Old friend.

This beautiful old dog died this year and the owner asked me to paint it for a xmas present.  It was surprisingly difficult because of the black in the picture.  I used a picture as well as looking at my own dog to finish the picture.  It is a 16 by 20 watercolor pencil painting on canvas done in a hyperrealism genre.

Legacy Prize Time

After months of deliberation I have decided to once again enter the Legacy Prize Competition.  I really struggled with this decision because  this type of competition has messed with my mind and spirit in the past.  I am trying to learn how to loose with grace.  I will post a picture later.

Bear Freinds

I found this picture on the internet and found it very funny. BFF's. It is like the dance of life. You never know quite what you will get. I am enjoying painting and mixing and matching techniques in the pictures. I continue to work in water color and am still using Fredrix water color canvas. The grand kids are out of town this weekend and I have had long hours of painting in my world of relaxation. It's not that I don't enjoy the kids it is that I also enjoy that place in my brain where all this seems to occur.

Flowers and the Mental challenge of Art Prize

This is a little purple flower that I guess is a weed. It grows everywhere and especially in my garden. This is a 12" by 16" watercolor painting. I am getting more use to the tube painting but still do not like it as much as the colored pencil paintings. Oh well such is life. I am finding a very sad response to the pictures I have drawn for Art Prize. People seem to like the idea that I will give the pictures to the significant others after the contest is done. I don't think people like confronting the fact that all these young men died. It is a close reminder that we are really losing men daily and this is very painful. I think it is also wearing on me. I feel a sadness in my heart every time I show this work. I certainly have not shown it as much as the last two entries. I am not sure about this all I will just have to see.

Iris in the ditch

This is a painting of the Iris that sits in my ditch in front of the house. They are beautiful this time of the year. The next to come up will be tiger lilies. This is of course a watercolor pencil painting on canvas. I tried another canvas but still like the Fredrick's water color canvas the best. I need volunteers to help me with Art Prize. I do not think I can do this on my own. I am hoping to find some people to volunteer to just sit with me as I find this tiring and nerve racking. More on this later.

Spring Flowers

It's a great time of year for flowers. This picture was originally taken by Emily Hanson. I painted a 12" by 16" picture of it and matted it in a 20"by16" mat. I was a joy to paint. Watercolor pencil paintings on canvas are so beautiful to me. I just can't stop painting them.

This is a 12X 16 watercolor pencil on canvas picture of Dillon Black Foxx and his son Kaiden. I was hoping to give it to Kaiden by fathers day but I can't get a hold of his relatives. I will continue to try so that Kaiden has a picture of him and his father and hero.

Meadow Flowers

This picture took me forever to paint. It looks so realistic that I put Water Color painting on it to slow people down to actually see the work I put into it. It is a 12X 16" painting matted in a 20 by 16 inch mat. I have enjoyed painting more flowers lately. I am thinking about doing some paintings for the children of the casualties so they can know their fathers when they grow up. There are two of them. We will see.

I can't believe that none of these pictures were good enough for the Grand Rapids Art Festival. I swear there are some political things in the art world that I DO NOT Understand. As money gets tight a smaller group of the same people seem to get into the art shows. Oh well they lose for now. Legacy Prize come on Thurs and Friday of this week and I hope I do good there.

Cpl. Paul James Miller

Cpl. Paul James Miller

From: Traverse City, Michigan
Age: 22
Unit: 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force
Died: July 19, 2010

Fatal incident occurred in Helmand province, Afghanistan
Died following an roadside bomb attack in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on July 19, 2010

Legacy prize dates are: May 19 and 20 at the Grand Rapids Civic Theater. I almost missed the dead line for entry which was today. A friend of mine told me to call and make sure the information was in. When I did I found out that it was not in and probable lost in the mail as the VSA had recently moved. Although I was in an investment class all day I did get to the new office and filled in the papers. I must be distracted as I did the same thing with the Mary Freebed show. I did win a Guild Purchase Award. It gave me enough money to get the frames for this project. Still working on a wing and a prayer.

Spc. DeAngelo Barnell Snow

From: Saginaw, Michigan
Age: 22
Unit: Company D, 526th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division
Died: September 17, 2010

Spc. DeAngelo Barnell Snow

Fatal incident occurred in Kandahar province, Afghanistan Died of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with a rocket-propelled grenade in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on September 17, 2010 DeAngelo was an interesting young man who came up to manhood with many tragedies. He joined the army to better himself and get out of the old neighborhood. It makes me feel very sad to know the only way he made it out was through death. competition I am working on my stress levels and am looking forward to painting a few flowers in the near future. I am working on a small book with the pictures and stories of these men to display with there pictures. I do not know were the Legacy prize people will be this year as the Civic Theater is only doing outdoor displays this year. We will have to see.

Spc Bradley David Rappuhn.

From: Lowell, Michigan Age: 23 Unit: 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team Died: January 13, 2010 Sgt. Lucas Tyler Beachnaw

Fatal incident occurred in Darya Ya, Afghanistan Died of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms fire in Darya Ya, Afghanistan, on January 13, 2010 This was the first MICHIGAN Soldier killed in Afghanistan in 2010. RIP

Details and Color

This is a 12" by 16" painting. Matted 16" by 20. Cost:$125.00. This picture demonstrates the precision you can get with a combination of painting and pencil. The colors are also more easily darkened by putting more pressure on the pencil and less water on the brush. Enjoy.

Panda

This is a 12" by 16" watercolor pencil painting on canvas. I painted it for a 9 year old girl that I have known for about five years now. She is a hard working young lady who enjoys my paintings. She at times helps her parents at their Chinese restaurant. I had a lot of fun doing it and it went to a well diserving young lady.

Painting on Canvas

I continue to question whether I should continue this blog as I do not know if anyone is reading it. I have decided for at least a short time to thy to give information on the way I do art. I use Fredrix Watercolor canvas as the surface I work on for the majority of my paintings. It is an authentic 100% woven cotton artist canvas. It has a special coating that preforms similar to a cold press or tough watercolor paper yet provides a very distinctive look that only canvas can provide. Watercolor canvas will accept all water-media and mixed media techniques. This would include: watercolor pencil which I use as well as Transparent and opaque watercolor, acrylic and watercolor ink, and fluid acrylics. This information was learned by me from a pamphlet included in the watercolor canvas pad I had used.

The picture at the right is a watercolor pencil on canvas painting size 12" by 16". It is matted in a 16" by 20" matte. Cost is $125.00. Please feel free to comment it you are following this blog so I have some idea that someone is actually out there.