The Zombies Are Slow... But Still Deadly

I finally finished the Zombie Horde that I had promised. I regret that the schedule in October didn't allow for enough working time, but family and work have to come before my hobby, no matter how much I love it.

In other news, I have found the simple act of drawing birds, and cutting them out to post about the house, seems to add a certain natural whimsy to the home. I would say I am looking forward to the next "papercutting" project.

Heather wrote about my little cardinal on her blog too.

This past Thanksgiving, I was fortunate to be offered a new project with a wonderful purpose. I was given the honor of designing a patch for the Boy Scouts. Lets hope I can find some great word of mouth from this, as well! Oh how I dream of the day when I can draw rather than push a broom at work every day!

Alonze!~~

Artwork, Reanimated

October is the month of spooks and specters, ghouls and goblins, as well as candy and costumes. I always enjoy throwing some lines onto paper for that most chilling of holidays - Halloween!

There is currently a zombie hoard crawling over the tips of my oil pastels, and you can expect even more thrilling art in the coming weeks!

Also, I'm proud to announce that my wife is restarting her once-famed baby shoes business. Don't miss visiting her blog to see what new creations she's coming up with, if you can spare the time in between trick or treating and setting up the jack o'lantern!

Shortcut

Who's that I see walking through these woods? Why, it's Little Red Riding Hood!

I've mentioned before that both my wife and I love the story of Little Red Riding Hood. I decided that, to start off my Fairy Tale series, I would draw my take on this classic story.

My drawing, "Shortcut", features the beautiful & delectable Little Red, walking along the forest path in the moonlight, on her way to her Grandma's house.

Little does she know that a Big Bad Wolf is dogging her footsteps, keeping an eye on her goodies, waiting for the opportune time to make his move.

*1st in a fairy tale series*

Original is 16x20" - oil pastel, colored pencil on archival art board -- $225.00 + shipping
Prints are available at my Deviant Art store.

Gainfully Employed

I've said it before, and will no doubt say it again, but I apologize for the woeful lack of blog posts lately. I've started a new full time job & it involves a lot of (much appreciated) overtime. I worked 66 hours last week and this new week looks to be similar. This is excellent for the budget & family, but not so excellent for the artwork.

In the past few weeks, I've been working on a fairy tale series, based on the original Grimm Fairy Tales, not the Disney versions. I have completed four pieces thus far and have another on the easel. The first four went very smoothly, each one taking around 3-5 days from start to finish. The latest drawing, my take on "Beauty & the Beast", has been in progress for over a week already... like I said, much less time to draw nowadays.

I will blog about the new drawings over the next couple of days. They've gotten a lot of great attention over on Deviant Art and it makes me feel good to see each new "favorite" on my drawings.

I'm around... hoping to catch up my fellow bloggers as time permits this week. Thank you all for your support!

Little Red - Work in Progress

I'm working on a new drawing, my own adaptation of the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. I did a quick sketch (to the right) before starting the larger drawing (below). I did the initial drawing in graphite and pencil, and the color work is oil pastels and colored pencil. I'm made great progress since these pictures were taken a couple days ago... but wanted to share my work in progress.

I'm really happy with it so far... maybe the tiniest bit tired of drawing individual bark on trees, but the end result will definitely be worth it. Look for the finished artwork in my Etsy shop, as well as here on the blog, within the next few days! :)

2011 Calendars!

I've been working on a 2011 calendar, featuring my favorite artwork from the last year, and with a little technical Photoshop layout help from my beloved, I've finally gotten it finished! I test printed today and it is just perfect! This beautiful twelve month calendar features a different original piece of artwork on each month. The calendar, which includes a front and back cover, is tied together with a coordinating ribbon and looks so nice hanging by the desk.

The artwork on each month is as follows:

Making A Friend

This ORIGINAL winter art drawing was inspired by a snowfall in our neighborhood last year. "Making A Friend" features a young child building a snowman in the yard. Bundled up in warm winter clothes, the child is hard at work building a friendly snowman, complete with charcoal buttons, a carrot nose and a black top hat with ribbon and holly leaves.

This original drawing measures 11 x 14 inches (27.9 x 35.6 cm). Pencil, watercolor pencils and oil pastels were used to create my original artwork. Limited edition prints are also available!

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

This print is created from my original art drawing, "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep". This drawing features a beautiful angel watching over a homeless man in an inner city alley.

