January Dog watercolors

This is some of the custom work i've done this past month, a couple dog watercolor portraits. I like how this little white dog below turned out. He looks a lot like Snowy from the Tintin comics.

It's been bitter cold recently, and it's been nice to stay inside and work on these. Both of these were fun paintings. Dog eyes are fun to paint, and both of these little dogs have very expressive eyes.

I've uploaded a good amount of new pet portraits from the last couple months to my dswatercolors.com gallery. Lots of new cats and dogs. You can check them out here: Pet commission gallery

Black Cat Watercolor Painting

I painted this watercolor portrait of my cat, Tintin, last week. I don't think Tintin is a typical black cat. His fluffy, shorter than average tail sticks straight up most of the time. He loves to eat lettuce. He knows his own name and, like any good cat, enjoys finding amusing places to nap. He also likes to do (hilarious) somersaults and slowly amble around like a miniature bear.

Starfish watercolor

Just a fun starfish illustration.

Original starfish illustration watercolor and gouache. 2012 

Lobster Buoys Watercolor Painting

Lobster Buoys
11x14" - watercolor and gouache

My newest painting, an illustration of lobster buoys. It was a lot of fun finding the different types of buoys to include and choosing all the colors. Two of these I bought in Maine at a roadside antique store - the large yellow and black one and the narrow orange and green. The are both wooden buoys likely over 100 years old, and hand hewn/carved.

In Maine i learned buoys like the large yellow and black one were hung off of the boat and were color coded with the boat's lobster buoys. Supposedly the harbor master was then able to look through binoculars and make sure boats didn't steal from someone else's lobster traps.

I painted this with a combination of watercolor and gouache. Gouache is a new medium for me. I bought my first set of gouache paints a couple months ago. It's pretty similar to watercolors and i think I've picked it up pretty well, but I see it has it's own tricks and subtleties. I hadn't originally planned on using gouache in this illustration, but it did a good job of portraying the layers of peeling paint. It's useful, I think I may use it more in the future.

Can't wait to make another trip to Maine in a month. It's given me a lot of inspiration this past year.

As usual, prints are in my Etsy shop
Buoy Print

Shark tooth painting

A new watercolor, Megalodon tooth.

Original available here: Shark tooth illustration

Quail Eggs watercolor

8 Quail Eggs - 5x7"
A new watercolor of quail eggs. I'm always fascinated by their different patterns. A little quicker and looser than I normal paint - fun to do something slightly different.

5x7" Print

Golden-crowned Kinglet watercolor

Golden-crowned Kinglet. I've been wanting to paint this bird for a while. A tiny little bird that darts around. I tend to see them in Winter here in Maryland.

Tufted Titmouse watercolor

I finished this watercolor a couple nights ago. We haven't had much snow here this year, but luckily I stocked up on my wintery reference pictures last year during our blizzard. Anyway - this little bird is a Tufted Titmouse. A pretty common bird in Eastern North America.

Nabbing a peanut.

Nuthatch watercolor

White-Breasted Nuthatch. watercolor

Still lifes and new landscape watercolor

Some recent watercolors. Little objects are very fun to paint.

 Also finished this miniature landscape this weekend. Measures 7 x 2½". This is Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in Maine.

 

Dog portrait watercolor

Several of the dog commissions I've done for Christmas.

Mushroom watercolor.

 

A quick 4x6" watercolor of an orange mushroom from yesterday's hike.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82057393/orange-mushroom-watercolor-print

Dog Portrait Commission

This is a detail from a commission I painted over the weekend. A cute pup named Diego. Pretty happy with how this one turned out.

Below is the painting in it's first stages of watercolor.

Razorbill egg painting

Working on a new landscape painting today. Hurricane Irene has passed. We didn't get much except some wind and steady rain all night. Still a little windy and wet outside.

This is a watercolor I did the other day of a Razorbill Egg. A seabird related to the extinct Great Auk. I like painting from life as much as possible, but this was done from photos I took at Matinicus Rock.


And a somewhat blurry photo of a Razorbill we saw at Egg Rock.

Puffin art

A new watercolor for Project Puffin. A lot of the Puffins I saw in Maine were in the water like this, swimming around the nesting islands.

Curtis Island Lighthouse watercolor

This is Curtis Island Lighthouse, which sits on a little island at the entrance to Camden's Harbor.

Project Puffin Show in Maine

Off to Maine for a week. Show at Audubon's Project Puffin. Opening is July 6th, 5-7 pm.

311 Main Street
Rockland, ME 04841

Ring-billed Gull Watercolor

A windy evening on the beach. This Gull was nestled in the folds of the sand.

New commissioned work

Busy with commissions and getting ready for my show in Maine! Here are a couple of commissioned feather watercolors I painted the other week.

6 Owl Feathers. Really happy with all the detail in this one.

Detail of 6 Owl feathers. Click for larger view.

Great Horned Owl Feather. Painted life size - roughly 11.5"

Detail

Quail Egg Series

New quail egg watercolors.