Sneak Peek

Here is sneak peek of a detail of my almost-finished wolf painting. I did a new technique by stenciling swirls on the blank watercolor paper with a gesso mixture to add interest and texture. Once they dried, I started applying my watercolor washes. I really like the way it turned out. It's fun to hear people's reaction to the " swirls." My husband says they look like the wolf's breath and gives the whole painting a liveliness. My son says they are the wind and he can "feel" the trees sway.

Company in the Studio

He's just begging to be painted.

Singing Wolf

Preliminary idea sketch for a painting of a wolf. I photographed the wolves at Zoo Montana while they were howling and the aspen forest while hiking in the Beartooth mountains. Wolves howl to find their pack mates, as well as keep wolves not in their pack at bay. I suspect these wolves were howling to warn a few local dogs of their presence...not that they could do anything behind a chainlink fence, but instinct knows no bounds.

Dancing Stars

Finally! My Dancing Stars painting completed. While I painted the majority of it using watercolor, I embellished it with color pencils and acrylic paint to give it more texture and form. Dancing Stars is part of an intertidal series of paintings I'm creating, inspired by my annual visits to the Oregon coast. I'm putting the series on hold for a bit to move on to warm, fuzzy, drier creatures that have eyeballs!

Dancing Stars Value Study

In honor of my annual trip to the Oregon coast next week, I'm temporarily switching ecosystems in my art making. I've wanted to paint these lovely starfish for the past few years, and would love to show my work in a venue on the Pacific coast. So much of my life has been spent in this part of the world (northern California, Oregon, and Washington), that this subject matter is always inspirational and a natural one for me. Tis the beginning of a new series (yes, I have several series going, but there is so much to draw and paint, I can't help myself ;-). Be on the look out for a painting in progress photo.

First washes on Yucca painting

I typically begin my paintings with wet washes of color in the background. The sky looks decidedly like northern lights...so many surprises with watercolor! In the lower two-thirds you can see the rimrocks starting to emerge. The light blue washes on the flowers are the shaded areas. I will paint the leaves with a more opaque paint near the end of the painting (they aren't drawn here yet).

Yucca Moths

These are sketches of the unassuming white yucca moth, as well as a little moth anatomy.

Yucca Seed Pods

The fresh and dried seed pods have interesting lines to draw.

The amazing yucca plant

A 9x12 watercolor sketch of yucca plant. I'm working on a shrub grasslands portraits of nature series, with the soapweed yucca plant being at the top of the list. The blooms of these plants were lovely and prolific this year. I'm enamored with them not only because of their usefulness (soap, edible, medicinal, etc.), but they have a uniquely symbiotic relationship with the yucca moth. I've read that the moth is the only pollinator of the yucca plant, and the yucca plant is the only food source for the moth larvae. So cool.

Cliff Swallows

While on our Smith River rafting trip, I became intrigued by the cliff swallows flitting and gliding over the water and up into their perfectly designed mud homes. These are preliminary sketches that will eventually end up in a painting as part of my Smith River ecosystem series.

Smith River Landscape

9x12 watercolor sketch. Reminiscing about last year's family rafting trip down the Smith River, MT.

View fullsize