Art by Crystal Cook View RSS

'Crown in Her Soul' 

5 x 7 inches

click here to purchase

'She's the kind of queen that knows her crown isn't on her head. But in her soul." Adrian Michael

This is one of my favorite paintings I've done in a while. I really loved the glow on her face and hair from the light, and the flash of red in her dress, and the colors of sunlight in her hair. And her smooth skin. . . cool shadows in her cheeks. . . I could go on forever I guess. The point is, I loved painting this one. 

I'm always amazed at how some subjects and scenes just click in my brain and it's like I vacate the premises for a minute and my body just paints it like it's on auto pilot. I guess that's called flow? It's a very cool phenomenon. The trick is figuring out what makes that happen and then do more of that haha! 

I'm super behind on blogging lately. I've been creating so much art, it's been amazing! But haven't taken the time to blog about it, even though I do post regularly on Instagram and facebook (crystalcookart on both). 

Learn to Fly

6 x 6 oil on panel 

click here to purchase

"What if I fall?" 

"Oh, but my darling. What if you FLY?"

When I started this blog in 2010 I had a one year old, a 5 year old, and an 8 year old. Now I have a 9 year old, an almost 13 year old, and an almost 16 year old. My children are no longer babies. No longer toddlers. No longer needing my help so much, or needing their noses wiped, or wanting to cuddle with me on the couch. There are no more days spent holding little hands to guide their first steps and getting sloppy kisses from spaghetti covered faces. They are growing up, and therefore growing further away from me. As they should. It's part of the plan of life. They're supposed to grow up and live their own life and it's my job to prepare them for that. 

But it's so very hard to live through. The hardest thing I've ever been called to do. 

Now. I recognize this is a little melodramatic. Of course my kids still need me. I still need my mom and I'm 36 years old. Of course I still get kisses (but far fewer, and mostly from the nine year old, bless his heart.) But they are getting ready, someday not too far from this day, to leave our nest. Our beautifully, crazily, happy love filled home. 

And this my friends is breaking my heart. I don't quite know how to navigate this time in my life. How many rules and boundaries are too many? They have to make their own choices don't they? They have to live their own life. Be accountable for choices and decisions they make. I try my best to guide and direct them gently with all the love I have, and whatever small amounts of wisdom I have too. But is it enough? Is it too much? WHERE IS THE DANG MANUAL THAT TELLS YOU HOW TO BE A PARENT TO A 16 YEAR OLD??? 

I don't know what I'm doing here. I'm just trying to love them as hard as possible, so that they know it every single second of their lives. That it might guide them to make the right choices. To be safe. To fly instead of fall. 

So. . . all of that to say that this painting hits me hard on a deep level. Our children learn to fly from us. We prepare them for life outside our home. That is our purpose and calling as parents. And we have to have the faith that when the time comes, they will not fall. But fly. As they were meant to. As we've prepared them to their whole lives. 

It's a leap of faith. And we have to have that faith with them. 

Heat Seeker

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I can pretty much always count on two things when it comes to painting. 

1. It will take longer than I think it will. (amiright?)

2. I will ALWAYS choose the subject with the most beautiful light. 

This kitty was gorgeously backlit, making her ears just glow and causing beautiful catchlights in her eyes. I thought I heard angels singing when I saw the light but it might have been me. ;) 

Something I learned with this painting is to make sure and paint in colorful areas first so they don't get muddied by the surrounding darks. I think I have heard Carol Marine refer to this as her 'island to ocean' technique. 

Fell a bit behind with painting a single painting every day for September, but that's just life and I'm not beating myself up over it. I actually enjoy it more when I split the painting up over two days. . . at least at this size. 

