ACEOs for July Fourth!

Happy Fourth everyone! I'm not doing too much today. It's unfortunate (yes unfortunate) that everywhere I would want to go is closed for the holiday. At least we are close enough to Lake Murray that we can see the fireworks tonight without having to battle the crowds. I, for one, will be hitting the books and playing some ball with the kids later. I have listed three new kitty ACEOs today.


A Cool Drink of Water




Happy Fourth!





Little Surprises

This one was completed in ballpoint ink and watercolor on acrylic paper. I love the texture of the acrylic paper and I like the permenancy of ink as well as the variety of line you can achieve with it. Very similar to pencil with a much cleaner look and feel. I will play around with this some more.

I had to change my scanner out. I bought a new printer which can print up to 11 x 17 (my old one could only do letter size) however I haven't been able to really adjust it properly yet. The scans aren't terribly true to life and seem to have a bleached out look to them. I hooked up old faithful once again and the scans are true to life and much better. Newer isn't always better I suppose.

3 New Kitty ACEOs

I have three new Kitty ACEOs up for auction on ebay.

Among the Weeds


Peeping Tom


In Wonder...


I have just finished up an Art Survey class and I have four more to go. We have a break for next week so I am going to take advantage and get some drawing and possibly painting done. I have a lot of sketches from life I have completed that I'll probably post later.

Three new kitty ACEOs

I have hit the ground running with these three new ACEOs. They are listed on ebay presently at really low prices. These were completed in the little down time I can get a hold of these days.


Wide-Eyed Beauty


Cat and Mouse Games


A Likely Story


These are all done in pencil. I can execute drawings pretty quickly in graphite and drawing really helps me to relax considering all the activity that has been going on lately around here. I'll have more up soon.

An Update

It's been awhile (4 months!) since I have updated my blog. Things have been really hectic. I'm back in school full-time (in edition to working full-time with four kids) and I have been working on some ACEOs for ebay off and on. I'm about to start back in earnest now. Most of my work will be in black and white versus color mainly due to time constraints. I am going to be working on some pieces for my 400 level art courses, so I will be documenting my progress from those also in edition to my ACEOs. I also have another blog that is in the works http://swhiteart.blogspot.com. This will include jewelry and other eclectic items for sale. A website is currently in the works and it is my aim that every piece will be truly unique.

I have a few ACEOs I will be posting for sale later today on ebay that I will post here.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the work!

A Break....

I am taking a "break" of sorts away from creating art as much. I will still do some however not to the extent I have been in the past few months. I have many drawings I have done however I have not posted as of yet. I have some commissions to complete and a cat show to prepare for that's coming up the end of the month. I am going to be going back to school shortly and I wanted to concentrate more of my efforts towards that...at least until after April. Then it's back to the grind. I have closed my ebay store...although it was short lived it was surprisingly successful and I will no doubt undertake one in the future. I would like to thank Linda (Linda's Blog) for her nomination for the Lemonade award! It is for blogs that have a positive outlook and that's something I try to do. Every cloud has a silver lining :-). I will complete the requirements in a future blog...I just wanted to drop a quick note for the moment.

Today

I went out walking with the kiddies today. It was unusually warm and put me in an oil painting mood. Unfortunately I did not get any painting done however the walk was nice. They were relieved to get out of the house to say the very least. I took a few pictures to use for reference later on. I also did another gouache relief, an elephant this time. They seemed to do well on ebay and I really enjoyed doing them. I have two graphite ACEO kitties I need to complete. I'm probably going to draw the pretty daffodil I took a picture of today with one of them. A butterfly friend with the other...or maybe a ladybug. I caught a few pictures of the tabby up the street however they didn't come out very well. A photographer, I am not, lol.

Gouache relief elephant

Graphite Kitty ACEOs

Daffodil photo I took today

Great News!!

I have finally opened an EBAY STORE!!! I have prints, key chains and I will have some blank watercolor ACEO cards for sale within the next week. I'm really excited about it. I get to offer some old favorites to those who may have missed out on the auction of the originals.

Here's a digital drawing I did of Barack Obama that I am offering for sale on ebay. It is not a reworked photograph...it is a real drawing that I did with my wacom tablet and pen directly into photoshop using the pencil and airbrush tools. It's a limited edition in the ACEO size. I will offer it larger in the future.


These are some gift tags for a baby boy/girl/both that I am working on to put for sale on etsy in the next week.


Pandamus, paper birds. I may offer a variety of these neat little birds for sale on etsy in the future, maybe even the template to make them. I made really small white ones that are just too cute and could be used for a variety of projects from card-making to scrapbooking as well as for wedding favors. The pink and red one I made for my four year old and the goldish one has been a hanging fixture in my kitchen forever.




I have been feeling particularly crafty lately however now it is back to the drawing board (literally). I am working on a few pieces that I am sure will please ;-). Thanks for stopping by and any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Happy New Year + New ACEOs

Happy New Year 2009 to all!!!!

