How to Paint a Tiger
I’ve been having a lot of fun painting vignettes of little pink elephants. I am painting little pink elephants on black backgrounds in the water, on the trail, pushed along by Mom, on white canvas going to the beach, at the beach, playing in the water. I’ve been very focused on elephants. Sometimes I must take […]
Huntington Beach Library Exhibition
I had a wonderful opening for my one woman show “Stampede” this last Saturday, October 5th 2013 in The Corner Gallery at the Huntington Beach Central Library. The gallery is a beautiful room with two walls of floor to ceiling windows overlooking a plumeria garden, pond and a beautiful park. The light from the skylight […]
How to Paint… Planning
I know the title of this blog is how to paint… planning but it’s really about how to keep painting when the plan goes badly. I get an idea in my head for a new painting and it develops until I find source material to fit my idea. When I started the pink elephant painting […]
“How to Paint…Dark and Light?”
I have three paintings I painted specifically for the Torrit Grey painting Contest. Two of the paintings, “Torrit the Tiger” and “Ghost in Torrit Woods” are very popular and get a lot of attention. “New Prince of the Jungle” may not be as well known as the other two but I was trying to accomplish […]
“How to Paint… Rocks?”
How To Paint Rocks doesn’t sound like wildlife art but animal habitats are full of rocks and plants. I’ve painted a lot of rocks in my art career and not all of them looked like rocks to me. I’ve painted baked potato rocks, rocks that look like I dropped my ice cream cone on the […]
“How to Paint… a Dog?”
I painted this beautiful puppy for a friend. I wish I knew the breed of this little guy. I do know that he is trained to visit hospital patients and help with their mood and recovery. If this pup came to my room I know I’d be instantly better. I did a detailed drawing of […]
How to Paint Feathers?
I started using my cell phone camera for taking photos of my paintings as I paint and I have a lot of pictures of paintings in the making. I thought it might be fun to do a few short articles on How To, paint whatever. This Post is about feathers. I’m finishing up a painting […]
How to Oil paint
How to Oil Paint? Practice. I know that’s not what you wanted to read but you know it’s true. While practice is important and the best way to get better at anything, specific instruction is also very helpful. I’ve been painting a long time and the lessons I’ve taken from other artists were very important. […]
Photos That Fit the Pictures in my Head
I feel really fortunate when I can use my own photos to paint. I’m not a big traveler and when we do go on a trip it’s usually to one coast or another. I got lucky taking photos of horses in a field when my husband and I stayed in San Luis Obispo, CA . […]
Going on
The most important painting tip I’ve learned over the years is “Keep Going.” I am telling myself to keep going a lot with this new painting I’ve started. I wanted to paint something different, something I’ve never painted before. I decided on a desert tortoise. I found wonderful reference material. I can see the finished […]
Crazy is in the Details
I finished my new painting today. I had to call it quits. Enough is enough. I kept track this time 114 hours on the new painting and I didn’t sign it yet. (So you can’t see it yet.) If you paint or do projects you probably know what I mean. The details of the painting […]
Why did I pick Stripes?
I love painting animals. They are all so unique and beautiful. I get and idea in my mind and it fills up my head until I have a painting. I will search photo purchase sites and purchase just the right line in the animal, just the right type of background, every angle meets my approval. […]
I’ll Paint Rocks, (if I have to!)
I joined facebook in 2009 not knowing very much about it. After stumbling around for awhile I got the hang of posts, friends and likes. In 2010 I posted my paintings in an album on facebook and shared them with my friends. The positive response to the paintings was really overwhelming. I am always hoping […]
Happy Being a Drip
Sometimes I’m surprised when I set out to paint something and it comes out just like I hope it will. I decided to add water drops to the fern in the front of the painting and the drops would fall off the plant into the river and bounce back up. I’ve painted waves, lakes, oceans, […]
It’s always better with a monkey bath
My brother David owns “The Bookman” a used bookstore in Orange California. I can sit for hours on the floor in front of the animal section and look through the picture books they have in stock. The smokey misty feel of this tiger painting comes from a type of photo I’ve seen in one of those […]
Cellphone Critic
I like to hold my paintings up to a mirror when I feel there is something off in the way the animal looks, like the eyes not looking in the same direction or the stripes not going around it’s body. I found I can see what was is bothering me that way but try holding […]
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