Volleyball T-shirt Design

My husband is the head girls' volleyball coach at the high school where he teaches and he asked me to design a t-shirt for the girls. Unfortunately I don't know how to do any designing on the computer! Thank goodness for my light table and copier that allows me to reduce and enlarge! So, an ink cartridge and ream of copy paper later I think I have a design! I wanted it to look hand-drawn (good thing, huh?) and have a distressed, stamped look. I'm sure that I could have clicked this look quickly on a computer, but lacking the program and the know-how for that, I took my drawing and reduced it down to about 1/2 an inch and then enlarged that which distorted the lines. I scanned the images and emailed them to the printers. Hopefully it will be layered with the netting image in gray, the squiggly image in purple and the "Sunset" in black! If it turns out, I'll post the results!

Bear Painting Process

I thought it might be fun to show the process of creating a painting for a client. I wish I had thought of it earlier so that I could include more steps, but here's what I have. This is a 5"x7" painting "sketch" for the final painting that will be 36"x60". This step is critical for me to work through the color and composition on a small scale and it allows me to give the client a good idea of what their painting will look like.
This is a picture of the final canvas in progress. I did a wash of yellow ochre over the entire canvas and then drew the bear in charcoal and blocked in the dark areas with burnt umber. I'll post more pictures as the painting progresses!

Some Kind Of Citrus?

Just an experiment with acrylic paint and pencil in some of my favorite colors.....

Doggies Go To Market 2

8"x10"
acrylic on masonite

Another dog at the Beaverton Farmers' Market enjoying the sun, sites, and smells!

Click image for larger view.

Doggies Go To Market

8"x8"
acrylic on masonite

The sun FINALLY came out so I went to the Beaverton and Cedar Mill Farmers' Markets and spent a lovely Saturday morning enjoying the sunshine, listening to music, watching people and lots of happy doggies!

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Pierce and Grandpa

5"x7"
acrylic on masonite
sold

My niece took this picture of her dad and her son and It seemed to be the perfect moment to capture in a painting. I find that I have a harder time loosening up when I paint people I know because I worry too much about getting it "right"!

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Fresh Spring Strawberries

6"x 6"
acrylic on masonite

Fresh strawberries inspired this little painting and allowed me to work through my challenge of painting with red.
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Kentucky Derby Inspired

We watched the Kentucky Derby on Saturday and I was inspired to do this charcoal and conte drawing on a brown paper bag.

Newspaper Faces

The newspaper provides an unlimited supply of interesting faces to draw. I've been drawing one a day for the past several weeks. Here is a sample.

I am very fortunate to have my mother living in the city of Avalon on the beautiful Catalina Island off the coast of southern California. In the mile square town, most of the residents and tourists travel by golf cart which adds to the charm of the picturesque town.
5"x7" acrylic on board