Jungle Monster

The beast slithers through the rainforest...

I wanted something that wouldn't be entirely out of place in an episode of Evangelion or Fullmetal Alchemist.

Fireflies

Space kittens with a giant mushroom and fireflies.  Just what you've always wanted!

A Blanket of Gold

I rode out to do some painting while the weather was good. Looking for the edges of the city, I ended up on a hill of dirt in one of the areas they're developing, and there I found this beautiful transition between purple thistles and gray-green weeds and the yellow canola. That's really why you want to be on the prairies -- to go out in July and see the rolling golden blanket beneath a pure blue sky and be wrapped in the heavy scent of clover.

Then I was thoroughly bitten by bugs and had to ride home through a field of mud. Good times!

Door WIP

I've been trying to clean the house up a bit so I've been finding a lot of old sketches, most of which used to be in a pile at work. I found this house entrance design scribbled on a sticky note.

Whyte Watercolour

Since Sunday was rainy I didn't bother bringing the acrylics.  I didn't think I was going to do a lot of painting anyway.  But standing in the rain twirling your umbrella for four hours is boring, so eventually I taped it to the easel and did some painting with the little watercolour kit.

This is the same side of the street as the previous painting, just from a different angle.  I think this picture worked out better than the previous one, barring a few issues with straight lines and perspective.  Occasionally I see a flash of real progress or a nice passage in a painting and that keeps me going.  This one has several areas I really like, while the previous one... not so much.

So I might have to do some more work with watercolours.  They go nicely with pencil crayons and ink as well, so eventually I might be able to combine the three in one interesting whole.  I'll probably do at least some watercolour sketches on vacation in August because the kit is so small and convenient to carry, and I can work very quickly with them.  Actually now I'm rather sad that I didn't spend any time in Barcelona doing watercolours -- if I'd known how convenient the Niji water brush was to use I'd have a whole week's worth of colour sketches from vacation.

Tokyo Noodle Shop

One of the rules (suggestions?) for Art Walk is that you have to spend at least some time working on art while you're there. Since there was a large van or truck parked behind me most of the time, this was the more interesting of the two views I had available.

The old St. Joseph's Auxiliary Hospital building, now condos. Tokyo Noodle is not one of my favourite sushi restaurants in town but it's not bad at all (unlike some others I could name).

And it got more and more attractive as the weekend wore on. Next time I'm going to have to get a spot where I can't smell the tempura cooking. :P

Art Walk 2012

I haven't been posting much because I've been preparing for Art Walk, a weekend of outdoor art on Whyte Avenue here in town.  I've been building frames for my paintings, getting mats, and generally running about like a headless chicken.

I last did Art Walk two years ago, when I was stuck at the far end of the festival.  In 2010 it rained like crazy on Friday so I wasn't able to set up, I was right at the corner so that lots of people cut the corner and didn't even see my display, and I only sold a couple pieces to a friend (who still has them hanging in his house and I really can't complain there -- I like seeing a good piece go to someone who enjoys looking at it and being able to see it again myself).

This year I had a much better location and actually sold some work to strangers.  Friday was hot and very smoky since most of northern Alberta appears to be on fire.  Saturday was less smoky but more windy.  And Sunday was rained out so hardly anyone stopped to look.

I did a bit of networking while I was there and I also handed out some business cards so maybe that will translate to more sales in the future.  I might have an opportunity to do an exhibition so there might be a great deal of painting going on in the next few months.  And I earned back my table fee and then some so I'm happy if a little deflated.

Here's my damp little display on Sunday afternoon.  At least nothing was blowing around under the plastic.

Dwarf Masquerade

Who says dwarves don't know how to have fun?

Carrot Heart

Something surreal for Art Walk.  Pencil crayon on Canson Mi-Teinte paper, about 4.5x6.5"

Heights

They lived in the heights, in a maze of branches and ropes.

Canada Day

We sat on a hill and waited for the fireworks. I just had the little travel set and Niji waterbrush, and I had to scribble really quickly because the light was going. You can see the last bit of sunlight on the right.