Manhole Man

More homework! Assigned by (mostly) Taite Voetberg during Tuesday's class. I was told to do a statue in browns and oranges and reds and purples. Originally it was to be The Thinker, but finding a shot of that among my friends' pictures was unrealistic so I settled for this awesome bronze from.... Bulgaria, I think. Some friends visited Europe a couple years ago and let me snitch pictures. I just love that they have statues coming up out of the cobblestone streets! Hand-drawn and watercolored in about two hours.

Homework!

Yes, homework. One of the only New Year resolutions I made was to invite my art students to give me homework, since I have thus far been the sole recipient of that delight. I was told on Tuesday to do a sky, "Since we know how much you love doing nature," and "the blue has to touch the orange."
Well. I have apparently taught them something, because they now know what is difficult! Not creating brown mud out of ethereal blues and oranges nestled against each other is... well, difficult. ☺ But here is my attempt. I decided to use the "island in my mind" again, just as a point of interest against the all-important sky.
(And, if you'll notice, Bethany, there are several places where blue touches orange. ☺)
There's another new post below, too!

Sarah Fishing

Yea! One more given so now I can share it. ☺ This was a gift, several years over-due, to my fabulous cousin Peter. I had promised him a painting of his choice for a birthday or Christmas, but we were never able to settle on a subject. Then, at Thanksgiving, he showed me this shot of his sister Sarah fishing off the rocks at Reef Point, and it was chosen. The day before a family gathering at my aunt's, I got the unmistakable sudden urge, obtained the picture from him, and knocked this out in a little less than four hours. When the shoe fits....
The ponytail makes it.

Lately

Well! For much of December I could not post any projects because they were all for Christmas and birthdays. Those are almost all over now, so here are most of them. Two are not finished yet, and one is not given yet, so you'll have to wait for another day.

The first was for Clan Cummins. I did it over a year ago, and added the finishing touches on the 26th. This was beloved Chamois (pronounced Shammi), departed over eight years ago now. The picture from which I took the painting was from her puppy days. Trace and transfer method, watercolor.
This second is another dog, Piper, as a puppy, with faithful owner Sara. It was begun as something to do, and turned out so well it was converted into a Cousin-Christmas gift. ☺ Sketch and watercolor.

Lastly, a couple of sketches from my new sketchbook (which I love). The first is a snowboarder, dragging his left hand in the mountain, helmet bent, left foot forward (for those of you who care).
The second is a dragon, one of the many I doodle. I was trying to make this one look more nefarious than not. It's all in the angle of the eyelid. ☺ Left-handed, pencil on paper.