Back to School...

...and back to the early morning struggles.

Water Babies

My babies aren't skunks, but they do love playing with beach balls by the seacoast!

Happy Independence Day!

Have a lovely and safe Independence Day!

Portal into Bear's "Dream a Little Dream" party

Bear longed to be a graceful ballerina. It didn't matter that he weighed 400 lbs and had two left feet.  He wanted to do Arabesques, and Chasses like the great ballet dancers before him.   Snake dreamed of living in Hawaii and dancing the Hula while the sun set on Kailua Beach, and little mouse wanted to be a cowboy like "The Duke."  Nobody messed with "The Duke."

At Bear's "Dream a Little Dream" party, they had the chance to live their dreams, unabashed, loud and strong, and they did, until Big Cy showed up at the door and all their dreams came crashing down with an embarrassed thud.

Emperor Tamarin

Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it. ~ Confucius

Unexpected "Sea"prise!

Sorry, I know that title was a groaner, but I just adore groaners!!

Morgan LeGraw knew her sister Sophia was obsessed with "Saving the Animals."  But she was NOT expecting to find this in the closet when she reached in to grab a jacket.  A few of her sisters stuffies shoved in the corner, maybe, but a whole aquarium, sea life, Sophia and all ... no, that she wasn't expecting.

Waiting for Summer Holidays

Rupert P. Waddle could not wait for summer to officially begin. The neon sign that said "summer is here" was when Ms. Minerva Waddle, aka mama, brought out the little inflatable pool. WhooHooooo!!!!

Scenes with Character

I created four scenes with my characters. I'm pretty happy with the first two, but not too sure about the last two. With the last two, I was working outside of my comfort zone: experimenting with the compositions/vantage points. I had a hard time moving the black paint around on the extreme close-ups of the dog, and I'm not sure the character looks the same as the ones in the first two. But, experimentation is how we learn, isn't it? Overall I'm pleased with this experiment!

Character Development

OK, so I did a few more color studies of this little girl. I'm happiest with the vibrant red/blue combo with black hair. I think the character is fairly consistent. Do they look the same to you?

Here is a little girl that I've been working on. She's going to have a dog too. I think I may want to give her black hair instead. Hmmm. ... stay tuned.

Season's Greeting's and Santa's Letter

To all of you at WaWe have a Merry, Merry Christmas (Hanukkah, Kwanza) and a fantabulous New Year!! I'm looking forward to seeing what creative treats are in store for the new year!

:)

Let it Snow

I actually got the painting done for Let it Snow ... now for Santa's letter ...

Let it Snow

I'm a little behind, sorry, this time of year gets a little nutty. But here are the B&W's for Let It Snow. I'm going to try to get the painting done in the next few days.

Thanksgiving thoughts

I'm thankful for different cultures and family traditions! Many people are afraid of things that are different, but I think if you embrace differences, your life becomes richer.

Stepping Stones

I admit I'm doing double duty with this piece. I'm using it for this week's WaWe adventure prompt, but also IF's unbalanced.

Crossing the creek by way of stepping stones, was not as easy as Victoria thought it would be. Only one of them on this adventure didn't seem to have any trouble: Whiskers. Cats were just nimble that way. Claude on the other hand, didn't even make it to the first rock without sliding in. Well, "sliding" wasn't exactly the word to describe what he did, more like "galumpfed" in. Thank goodness Nevin wasn't around to see this. As far as big brothers go, Nevin was the worse. He always complained about how clumsy and klutzy Victoria was. It was a relief he wasn't here to see this spectacle.

What do you guys think? Sometimes my work feels flat. Do my pieces convey action, movement, expression or do they feel flat to you too? Honestly, the truth may be painful sometimes, but that's how we grow. Thanks!

The Skydiving Grannie and her dog Chuck

Grannie McGill always loved adventure. All her life. Even when she was a young girl, no one: not boy, not man, nor beast could out do my Grannie McGill. If Billy Barkley could climb the old hickory tree, Grannie could climb higher. If Susie Detritis could build a sandcastle, Grannie could build a palatial estate equipped with sand servants and sand stable. My Grannie McGill is the most incredible, and most invincible person I've ever known. So, I took it real hard when Grannie got sick back during that skorcher of a summer when I was eight and she was eight-eight.

Mother called it the "sickness." Grannie just called it like it was ... she had cancer; now stop fussing. At eight years old, I didn't know much about cancer, except that a bunch of my friends' grandparents died from it. But they didn't have a grandparent like Grannie McGill. Grannie decided to prove to all of us, and probably to herself too, that no cancer was going to put a damper on her life. She had a lot of life left in her, even at eighty-eight, and she wasn't going to squander it feeling sorry for herself.

Grannie gathered all of us together and told us we were to meet her at Abercrombie's field at 1:00 pm and told us to bring the reporters. It was all very mysterious.

At 1:00 pm, there we all stood. Just about the whole town of Odon was there in the field. We stood there looking at each other wondering what she was up to now, when we heard the rumble of an airplane above and then saw two black specks in the sky. What in tarnation was going on ...

Well, you get the point. The headlines the next day read "The Skydiving Grannie and her dog Chuck."

NOTE: I never had a Grannie McGill. I just thought she would be a cool character, and made her up.

Wild Thing

Carlie really wasn't afraid of anything. She was even known to give a pointer or two to Bart, the creature that lived in her closet, on how to be fierce and frightening. Of course, these pointers always left Bart feeling inadequate and depressed. Carlie had that effect on a lot of people...

[ I did it, FINALLY.... watercolors!!] :)

Halloween Character

Another black & white for now ...( I'll try my hardest to get the last three illos watercolored up! ) ... this little Octopus and her sea star sidekick. ( ... this is my youngest daughter's costume this year ... her sister is going as a chinese dragon (I'm thinking Grace Lin's Year of the Rat may have had something to do with that choice) ... I tell you ... rivers, cherry trees, octopi, dragons .... thank goodness their Granny has the patience of a saint!) :)

Have a great Halloween everyone!! :)

Class Party

I know this is called "Watercolor" Wednesdays, but I just have been crazy busy lately, and haven't had the time to sit and paint. (I will try to paint soon though!) I have been trying to keep up though ... so here is my Class Party! I have two that I have to go to this year! (I think I'm going to hand this illo out as a coloring sheet for the kiddies!).

Have a great Halloween Weekend everyone!! BOOOOOOOO!!!!

Autumn Days

I didn't get a chance to paint yet, but in order to stay in contention for the drawing at the end of month, here is my post .... I'll try to paint tomorrow!

Young Frankie Boy

Fire BADDDDD!!!!

Even as a young lad, Frankie hated fire. His classmates hated him --- the daily in school showers were enough to drive anyone crazy. The ones who weren't driven crazy by the incessant fire drills, were driven to madness by his constant admonitions "Stop, drop and roll!," "Only YOU can prevent forest fires," and of course, the ubiquitous"never play with matches."