Beached Sailboat for Dean

I almost chose animals for Dean Haven since he and I both like to paint them, but something, I'm not sure what, made me feel like doing a seaside scene. This summer we were in Port Aransas, Texas and I saw this catamaran on the shoreline. My husband thinks it was either a Hobie 18 or a Nacra. But it reminded me of when he and I were dating and we would go out on his Hobie Cat and oh man, we had so much fun. I wasn't a sailor but he was, and he did all the work and I lounged and got a tan. Not really, I held the rudder sometimes, and when we came about I'd duck the boom and jump to the other side. That's helping, right? Hope you enjoy, Dean! 8 x 10 acrylic on paper.

" Devlin and Callie " by Dominique Eichi

7  x  9  Watercolor Pencils

                   This is Devlin and Callie for Liz Holm moleskins . Her theme is portraits and the one done by Dana of her mom is so beautiful..... so mine went to the dogs !!!

 I am a dog lover and these two are so cute it was such a pleasure to draw them.

I haven't used my watercolor pencils in a while and thought it would be the perfect medium for these 2 pups.

"Blue" by Michelle Burnett

Blue 

colored pencil on paper

10.5"x8.5"

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This is my contribution to Adebanji Alade's sketchbook. Since Adebanji chose such an important theme: "Homelessness", I wanted to convey the somber mood and sense of despair of the subject by using the color blue. For this sketch, I used Faber Castell Polychromos in Indianthrene blue and Dark indigo.

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I greatly admire Adebanji's drawing skill so I was inspired to draw this time. All too often, I have (mistakenly) seen drawing as a chore that is necessary to get past so I can get to the fun of painting. I had forgotten the pleasure of drawing itself and really enjoyed this using this medium again.

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Thank you, Adebanji for this thoughtful theme.

"The Girl Behind The Painting" by Dana Cooper

10" X 8" oil on paper

This piece is for fellow moleskin artist Camille Olsen. I only know Camille from blogging and facebook, yet somehow I feel that I know her. Besides being beautiful she is full of laughter and life...all very appealing characteristics.
I'm not sure I completely captured her likeness, but the whole painting was fun from start to finish. I would like to really know the girl behind the paintings!
Sorry for the glare, I varnished it before I photographed it...oops!

Gondolas by Edward Burton

oil

This is for Michelle Burnett whose moleskin theme is "Postcards and Snapshots". I decided to do a painting of one of my favaorite places - Venice. The long gondolas seemed to be a perfect choice for the format of her book.

Capistrano Courtyard by Edward Burton

oil

This is for Dominique whose moleskin's theme is landscapes, trees, roads, shadows and light. This is a small courtyard at Mission San Juan Capistrano - I consider it to be one of the most beautiful missions in California.

Who's That? by Dana Cooper

James Parker is the artist in our group who always uses humor in his work so when he asked that everyone paint animals I knew that I would be painting giraffes...there is something in their look that makes me smile and occasionally laugh. James, I hope this makes you smile too!

October Sky for Sheila from Liz

acrylic on paper

Fall is my favorite season. I love the deepening, more intense colors, the cool snap to the air,  the quickened pace.  Free from summer's humid weight, life feels sharper, clearer, more textured.  Light is lower, shadows longer, richer, and more mysterious. I imagine the trees are relieved to drop the burden of holding up all of those leaves, and sing when they decorate the landscape.


Wishing you a bountiful new season. xo

Liz's Mom by Dana Cooper

7" X 6" oil on gessoed paper

This is my submission for Liz Holm's book. She asked for the other artists to do portraits of some sort which I really love doing. So with a little sleuthing I found an image of Liz's mom on facebook. Though this may not be an exact likeness, I hope I was able to capture something of her spirit!

I am currently in possession of three of these moleskin books and I have to say to the other artists in the project that I am blown away by the quality of every piece in these books. To hold them in my hand and see what the camera does not capture is a real treat beyond words!

Crazy About Shoes

My contribution to Irit Bourla's moleskin book is a response to her shoe problem...ha! Irit seems to love shoes, so I thought I'd indulge her with this painting. One of the figures in this painting is Rose, who also loves shoes, and here she is "sight seeing" in Germany. (Hint, she's the granny on the left). They do have some amazing shoes there. Rose bought those spikey red ones.
oil on paper 11 1/2" x 8"