Hummingbirds

Hey all,

I just finished a couple of commissioned paintings for a dear friend of mine, Muriel. She asked for 2 paintings of hummingbirds, and these are what I did for her :

She has not seen them yet - I hope she likes them! (although my webcam on my computer, my ONLY way to take photos right now, doesn't take very detailed photographs - the paintings in person will look much better!)

Finally...A new entry!!

Hey all,

Sorry for the wait - I've been pretty busy with work, and so haven't been able to update this blog, or do too many new paintings, for that matter.

I created this painting for an auction for the karate club that I am a part of. Hopefully, this will sell and raise some funds for the dojo. This is why the theme is the tiger, with the shotokan symbol ghosted in the background, as the shotokan tiger is the logo for our style ( I believe that's right, right Sensei?).

I really do need to get a proper camera, though - these webcam shots aren't too clear :S

Some more older paintings - thanks Dad!

Hey all,

I'm starting to actually compile pictures of paintings I have done as gifts, without documenting them first, to show my previous works to those who may be interested in commissioning a painting.

My dad sent me these pictures of 2 paintings I did for my parents over the years.
My parents are both musically gifted people, and so I'm having a hard time remembering if I made this for one of them in particular (sorry!).  They both play guitar, and so I painted this :

My dad even sent me a close ups :

I also did a painting of what I believe was a red-tailed hawk :

and another couple of close ups :

Thanks again, Dad! 

older sketches

My dear friend Leah sent me some pics of some sketches I did for her. They're both pencil renderings, of which I hope to put up more of on here.

Here is one of a friesian horse :

and a collie:

Robin

Hello again :)

This is a painting I did for a wonderful lady to say thank you for a beautiful scarf that she knitted for me. I was told she liked robins, and so here's the painting I did for her :

My beloved puppy!

This is a painting of my parents' dog, Chelsea, who just passed away a couple of months ago. She was the first dog I ever had, and my daughter grew up with her (she was only one yr old when my daughter was born). This is a belated Christmas present for my mom and dad, and they haven't actually seen the painting yet (I'll be mailing it next week!), so this is a sneak preview ;)

The painting will be matted in a bit (the picture captures too much on the right side). It would also be nice to get a better quality photo of it, as my little digital camera isn't all that great. Maybe once it arrives out home, my parents can take a better one with their super-deluxe cameras! I'll repost it later if they do :)
I'm also wondering if it would be helpful if I post the original pictures that these paintings are based on, for reference for anyone who's interested in hiring me to paint a picture for them. Any comments or suggestions about this are appreciated! Thanks!

Paintings for charity

Over the holidays, I had the privilege of watching a documentary on the annual dolphin slaughter that takes place in Taiji, Japan. The documentary is called, "The Cove", and I recommend that if you have any love for our aquatic brethren, you give it a watch. I do not have a lot of money - on the contrary, I have been experiencing some financial difficulties as of late - but I wanted to help out the people who are fighting to stop these atrocities from continuing in any way that I could. So, my plan is to put on my first art show, which the date for it will be decided once I have the majority of the paintings done. I am focusing my paintings on dolphins and whales, and have plans to do at least 20 pieces. As the details get worked out, I will post them on here, in case anyone is interested  in either attending the show, or possibly purchasing one of the paintings. I plan on donating 100% of the proceeds to the institution responsible for showing the world what is happening each year in Japan, the Earth Island Institute with their 'Save Japan Dolphins' project. I have yet to figure out how I will pay for the framing of the pieces, but I'm sure some solution will present itself.

I began these series of paintings with this painting :

I am not 100% sold on whether I will put this painting in the exhibition or not, as I had terrible difficulty with the watercolour paper I used for it. It seemed to disintegrate under my paintbrush, which, in turn, made the image look kinda fuzzy. I have been told that I'm too hard on myself or too critical of my art (what artist isn't?), so it may end up in the show, or I may re-paint it, maybe a little larger. But, I thought I'd post my efforts, anyways :)
Needless to say, I bought some better paper, and will paint the rest of my pieces on something that won't fall apart with water (watercolour paper that won't fall apart when wet....a 'novel' idea.....)

*edit* I thought I should post the website link for the organization I'm supporting :
http://www.savejapandolphins.org/
It's worth viewing!

Christmas painting....

Hi again!

This is one of a series of paintings and drawings that I did this past Christmas for presents. I found out that the person I painted this for had a love for goldfish. They had had pet goldfish over the years, and the effort that they took to take care of them was more than I had ever experienced, and I am a big animal person myself.
Here is a pic of it in the frame :

I know the colour of the frame is not so complimentary to the colours in the painting, but sometimes you have to use what you have!
I used watercolour pencils to sketch this guy out first, and then added a bit of water here and there to blend it - this was the first time I'd used watercolour pencils in a painting before, and I loved it! I'll probably do more like this in the future sometime :)

Hello and Welcome!

Hi all!
I'm starting up this blog to have a place to post some of my paintings and drawings online, to showcase my art, with the hope of someday professionally selling my pieces and bringing in some more commissioned work. I have painted in watercolour for almost 20 years, creating presents for people, and have even done a couple commissioned pieces. But, I have been terrible at documenting my paintings, and so it has been difficult to 'sell' my skills. I want to try to change this by starting this blog. I also have started painting more frequently, and have found the pleasure it brings helpful in focusing my energy in other areas - my work (animation) has been easier to complete, and I have found more enjoyment in simple acts, like cleaning the house.
My purpose for posting my work online is to hopefully showcase what I am capable of, and allow people to hire me by commission to paint portraits, etc. and start a personal career doing fine art.

I'll start this blog with a painting that I did around 9 years ago, for someone who was very special to me. They had a love of lions, and so I painted this for them.

Here is a picture of the painting itself :

and here is one of it framed :

It's quite a large piece, measuring about 3' by 2' or so.
I hope to paint many more on this scale in the near future!