Have a good night everyone! I'll be visiting blogs tomorrow! HUGZZZ, Crystal 

Watching: Blacklist

Listening to: Chiustream with Bobby Chiu

Reading: Love and Gelato

Snacking on: nada

Drinking: banana flavored bcaa's

Lost in Thought

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You know that quote about art washing the dust out of the soul? I can't remember how it goes, but I absolutely love it. It is so true. I spent this afternoon looking at an art book and I felt so refreshed (Karin Jurick's museum paintings, love it!). Yesterday I spent the day sculpting for my Tumble Creatures line. And every day since September first I have made a whole hearted attempt to paint. It has refreshed my mind, heart, and soul so much. 

It is so easy to get stuck in a rut of daily life, and not appreciate the wonder that it is to be alive. Art helps immensely with that. Don't you think? 

The main thing I learned with this painting was, to paint the hand in as few strokes as possible. I am pretty happy with that hand because I think they are the hardest thing ever to paint. And ears. Oh and mouths. And don't even get me started on teeth. Okay it's all dang hard amiright? 

Pink Pony Nose

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What drew me to this image initially was that velvety pink nose. What little girl that had a horse didn't spend hours kissing her pony's nose? 

Also I discovered that scratching out highlights is a very effective tool for capturing tiny light struck hairs when painting wet into wet with oil. I love the look that gave to this horse's mane. Short post today, I'll try to have something meaningful to say next time! May your brushes stay wet and your palette colorful! 

'Rhino's Spot'

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It has been quite a while since I've done a single painting in a single day for lots of days in a row. I've been so preoccupied with painting the dailies that I have neglected blogging or uploading them (although I am uploading them every night to my Instagram and Facebook, simply because it's so much faster and I'm usually soooo tired by the time I finish painting them at midnight haha)!

It has been incredibly FUN to have a new painting to complete every day. Sometimes I can get caught up in a big painting for MONTHS at a time. Which can result in really cool and impactful work, but can also be stressful. Incredibly stressful. I am enjoying the heck out of this challenge and approach each day with an excitement for painting that I haven't felt in years!

I've decided to paint all of them in oil, simply because it's faster for me and time is very, very short. I am learning a lot each day with each new painting. And it has been a great time of growth for me artistically. I'll try and share one thing I've learned each day. As often as I remember haha.

I'm very behind in blogging about these so I'm just going to start with my favorite one so far, not the first one. This sweet pup (Rhino) belongs to the family that owns the gym I go to. They bring him to the gym with them every morning and he is a huge hit with the gym family. Yesterday he was in just the PERFECT spot of sun and held still long enough for me to get some pics with my phone. We call him the gym mascot and he is the biggest sweetheart of a dog you'll ever meet.

With this painting I realized the importance of painting in your brightest colors first and then working around them. This resulted in the glowing ear, with no mud from mixing white or greys near it! Worked like a charm. I know I've learned this lesson before, but seems like I'm relearning a lot of things this month.

Listening to: Higher Health Radio

Watching: BBC's Sherlock (for the 15th time)

Reading: Love and Gelato

Drinking: Diet Dr. Pepper

Snacking on: Caramel flavored rice cakes

'The Sunny Spot'

6 x 6 inches

oil on panel

Click here to purchase

So much of our every day life is just trying to keep everything in balance. Don't you think? Balance with work, family, hobbies, kids activities, school work, church work, yard work, house work. It's so tough to keep it all together. And I don't think any of us really do. Some do it better sure, but no one has it all together, as much as they want us to believe they do through social media posts.

The last few weeks my family has been really sick. My dad had surgery. And my sweet old dog, Chauncy is nearing the end of his life, and so we have to decide when to make that hardest decision that will separate him from us forever.

So my mind. . . it's been everywhere. My heart has felt so heavy. I'm not trying to sound like my life is terrible, because it's not. I feel so blessed to have the life I do. Loved ones that care about me, a warm comfortable home, and plenty of food to eat. But still. . . it's been tough, and I'd be lying if I said otherwise.

During this time of stress and sadness I've let a lot slip. But I've maintained as much as possible two things that help me feel balanced even in stressful situations.

Fitness. And Art.

I think we all have those things that clear our mind and rejuvenate us to tackle the day. And even if it seems selfish to take time to do them, we HAVE to. Otherwise there is nothing left of us to offer anyone else.

