Working on a Commission

I’ve been sick in bed since yesterday, so I thought I’d work on something while I’m in bed. Yes, I guess I’m a bit of a type A personality, someone who doesn’t relax very well.

I was asked to paint someone’s husky a while back. The person who requested the piece wanted a fairly large piece of work and they lived out of town. I received photographs of the dog, but nothing more.

I hadn’t laid eyes on this animal and wasn’t going to be able to. Let me tell you it’s pretty difficult to get the subject’s personality when you don’t get to see him/her, but I endeavoured to try.

First I did a number of sketches....

Then I worked on a few color sketches like this one below...

At last I was ready for the final piece.

Thankfully the owner of the husky really liked the piece. In fact he said that I had captured his dog’s personality! I think however, it’s always best to get to know the subject of what you are commissioned to paint.

The Art of Heartbreak

The art of heartbreak...when a relationship is in trouble or comes to an end, what does that heartbreak looks like? We know how it feels but if you could paint it, visualize it, how would you convey that pain? What would it look like?
This is what I imagine it to look like. Each of us has our own picture of pain. This is what I came up with today, it’s rough but here it is...

Blog Sunshine Award

This is my first blog award and I am honored. I have been awarded the Sunshine Award from http://www.cafebyjw.com. Thank you Cafeby.













The rules for accepting the award are*
Put the logo on your blog or within your post* Pass the award onto 12 bloggers* Link the nominees within your post* Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog* Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

The twelve blogs to whom I am passing the award are:

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/
http://www.cedarravenstudio.com/
http://muskokariver.blogspot.com/
http://impressionsofnature.blogspot.com/
http://digitalflowerpictures.blogspot.com/
http://mandyhiggs.blogspot.com/
http://lilacgate.blogspot.com/
http://waterblossoms.blogspot.com/
http://originalbliss.typepad.com/original_bliss/
http://thefishingguy.blogspot.com/
http://longislanddailyphoto.blogspot.com/
http://joo-dailyhaiku.blogspot.com/


The rules for accepting these awards:Put the logo on your blog or within your postPass the award onto 12 bloggersLink the nominees within your postLet the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blogShare the love and link to the person from whom you received this award http://thailand-in-photos.blogspot.com/

Stories

This month the Creative Every Day Challenge is “Stories”. I have had the opportunity to illustrate one children’s book that was published independently.

It was my first experience, involving plenty of learning.

I find it an interesting challenge to have the written story (which is not my own), and produce characters which will carry the story along and hopefully meet the author’s expectations or vision.

The story briefly is about a fairy that has a flaw and the struggles she encounters as she builds her self-esteem and friendships. This was the initial idea of the main character,

and the final piece...

Some of Brokenwing’s adventures and fellow characters:

It has always been a dream of mine to illustrate children’s books. Growing up, my sister and I spent many hours creating a host of characters in our fantasy world.

It was a world full of witty, bumbling and sarcastic animals that were used as vehicles to help us navigate our childhood.

Imagination is a gift that is priceless and is important to foster in children.

I remember a story my dad used to tell me about an eagle soaring over the ocean as he searched for food.

He would say this as a “bed-time story” and as he described the eagle and its flight, I could see it perfectly in my mind’s eye.

I could even feel the earth drop out from under me as the eagle plummeted toward the water, searching for fish.