I have two new ACEOs and one new bookmark (I took advantage of my day off). I brightened the original bird drawing from before so I rescanned it here. I did a tiger...I rather like how that one turned out. There's an Ace of Diamonds on the back of that one. I did the graphite kitties I entitled, "Hugs and Kisses."

Bird


Tiger


"Hugs and Kisses"



The Barack Obama bookmark I did as part of the Classical Painters group challenge on Ebay, which was to draw/paint Barack Obama. I was on this kick with the gouache relief so naturally that's what I did. I tied a red ribbon to it. I painted the flag with color (everything else including the face in white) before adding the ink. I like the final version for it's almost primitive graphic look. That appeals to me very much and reminds me how much I like linocuts and wood cuts. Click on them to see them bigger.

Barack sketch


Barack finish

New experiments and ACEOs

I love the graphic effect of linocuts. The lines are very bold and I find the stark contrast of black and white as well as the interplay of negative and positive space to be most interesting. I also love it when the color element is added as the colors seem brighter and the work has this "comic book" effect to it. I am in the position where I do not have the facilities or equipment (inks, press, linoleum) to recreate this method any time soon. So I improvised and created the following piece.





On the back of the card, I affixed the queen of spades playing card. I've been meaning to use these for ACEOs for awhile now and thought my little experiment here would be the perfect compliment. This is called a gouache relief and the resemblance to a hand-painted lino is uncanny to say the least. It is a beautiful process, albeit time consuming. I wouldn't say it is for the perfectionist especially since the effects are somewhat unpredictable.

I completed the following ACEO also. I entitled it, "Just the Right Size II," after a piece I completed some time in 2007 with similar content. I also added these interesting jewels as embellishment plants on the piece, a bit of experimentation on my part.

Completed Commission

I have finally completed the commissioned doggies. They were really a joy to draw (as well as a challenge). I have entitled this piece, "All to the Dogs." It will have a home with its owner very soon. I wasn't able to scan the entire piece; the white doggies ear and part of my name was cut off in the scan. My fiance said the white dog was the feistiest as far as looks go. Indeed her owner said she was a little spitfire however also very sweet. I am rather pleased with the final results and I hope the owner is also.




I have also completed a kitty ACEO. It was completed in graphite and verithin prismacolor pencil on watercolor. It is entitled, "The Stare." It is one of many graphite pieces I am getting ready for the new year. I am also going to complete a few watercolor, gouache, and ink pieces (and a few doodles). Maybe a few oil pieces later in the year. I am going to be a bit busy and I am looking forward to it.

Commissioned Dogs

I was commissioned to draw some doggies by a former co-worker of mine. They are the cutest little miniature fluffy dogs (sorry their formal names escape me) I've seen in awhile. This piece measures 11 x 14 and I have used graphite, colored pencils, and archival proof ink to create this piece. It won't take me too much longer to complete it. It's mostly getting the drawing down and working on the value relationships and tonal range.

Mali Girl Completed, Maine Coons WIP

I have finally completed Mali Girl. I completed this for an event I have coming up in March. I'm rather pleased with the results. It was completed in gold acrylic, archival proof ink and watercolor on 140 lb Arches Watercolor paper. The original scan I had brightened a little bit because it scanned really dim. I then glazed over the original in a reddish tone to brighten the face. This scan is unaltered.

I am still working on the Maine Coon kittens. Eventually I will get them completed :-). These are graphite on 140 lb Strathmore paper (I think it responds to the graphite better than the Arches). I am still working on some commissioned work. I will post that as soon as I am at a sufficient stopping point.

Playing around

This is just a sketch I did playing around with my wacom and photoshop. I made a baby girl note/greeting card with envelope and thought something was missing...

Two ACEO kitties

I completed these over a week ago. I haven't really been working on anything besides a commission of a few doggies and the maine coon kitties. When I get to a good stopping point I'll post the progress of those. I try to stagger my time as best I can around my schedule. I will have these up for auctions probably sometime tomorrow or Wednesday.

Sleeping Beauty


Christmas Stocking Stuffer

I did one similar to this last year called Christmas Sweetie. It will probably be the only Christmas themed work that I do (however don't quote me on that). I will attempt to update in a few days.

New Kitty ACEOs

I have two new kitty ACEOs. "Watchful" was completed a little over a week and a half ago and I just did "Casual Hunter" yesterday. These are going up for auction tonight. I am in the process of working on a Christmas Kitty similar to one I did last year...I started that yesterday also. The Maine Coon kittens are almost finished and I am about to start on a commission of four puppy dogs...I have two weeks to get them finished so I am about to get on the ball. Here are the kitties:

Watchful, watercolor and ballpoint ink


Casual Hunter, watercolor, koh-i-noor nexus ink pens, graphite