Unfinished

It's been a long time since I've posted anything here, hasn't it?

I'm a bit particular when it comes to posting things in chronological order. It's easy to fall behind when you hit a roadblock- be it a challenging project that you can't quite finish, a piece that you aren't sure how to write about, or simply a secret gift that's just waiting for a birthday to arrive before it can be revealed. Sometimes you can fall weeks behind, and not even notice. Sometimes you can fall months behind. And sometimes over a year can pass without a word.

"Tournée du Chat Ombre" - detail

This is from a painting that I started in November of 2011. An homage to Steinlen's famous "Chat Noir" poster, it was to be a Christmas gift for my dad, as his beloved cat Shadow had passed away earlier that year. I was pretty happy with how it was turning out, and couldn't wait for him to see the finished painting.

I never got the chance.

In early December, I got the phone call. My brother told me our dad had died.

"Tournée du Chat Ombre" - detail

I packed the painting away, and I got swept up in grief and life and work and distractions, and yes- even art sometimes. Even with everything else that was broken, the urge to be creative remained- my dad and I always had that in common.

But I couldn't post anything here, because I'd have to talk about What Happened. And I wasn't ready. Don't think I ever will be, really, but that's okay.

I missed this silly little blog and my small but wonderful crew of followers. I missed creating and sharing new art. That I am ready for.


I haven't been able to finish the painting yet. But I will. In my studio, surrounded by his artwork and his art supplies, I will finish it. And I will use this year to make beautiful things.

♥

"Tournée du Chat Ombre" - unfinished
For Ron Sayer ~ 1948-2011

Weekend W.I.P. - Robots!

I've been working on a couple of robot designs to keep this guy company. 

'Robo-Claus'

Hopefully I'll have this first one finished in time for Christmas! I'm working on the colours now (so.. much.. cell-shading.. O_o)

'Robots Need Love Too'

This one is still a rough sketch, but he's been scanned and is waiting for his turn to be inked. Hang in there, little guy!

Weekend WIP - West Coast Corvid

"West Coast Corvid"

Acrylic on wood panel, 2011

It's the return of the Weekend Work-In-Progress!

This weekend I'll be showing you how 'West Coast Corvid' came together. There's not much to describe (since the steps are basically 1- sketch. 2- paint. 3- paint some more. 4- keep painting...), so I'll just let the pictures tell the story (such as it is).

Primed wood panel with gesso. Sketched the scene

Painted the sky. Played with some texture for the clouds.

Toned down the cloud texture. Painted the hills.
Played around with the paint on the closest hill to give it a bit of 'forest' texture.

Added some more detail to the hills. Painted the bird. 

And that's it! Everything went as smoothly as described, yes indeed... ;)

Here's a question for all you artists out there- what is your painting process like? Since I first learned to paint with watercolours, I tend to keep a lot of the same habits when I use acrylics (working from light to dark colours, for example). Do you have a system that you like to stick to, or do you tend towards slightly-controlled-chaos?

Weekend W.I.P. - 'Saw-Whet Stinkeye' & 'Ghost Walk'

"That's right- you keep drawing me, and I'll keep judging you."

Made some more progress on the Saw-Whet Stinkeye drawing this weekend- at this rate I may actually finish it!

Here's another project to keep an eye on:

Based on the 'Ghost Walk" photo from this post

I started this one some time ago, and it's been stuck at this stage for far too long. Hopefully now that you're watching me, I'll feel pressured to make some decent progress on it as well!

Weekend W.I.P. - 'Saw-Whet Stinkeye'

Okay folks, it's confession time. I'm one of those artists who loves starting new projects, but tends to fail at finishing them. So, in an effort to finish some of the many long-forgotten (or soon-to-be-forgotten) works in progress, I'll be posting them here for this small corner of the world to see.
So, if you notice that something I've posted here hasn't been spoken of again, please call me on it! Feel free to leave a comment or send me a message & ask what's up. I'll be grateful if you help keep me honest & on-track. :)

This week's work-in-progress is a pen & ink drawing of a tiny owl with a big attitude. I'm rather fond of him, so hopefully I'll finish this one... Wish me luck!

"Yarrr... finish me drawing, or I'll peck yer eyes out!"