New painting in progress

Last night I did some more work on that painting that I posted the start photo of yesterday. I was mainly working on blocking out colors and values on the roofs of the buildings. This painting measures approximately 12" x 18" and is being done with acrylic paint on watercolor paper.

Oh deer...and a snow day

Nothing fancy, just a recent sketchbook page.

Yesterday was a snow day, so I used the day off from teaching to start a new painting. School is back to normal today, so I'm planning to continue working on the painting this afternoon.


Also, don't forget - free economy shipping from my print shop on orders over $10! Only a week left on that offer.

Snow and Evergreens - new art and prints

This image was the result of experimenting with a combination of art techniques. This started out as a print made from a sheet of styrofoam that I drew and carved into. I used it to print with black ink on white paper, then scanned it and added all of the color digitally. I would have liked to actually print it with the colors, but I just don't have the set up at this time to do prints with color alignment.

Prints are now available!

Also, there is a promotion going on right now with my print shop. When you spend at least $10 you will get free economy shipping! It's the perfect time to pick up something for yourself or for some holiday gifts.

Autumn Leaf - watercolor painting

A watercolor painting of an autumn leaf, inspired by a trip to Vermont. The painting measures approximately 10" x 8" and is going to be given to my dad for his birthday during Thanksgiving weekend.

Prints are now available!

Inspirations: Random Sketchbook Pages

My sketchbooks tend to have pages filled with random bits of whatever I find in them. Here are some of those pages from my current sketchbook.

Roy Lichtenstein styled self-portrait

I painted this as a demonstration piece for my 8th grade students. They've been making self-portraits inspired by either Roy Lichtenstein or Shepard Fairey (a project inspired by one I saw in Todd Stahl's classroom when I was doing my student teaching). After learning about both artists and taking reference photos to work from, they selected the style they wanted to work in and then transferred their photo to a drawing on 14" x 18" illustration board using the grid method.


Here are some samples of my students' work in progress. For most of them, this was their first time attempting a self-portrait. They're just wrapping up this project now and we're starting a ceramics lesson.

Inspirations: Local Artists

This weekend I went to the Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market. It was a great show with a lot of inspiring work being sold by area artists. I was practically drooling over all of the gorgeous letterpress work. I had some birthday money in my pocket, so I was able to take a few cool things home with me to continue the inspiration.



This felted owl is just too adorable! The artist has more work on Etsy at Peaches Products.



I'm planning on framing this notecard by Ink and Wit. There was a gorgeous calendar that the artist had put together that I really wanted to bring home, but it was a little out of my budget range.



I was determined to bring a piece of letterpress artwork home with me and wound up settling on this sweet little 10" x 8" winter themed print by Pistachio Press. They also had some gorgeous stationery. Their work is also available through their Etsy shop.

A quick glimpse of my classroom

I can't believe that I'm starting my fifth week of the school year already! Time is flying by. As such, I thought I should capture a quick glimpse of my classroom during this time. My students have been working on drawing the still-life arrangements that are on the tables. The bulletin board in the back has a display on the Elements of Design. I started the display with just a couple of images for each element and then my students helped finish it by bring in their own examples found in magazines, newspapers, the internet, or even from their own drawings.

Commission: Emma

I finished this commissioned painting at the end of August, but I waited to post it because it was being given as a surprise gift to some family friends. It's a painting of their dog, Emma. They had seen the painting of Marley that I had done as a gift for my parents and said how much they liked it. As a surprise for our friends' wedding anniversary, my parents commissioned me to do a watercolor painting of their yellow labrador. It was an interesting commission job because I had to sort of sneakily get some reference photos of the dog from one of their sons (facebook to the rescue!). But the painting worked out well and the friends who received it were really happy and surprised.

This painting was done with watercolor and acrylics on watercolor paper, measuring 12" x 10" and completed in August of 2010. Some in progress shots of the painting can be seen here and here.

