Face Art

I haven't really had the time or energy to paint. I've doodled. That felt good to just scribble and relax.



But it's been hard. I've felt really busy with kids, work, busy schedules now that they're in hockey, drama, Beavers and Brownies...it's hard to find the time. Or more specifically, the energy and inspiration to paint when they go to bed. I need to though. I know that. I just don't know how I can do it yet.

I did have some fun painting their faces recently. I bought a face paint kit from Michael's called Snazaroo. It is awesome as it's just like painting with regular paints and it comes off easily.

I experimented with some of their designs first.



I painted scratches and bruises on Jackson so he could be a beat up version of Thor.



Riley was a zombie Prom Queen. I tried out a couple of designs.

This one would have been better with the teeth being shorter or going into darkness so there was depth. Next time.



Riley wanted brains showing through her forehead. I'm happy with how this one turned out.



Painting faces is fun and it's really made me realize how much I miss painting.

I need to find that energy and time.

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.

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.

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...

Can't pass up a deal...

I walked into a miracle at Michael's last Friday. I was there to pick up a small canvas to do a painting for a friend's baby, due very soon. I wanted to get something that would look great in a baby room and ship easily enough. I stopped in for this purpose and walked into the biggest canvas deal ever. I bought a huge 3' x 4' canvas (regularly $100) for $30! I am so excited to get to work on another giant piece. I really wanted to do another. Now to think up some ideas.

I also spent a small fortune on new paints. There are three grades of acrylic paint and I like to work with the middle grade. It's not cheap but it's not insanely expensive either. I'm not a pro yet so I work with what I can afford.

In the meantime, I was able to complete a painting for my friend. I don't want to share it here until she sees it. I also don't want to share their baby name until it's time and that is a part of the artwork so... it'll be posted once I get the go ahead from them.



It wasn't easy to find the time. My partner was sick and the kids were in bed so I thought, now is the time. I can't wait for the perfect time, I have to create the perfect time. When you live in a hectic household full of kids and pets and don't get to paint all day as your profession, it is always hard to find that time to paint. I know that I'll need at least 2 hours to work on something.

I hope to force myself to carve out that time more often. I think the new canvas will inspire something... Stay tuned...

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.

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.

New blog and hopefully new art.

I've decided to create this new blog for my artwork. What this means is that I've also decided to start doing more art pieces. I don't know how I'll find the time but I will. I need a creative outlet and I've also considered that perhaps this will be a way to make some extra money. And if not, I'll have a house full of paintings and a blog to prove it.

I've always enjoyed painting but I've never considered it to be a reliable income. Okay, truth be told, I've never pushed myself to make and sell art. I've entered one art show where I made a little bit of money on a small painting. The other fees have been through word of mouth--friends or family members who need some art for their homes. People love paintings of their pets and I've found I'm actually quite good at animals.

My plans are to work on my skills. Become a better artist. Fix the things I don't like about my art. Just get painting.

From there, I figure my art can only get better.

Recently I painted a Dr. Seuss painting for our son's room.



It felt good to get out the paints. I whipped it up in a matter of an afternoon. I found that I missed creating a picture on a blank canvas.

Truth be told, I had fun creating a collage of The Paperbag Princess (we had an extra copy) with my daughter. It was fun to experiment with paper and acrylic mediums. I found myself looking for an opportunity to paint again. But when is the perfect opportunity? Sometimes you have to push yourself to grab onto some time and just do it.



Before that, I rarely produced art. The last art I had done was for Riley's bedroom to match her Pottery Barn Kids bedding.



I just didn't set aside time once I became a mother.

People often visit and love the huge African Safari painting that is framed in our dining room. They will say, "You should do that for a living!" I've even had people try to offer us money for it. I love it too and when I look at the art I've created, it is one of the pieces that makes me believe in my abilities. It is one that I really worked hard on and it shows. The ones I've whipped up for fun are obvious. This one was a labour of love and took months to complete.



When people have told me to sell art for a living, I've brushed away their comments and thought, art doesn't pay. I'm not saying that because I want to be wealthy but I do want a nice roof over our heads and for our kids to have some luxuries in life like after school activities. So I programmed, mothered and collapsed. Then one day I experimented with art and my love for painting returned and I found myself figuring out what art project I could do next. I could be a programmer, mother and an artist. Why not? There aren't enough hours in the day but I'd rather make the most of those hours than putting it off until I'm too old to see the fine lines made by my paint brush.

I've created this blog as a space to work on my art. To let the creative side of me have a life too. As our kids are growing older and enjoying art themselves, I think I will have the ability to not only foster my own artistic endeavours but to help them to explore their own talents. Art is so important. It really is. Art has saved me from boring situations and given me balance when I thought I'd go crazy. And our kids LOVE art. One night I gave them canvases and let them use my acrylic paints and they spent at least an hour working on their paintings. They were so proud when we hung them in their rooms. That is what art is about.

Cracks in the Crystal Ball (Acrylic 2011) by Riley (4.5 years old)


So let's get creating and remember there is more to life than making sure your laundry is clean.