Shawn's 1970 Camaro...

Shawn is a friend of Mr. Motorhead, my boyfriend, and I was rather excited when he asked if I would do a painting of his car.  Shawn has a 1970 Z28 Camaro that is a beauty.  It is a Sea-green color with black striping with a bit of pin striping.  It's in mint condition and I just jumped at the opportunity to paint it.  Here's the finished painting...

The challenge with this painting was narrowing down on a layout.  The front grill and the split bumper is very unique to this car.  I wanted to do it justice.  But at the same time, I wanted to do a view of the whole car.  Mr. Motorhead and Shawn were playing with a few ideas one night over dinner and the idea of a two shot of the car came into being.

I did three different lay out drawings for Shawn, but he had a hard time visualizing it.  So I took the one that he seemed to like the most and did an ink shading drawing of it.  That seemed to help him out with what it would look like.  Here's the ink shading drawing that I did...

This really was a fun project to do and it went relatively quick once the layout was figured out.

Thanks for stopping by and I would love to hear any comments or feedback you may have!

Alien Grill Grin...

I sometimes am at a loss on how to name a painting.  This particular one was based on a photo of a close up I took on an older model classic car's grill.  It was taken during another car show that I attended with Mr. Motorhead, my boyfriend.  But I didn't know enough about the type of car or year to use that as a name.  Yes, I guess I need to ask more questions while I'm taking photos than just learning all this car stuff by osmosis. I am guessing that it's a 1930's or around there by the hood but that's all I can figure out.

Here I am at a loss for a title and I hate having "Untitled" and a number after.  Not my kind of thing; its too vague.  Then I had an idea, I would put a photo of it on Face Book and see about suggestions for a title.  Thus, a title for this painting emerged.  It's called "Alien Grill Grin".  A few of the people on Face Book thought it had a bit of that "Alien" Giger feel about it.  I'm unsure about that and will let you decide.  Here it is....

"Alien Grill Grin"; Watercolor and Ink on 10" x 13" paper.

It was rather fun to just focus on part of a car, and don't be surprised if you see more of these types of paintings in the future.  I welcome any comments or feedback.  Thanks for stopping by!

1930's Chevy...

I managed to do this cute little painting during a free evening this week.  It's based on a photo I took from a car show a couple of weeks ago that I visited with Mr. Motorhead.  It's a 1930's Chevy but I'm unsure as to what year.  It's a combination of watercolor and ink.  I've been calling it "Boo Chevy" because it looks like a face that's saying "Boo!"  I know it's silly of me but that's what I see!  You can decide for yourself; here it is...

"Boo Chevy"; Watercolor and Ink on 8" x 11" paper.

Here's the photo that I based the painting off of...

I managed to get a ton of more material for car paintings this last weekend.  I took a ton of pictures while at the Good Guys Car Show in DesMoines this last Saturday.  Mr. Motorhead and I went down to the Iowa State Fairgrounds and spent the day seeing tons and tons of cars.  It was an interesting way to spend a one year anniversary.  But when you are dating a Mr. Mopar Motorhead, well... LOL!  From what I understand there were at least 3000 cars at the event and I must have walked at least 10 miles trying to see all of them! THAT might be a slight exaggeration but I tell you my legs are still sore from doing all of the walking that day.  So there may be more car paintings on the way soon!

Thanks for stopping by and I would love to hear any comments or feedback!

Purple Plymouth Special

Wonderful Summer time!  It’s that time of year when there’s more and more car shows going on.  I went to one this last weekend with Mr. Motorhead.  Then, this last week I got to looking at different photos that I had taken of cars from last year’s season.  This is based on one of those from last year. 

   

Here is the painting; I refer to as, “Purple Plymouth Special ” …

"Purple Plymouth Special"; Watercolor and Ink on 10" x 10" paper.

This is a watercolor with a bit of ink.  I thought that I would try something new this time.  I decided to just focus on the front of the car and leave out all of the various other details.  I purposely made for white spaces to be in the painting and just added in shapes for cars and trees that were in the original photo along with the Plymouth.  Please don’t ask me what year or specifics on it; but the original car was a burgundy color.  I can tell you that much! J  Though, I do believe it is late 1940’s Plymouth Special Deluxe from doing a bit of research on-line.

I welcome any feedback you may have and thanks for stopping by!

Now Available as a Postcard!!

Back in May of last year, I finished a painting called "Cedar Rapids: A Bloom Among the Cornfields".  It's a painting I painted about my hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Now I have produced a postcard from the painting.  I have them with me at the Cedar Rapids Visitor's Center Monday through Friday; and in the close future at my art booth in the Fairfax USA Days on Saturday June 28th.  So if you are interested or know of anyone that's interested in a Cedar Rapid's postcard, send them my way! Here's what they look like...

 You can read more about the story behind the painting in my blog post called "Cedar Rapids: A Bloom Among the Cornfields".  Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

Same But Different

I opted to a bike for a change.  It’s very similar to the “Live, Laugh, and Ride” that I did a while back.  I mixed it up a little, put cloud shapes in and used a different bike.  It made me think of riding through the air on a bike.  Awww...There's nothing like that feeling!  So this has the same saying in this painting but with a different look.  It was a nice little easy break after doing a commissioned piece that I had struggled with.  Here’s “Live, Laugh, and Ride – Number 2”....

I welcome any feedback you may have.  Thanks for stopping by!

Dot Perfectly...

I thought I might let everyone know the progression of the horse painting.  My Wonderful friend gave "Dot, The Horse" painting to her friend.  The gal was very pleased with the painting.  She even said that she loved the painting!  It's always wonderful to hear that from someone who receives a commissioned painting for a gift.