My Classroom - Part I - The Front Door

This week I've been working on setting up my classroom and getting things ready for the start of the school year. Getting the classroom exactly the way I want is going to be a constantly evolving process throughout the year, but I'm happy with the progress I've made so far. I've been documenting everything with photos as it goes along because I know I'm going to want to look back on it. I still have more to set up next week before classes start, but in the meantime you can check out the door to my classroom. I finished decorating it on Wednesday.

1971 - finished illustration

This illustration is inspired by a photo of my uncle Jonathan with one of his motorcycles in 1971. I found the photo at my grandmother's house and was immediately reminded of famous images of motorcycles with movie stars like James Dean and Steve McQueen. The picture was started on watercolor paper with brown colored pencil and ink washes. All color was added digitally painted in Photoshop. The final illustration measures 27" x 18" and was completed in August of 2010.

Some in progresses versions of this illustration can be seen here. You can see that the piece originally had a shorter composition but I widened it as it got closer to completion and am much happier with the final composition. This picture is one of those pieces I started a while ago and had to keep putting it on hold for various reasons. However, this piece will be on display at the New York State Fair from August 26th until September 6th, 2010, which was great motivation for finally finishing it off.

Prints of this illustration are now available through my print shop!

Watercolors at the art desk

I'm working on a commissioned painting today and thought that I'd share a couple of quick photos.

Watercolors in progress

Happy Friday! Here are a few photos of some watercolors that I'm working on today.

Inspirations: Vintage Books no.9

Last weekend I visited the local used book store and found two more vintage hardcover books to add to my collection. Both were in beautiful condition, with the only markings being either the previous owner's name inked on the inside cover or a stamp from the school library the book used to belong to.

The first one is a cute early reader book published by Beckley-Cardy, Chicago in 1953 titled Bucky Button by Edith S. McCall, with illustrations by Jack Faulkner. This book has the two color printing scheme that I find myself drawn to in many of the vintage books that I pick up. I particularly like the design of the cover, with the truck being off center and cropped halfway out of the frame.








The second book is titled Eight Fairy Tales, edited by Watty Piper, and published by The Platt & Munk Co., Inc. As far as a publication date, the book is listed with a copyright for 1934 and 1938, and the former owner wrote 1958 on the inside cover. The book is in really good shape, so I'm leaning more towards a 1950s printing. There is no artist credit listed for the illustrations save for a signature that says "Eulalie" on several of the illustrations (there is a mix of color and black and white pictures throughout the book).










The eight fairy tales told in this book are Peter Pan (which I think has the best illustrations), Cinderella, Dick Whittington, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss In Boots, The Three Bears, and Tom Thumb.

Sketchbook - Taughannock Falls

A drawing of Taughannock Falls, near Ithaca, NY. We definitely need rain around here, the falls were much smaller than normal.

Clay Cliffs watercolor

A small painting of the Aquinnah Cliffs, as viewed from Philbin Beach on Martha's Vineyard. This was done in my watercolor sketchbook and measures approximately 4 1/2" by 6".

Two years ago I posted a painting from the same watercolor sketchbook of the same cliffs, just a slightly different view. It's fun to look and compare the two.

Foggy State Forest

Another page from my watercolor sketchbook, this time featuring a foggy State Forest on Martha's Vineyard. Measures approximately 4 1/2" by 6".

Old Stone Wall from Up-Island

I love those old stone walls that you can find all over Martha's Vineyard, especially up-island. This picture was done in my watercolor sketchbook and measures approximately 4 1/2" by 6".

More Vineyard pages from my sketchbook

This first sketch is a drawing I started of Edgartown Harbor, over by the Yacht Club, but I didn't finish it because people kept standing right over my shoulder and annoying me. It was really just too busy down by the harbor to try and draw that afternoon.


This second drawing was done while waiting to go to the Chilmark Flea Market. My mom has a whole bunch of plants out on her porch that are waiting to be put in to what is going to be a vegetable garden.

Blackwater Pond Lilypads

A page from my sketchbook, inspired by an afternoon of sitting out at Blackwater Pond in Vineyard Haven, on Martha's Vineyard. There were so many lilypads! I've never seen so many in one place before. I took many photos to hopefully use for reference for some paintings in the future.