Acrylics and Roses

Acrylics watered down can look like watercolours. I tried this in class and it turned out better than expected. I didn't use any retarder for the paints. Just water. It was a bit challenging but worked out.

Practice piece

This is an acrylic with texture building up the rocks and trunk to make it more 3d. Pointillism technique was used for the sky. This is a copy of John Le Flock's teaching painting. I thought it'd be easy but with all the detail it was much harder and time consuming, but with John's help, I learned tonnes. I also made the painting brighter and more colourful than his. I just can't help myself! I love colour!!!

Betula Lake Before the Storm

My family just got back from our vacation to Manitoba. It was a wonderful trip to witness my cousin Michael's wedding to his lovely wife Eryn. We drove in our RV and it took us almost 3 weeks. What an adventure. This painting was done while we were on the road when our daughter was sleeping. It's roughly 12x8 inches--just a little chalk pastel.

Another Charcoal

This one is a copy of John Le Flock's charcoal. Painting the charcoal onto the hair wrap was amazing. The look is so soft like real fabric flowing around her face.

Fixing "I"m the Authority"

I knew I had to do some touch ups. So I did. And now it's completed!

For some reason the newest photo makes it look lighter, but it really isn't in real life.

I'm the Authority

Remember police sunglasses just like the tv show Chips (yes, i'm old enough to remember that)? They are stylish again so i had to buy them.  The kid with attitude took them from me and wouldn't give them back. This was her crinkled nose look that she gives when you take something that she would rather play with.

Normal baby portraits have cute baby poses. I decided to do a different more candid image of her. Grandpa affectionately calls her crinkled nose, "giving the face". She does this when we feed her and we are going to slow. It's hilarious. We're not 100% sure where she copied it from. However, we are considering that this may be my weightlifting face. I'll have to ask my coach.

This is a charcoal drawing approximately 8x11. I had to take a picture of the drawing before it was completed since I love the way a drawing literally comes alive on a page. I may do a couple more touch ups, but overall, I consider this one to be my favourite portrait so far. She's 7 month old in this portrait.

And getting a bit crafty too

I made this for hair elastics and clips. It works well. I used a scrapbooking page for the background but next time, I will use fabric.

"Puppy Love"-Eyes fixed

My art teacher John Le Flocked helped me and we fixed the eyes. It is a minor change but it made all the difference. Thanks John!

at 6 months-- "Puppy Love"

I've been unable to draw for the last couple of months. Too many things to do, including travelling to Gibraltar to see family and helping mom and my sister who both had surgery within a week of each other.

This drawing is The kid at 6 months. She continues to be my muse. Like her mom and dad, she loves puppies.  When we wake up in the morning, we have a routine of petting our two puppies. First, we pet Dobby who wakes up. Then, Yoda pops out from under the covers and wants to be pet too. She's a short haired dachshund so she had to be under the blankets since she's cold. Thankfully, one of my colleagues gave this awesome shirt with a puppy on it. I had to draw it so we remember the poodle shirt which is one of my favourites. I'll be sad when she outgrows it.

I just finished this drawing and am proud that I finally did something artistic! Tomorrow, I hope to go to my art class. Maybe John can give me some constructive criticism and help me improve the drawing. We shall see.

Young Lady

This is another "practice" portrait. It's a chalk pastel copy of John Le Flock's young lady. However, I selected a very dark navy paper. For her complexion, that was the wrong choice. It's a learning piece and I learned much about proportions.

"Apple Blossoms" -- 16 x 20 acrylic painting. This was done for Patricia Jasper's class at the Chilliwack Arts Centre in February 2012.

Baby

And here's my first portrait in chalk pastels. This was a gift for my loving husband. I'm so lucky!

I also did a pencil sketch but the coloured one is much better.

Yoda at 9 Weeks

This chalk pastel painting is roughly 16x20 inches. It's called "Yoda at 9 weeks". This is based on my photo of our playful puppy who joined our family on December 27, 2009. She's now three years old and hasn't really changed despite the addition of a baby and our newly adopted wiener dog, Dobby.

Betula Lake Fishing Lessons

Yesterday was a great day. I finally finished a piece that I love. I went to get it framed today and I'm so happy that it turned out. This is my third chalk pastel and my first landscape in the medium. I used sabretooth paper--a very heavy paper. John Le Flock, my teacher, guided me through the process over the course of a few weeks.  I can't wait to see it framed!

This is a painting based on a picture I took at my Uncle Cris' cabin at Betula Lake, Manitoba. It's a gorgeous location. Uncle Cris and my cousin Michael were teaching my nephew how to fish. My parents were also there enjoying the beautiful sunset.