Merry Christmas!

To all who celebrate!  And happy holidays to others whose observations are different than mine.  May it be a happy time of year for everyone.

I'm on Instagram!

OK, I don't really know what I'm doing, I'm the rare person who's never been on it (because it was a cellphone app and I'm still old school; I don't have one.)  But now it works on the iPad, which I do have --it doesn't work as well from what I understand, and apparently a lot of the features are not there, like filters, and probably other things I don't know about.  I don't mind, though.  So if anyone is interested, take a visit or a peek, and if you're up to it,  join in!

Some Little Paintings

Acrylics on cold pressed water color paper....

Detail of Vamp

A recent digital painting.  You can see the whole thing on my Facebook page.

Two Hands Up!

I had my cast removed and although I really am still only one handed for the most part, I have turned a corner.  Also, it's the time of year for twins to get together and have fun twin time.  At least it is for myself and my sister.  Soon she'll be here and we'll be down in the street having a great time.

Since It's Still Summer Outside

Here are some recent scans from the beach.  Seemed summer started late and still lingers on, so likewise, I'm not letting go yet.

One Handed

I've recently had an injury to my non-dominant hand and wrist which has made completing daily tasks quite difficult.  I am able, though, to paint and draw, and have been doing that quite a bit as I heal.  This is a new series called 'Beach Club', perhaps due to time spent at the family beach house last month, and the fact that I'm still clinging to summer.  It seems so short each year.

Latest in the Redhead Series

I'm finding that it helps to start out in greyscale and then paint over in color.  I have 22 saved iterations of this face, here are step 1, 3, and 22.

Art New York & CONTEXT New York

Last month I had the opportunity to see both of these international contemporary and modern art fairs at Pier 94 at 12th Avenue and 55th street when friends of mine who are VIP's comped me a ticket.  It was filled with wonderful art by artists both old and new, from Picasso and Matisse, to Banksy and Camille Rose Garcia.  Here are a few cellphone pics from the show....

Evolution of a face

While making my digital paintings, I will either start painting over a rough scanned sketch, or start from scratch.  If I can't get the face right, I'll turn it upside down, or put it in a monochromatic scale to reduce the distractions that my brain wants to see (which are not there).  It doesn't always work, but when it does, I'm happy.  You can see one such evolution here.  There were, of course, many steps in between each thumbnail I've shown.

Once I get the face finalized, I play with adding background detail/texture, and/or color.

Green and Gold

Certainly not colors I'm seeing outside today with the blizzard (ahem, if you can call it that.  We got far less than the 27" called for) yesterday.  These are two variations which ended up looking similar in color palette after playing around with the color versions I am working on right now; additions to the Royals Series.

Las Laguna Gallery

So, I have two pieces in a show called "Women in Art".  There are 17 other talented artists as well, and I really wish I could be there for the opening, but it's on the opposite coast, and I'm pretty much the typical starving artist.  Plane ticket and hotel accommodation money is not at hand.

That's one of my items, the woman with the crown.  If anyone is in the area of Laguna Beach, California, check it out and let me know!