Recent Artwork -- Acrylics & Watercolors

J.P. at Bat (2023), Patterson

While vacationing in Palm Springs this year I completed two more paintings, one acrylic and one watercolor. The first is a portrait of Mariner shortstop, J.P. Crawford, last season's leadoff hitter for the Seattle-based baseball club. It was so well-received on Facebook that one of our long-time friends wants to buy it for her avid baseball fan husband.

During one of the ALCS playoff games, I captured an image from the TV, then painted it using acrylics. The forearm tattoo was challenging, and I am very pleased with how well the background fans turned out.

Benny and Moana (2023), Patterson

My friend from the Palm Springs City Dog Park commissioned me to do a portrait of his two dogs, Benny and Moana. I had planned to get a large canvas and use acrylics, but instead I decided to use 11"X15" watercolor paper and watercolors. My style has always been to build up layers of paint rather than using washes. I ended up gifting the portrait (unframed) to my fellow dog park patron. Per my research it was going to cost him ~$50 to purchase a matted frame, and I left it up to him to find one that he liked.

Chihuahua (unknown)

In the Airbnb where we stayed there was a large portrait of a dog hanging in one of the bedrooms. The artist chose to use bright, non-traditional colors for this abstracted version of a chihuahua. Someday I will try my hand at alternative color schemes.

Jeju & Bryce (2022), Patterson

I did try woodburning last year in my portrait of Jeju & Bryce. Shading is accomplished by using different sized tips and varying both the pressure and length of time on the wood surface. Hopefully, I didn't ruin the tip by dragging it along the surface. Most of the class chose to do mountain landscapes with black silhouetted evergreen trees. I suppose those scenes made for more useful charcutier boards!

Sketch + Dogs

Lake Sawyer Dogs
(2022), Patterson

You may remember my other portrait of our pets captured in this beautiful Lake Sawyer landscape from last February. I began the portrait in a Zoom class put on last year by PawsWithCause as a training for its volunteers. I was inspired by late TV painter, Bob Ross and his happy little bushes and trees.

Lilly (April 2022), Patterson

In April of last year, I painted a portrait of Lilly, a greyhound mix from a local animal shelter in Kirkland, Washington. My niece loved it enough to purchase it as a donation to PawsWithCause. She planned to display it on her desk at her office. I love the glassiness of her eyes and all the colors of her fur. The muted primary colors of the collar and background also work well in the composition.

Puzzles for PawsWithCause

I used a laminated print of the portrait in a puzzle I made for kids attending one of our farmers markets.

Lakeside Castle (2022), Patterson

Inspired by a landscape by one of the students who attended my September 2022 acrylics class at Franke Tobey Jones' Senior University, here's my very first attempt at using Paint3D on my desktop PC. It was particularly challenging to use a mouse on a PC instead of a stylus on a tablet.

View from Cedar Butte (2022), Patterson

Then, in October of last year, I recreated this painting of the view from Cedar Butte trail using Paint3D. Eventually, I will purchase a tablet and stylus, and try my hand as portraits instead of the less precise use of a mouse.