A Commissioned Piece: "Football 39 Hero"

Just before Christmas, I was approached by a friend who wanted to have a special painting done for his son as a present.  His son had been working towards his Eagle Scout for sometime and an award ceremony would be coming up to celebrate this wonderful accomplishment in February.  His son also happens to play football and plays well too.  Just an amazing kid that is respectful, hard working, and accomplished.  I think it says a lot about his parents and they should be deservedly proud.

At the time, when I talked with my friend I was working on Christmas paintings of the "Dogs Resting" (for friend's) and the "Meen Green Machine" (for my boyfriend, Mr. Motorhead).  I told him we could talk about it at the beginning of the New Year.  I must admit that I still have not gotten use to the idea of doing commissioned paintings.  I rather find it stressful in that what I may picture in my head will be something completely different than a client.  But ever since I met this friend, we've always been on the same kind of "wave length" when it came to communicating so I felt a bit easier doing this commissioned artwork.

My friend emailed me with a couple of photos and we talked about some ideas over the phone.  I sketched a few options of layouts.  He decided on the one layout that I would have chosen and was my first choice.  We also talked about colors, and etc... and this is what came of it.  I call the watercolor painting "Football 39 Hero"....

"Football 39 Hero"; Watercolor on 11" x 15" paper.

And here's one of the original photos that I was given to work with....

And here's some of the process from the sketch that was approved to the final....

The Approved Sketch...

First, I started with the sky....

Then, I worked a little further on the detail of the front football player...

Then, I worked out from there....

Then, I was almost there....

Then, I finished and emailed a picture to my friend to get his okay that I was in fact really done....which is the final of this painting.

The finished painting!

Enjoy the Ride!

About 3 months ago, I moved into a new place and I'm now finally getting to a point where I want to start hanging things on the wall.  It's not that I have a shortage of paintings to hang on my walls.  But sometimes it's nice to have a variety of things on the wall that have cute sayings or to have other unique items among the paintings on the wall.  Well, in the search for some cute quotes or sayings that I could find on-line for my wall, I found a shortage when it came to bicycles among the quotes.  Most of the quotes had a bicycle and the quote of "Enjoy the Ride!"; which was fine but I just wanted something a bit more.

And so, with drying time happening during a commissioned piece that I'm currently working on, I decided to do my own cute quote with bicycles.  The nice thing is that this way I could plan what I wanted said, choose the colors, and put as much bicycle in it as I wanted.  Little by little, it came together.  I have always enjoyed the quote that "Life is a journey", and I kind of like the "Enjoy the Ride" with the bicycle.  So with those two quotes in mind I laid in a background of a combination of flat washes and alternative methods.  I used a bit of scotch tape here and there to remove color; along with some masking fluid.  I used objects to apply the masking and just kind of played around with it.  I had fun and this is what came of it....

"Enjoy the Ride"; Watercolor on 12" x 18" paper.

I was pretty happy with this and I think it should look good in my living room decor.  Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any comments you may like to share.

A Fountain Angel...

I started this painting back at the beginning of December but then got side tracked with Christmas paintings.  A couple of nights ago, while taking a break from prelim sketches for a commissioned piece I got to looking at it.  I thought to myself that I really need to finish it.  It didn't need that much more done to it.  I quickly went over a small area and then finished with a bit of ink.

"Fountain Angel"; watercolor and ink on 15" x 20" paper.

The painting was inspired by a photo of a fountain that I took during a Fall colors drive one Saturday along the Mississippi River.  There wasn't much color along the river that day, so I started looking at other things in the area when this fountain caught my eye.

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

The Meen Green Machine...

This is the car painting that I did for my boyfriend, Mr. Motorhead, for a Christmas present.  I was so nervous about giving this painting to him because he's such a Mopar Muscle car fanatic.  And I titled this "Meen Green Machine"; rather than what I really wanted to call it--- "The Other Mistress".  LOL!  I figured I better keep myself out of trouble, if I can. ;)

I struggled to do this a little different but still try to stay close to the true-ness of the car.  I kept it to a limited palette of greens and blues; a masculine color pallet.  I thought that the smoke coming from the tire area would bring it a little more alive in the painting rather than just a static car sitting there.  Then, I felt it needed a bit of a Mopar logo-like for Mr. Motorhead.  After all, he is a Mopar Man!  I also felt like I needed something more in the upper left hand corner too.  I tried to kind of replicate a Mopar badge like logo that I found on-line.  I think it turned out well.

Mr. Motorhead was happy with it.  In fact, it is already framed and up on the wall in his living room.  The only item on the wall; which makes me feel special that he wanted it there for all to see.  Here's the painting...

"Meen Green Machine"; Watercolor on 11" x 14" Paper.

The car is a 1971 Scamp.  As to the engine and more specifics, I'm unsure and still learning.  But I have spent some time strapped in the passenger seat and I can tell you it has some real muscle!  In fact, I was in there once when he did peel out and burn some actual rubber on the pavement.  It was an exciting experience!!  But here's a photo of the actual car...

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

Dogs Resting...

I did this painting as a Christmas present for friend's, a married couple, that have become some wonderful new friend's to me since I have moved back to the Eastern Iowa area.  This painting is based on a photo that they shared on Face Book and it just caught my eye as a potential painting right away; some photos do that.  I felt safe to share it, now that they have received their painting.  I'll be sharing another car painting soon that I did as a Christmas present for Mr. Motorhead, my boyfriend.  But in the meanwhile, enjoy this one...

"Dogs Resting"; Watercolor on 11" x 14" Paper

Here's the original photo that I used for the painting....

Are they just not adorable?!?

