Seussical Charley

Our baby girl due in February is having a Dr. Seuss themed room so we thought it would be fun to create Dr. Seuss letters for her wall.

I found some great letters for $6.99 each at Michael's. They have holes at the back so they can each hang on the wall without showing the nail/hook.

First my wife, children and friend painted the letters a solid colour.

 Next, I painted different Dr. Seuss characters on each letter. I did 4 letters one night and 3 the next. It probably took around 6 hours total.

 I'm very happy with how they turned out. We may add a glossy finish to the letters to protect them.

They will look great in Charley's room with the Dr. Seuss painting I did in 2011.

Firetruck

My son Quinn (age 5) loves firetrucks. His Minecraft poster was recently destroyed so I thought we could make a little piece of art for his wall. I did a quick painting of a firetruck and had him help with the fire and road. We did this painting (2' x 3') in an hour. Not bad and it'll look cute on his wall.

Firetruck by Quinn (5) and Stacey

In memory of Jeffrey.

I have wanted to paint but haven't been able to find the time or energy with starting a new job, being active outdoors in the summer weather, etc. I decided one night to just do a little painting and get it done within a few hours. I went with a more abstract type of concept although that's not really a strength of mine. I wanted to make a painting for our neighbour before today, the year anniversary of her son's death. Jeffrey passed away suddenly last summer from Muscular Dystrophy.

I wanted to incorporate some things into one painting but wasn't sure how so I went with a more abstract type painting. I put a bit of the funky pattern from his baseball cap on the side, a vase of sunflowers (a gift someone had given to the family) and the white balloons that were released at his funeral. I played around a bit with this painting and experimented with making the flowers bleed onto the hat.

I wrapped it up and gave it to my neighbour, Eva. I knew she wouldn't want to see it in my presence. She hasn't opened it yet but I hope when she does, she will appreciate it.

This week.

I continued the momentum of painting on the weekend into the week. Our two older kids are with their grandparents and cousins this week so it has been easy with just Quinn. He goes to bed easily and earlier than the older two so I've had more time to focus on painting. Two nights this week I worked on my huge 2' x 3' canvas. It's slowly getting there. I hope to sell this piece when it's finished.

A little teaser...

2 Moms to Be

We celebrated our friends Colleen and Meredith's baby shower this weekend. As part of their gift, I painted a small canvas for them.



The background represents the Pride colours. They met at Toronto Pride so I thought it would be nice to incorporate that into the painting. Besides, what is cheerier than rainbow colours?

2 Moms. Acrylic on canvas.


Good luck to the new moms-to-be! I can't wait to meet your new little boy or girl!

Go, Go Power Rangers!

Ian was turning 4 and his parents asked for a Power Rangers painting for his room. I had previously painted a Lego guy for his big brother, Erik. (Posted about that painting here.)

Since Erik's painting had a shiny silver background, I knew I wanted to have the same for Ian's so they would go well together in the boys' room. I decided to try and make the Power Rangers spell out Ian's name with their bodies.

Did you know that there are many variations of Power Rangers? I didn't. I had spied his birthday cake pictured online so I went with the Samurai Power Rangers with their complicated masks.

Power Rangers spelling "Ian". Acrylic paint on canvas.


I hope Ian enjoyed his birthday painting and had a great birthday! Happy 4th, buddy!!!

Owl Family

My sister had a baby on March 10th and had requested a painting for his room. A while back she had sent a picture of one she liked on Pinterest to me. Then she couldn't find it again when I asked for it. My wife searched for it and finally found the exact painting and I got down to work. I wanted to finish it in time for the baby shower on April 6th and I did. I modified it slightly and just used it as a rough guide. I also added their almost 7 year old daughter, Mia, as the original only had parent owls and a baby owl.



It's an acrylic painting on a 2' x 3' canvas.

Isabelle

I created a little sign for my cousin's baby, Isabelle. They live on a farm that used to be a dairy farm so I decided to incorporate that into the sign. This is acrylic on ceramic.

Work in progress.

I'm working on a large piece--it's a 3' x 4' canvas. I'm so excited to get this one done. It will take a long time but I'm hoping that I can make time to get it finished. My new goal is to make more time for my art. This piece will be for sale once I'm finished.

Elephant Eating Fries

I received a request from a good friend to paint a picture for her nephew Mahdi. The request was unique and I knew it would be a fun painting to create: an elephant eating french fries. The only other information given to me was that it should be in bright colours.