50% of the proceeds from each sale of this print ($10) will go to Project Host Soup Kitchen in Greenville, SC. Project Host served meals to over 78,000 needy people last year and they also provide job training to help unemployed people get and keep jobs.

According to a 2008 report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an estimated 671,888 people experienced homelessness in one night in January 2008. Some 58 percent of them were living in shelters and transitional housing and 42 percent were unsheltered. All reports suggest that these numbers are ever increasing.

Want to help? "Now I Lay Me To Sleep" is available for sale in my Etsy store.

In The Forest

This set of four drawings, my "In The Forest" series, is unique in that the pieces can be displayed individually, in pairs or as a complete set, forming a larger image. Each individual piece is an original ACEO art card and be reproduced as a 5x7" print, which would be lovely hanging in a child's bedroom, art studio, living room or den, or even a bright and fun bathroom or kitchen!

ACEO are Art Cards, Editions & Originals. They are highly collectible miniature pieces of artwork. A fun investment at an affordable price! Don't let the smaller size intimidate you... ACEOs look great in a larger frame!

This set of four drawings includes a friendly fox, a fluffy bunny rabbit, a great horned owl and a red squirrel collecting acorns for the winter. Watercolor pencils, pencil, ink and oil pastels were used to create my original artwork. In the scan, the blue sky of the bunny drawing looks a tiny bit "off" from the other cards, but I assure you that these pieces all match perfectly!

"In The Forest" set of art cards or prints

Water Babies

I had a great opportunity for a custom drawing this month. Heather's sister Hilary and her husband Jesse have a sweet little girl named Cori. Her first birthday was this week. Hilary and Jesse have been living in South Korea for 2 years, as Jesse was stationed there with the U.S. Army. They got a new assignment and are now living in Louisiana... and luckily, we got to see them as they passed through town.

Hilary contacted us about 2 weeks before they flew back to the States with an awesome idea for Cori's birthday present. She wanted an 11x14" drawing of the four cousins in the family: Lakin (9 years old), Addah (7½ years old), Cori (1 year old) and little Abby (3 months old), as mermaids in the deep blue sea. I loved it... and had a blast working on it!

I used the older girls' favorite colors: purple and blue for Lakin and pink and orange for Addah. For the little ones, I has noticed that Abby's hair and features really stood out in the pink coral romper she had on, and likewise, Cori was beautiful in her little green dress. I was really able to capture the four girls' personalities in this drawing and I am very happy with it. Hilary and Jesse were ecstatic and couldn't wait to frame the piece for Cori's new bedroom!

Surrounded by Swirls

I've been working on these pieces for a few days now and having a lot of fun with them. Each one is an original ACEO art card and be reproduced as a 5x7" print, which would be lovely hanging in a foyer, kitchen, child's bedroom or even a bright and fun bathroom.

There are four prints in this "Swirls" series: a tangerine seahorse, a ruby red octopus, a deep green loggerhead sea turtle and a cheery striped clownfish. They swim through ripples and waves of the deep blue ocean, amidst anemones and sea grass.

La Fée Verte

This original fairy art drawing was inspired by the 19th century alcoholic drink known as "absinthe". "La Fée Verte" or "The Green Fairy" is perched inside a glass of bright green absinthe. An absinthe spoon with a cube of sugar sits nearby, waiting to be used to prepare the spirits for drinking.

This drawing is 9 x 12 inches (22.9 x 30.5 cm). Pencil, watercolor pencil, colored pencil and oil pastels were used to create this artwork.

Limited Edition Prints available!

Nixie Dreams - Fantasy Mermaid Girl

This original mermaid art drawing was inspired by the Germanic legend of "nixies", or shape shifting water spirits that can appear in human form. My "Nixie Dreams" portrays a mermaid, or nixie, that looks up through the water's surface at her reflection, which is that of a human girl.

This mermaid's skin is a fantastic color of pink, with purple fins on her feet, arms and legs that help her when swimming through the depths of the ocean. Her long flowing purple and pink hair is striking against the lime green and turquoise of the ocean's shallows. Two companion seahorses watch her intently.

Pencil, watercolor pencil and oil pastels were used to create this artwork. This original drawing is 8.5 x 11 inches (21.5 x 27.9 cm).

