"Ruffles" (work in progress)

"Ruffles" 11'x15' watercolor (work in progress)

This is Ruffles, she is our 9 yr old Shih Tzu (who is convinced she is human) taking one of her eleven or so naps during the day. 

Melancholy Conan

"Conan O'brien" 9'x11 graphite on paper

I have been busy working on a commissioned painting that, as a matter of  fact, I should be finishing right now but, I felt the urge to post, especially now that I have my first follower (Hi John). In going through my sketch book I realized I had this drawing of Conan hidden away in there. It is evidence of  how I began to miss Conan about 3 months into the year that he had to take off  between his shows, and from his demeanor and expression in this photo, as he drinks his coffee and sat on a fence against the brick wall of his new set, it looked as though he missed his old routine as well.

Thom York - work in progress

"Thom York on stage" 8.5'x11' acrylic on canvas 

"John Lennon with spoon"

9'x11' graphite on paper
I've stared doing a series of musician  inspired works.  I came across  this photo of a young  Lennon, being photographed having lunch, with this silly,  mischievous gaze, and I couldn't resist sketching it right away. There will be a  few paintings and a few more drawings (in charcoal not graphite) to follow in the weeks to come. Comments welcome.

Art and Music

I was looking at this photo that is on my website today and I realized, I know what music I was listening to while painting every single one of these. I wonder if any other artist look at their paintings and hear the music they were listening to while they were painting. I am sure music is as important to most painters as it is to me, almost seems it should be included in paintings description..."Smoky Cafe"/18x24 Acrylic on canvas/Rolling stones. Although, mine would mostly read Prince. 

"High Gloss"

8'x10' acrylic on panel

Here is my submsion for the first Daily Paintworks Challenge. I heard about this through Carol Marine's Painting Blog. You can find a link to her blog in my blog list below, I don't usually paint in this fast n loose style, but I was excited about submitting a painting for this kind of challenge, I have always seen them but never actually tried it. I first sketched the car out in a watered down ultramarine, not really intending to start painting until morning, as it was already late, but, I just kept picking up paint with my brush, and then this happened. I am semi happy with the result, most importantly, I really had a good time with it. Try it if you have a chance!

Patrick Skoff is a cool guy

I came across this video of artist patrick Skoff, he is great and It got me thinkin about I how never felt like a "real" artist, and definitely did not fit in the art world. I never wanted to show my work, afraid of being judged and critiqued...such a waste of time. As I get older I realize that most of us feel like outsiders where ever we go, why is that? I don't know, but to know that is sort of comforting. I do realize now, it is not just artists that feel like aliens, but if I could go back and talk to my seven year old self, I would say, shyness will get you nowhere. You have just as much a right to anything in this world as anyone else...also don't forget to dig up the Star Wars toys you buried in the backyard, before we move.

living art: Patrick Skoff

Close ups from "The Garden"

Its a portable mural

So, this is a photo of a portable doorway size mural I will be puting on amazon or ebay, now that I have a decent photo of it, which was difficult to take because of its length. The photo is actually four pics I had to piece together in photoshop. Here are some close ups from "the garden" also. 

"The Garden"

see your portrait here

I had an idea for this blog and also for facebook, let me know what you think about it, I was thinking, since I am always looking for inspiration, you folks could send a photo of yourself, or of anything you want, and if I find it interesting, you just may see a painting of your photo pop up here. Plus, if you want to purchase the painting, I will make sure you have dibs! My face book page is "aprilarstudio" or "Misty April"