Abstract art is something I don't usualy dabble with. When I do, I like to to be quick and dirty...sort of like eating a Rolo soft cone outside when it's 30 degrees celsius.
Usually my abstracts an emotional release, or when I don't have the time it takes to plan and compose a more complex painting.
The first abstract shown is a self-portrait I did to express my pain after a fight. It took about
5 minutes but remains as one of the powerful images I have created. God, I love fights!
I just slapped on the acrylic paint fast and furious, thick and splattered.


The next series shows soft pastels on posterboard.

Sometimes ideas pop out of nowhere.
I was sitting at a desk, bored when I felt compelled to draw this cow.
The idea of using soybeans for horns, ribs and a tail appeared in the same instant.
I have been vegetarian for 15 years and the idea of extending compassion to all living beings through my food choices certainly inspired this watercolour. The puddles around the cow are coloured: white for peace and hope, red for blood and the brutality involved in harvesting animals and black for anguish.

Lately, I have been working on portrait painting, working from photos.
A great book called Painting beautiful skin tones with color and light, by Chris Saper had lots of good advise. Here are some recent portraits.

A friend recently passed on a web link for those who interested in learning how to do portrait painting. Check it out at http://www.portrait-artist.org/face/index.html

Another link she passed on does a great job explaining colour theory http://www.worqx.com/color/index.htm . Thanks Amanda!

A photo of my girlfriend playing with a birdcage spurred this drawing.
Using coloured pencils I added a sense of drama to the scene by adding a ghost-like bird that seems to be perched almost outside of the cage, illuminated in dramatic lighting. Is she considering a bird that died? Is her imagination allowing the bird to escape from its captivity? I scanned the drawing and added a dark stroke effect to it using Microsoft PictureIt, a fairly cheap editing program that is easy to use and has lots of effects for changing the look of a photo or painting.

Some of my best inspirations for subject matter come from photos.
I particulary like photos from my photo album as they have meaning to me.
It's great when a photo provides dramatic, artistic possiblities such as the pictures of my girlfriend when she was young, visiting a park near Niagra Falls.
Her ballet-like pose echoing the bend of the nearby tree was compelling. This painting was done using acrylics on canvas paper.


I followed up this piece with another using soft pastels on yellow construction paper (below).


















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This work is more impressionistic in style. Scanning the painting and using Microsoft PictureIt! illusion effects, I altered the image.

Here are examples of my rock art along with some of what I have learned.

I use acrylic paint after outlining the drawing using chalk or coloured pencil.

Clean the rock first with a brush, soap and water so the paint will adhere.
This paint dries fast, which is good when you want to apply thins layers of paint (washes)
over each other. Acrylics are quite durable and easy to work with. They clean with soap and water.

The final results look best when choosing a rock that suggests a shape or scene.
Look for groves, hard edges and contours in the rock to naturally create the effects you would
use shading and tonal techniques with if you were using pencil or paints.

Leaving areas of the rock unpainted utilized the natural beauty of the stone.

Rock painting is a great way to learn, as it is easy to erase mistakes with a wet cloth or cotton swab.

Lin Wellford has published many good books on painting with rocks.
She maintains a web site with many examples of her work and has a newletter page devoted to the topic and sharing other's rock art. Check her out at http://linwellford.com/

This venture is my attempt to log and share my artistic development.


I began my interest in the visual arts by reading a book on rock painting for kids.
The book was simple enough so as not to intimidate me. Spurred by the realistic looking lizards I painted on rocks, I tried drawing more complicated subjects.

This blog is my attempt to chronicle my struggles and triumphs in my passion of drawing and painting.

As a library technician in a school and college library, I have access to resources for graphic arts.
I will share quality resources (book titles, web resources, etc.) as I come across them.


Feel free to make comments, suggestions or share your own art!