Piggy Suey

I'm not sure if when you hear people calling pigs it's sooey or suey. Trains or a name? Or is it like suet like that which is the fat that is found in the kidneys and loins of a sheep or cattle? I just don't know. I've never been to a pig calling contest, but I have drawn a pig or two and here is a recent one. I saw a trailer for Charlotte's Web and the pig (which I'm sure was one of many) was the cutest thing you can imagine. Nothing is cuter than a pig getting milk from a baby's bottle. I'm going to have to see the movie when it comes out on video, just to see the cute little pigs. You know, my earliest movie memory is viewing Charlotte's web at a drive-in theater. Times have changed--now they use real pigs, rather than cartoon pigs. Anyway, this pig drawing was to be a part of my 2007 calendar which didn't happen. So much for traditions.

Two Cats in the Snow

I am wondering if this blog will publish animated GIF photos. My other blog will not. Anyway, I have been experimenting with colored pencil on black paper and this is a couple of cats that I drew. I then went into my Photo Impact program and added some snow animation. I hope this works here. If the animation doesn't work, you will just see a picture with snow. If it does work, the snow will be falling softly on the cats. Here goes--my fingers are crossed.

Edited to add, as you can see the snow isn't animated:(

Roses in the Garden

"There are no roses in this garden" you may say. I say you are wrong-there are rhinoceroses. This was one of the drawings I did for a Secret Santa thing I participated in. My recipient wanted a tangled magical garden and that is what this is. She, of course, didn't ask for rhinoceroses. I kind of like how it turned out, even though it is really far from finished. I need to get some darker darks in there. I realized I hadn't posted in this blog for ages, so it was time for a new entry...

Thirsty Kitty

So, this afternoon I decided to try colored pencil on black paper. I have to say I'm really loving the effect and the time-saving aspect. I did what I have here in about an hour or so. On white paper, I would still have layer upon layer left to go. The black paper saves you all that time. I still haven't decided if I'm going to turn this into an actual drawing or just keep it as a sketch. I kind of like how it looks, just as it is. Anway, now I'm going out, so I'm not going to worry about this until later.

You're getting very sleepy...

So, I painted another rooster. This one is actually a commissioned piece (yay!), so I'll get a little money out of the deal. Although I did tell her that she could decide if she wants it when she sees it. She has seen the scan and likes that, so I think she'll probably like it in person as it does look better in person. The colors are a bit more vibrant. As you can see, this rooster is much better than my first rooster painting (see below). I'm a bit freer with the colors now. I was kind of uptight with the first one. I have no idea what to charge... I won't charge too much since I am new to painting.

You may have noticed that he has kind of an evil eye. He kept trying to hypnotize me, but I resisted. Roosters are evil that way.

Lil' Hotdog

This is Oscar, one of my co-worker's dogs. I pet sat for him a few weeks ago and took a bunch of pictures. I really liked the photo this is based on, so I decided to paint it. I'm happy with how it turned out, despite its flaws. I feel like I'm on my way to achieving the effect that I want to achieve with acrylics. Although, I know I definitely have much room for improvement. I think I've already mentioned that I'm really not interested in realism in the painting arena. It's really pretty liberating not having to worry about that. My drawing background definitely helps, but I don't want to achieve the same thing with these very different mediums. I think it probably shows how fond I am of this dog. He's quite the little character.

Rhinos Rhinos on the Wall...

Yes, these rhinos are hanging on my wall at the moment. They are in my bathroom and it makes me smile to have rhinos on my bathroom wall. Doesn't everyone need rhinos hanging in their bathroom? Anyway, they are far from finished, but I kind of like them so far. I know nothing about painting and I was always afraid to try, but I just kind of decided I would throw myself into it one day and I have been enjoying it so much! At this point, I have no desire to create realistic looking images (I have drawing for that). I just want to create colorful, fun paintings that I like to look at and hopefully others do, as well. Some people would probably say "oh, you need to learn technique," but I say throw technique to the wind. Let me learn my own technique. Anyway, these were a late night whim. I was getting ready for bed at 2:30 Tuesday night, but then decided that I felt like paining. I worked on them for two hours. They're on a 16x20 canvas, so it's much larger than what I'm used to. As I said, I still want to work on them more, but I'm just letting them sit (or I guess I should say hang) for a few days. Oh, I should mention that I painted a rhino on a co-worker's side garage door last weekend. I kept telling her "I'll do this at your own risk. I'm new to painting and I know nothing about it, really." She likes the outcome, so I guess that's what counts. Even though I'm kind of horrified that my amateurish painting is out there for everyone to see.

Double the Elephants, Double the Fun

I haven't posted to this blog in ages. I think I'm going to start using it more. I also had to create one of these blogs for class, so I'm just all over cyberspace. I've started painting recently, so drawing has kind of taken a back seat. But that doesn't mean I haven't been doing it at all. It's just not my main focus lately. As I mentioned in my last post, I love to draw rhinos. These are obviously not rhinos, but they definitely have similar traits. They both are huge creatures with rough, wrinkly, gray hide. I've just been working on these guys very slowly. I take them out when I want to relax. Painting is a lot of fun and it is the shiny new car to drawing's old reliable car, but drawing will always be my first love. When I finish this drawing, I think I'm going to give it to a friend of mine who loves elephants. I have to start giving some of my things away. I am accumulating so much paper(and now canvases) and I don't have room for it all. Yes, I do get attached to things, but I always have a copy in my computer.

Rhino out For a Stroll

Since this is new, and I have so many drawings, I can do two posts today. Rhinos are another thing I like to draw. I like their almost prehistoric quality and the character in their faces. Have you ever seen a baby rhino? There is nothing cuter. Well, maybe a baby hippo. Anyway, here is my latest rhino that I drew just last week. Isn't he cute?

"I've Got My Eye on You"

I do love to draw the roosters. I think this is the fifth that I've done. It's my first rooster painting, although some people call colored pencil works paintings. I would call them drawings, since they are done with pencils. Anyway, I've been playing around with acrylics and they are so much fun. This painting only took about a half an hour. The same drawing in colored pencil would have taken days. This rooster looks rather angry. Perhaps someone has locked him out of the hen house and he wants to have bacon and eggs for breakfast. I do think roosters are known for being ornery, selfish beasts. They don't care if they wake everyone in the neighborhood up with their "cockadoodledoos." They think since they are up, everyone else should be. I'm glad that I don't have any roosters in my neighborhood, but there are some people like that too.