At the end of a long week of being a caretaker to many sick people and a dog I finally entered my studio. Turned on the lamp. Laid my brushes out carefully. And I painted. It lasted about 15 minutes. But it felt so good and restored something in my soul I had felt was missing that long week.

Art is so much more than just paint on paper. It is so much more than a profession. It is a balm to my soul. And I think that too often we forget that as we chase after professional goals and personal ones too. It was a good reminder to me. Hopefully it was to you too. When was the last time you got to do what rejuvenates you when you really, really needed it? I'd love to know.

Love,

Crystal

Watching: The Walking Dead

Listening to: Nirvana

Reading: Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay

Drinking: water

Snacking on: protein bars (G2G are my fave)

Gypsy Liberty

3.5 x 9.5 inches

watercolor on paper

click here to purchase

I've always been the type of person to dive headfirst into whatever it is I'm passionate about at that moment. it consumes me and it's all I think about. I live it, breathe it, dream it. If I'm awake I'm either practicing my passion, or I'm thinking about when I next get to practice. 

But inevitably, that ends in a burn out. Well. . . most of the time. 

And then it's weeks or months on end before I pick up that passion again. And at first it's a little like an old faucet that hasn't been used for a while. It sticks, doesn't open right, and then after smacking the stupid faucet with some type of tool (a wrench maybe) it starts to trickle a little water.  Then the next time you try to use that faucet it's just a little easier to open. Doesn't take as much. . . abuse to get it to start flowing, even if it is still just a trickle. 

Slowly, if you're patient, and you don't give up, and you use that faucet every day, it flows effortlessly. Like it used to when it was brand new. Like it was made to. 

That's how I feel about painting right now. 

For a long time I let my skills get rusty. But with practice I'm back at home again. And back in the flow. 

It's a great place to be. 

Luminous Berry

5 x 5 watercolor on paper

click here to purchase

For the last several months painting has constantly been on my mind. I dream up ideas for future paintings, my hands itch to hold a brush, and I try to figure out how to get 26 hours out of each day, or require less than 5 hours of sleep at night, so I can get more painting time.

Since the new year came and the holidays are gone for another year (YASSS) I made a promise to myself that I would paint every day. If only for 15 minutes. Well. . . . I haven't kept that promise. Some days I just can't make it to paint. Which IS frustrating. BUT on the positive side I have painted more this month than I did the last six months combined. So I think I'm onto something here.

This painting is the first watercolor daily painting (never mind that it took me about 6 days to finish instead of 1) I've finished in. . . 3 years I think. And I have found a lot of satisfaction in that.

I'm excited to keep on painting, I have SO many ideas sketched out! We'll see how well I do at keeping this blog updated too.

Thanks for following along with my artwork!

Hugs,

Crystal

'Frenchie'

6 x 6 oil on gessobord

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I miss painting.

I miss blogging.

Lately all I've wanted is to just paint my heart out. But time has not been my friend lately. 2017 is the year I change that.

How are you all? Does anyone still blog? Leave me a comment if you do and I'll come visit you too!

This year I've been kept pretty busy with some beautiful child portrait commissions to paint. This sweet girl above, Sadie, was finished a few weeks ago, and I have a little boy currently on my easel that is nearly finished as well. I feel so honored that these parents trusted me to capture their child and I hope I'm doing each one justice.

There hasn't been any time for personal paintings, but after this last commission is finished I'll be taking a break from custom work to paint some ideas I've had floating in my head for a while. I've had an idea of paintings of my boys I want to do that I'm considering using to get back into the juried show game, but we'll see how they turn out first ha! I haven't entered a painting in a competition for a long time, but I think this might be just the thing to help me push myself out of my comfort zone and level up my skills. Well. . . that's the hope anyways.