*** Limited Edition Prints are available of this artwork ***

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54696286/mermaid-art-print-drawing-water-spirit

"The One That Got Away" Fantasy Mermaid

This original mermaid art drawing was inspired by a trip to Lake Jocassee, SC with family. Lake Jocassee was once a town, flooded in 1973 by the state of South Carolina to create a hydroelectric dam. Divers have found a hotel, as well as a graveyard, below the water's surface. It doesn't take much to imagine that mermaids might also lay beneath the still surface of this beautiful lake.

"The One That Got Away" features a young boy who has fallen asleep while fishing in his rowboat, far out on the lake. A little mermaid, curiosity getting the best of her, ventures closer to get a better look at the boy. She takes a moment to free the wiggling worm from his hook and feeds it to her companion fish.

This mermaid has long strawberry red hair and glistening copper scales, which contrast beautifully with the deep blue and turquoise of the clear lake water. In the depths of the lake, you can just see an old car which must have been left behind when the town was evacuated so long ago.

*** Limited Edition Prints are available of this artwork! ***

It's a marvelous night for a moon dance...

The four of us watched "Return to Oz" tonight. Heather and the girls have seen it many times, but somehow this movie has escaped my knowledge until now. I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt inspired. I started drawing about 3/4 of the way through and came up with my version of "Jack Pumpkinhead".

"Moondance" portrays a happy Jack Pumpkin scarecrow, dancing through a cornfield by the light of the harvest moon. A single crow picks at the Indian corn fallen from the nearby cornstalk.

Pencil, ink, watercolor pencil and pastel were used to create this original artwork. This piece is 6 x 6 inches (15.3 x 15.3 cm).

Celeste - New Orleans Voodoo Queen

"Celeste" is my Voodoo Queen, a dark princess from New Orleans, Louisiana. She stands outside of her voodoo shop, where people come to buy love potions, good luck charms and other gris-gris. She is conjuring the spirit of her lost love, barely visible beneath her fingertips.

This original drawing was inspired by one of my favorite songs by Louisiana rock band "Cowboy Mouth" - "Voodoo Shoppe".

"Down off the rampart,
there's a little hideaway,
and if you've got a brave heart,
you can come and visit any day.

There's a princess named Celeste,
eyes like fire, her hair's a mess,
incense burning, my luck is turning,
I can't tell but I'm under her spell."

"Celeste" contains lots of little details, from the boning on her burgundy corset to the skull and glasses of her lost lover, to the magical black cat and glass bottles full of potion in the shop window. The full moon and night sky lend their light, while Celeste works her voodoo with the bubbling cauldron.

Graphite, pencil, watercolor pencil, ink and pastel are used to create this original artwork. This drawing is 8.5 x 11 inches (21.5 x 28 cm). Prints are also available in my Etsy shop.

Butterfly Stone - Fairy Art Drawing

"Butterfly Stone" is a thoughtful fairy and a friendly spirit. She was a labor of love, inspired by a lovely butterfly resting on a rock in the middle of the Green River in North Carolina.

This original drawing was created using graphite, pencil, watercolor pencil, ink and oil pastels. It is 8.5 x 11 inches (21.5 x 28 cm). The original, as well as prints, are available in my Etsy shop.

Brown Eyed Susan Fairy

"Brown Eyed Susan" is dedicated to my mother's favorite flowers. I hiked through a field of wildflowers in the Blue Ridge Mountains and imagined that it would be a perfect place for fairies to flit and dance around.

Drawn with pencil, ink and oil pastels

Lying In Wait - Dragon & Princess Art Drawing

"Lying In Wait" features an unsuspecting maiden princess traveling at breakneck speed into the clutches of a ravenous dragon.

This piece was inspired by a speed trap set by a clever policeman on a back country road. The police car was hidden in a long driveway flanked by tall bushes and as we maneuvered the twisting road, we spotted the flash of shiny cobalt blue. Needless to say, we were quite grateful that we were not speeding at the time and laughed that he was "like a dragon, lying in wait for passing travelers". This original drawing is the manifestation of that conversation.

Graphite, pencil, ink, colored pencil and pastel were used to create this original artwork. The colors are bold and you can see and feel the texture in the stone wall, the bark of the trees and the scales of the dragon. I am incredibly proud of this piece of fine art.

This original artwork is 12 x 18 inches (30.5 x 46 cm). Once matted, it will frame nicely to 16 x 20 (41 x 51 cm).

Both the original and the print are available in my Etsy shop!