I will say that Mr. Motorhead helped me.  He was wonderful and offered to get it framed.  I was rather glad because otherwise I would've been in the store trying to narrow down frames forever and ever!  It always helps to have another perspective when trying to chose a frame and matting.  I think that Mr. Motorhead has a real eye for color.  Here's a picture of it framed....

My friends have been sharing a new picture of the painting on Face Book and have been very happy with the gift.  That's always wonderful to hear.  Now, I just hope that Mr. Motorhead likes his painting!  Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave a comment.  Merry Christmas!

Stormy Duo Glide

Yes, the last Duo Glide motorcycle painting was a bit "girlie" as I was told by one male friend.  I will admit that the colors did give it more of a feminine type feel.  I also had more of my female friends on Face Book that liked it than the guys.  

So with that in mind, I thought that I would do another painting of it but with more "male" colors; blues, browns.  So this is the result of doing that...

"Stormy Duo Glide"; Watercolor & Ink on 14" x 22" Paper.

I call it " Stormy Duo Glide".  I welcome any feedback or comments.  Thanks for stopping by!

A Duo-Glide Dream,,,

And yet, another motorcycle painting.  This one is based off of another photo that I took while visiting the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, IA.  I call this one " A Duo-Glide Dream".  The motorcycle is based on the front end of a Duo Glide motorcycle; anyway, that's what it says on the motorcycle in the picture.  I need to learn more about motorcycles and maybe by painting them I will pick up something's along the way?  Well, one can hope? :)  I call this a dream because of the dream-like quality that I did in the background.  I really just wanted to focus on the front of the motorcycle.  But here it is.....

"A Duo-Glide Dream"; Watercolor on 14" x 22" paper.

I would love to hear any feedback you may have and thanks for stopping by!

The Old Indian...

Earlier in the year, I did a motorcycle painting for my brother.  It was a gift for his birthday.  I had so many of his motorcycle friends that were giving me compliments about his painting that I thought it be fun to try another motorcycle.  

About 2 months ago, I went with my boyfriend on a Sunday drive.  Our destination was the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa.  I took several photos at the museum hoping to use the photos as subjects for further paintings.  Meanwhile, I was constantly reminding my motor-head boyfriend about the “do not touch” signs that hung on each motorcycle.  I was concerned about either his drooling or touching harming these bikes.  But I will say that I took a ton of photos because there were some pretty amazing motorcycles at the museum.  I would highly recommend visiting the National Motorcycle Museum for anyone that is even remotely a fan of motorcycles.  

Among the motorcycles was this older Indian Motorcycle that I was just enamored with the head lights and a round metal piece that had an Indian’s face in.  It almost looked like a face plate for a horn or something like that.  I’m unsure what exactly it was used for, or perhaps, it was just for decoration on the motorbike?  Who knows?  But I had to paint it!  I played with a great deal of colors on this painting and it was rather fun.  Here is what I call- “The Old Indian”…

"The Old Indian"; Watercolor on 12" x 18" paper.

In fact, I had so much fun painting this motorcycle I think I would like to try some more.  So don't be surprised if you see some more motorcycles in the future here.  Thanks for stopping by and I would love to hear your feedback.

The Cougar!

Yes, here's another painting based on a photo I took at a car show in Vinton, Iowa.  I saw my boyfriend admiring the car, and thought he would like a painting of it.  Come to find out that the car is not a "Mopar" and will not qualify a spot on his wall.  Talk about snobs of another breed! LOL!  I guess I still have a GREAT deal to learn about cars.  AND here, I always thought of them as something to get me from Point A to Point B.  Well, it looks like I may need a bit of an attitude adjustment. But here's the painting that I titled: "The Cougar" which I find even a more ironic title when I myself am the "cougar" dating a younger man.

"The Cougar"; Watercolor on 9" x 11" Cold Pressed Paper.

Yes, it is in fact a Mercury Cougar.  Please don't ask me what year but maybe someone out there can let me know.  Or I could break down and ask my boyfriend but where's the challenge in that.  Here's the photo that I based it off of, and I tell you I struggled with how to paint this car. 

It's a very unique shade of "gold" and I'm still not quite happy with it.  But I guess that an artist is always their own worst critic.  But I welcome any feedback you may have and thanks for visiting.

Old Blue & White Buick...

It has been awhile since I have posted any paintings on here.  Yes, in general Summer is a busier time of year with me cycling. But, also, I have acquired a boyfriend and haven't had the time to paint like I normally would have either.  Still that shouldn't be an excuse. 

I recently went to car show with him in Vinton, Iowa.  I should clarify and say that it was actually a car drag.  I rode with my boyfriend in his "Green Machine" and it was like a parade of sorts through the small Iowa town.  A new experience for me and no I did not get the "Miss America Wave" down during the drive.  Though, I did manage a few waves as we drove along. 

Afterwards I went through my photos and I rather got inspired to attempt to paint a car.  I've done one before but it was a background to a duo of my nephews in front of a car.  But this car really kind of drew me to it.  But I always was partial to the color blue. 

This is the first time that I have just focused on the car.  So here is a old blue and white Buick that I'm guessing is a 1955 or 1956.  I still have a lot to learn about cars and my new boyfriend is very much into them.  He's a MOPAR man, and I can rightly say that I'm not exactly sure what that means.  Let's hope I have a fairly good learning curve at my age. LOL!  But anyway, here is the attempt to do this old Buick...


"Old Blue and White Buick"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" paper.

I would love to hear you input on it, and please realize that this is really a first attempt at actually just painting a car rather than something else with a car in the background.  Thanks for visiting!