I have however been doing plenty of sketching as time allows. This is so crucial to my own satisfaction as an artist, and for personal growth. Even if I don't have time to paint on a certain day if I can squeeze in a sketch I feel like I'm still growing my skills, developing my career as an artist and that to me, is pretty priceless. Here are some of my recent faves:

Gypsy Whimsy

5.5" x 8.5" 

colored pencil on toned paper

Click Here To Bid

I'll just save all that HOLY COW IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I LAST POSTED blah blah blah and jump straight to the point. :)

I'm still drawing. A lot. It will always be something I have to do. I just love it so much. 

And I've been finding a lot of satisfaction, and joy, in drawing more whimsically. . . More illustrative I guess. I no longer am a slave to a photo reference and I LOVE that. While part of me still sometimes misses getting lost in realism, for now I'm very happy to be drawing this way. 

Thanks for sticking with me for so long CCA fans. I sure appreciate your support.I still have this omnipresent itch to get those watercolors out. . . But just haven't made myself do it yet. But one day soon I will!

Listening to: AWOLNATION

Reading: The Ruby Circle

Watching: New Girl

Snacking on: egg whites and chicken breasts (I'm on a diet BLERGH)

Drinking: Ice water (see the BLERGH diet above^^)

Paisley Pony Illustration

9 x 12

copic marker on illustration board

 

Lagging behind pretty bad on this 30/30 challenge. :) I knew it would be tough to fit a painting in every day since I'm pretty much working full time now, and honestly accepting the challenge was mostly just a shove to get me to paint again. And for that alone it's been  a success.

 

I did make a start on a larger watercolor portrait of my son the other day, but it's not really at a showing stage yet. (in other words, it's a bit scary right now. Ha!)

 

This is an illustration I did for a client, a new whimsical style I don't think I've shared with you guys before. It's a lot of fun and I love working this way.

 

Watching: Master Chef

Reading: Alla Prima

Listening to: the dog snore

Snacking on: Peppermint Patties

Drinking: dirty diet coke

 

 

Retirement

6 x 6 inches, oil on gessobord

available here

 

"Snow Hat"

6 x 6 oil on gessobord

NFS

 

 

This painting is a series of firsts for me.

 

The first painting in my new house. (YAY!)

 

The first painting this year.

 

The first painting for the 30 in 30 challenge hosted by Leslie Saeta.

 

And probably some more that I just can't think of right now.

 

This is from a photo of my oldest son (who is 12 now) when he was just 2 years old wearing a big ol' snow hat.

 

Starting this painting after nearly a year off was full of surprises for me. The main one was that I hadn't forgotten as much as I thought I had. It didn't take me very long to get back in the groove of painting. Which was a welcome relief. In a way, being back at the easel felt a little like coming home.

 

But it was different as well. After spending so much time making stylized, cute animals (Tumble Creatures), I've developed a new way of seeing. A sort of shorthand, which was really, really cool. I no longer feel like a slave to a reference photo, which always bothered me a lot before.

 

I'm really excited, and so thankful to Leslie for having this challenge (and that no one else from Utah had signed up, which is what prompted me to sign up in the first place.) I know I won't be doing a painting every day for this challenge, I still have a lot of other art obligations I'm already committed to. But I'm happy to be back painting again, for me this time. <3 p="">

'Her Soul' 

16 x 16 inches 

oil on gessobord

SOLD - private commission

 

Hello? Anyone still out there??? I'm back. .. for now. :) 

The last half of this year has truly been a whirlwind for me and my family. With the majority of it spent prepping our old house for sale, showing said house to prospective buyers (ARGH), selling house, packing and moving out of house, moving into a rental condo for 2.5 weeks waiting for our new house to be ready, moving out of rental condo, moving into new house. 

Oh and all the hustle and bustle that just comes with raising a young family. :) 

 

And right in the middle of this I decided to start a new little side business for my little clay animal figurines that sort of took over my life. In a good way. :) I've been busier than I ever thought I would be, selling out of my little creatures faster than I can sculpt them. Here's my Facebook page if you want to take a peek: https://www.facebook.com/TumbleCreatures 

It's been an incredible blessing to be able to make a living from your creativity. While I've done really well with selling paintings and commissions it hasn't always been exactly reliable. There have been dry spells that stretched for a very long time, and a lot of the time lately when I was painting I felt like I was up against a wall. Painting because I had to not because I loved to and I just had had enough. I needed a break.