I decided that it should be a fun painting with a cartoonish quality. I had some ideas in my head and kind of went with whatever came to me as I put it together. I started with a bright blue sky and green, textured grass.

Acrylic Painting on Canvas


I used the shiny acrylics that are easy to work with versus the duller, expensive acrylics I use for serious, life-like paintings.



I added the monkey to add a little fun to the fries. The bird was added to incorporate Mahdi's name in the painting.

I hope he likes it. It was a lot of fun to paint--there is more freedom in creating silly paintings.

Curious George

Friends requested a painting of Curious George for their baby girl's room. Their only request was a painting of the monkey with the baby's name incorporated into the painting somehow.

I selected a 12" x 12" thick canvas to paint this on. I like the thick canvas because you can hang it without a frame. I also needed it to be a reasonable size to ship to Alberta. Alberta is very expensive for shipping so I knew it shouldn't be gigantic.

Getting started...


  

I was happy to hear that they loved it. I'm always nervous painting a request for others. It's different if I just paint something and someone likes it and wants it. There's no pressure. When I paint something by request, I'm always worried they have an idea in their mind and it might not be what I imagine in mine. That's just how I am.

Ready for shipping...

Bear the giant, loveable dog.

Today was a good day for painting. I had a job interview for the computer side of things and then washed the floors. I felt motivated and then creative. Jackson and I painted while Quinn napped and Riley was at school. I just felt like whipping up a quick painting today and not starting the big project I have had in my mind for ages. Some days just call for a quickie, right?

Earlier we had been outside playing and I snapped on my iPhone of Bear.


I decided to use my phone to paint a picture. It's not easy looking at a small iPhone screen to paint but I knew I was doing a "fun" portrait. I've done this style in the past. I did this painting in maybe 2 hours. I started and had to watch our active toddler Quinn while I finished up. He wanted to help.

In progress.


Finished painting. Acrylic on canvas.


I'm happy with it. It feels good to pick up a paintbrush.

Completing Alyssa.

I finally got around to painting the remaining three letters for Alyssa's bedroom.

I did the first three a while ago. Ages ago. It's been crazy being off with three kids and now looking for a new job. I want to paint, I just don't have the time and energy to sit down and do it. Or rather, the only things I've managed to paint are walls in the house. At least I'm getting something done.

So it feels good to get this project finished. My next one will be a painting I've had in my head for a while.

The first 3 letters I did a while ago.


The next 3 letters to spell Alyssa.


The bedding the flowers are taken from.

Time to paint.

Things have been crazy. We adopted a little boy and I have left work to be on parental leave with 3 kids ages 5, 3 and 1. To say my day is busy is an under statement. Painting has been pushed out of my radar for the past month as we adjust. I have given up hope of getting into that art show now that life has changed. I do want to paint but I'm not going to put that much pressure on myself right now.

The problem is, I am exhausted by the evening and painting is the last thing on my mind most nights. I knew I'd just have to suck it up and do it. Kind of like going to the gym--you force yourself and you feel good once you do it.

Our neighbour asked me to paint her daughter Alyssa's letters to match her bedding. So tonight I was in the mood to paint and just did it. I'm glad I did.

Lego Luke Skywalker

Our good friends' son, Erik, was celebrating his 5th birthday. He is a mega Lego fan and his favourite Lego guy is this Luke Skywalker.

For part of his gift, I decided to do a painting for his room. I can tell you that painting something like a Lego guy with smooth lines is not my forte. I tend to do well with things like animals because there is no neatness required. I'm a messy painter so fur = easy, smooth plastic = hard. Well, it wasn't too bad. I finished this acrylic painting in two sittings which totalled about 5 hours. I used basic acrylic paints but also included some silver and gold colours to match the original Lego figure's silver and gold pieces. I added some medium gloss finish to the figure to give it a bit of a shine and brightness (trying to replicate the plastic a bit.) The background is an abstract kind of Lego background in grey with touches of silver. This was to mimic the grey Star Wars Lego sets.

The most difficult part was definitely finding time between putting kids to bed and getting chores done. Working full time and being a parent means that painting isn't always a priority and can be pushed aside. By having a deadline to work towards, I had to push myself to finish in time. I stayed up until 1 am and 2 am just to get it finished and I'm so glad I did.

Erik was thrilled with the painting which is really the best reward for creating it in the first place.