IF: Pattern—Splinter in a Window (243-240)

Illustration Friday's theme for the week is pattern. I made this drawing of Erin's cat Splinter looking out of the window (one of her favorite pastimes). The theme is played out in the pattern of the curtain, the pattern of her fur, and her repetitious pattern of moving from window to window each day to see what is going on outside.

From this window she sees birds in the trees of our yard and is able to annoy the squirrels that attempt to eat our trash cans. She often falls asleep when the warm sun is visible on this side of the house. From this perch she also looks over my shoulder while I work and sometimes will climb down to nap in my lap. Things must be taken on Splinter's terms—also a pattern.

Finished the new painting (246-244)

I have been working for a week on this painting. When I retrieved the old paintings and canvases from Mom's house, this canvas had a shape that I thought matched the subject in my mind. I liked the long horizontal shape. I added the channel marker and boat today.

Today I am taking a "mental health day." I was up most of the night after my dog woke and I had things on my mind. I knew I couldn't function on 4 hours of sleep today, so I had to take a day of sick leave. After sleeping in, I felt better and my eyes work, so I went out to finish the painting.

I will study the image for a while, but I like it for the most part.

Illustration Friday: Infinite (249-247)

I came across this website http://illustrationfriday.com/ that posts a phrase or word each week for illustrators as a theme for an illustration. I thought I would dabble in this for a while. This week's word is infinite. The illustration is "Infinite—The Depth of a Beagle's Appetite."

Worked on a new painting this weekend. Nothing to show yet. I retrieved a bunch of canvases from my Mom's attic that desperately need gessoing and repainting. What was I thinking! These are images that need to be erased from existance. Hopefully some good will come from the canvas with new work.

I hope this daily gets back on track (250-256)

I am a little disappointed in myself for not pushing through with drawing at least in the past week. The work schedule was grueling last week and I found that resting and getting house work done took up most of my time. I have been working for the past three days on this illustration for a poster.

The picture provided as reference was comical. It was done for a game and the hand in vest gesture looked more like a hand in pants gesture. My Napoleon ended up a little chunky, but I intended that so that he would look smaller without other reference. I am hoping that this sees the light of day, but at least I had an exercise in illustration.

The original PS4 file is 12 x 18 at 150 dpi.

Two paintings since last I posted (257-261)

I started painting last Saturday and spent a decent amount of time in my new makeshift studio (the shed). It wasn't quite as hot, although it was still pretty warm in there. I have to find a fan somewhere in the attic or storage.

The first was an oil rendering of the digital file I created a couple of months ago. It is really blue and dark. I painted it over another painting and unfortunately part of that painting is showing through. It ruins the painting, but I might try to either repaint it or turn it into a abstract and paint over it again. Greg would like that.

The second is a scene that I have had in my mind for a couple of years. The Indian River Inlet in Delaware is an interesting place. It forms a venturi and the current is incredibly strong. Lisa and I went there a couple of years ago in the winter and the rushing water was cold and dark. There were people surfing at the beach and I took many pictures. This is a painting of a marker that sits on top of a rock jetty at the mouth. I hopefully captured the cold rushing water and the flashes of bright foam. I have been looking at some Winslow Homer paintings and I think that I was inspired by them for the water.

Proposals and heaped up work have resulted in 15 hour days, so no artwork right now. I will draw or paint when the pattern breaks.

(263-262)

New drawing (268-264)

Since last week, I've been busy with other things. I purchased a canvas, so now I need to plan for the next painting. This is another in the series of drawings of people with developmental disabilities. It turns out that the customer left out some crucial information about who the brochure audience actually is. I need to include more support people and providers. As I said to her, "it doesn't bother me, I get to draw more."

Spent most of the weekend running around, literally.

Hope to be better about drawing and painting as I move forward. I need to plan time for it. The weather has made it difficult for me to use my "new" studio, but I still hold out hope that it will work out for the next few months.

Had to relearn CSS coding for building websites in order to help with the Bright Minds Design website for Mom, Amy, and Cristy. As soon as I get the password/access information, I can upload the new site.