 

And while sculpting is not painting, it still rings all those creative bells that painting does, in fact. . . I think it does it a little better. Because these creatures are more imaginative, more whimsical. It's been a dream of mine for a long time to be a children's book illustrator but I really struggled to come up with unique and cute characters. Now I think I finally have, just in the form of clay.

I really had lost the love I had for painting. I dreaded it more and more. What used to be a joyful feeling of opening up a box of paint and holding a brush had started to feel like the worst form of torture imaginable. Finishing up these last few commissions took all my strength of will. I pushed through them and was very happy with how they turned out. But now I'm closing down painting commissions. I'll let you guys know when and if I open them up again. 

It's been just over a month since we moved into our new house and we are starting to feel settled. It's starting to feel like home. There's still lots to unpack, paintings to hang, photos to display, but it's starting to feel like home. :) 

Lately I have really wanted to paint again. I am starting to miss it more and more, and I know when that happens it's time to break out the brushes again. But this time I will be a little more slow to post them, and it will be a little more irregular. I don't ever want to feel that burned out again. 

I promised myself that this time I will only paint when I really, really want to. :) 

I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas to all of you. 

Hugs and cupcakes,

Crystal

 16 x 16 inch oil portrait commission

In progress

Still working on commissions, but I thought I'd show a pic of this one in progress. Nearly done (well. . . the hardest part is anyways). 

And here's a little Last Unicorn doodle I did while drawing with my son the other day. :) 

Hope you all are doing well!! 

We've sold our house and will hopefully be all settled in to our new place by the first part of November. Then life can get back to normal, lol. It's been a crazy last few months!

'So Studious' 

16 x 20 inches

oil on gessoboard

private commission

Finished up painting number 2 in my commission series of portraits. I am really happy with his face. I think I captured something special there. But I'm not sure what. . . What does that say about me you think? ;)

I miss daily painting, but still have found it difficult to get much painting done lately. So far, my weekly goal to post once a week has not come to pass. And. . . I'm okay with that. For nearly 4 years I have been diligently posting and painting, mostly to fill this blog. And I feel like it's okay, more than okay, to slow down now. 

Maybe I should have done so sooner. There are more important things in life after all than paint and brushes. I worry that sometimes I get too caught up in the day to day 'have to's that I lose sight of the big picture. 

My children. Growing before my eyes. My littlest is in kindergarten now and it was just a few weeks ago that he clung to me and didn't want me to leave him when I dropped him off in the morning. Now he runs off with a wave and a 'bye mom!' shouted over his shoulder. 

But that's the way it's supposed to be. I'm glad that he's happy and secure enough to know that I'll come back for him. 

But still. The shift from being the center of his little world, to not so much anymore is hard. But I know that this too will pass, and soon I'll be okay with it. After all, I know he'll always be my little boy, my best friend. He whispers it to me every day when we hug goodbye. :) 

I'll post when I can again, but not sure when that will be. Hope all is well with you good blog friends. Sending hugs and cupcakes your way. 

Mood: Contemplative

Listening to: Hurricane Bells

Reading: The Monstrumologist

Watching: World War Z

Snacking on: chips and my mom's homemade salsa

Drinking: ice water

 

'Smooth and Supple' 

5 x 7 inches oil on panel

$100 plus $7 US shipping/$15 International

Hello??? Anyone still out there?? It's me Crystal. You know, that crazy, geeked out girl who used to paint a lot? :D 

Yes, I've been gone a while haven't I? Weird. Life has been crazy hectic lately, we just put our house up for sale so the last few months has been a blur of packing and cleaning, organizing, and everything else that needs to be done to get your house ready for perfect strangers to walk through it and go into a crazy amount of debt to buy it. ;) 

I also have been busy with commission work, that's taken all my focus away from daily painting. But I am going to try, really hard, to try to post a new painting or drawing once a week. I feel like that's all I can manage right now, but I recognize that I NEED to do something. Or at least. . . a work in progress post once a week so you guys don't completely forget about me. :) 

This horse could count for 'J' in my alphabet series had I not cropped out his legs and body. Because he's actually jumping in the air. 

