The Yellow Rose of....well....Portland

Today, my family spent the day waiting for my sister-in-law "Auntie Koin", as the girls call her, to come out of surgery.  She was diagnosed with cancer very recently and so they went in to remove it.  We're happy to say it was very localized and hadn't spread to the lymph nodes so that was very good news!

So while we were waiting, I was reading an article in the Feb/Mar 2009 issue of International Artist magazine on one of my favorite artists, E.J. Paprocki.  His impressionist style just appears so vibrant to me! So tonight when we got home I decided to try this style of painting out.  I attempted to let some of the underpainting show through to create that vibrancy that draws me to these types of paintings.  Not sure if I pulled it off, but it certainly has a looser feel than my last rose.  I actually wanted the underpainting to be a bit more on the lavender side and the rose to be a bit more yellow, but at least it looks like a rose ;-)

6 x 8 RayMar panel

RIP Indy - 2012

Tough day today.  We had to put our cat of 9 years down.  His name was Indy, but we usually just called him "Big Kitty" because he was such a big Maine Coon.  My wife and I are very sad, but my girls, 9 and 10, are heart broken.  Indy has just always been there for as long as they can remember...and now he's not.  We'll miss you "Big Kitty"!

Bright lights, no problem...he'd just cover 'em up when he got sleepy.

He loved to talk to you!

He was often lookin' down on us from the rafters in the barn.  We never did see how he got up there!

That's a lot of fur to keep clean!

Stop to Paint the Roses

Ahh...back to painting!  Received a sample pack of 6x8 RayMar panels this week.  The pack has four different types of panels: smooth cotton canvas, medium cotton canvas, single primed linen and double primed linen.  Tonights effort was on the medium cotton canvas...love it!  This is just from a picture I took up at the Portland Rose Gardens this past summer.  Went with a slightly different red than what is usually on my palette.  Most the pinks are created using Permanent Rose.  The darker reds in the background are Perylene Red...I really dig that red.  Anyhow, hope you enjoy.

6 x 8 RayMar panel

Morgan's Drawings

So here's a couple of drawings my oldest daughter, Morgan, did.  I particularly like the gingerbread house, but she's quite the undersea  drawer too.   She loves to draw dolphins and whales...not surprising given she wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up.  Guess I better refresh my scuba diving skills sometime soon...I have a feeling this girls going to be diver someday!