Bear (cat)

This is my friends Nick and Jessamyn’s cat, Bear. I saw the photo and just had to paint it- the cat has such attitude! I left a little more of the pink showing through here than I usually do, mostly because I was trying to keep it a quick warm-up painting. I like the effect though.

Bear- Acrylic on 6x6 hardboard panel

Flamingos!

Here’s a few warm-up pieces I did this weekend. They’re done on 5x7 card stock and I plan to donate them to Art4shelter for their 2020 sale. The reference photos are from Paint My Photo.com.

I’ve been trying to scheme a way to expand my home studio space. Right now my easel is in a small corner of our “office”, but we really don’t ever use the big desk in the office. Maybe move the desk to the basement? There’s not really space for it down there but there could be if I cleaned off a table full of painting stuff and took it down. Hmmmm.....I’ll be sure to post pictures if my studio takeover works out!

Flamingo 2- Acrylic on 5x7 in. paper

Flamingo 3- Acrylic on 5x7 in. paper

Snowy Sunset

I painted this one a while back but forgot to post it. I was really drawn to the yellowy sky of the reference photo. I tried to keep this one fast and loose.

Snowy Sunset - Acrylic on 5x7 paper

Callie 12

I was feeling rusty after not painting for a while, so that called for another Callie painting. I'm feeling better already! It was fun to do her crazy mane in this one.

Callie 12 - Acrylic on 6x6 in. gessobord

Dos Habaneros

I'm a little behind on posting (a little behind on everything, to be honest...) - I painted these from life after returning from a lovely vacation in Oregon. The cute little peppers called out to me at the supermarket - they are so tiny and light they only cost 24 cents! What a deal.

Dos Habaneros - 6x6 in. acrylic on paper

Cutest planter ever

I saw a photo of this planter on Instagram and just had to paint it. It didn't turn out quite as planned - the planter in the photo is white!! Clearly I need some work on assessing darker shades of white! I started with the darkest areas of the planter and then worked my way subtly lighter - next time I'll try starting with the lightest areas and working my way subtly darker instead.  I think the back half of the body is kind of ok-ish, but the front half and the head are way too dark.  I have the same problem when trying to paint my white cat - I make the darker areas waaaay too dark.

I'll probably try painting this exact reference photo again in the near future because I think this is the cutest planter ever!

Cutest planter ever - Acrylic on 6x6 in. hardboard panel

Many thanks to Belinda at @plantloversonly for the use of her photo.

Athena

This was a recent commission, in the reference photo the kitty was sitting very near a window and I tried going a little more blue-grey than just plain grey or white for the light reflecting on her dark fur, something I've seen other pet portraitists do.

Athena - Acrylic on 8x8 in. gessobord