I also have broken quite a few compositional rules with this one. But I don't care. I LOVE this painting. And breaking rules is sort of a job requirement for artists. We're rebels at heart. ;) See you next week everybody! Thanks to all of you for checking in with me! Hugs to all of you, and virtual cupcakes too. 

Listening to: Pinback

Reading: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Watching: Revolution

Snacking on: Chips and salssa

Drinking: Dirty Diet Coke's as often as I can get them (the best thing ever and totally bad for you but well. . . see above about rebels and such)

Reference photo by Deidre T on deviantART, thank you! 

'Edith' 

SOLD 

12 x 16 inches, oil on gessobord

 

First of all let me just say that 12 x 16 inches is MUCH larger than 5 x 7. Yes, I realize that many of you are saying in your very best Severus Snape/Alan Rickman voice: "OB-viously." 

 

 

I knew that, but, knowing and applying one's knowledge are two vastly different things. Her face alone took me several days to paint, and I must say that I'm very happy with how she turned out. 

 

Painting so many small paintings, I've gotten used to painting a face in one sitting. That took me by surprise with this painting at first, but it was also very good for me I think. For all the benefits of daily painting (of which there are many) there is also something (or many things, whatever) to be said for slowing down and taking your time with a painting. 

This is the first in a series of portraits I've been commissioned to paint as part of a corporate installation. Also, this one is the smallest size. O-o. 

 

This will require epic amounts of cookie dough and Supernatural episodes. I'm totally up for this challenge. :) 

 

Huzzah!! 

 

Listening to: Grinnin in Your Face by ZZ Ward

Reading: Nothing :(. Ain't nobody got time for that (right now anyways. Life is hectic these days). 

Snacking on: honey mustard pretzels

Watching: Alphas

Drinking: diet coke

'Filigree' 

5 x 7 inches, oil on panel

I'm part of a small group of artists that have banded together as a sort of peer mentoring group. We talk about our goals, our vision for our work, share business ideas, and challenge each other. It's full of awesomeness. These women are incredible and I'm so honored to be part of their group. :) 

So we had a painting challenge. It was to paint a self portrait that was a true reflection of you. I kind of suck at that. I've painted myself before, and every time it has been a very uncomfortable experience for me. I don't like looking at myself. I hate drawing attention to myself. In a crowd or group of people I prefer to hide, unseen and unnoticed. 

And a self portrait is basically the opposite of all of those things. It's all about ME. I mean, there's really nowhere else to look. Unless you like grey backgrounds, and if you do then. . . awesome.You've come to the right place. But, I digress.

My way around this is to typically hide part of my face in some way. Like the filigree mask above, or like this: 

So how then, was I to paint a self portrait that was a true representation of myself? I did what I felt most comfortable with. A partially hidden version of me. Again. Because I do think this is really how I am. I could go on and try to think of something really meaningful to say about why I paint myself this way. But I won't.

Because there is no real deep meaning to it. I just prefer to be in the background, instead of the spotlight and that alone says SO much about who I really am that there really isn't anything else to say.

'Iron Man' 

4 x 4 inches 

watercolor on paper SOLD

Back to work with my alphabet series. 'I' is for, you guessed it, Iron Man - Lego style. In our house, superheroes and Legos are king. 