Here's a picture of my wonderful friend (Jen in the pink), the painting, and the recipient of the painting(Traci).

In fact, Traci went on to say.... " Words can't begin to explain what this means to me. I love the painting & how it reflects Dot perfectly...absolutely amazing. I remember this day in working with some figure eight training, cantering, & then letting her go running across Monte's field. Before heading back, I let her graze as I watched the sunset. I remember looking down at her while she grazed, laughing with the amount of grass she had & had to take a picture of her...there are many days I wish I could get her back."

What wonderful feedback and such an amazing gift that Jen thought of!  It sounds like it'll be a wonderful memory that has been preserved for Traci.  Enjoy it Traci and next I think I'll work something easier like a bicycle painting.  LOL!  I'm also planning on having a booth of my painting at the Fairfax USA Days at the end of June.  So if any of you happen to be in the area, come say "Hi" to me!  Thanks for stopping by and I would love to hear any comments you may have!

Dot, The Horse...

This was a commission painting that I was asked to do by a friend for a friend who had to give up a horse.  The friend ended up moving into town and had to give up her horse because there wasn’t the room in town.  I imagine that was very hard.  My wonderful friend thought that it would be nice to have a painting to remember the beloved horse. 

I must admit that I had never painted a horse before and was a bit uncomfortable with painting a horse that actually looked like a horse.  I know that may sound silly but these things can sometimes be a challenge.  Also, the other part of the challenge was that I only had one photo to go off of.  The photo of the horse was mostly in shadow and rather dark.

The Photo of Dot that I worked from.

I started out doing a great deal of searching on line for photos and paintings of horses to figure out how to best approach the subject matter.  I then did a fair amount of sketching and drawing as a prelim to get a better feel for how to approach the actual painting.  I will tell you that some of the drawings looked like oversized ant eaters!  LOL! 

After doing a fair amount of drawing and sketching, I did some prelim sketches of various sizes.  My friend wasn’t sure which size painting would be best.  So, in an attempt to give her a feel of the different sizes, I sketched 5 different sized drawing.  She decided that she liked the 12” x 12” size best.

Another struggle for me was which way to go on the browns of the horse.  I played around for a week on scratch sheets of watercolor paper blending different browns—from golden shades to rusty shades to gray versions.  Ok, I’ll admit I may have been over analyzing but I wanted to get it to where I felt right about the right colors.  I ended up using quite a few of the browns that I had “experimented” with.

Then, my wonderful friend waited patiently while I slowly painted the actual painting.  Another 3 weeks later and I was FINALLY done with it. My friend came over and I had her take a look at it.  She smiled and said she liked it but as I looked at it with her I saw some fixes I needed to do.  They always say an artist is their own worst critic and I find that it’s very true for me. 

Another week later, and I made those changes and then I signed it.  I’ve made this rule with myself that once I’ve signed it I step away from the painting.  It’s done and I really do hope that my friend’s friend enjoys the thoughtful gift.  Here’s the finished piece that I call “Dot, The Horse”….

"Dot, The Horse"; Watercolor on 13.5" x 13.5" Paper.

Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any comments you may have!

Classic Cars Galore....

I've been a little slow placing some of my latest paintings up on here.  I recently started a part time job working as a cashier for a local large chain retail store and haven't had a great deal of time to do other things like I should.  And so, here I am doing a bit of catch up.

These paintings are based on photos that I took during my long road trip; which was about 2 years ago now.  My how time flies.  I took these photos during Day 19 in Long Beach, WA.  There was this HUGE car show event called the Rod Run to the End of the World put on by the Beach Barons Car Club. It occurs every year there during the first weekend of September and it's amazing.  I remember sitting on the main drag eating a bowl of clam chowder on a bench and watching almost a thousand different cars; all polished, painted, muscled out and pimped out, driving by as I sat there.  Between that and people watching, it was a wonderful day of just observing. It was a ton of FUN and I took a ton of pictures that day.  I used a couple of them for the inspiration for these two paintings....

Photo: "VW Vagabond on Longest Beach"; Watercolor on 11" x 21" Paper

This Volkswagen Bug caught my eye while walking along a back street area in Long Beach but the original wasn't on the Beach.  I decided that this VW was crying to be seen on a beach with its racked suit cases on top.  In fact, I refer to this painting as a Vagabond VW on the Beach.

Photo: "Pontiac at Beach Motel"; Watercolor on 11" x 17" Paper

This Old Pontiac was parked out front of this Beach Motel and it was a scene that I've been wanting to paint for a while.  My boyfriend, Mr. Motorhead, really liked this one!  And I will admit that it was a fun one to paint.

Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any comment you may have!

Live, Laugh, and Ride...

After getting quite a few comments on Face Book about "Enjoy the Ride" watercolor painting I did for my living room.  I thought it might be fun to do another bicycle painting with a quote/saying.  I was rather inspired by a quick photo that I took of a bike on my long road trip the year before last.  It was a bicycle that was chained up to a tree along a shopping area in Bend, OR.  I have fond memories of that day, watching paddle boarders along the river and hanging out a local pub that night listening to local musicians.  A wonderful day on the road exploring the USA.  With those fond memories, I took that photo and turned it into a warm, sunny piece of bike artwork.  I think that the quote/saying fit with my memories of that day.  I call this watercolor.."Live, Laugh, and Ride..."

"Live, Laugh, and Ride..."; Watercolor on 16" x 20" Paper.

Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any feedback you may have.