Dec. 13th

Final Victory Garden piece.

Dec. 11th

Canning...something I would love to do more of!

Dec. 10th

A little sketch for the Urban Coop section of the Victory Garden project....

Victory Gardens

Sorry, for not updating for almost six months! Here is one of the pieces I did for a Victory Garden project.

Waterhouse

JW Waterhouse's work simply inthralls me. I have been having a rather bad case of artist's block. I am supposed to be working on several projects for friends but because of several family health issues in the past few weeks and now feeling completely unmotivated I have been having a hard time getting started on the project. So I have turned to the work of extremely talented artists of the past to get me back in the grove.

(sorry for the bad scan...I am hoping to get a bigger scanner soon!)

Benwick's Wren

Benwick's Wren

Thryomanes benwickii

This bird can be seen year-round throughout New Mexico. Insects make up nearly its entire diet. Breeding pairs are very territorial and will defend their chosen territory year-round. So you may not see a lot of these little birds but if you do see a pair you will know that you will get to see them for a long time!

White-Crowned Sparrow

White-Crowned Sparrow

Zonotrichia leucophrys

Depending on the time of the year this bird can be seen throughout the USA. It is a ground feeder bird that eats seeds, berries, and insects. To attract to your yard try putting out millet seed.

Broad-Tailed Hummingbird

Broad-Tailed Hummingbird

Selasphorus playcercus

This lovely little bird can be see during the summer in New Mexico.

Hummingbird food recipe:

Four parts water to one part sugar (ie 4 cups water to 1 cup sugar)

Boil water and mix in sugar until completely dissolved.

Let cool and pour into clean hummingbird feeders. Do NOT add red food dye or buy hummingbird food that has red food dye as many of them are not made from natural dyes and there can shorten the life span of the hummingbirds you are trying to watch! Simply having a feeder with red on it with bring the birds to your yard.

Steller's Jay

Steller's Jay

Cyanocitta stelleri

This lovely bird lives year round in New Mexico. Favorite foods include: cracked corn, striped sunflower seeds, and in-shell peanuts

Burrowing Owl

This past winter I was working on a greeting card series featuring local birds of New Mexico (and some not so local). Though right now the card project got put on hold I thought it would be a shame for the drawings to collect dust in my closet.

The first installment is of a Burrowing Owl, Athene cunicularia. It can be seen most readily during the summer months in New Mexico. These birds nest in underground dens in open fields. Exact numbers of these birds are unknown but it is believed that there are less than 10,000 breeding pairs left in the wild.

I could not decide if I wanted to use color for the cards or just black and white. So you get to see both!

just a quickie

ink wash with charcoal...this is another old sketch. I will be uploading some of my recent work soon (hopefully!)!

new projects

A panel from a storyboard I am working on...I will be uploading a short film of it a bit later on.

a quick colored in version...

Happy Birthday! Stormtrooper style!

My little brother's 18th birthday is today. Now that he is 18 he plans on joining the 501st company/brigade/troop? In honor of the occasion I created a special bday card for him.

May 31st

Pen and ink Steller Jay.  I was working on a line of greeting cards with birds local to New Mexico...the project got put on hold a bit but hopefully it will still happen. 

working on projects...

I realized I had not posted anything for several days...oops.  I have been working on several projects this week which have been keeping me busy.  One of them is a birthday present for my little brother.  It is not finished yet but when it is I will post a picture of it.  Just so I do not feel to bad about not posting here is an oldie....(henna again..sorry I will have more sketches up soon!)

henna #2

 

Ahh.... summer and henna.  Such a wonderful thing!  Can you tell that I was feeling a bit of an Asian influence? 

Summer means Henna!

Summer means...Henna!!!! yahoo!  During the winter months it is not as much fun doing henna.  It does not get as dark and lets face it, it is not fun to keep a limb out and still for hours on end when it is cold out! Here is my version of "36 Views of Mount Fuji"...the paste is still on.

ink wash again...

The scan made this a lot darker than I thought it would...hmmm strange.  

Another ink wash with charcoal.  It is a fun combination to play with and creates an interesting texture.  

hands

Some practice sketches of hands...always tricky subjects but fun to draw none-the-less!

White Sands

Ink wash from photo of a visit to White Sands.  Such an interesting and beautiful place!

Teen Titans continued...

More Teen Titans artwork....

Supergirl

My brother brought home several copies of Teen Titans.  I got inthralled with the art...here is my first attempt at Supergirl.

paying homage

I grew up being read to from Bill Peet's many wonderful stories.  The bunny in this drawing is taken from one of his stories and put in a different setting.

I love love love Rebecca Guay's work! Look up her Goddess book.  It is full of lovely illustrations.  

Moving out

More in the Mennonite series.  I met and interviewed several women who "moved out" of conservative Mennonite or Amish communities.  Yet, no matter how far they have traveled they still show signs of their past...

Mennonite Roots

I have been studying my Mennonite roots lately and here is one of the sketches I have done as a result...I was given the idea for this piece by a beautiful wedding photo of a Mennonite couple.