I got my kids involved with this painting, because I could NOT find Iron Man's tiny Lego mask. And well, without his mask he's just Tony Stark, which while Tony Stark is awesome, he is not quite as awesome as Iron Man. ;) Also Tony starts with a T. ;)
So, we took a bunch of photos of all different kinds of Lego guys, Batman and Catwoman, Storm Troopers and Jedis, and the riders of Rohan and the Uruk Hai army. Not sure that I'll get to painting all of them, but it was a lot of fun. And I organized all the Legos while we were at it for about the hundredth time. Let's hope they stay that way for more than a month.  
We've got a bunch of home improvement projects going on right now, and I am loaded with commissions (a good thing :) so I may need to take a break from this series for a little while, but I'll be back to it for sure. Hopefully soon because it is a lot of fun. 
Huzzah to you my friends! May your week be filled with cupcakes and acts of superheroism! 
Listening to: "The Ballad of John Henry" by Joe Bonamassa Reading: The Unwanteds Watching: Supernatural reruns Snacking on: half baked, fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies Drinking: diet Coke with lime 

'On The Brink'

7 x 10 inches

watercolor on paper, not for sale

This is one of my beautiful nieces. She just turned 13 so I thought it was time she had a portrait. :) I love this stage of young womanhood, that in between time of not really a little girl anymore, but not a grown up either (I love seeing it happen on other people, but living it? Not so much). 

This girl is sweet, funny (downright hilarious actually), with a huge heart. And of course she is incredibly beautiful, with her jewel colored eyes and rich, dark hair. I just can't say enough good things about her, I love her to pieces and am so proud to be her aunt. She is such a special girl and I have loved getting to see her grow up. I'm excited to see where she goes next. :)  

Lest ye think that I have fallen off the alphabet series wagon, let me just say - Nay, I have not. My next painting is 'I' and I'm all geeked out over the subject matter. And that's all the teaser you will get until Monday. ;) 

Huzzah my friends! May your cookies always be full of chocolate chips!

'Alpha' 

6 x 10 inches

colored pencil on toned paper

click here to purchase

I have always been fascinated with wolves. I read White Fang and The Call of the Wild so many times as a kid and teen that I could quote passages of them to people who really, probably didn't want to hear it. But good literature should oft be quoted no? ;) 

When I was in high school I did my senior art portfolio test all about wolves. And all of them were painted with instant coffee and water on brown craft paper, and all of the poses were very stereotypical, slavering mouths agape, and chilling, predatory eyes burning in the night. Those art examiners ate my quirkiness up let me tell you. ;) 

I've since learned more about wolves, and how much of their interaction is very gentle, like a loving family and a parent who sometimes has to put their kid in a timeout. I feel like it's kind of a responsibility for animal lovers, especially wolf lovers, to not promote the vicious animal stereotype that surrounds them still, so now I try to portray them in times of playfulness, or love. Like this one. I love that calm, tolerant expression of the wolf who's getting chewed on. :)

In other news, I finally made a cute little clay pony that I'm really happy with and I'm putting her in my new Etsy shop as a made to order option for anyone interested. :) 

Listening to: 'What Happened to Goodbye' audio book

Watching: Merlin 

Snacking on: mini Snickers bars

Drinking: coconut/lime diet Coke

Reference photo of the wolves by Bob Haarmans, thank you!

'Hoodie' 

7 x 10 inches watercolor on paper

not for sale

Earlier this year I took my son out for the day. We went to the book store, hung out and had a treat. Then we drove around looking for a good spot to take some pics for paintings. We found this winding road with an old twisted tree in a pasture with a white horse under it. You can bet I'll be painting that in the future. 

But what I really wanted was to paint a portrait of my boy. I haven't painted him for a while and I was so surprised to see how much he had grown up since I last painted him. Painting this one really tugged on my heartstrings. Kids grow up so fast don't they? It was like I was trying to put his younger features on his older face because I was used to painting him that way, as a younger little boy. Is that weird? 

In any case, here is H for Hoodie, continuing with my alphabet series. :D

In other news, I also decided to open up an Etsy shop for my little clay critters that I've been making. And I started a facebook page. So my good wonderful friends. If you want to come like me, you'd really make my day. :D You can click here to see it. 

Reading: The Unwanteds

Listening to: AC/DC (yeah baby)

Watching: Supernatural (surprise surprise!)

Snacking on: apple slices with peanut butter