WIND

"Zebra in a high wind" ...10x8 acrylic on panel


Here is something different for you. I have done some little acrylic paintings of animals in the past, and this is an idea that has been bouncing around in my head for a year or so. The Illo Friday word for this week (WIND) gave me the incentive I needed to go ahead and paint it. I made endless sketches of zebras trying to get the stylized look I wanted. I finally landed on one that was close enough. I don't think the final painting has quite the graphic impact I was hoping for. The real thing never quite matches the vision I have in my head. It seemed a lot funnier in my mind than it looks painted. Oh, well... that's about par for me. Does this happen to you?

So... what do you think? I welcome any comments or helpful suggestions.

Sunday sketch

The unfortunate victim who sat in front of me Sunday. Bic pen on bulletin.

Paint Out!

WOO!... the color on this scan came out very BRIGHT! The actual painting is more subtle. This looks really gaudy here...
On Saturday I participated in the Oil Painters of America (OPA) great Paint Out. This is a national event that encourages anyone and everyone to go outside and paint. The Tennessee Paint Out took place at Bowie Park in Fairview, TN. It was a beautiful fall day, with blue skies and awesome fall colors on the trees. Most painters lined a small lake and painted the scene. It was fun to see 35 or so people painting away. A representative from American Artist was there taking pictures of it all. In the midst of all the quiet beauty... a bunch of geese went crazy honking and causing a ruckus for about 10 minutes on the lake. It was the noisiest thing I have ever heard!

GHOST

Who you gonna call?
After missing the last two Illo Fridays, I am back in the game this week. Woo hoo! I had other things going on the last two weekends, and never had the time to draw up something. This week I am grabbing the first fun idea that comes along and doing it. I was trying to stick to an orange/black Halloween scheme here.... sorta.

Bravia ads!

Well, for those friends dropping by to see my latest IF picture, I got too busy to get one done last week... even with that terrific word -TROUBLE. I had SO many ideas for it, but no time to make a picture. Maybe I will be able to get one done this week. I am a bit busy with work right now, and tomorrow I go in to have my wisdom teeth yanked out. I guess I should say "removed"... but YANKED is much more graphic, don't you think?

Anyhoo... I wanted to share my favorite video which is an ad for Bravia. It always makes me happy to watch this. I watched it over and over when I first found it. Watch the extended version. It may take a while to download, but it is absolutely worth it!
Here is the link: BALLS


There is a new ad I just saw today. This one is just as great and it uses paint. Take a look:PAINT If you watch these let me know what you think. They are amazing!

Sunday sketching

click to see full size
I enjoy going over to Paula's blog and seeing the sketches she does in church (and elsewhere). Today, I had a this guy right in front of me, so I pulled out my Bic pen and did a sketch on the sermon notes page. It didn't take that long so I scribbled the lady in front of him... and the guy in front of her... then quit. I really should do more of this.

QUIET

SocMo makes his latte money by doing a QUIET mime routine...
I thought I would play around with the Photoshop halftone filter on this one. I still don't know how to use the thing. I applied it at different settings and at different resolutions... trying to get something that I liked. After an hour or so... this was the best I could do. Oh... and I was very QUIET while I did this. yeah... right!