59th Street Pond, Central Park

Recently I was painting in Central Park.  I hadn't counted on how busy it would be; hordes of people walking about made it difficult to focus. I wasn't getting great results with my watercolors.  Then I found a quieter spot near the 59th Street pond, and this duck sitting calmly at the shore.  Zen moment.

Alice painting; stage 1

Yes I'm painting with real brushes again.  I love digital but there is just really nothing like the feeling of working with a brush and real paint, on real canvas.

This image has a bit of history.  I drew it onto the canvas last year, probably around this time of year.  But I wasn't ready to paint it.  So I packed it up and took to New Orleans, but didn't paint it there either.  So back it came to New York with me, unpainted still.

Some combination of the days of rain and I don't know, I'm finally feeling it, here. 

This the underpainting.

Icarus

I'm working on a book cover for a friend's second book.  The cover image is going to be based on the legend of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun...

so I'm doing some color sketches...this one i particularly like.

Jack and the Beanstalk

So I've been working on scenery and such for a production of Jack and the Beanstalk (by the New Acting Company - the show opens this week!)...it's exhausting work, but fun.  Never a dull moment in theatre.  Here is an ad I made for TimeOut New York.  Also a promo piece I did which was not for the show, but influenced by it.  I do love fairy tales.

Spring

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.  ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

sketch for a new painting

digital painting...Jasmine

This past year I spent some time in New Orleans.  I'd often sit on my balcony, enjoying the shade and watching horse drawn carriages roll by.  It was here I could smell the scent of jasmine; exotic and sweet, wafting through the trees.  Such a gorgeous scent.

I wondered what Jasmine would look like in human form...I did a pen and ink sketch, which was set aside and forgotten.

I found the sketch again, crumpled a bit and sandwiched between the pages of an old book. It seemed time to either throw it away or do something with it.  So I decided to turn it into a digital painting.

That's jasmine in her hair.

Little Red Riding Hood

Here it is, winter again.  Christmas on the way, and an early gift by way of my mother was a package of little black canvasses.  I've never painted on black canvas before, but it gives a wonderful gothic effect, so cool for fairy tales....
Little Red Riding Hood, acrylic on 4"x4" black canvas

thanks, mom : )

Happy Halloween!

Yes, it's nearly here - one of my favorite holidays.  This image was inspired by a vintage pinup photo that was given to me by a friend.  Here it is, sketch and finish.

Have a Happy Halloween. Eat lots of candy : )