that effect ...I think...(I haven't read it yet, but I'm going to get a copy)! :)

http://www.lulu.com/content/3123859

I did the cover in watercolor, and some interior illustrations in graphite. I should post those on my Flickr site now that I think of it...I think the cover turned out OK...It was kind of a rush job with a deadline, so I think it turned out as well as could be expected...If I could do it over and had more time, I might do a few things differently, but overall-- I think it looks OK for my first go at it...

Before this I illustrated a career curriculum for a non profit organization...It was black and white, and executed in pen and ink. I'm much better at drawing than painting I think. I'm also better with "non realism," so this project was a challenge. I can do realsim, but I need a photo to look at to make it accurate...with this I had to kind of make up the composition-- you know, make a composite image from a bunch of different photo references-- MUCH harder than just one photo as a reference...:O...Anyway, I hope this looks all right for the publishing world. I would love to do more professional illustration down the road :)

Snitterdog Lost it's Front Page Virginity! :)

For the first time ever Snitterdog was on the front page! Yeah!!! Alas, no sales resulted, but it was fun nonetheless :)...The Greene Fairy has been on the front page twice, but this is a first for my "main" shop :)

It's funny that my "main" shop is not the more successful of the two...I guess I call it my "main" shop becuase it's the first one I opened...It's also closer to my true personaltiy-- odd, goofy, and strange... :) Oh well, I can see why The Greene Fairy may end up fairing better....it's not quite as odd...I really like odd, so I'm really pulling for Snitterdog! ;)...I'll be happy with whatever little straws of success I can grasp though! :)...so if The Greene Fairy kind of becomes my "main" shop, so be it! :)...I'll still do my odd little paintings though... :)