Featherdust Studios

The last piece of 2011

2011-12-31T13:17:00.000-05:00

Seeing the end of 2011 , or any year, can be a deeply personal thing. Some people say goodbye to the old year in a meaningful, ritualistic way, and some people just see it as another day.

I am always interested in seeing what the last piece is that I squeeze out before the year end!

This time it is an atmospheric piece-- of of my favorite things to paint, done on commission for Chelsea Howe of one of her fantasy critters. The scene and colors were pulled out of my head, while I referenced character sheets to try and make sure her character was painted true to its nature. It has the features of a winged polar bear / dragon and has horns like a ram.

"Mountainrise" - Digitally painted using Corel Painter

(Oil pastel, real bristle, and pastel tools used)

Here's a detail of the beastie:

And a Work In Progress from a few days ago. You can see where I have the clouds well built, and was just starting to block in the mountain:

Happy New Year, everyone!

Time Flies!! A boatload of new art.

2011-12-29T11:53:00.000-05:00

My goodness, sometimes time really gets away from me. This year has flown by, and I feel like I've been left in its wake. What happened!

Here are some of the more recent pieces I've been working on.

Some wildlife....

Mockingbird and Dogwood - 8" x 10" Ink and Watercolor

Rubythroat at Rest - Male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, 4" x 6" Ink and Watercolor

Keen on Fish - Bald Eagle- 8" x 10" Ink and Watercolor

The Fair Lady Coho of Avalon -- one of my Salmon Faverolles chickens! 8" x 10" Ink and Watercolor

Oviraptor - Illustration for a whimsical short story where an oviraptor is brought to modern day! Digital painting.

And a few fantasy critters!

Peaaria K'eidolen Al'ruaten - Golden Dragon - 10" x 15" Ink and Watercolor

Verdigris and Plum - Gryphon - 10" x 15" Ink and Watercolor

Tall Skies - Gryphon - 9" x 6" Ink and Watercolor

Whew! Now that I'm caught up, I will try to get some more interesting posts together with some looks at my process and such. I hope you all have a great new year!!

Art Show!

2011-07-15T10:51:00.000-04:00

If you are local to the Jamestown, NY area I'd like to extend an invitation to visit me (and many other talented artists!) at Art in the Woods this weekend! It is being held at the Audubon Center, and in addition to the great artists you'll find a wealth of bird-watching and fantastic information about birds (they also have a super cool exhibit where you can safely look inside a working beehive).

If you are local I hope you'll stop by and check it out! http://artinthewoods.wordpress.com/

Have a great weekend, everyone!

A Show and two new paintings

2011-06-02T13:57:00.001-04:00

First the great news: All of my Wildlife artwork will be on display at a Solo Show in the Wellsville Creative Arts Center in Wellsville, NY!
My show runs for the entire month of June, 2011. If you are local, please stop by and have a peek! I have over 20 framed originals in the show.
Because this is my first show and I am so excited: If you are able to stop in the Wellsville Community Arts Center in June while my show is up and can snap a photo of yourself there (cellphone photos are okay!) and send it to me, I'd be happy to offer an exclusive 10% off on anything in my shop in the first week of July!

Here are two new small paintings I completed just before the show.
The first is a Townsend's Warbler. I had a close and charming encounter with this little fellow when I visited the West Coast in January. He was often nearby and at one point perched on and around my feet as I was photographing some waterfowl. I knew I had to paint his portrait!

"Townsend's Warber", 5" x 7" Acrylic on Hardboard

This next painting is me poking fun at myself. I paint many super serious realistic ducks for duck stamp competitions. They are pretty serious events and can carry a lot of weight in the Wildlife art world. That said, I never take myself too seriously, and here is my own self-satire!

"A Different Perspective" (Mallards), 5" x 7" Acrylic on Hardboard

Goldie

2011-05-19T14:23:00.000-04:00

This is an experiment-- this is the type of painting I really love to do but boy do I ever have a lot to learn! That's part of the fun.

We often have deer on our property, and one doe in particular seems to visit quite often. Our neighbor, whom we respect very much (Mr. Fred Evans, who is greatly responsible for some of the programs that repopulated Wild Turkeys in the Eastern US) told us that she fawns on the corner of our properties and gives birth to twins yearly. He affectionately calls her "Goldie".

"Goldie", 8" x 10" Acrylic on Hardboard.

Whooper Swans and Lady Amherst's Pheasant

2011-04-25T20:27:00.000-04:00

I have an intense love for birds-- all birds-- and cannot resist the urge to paint them. Give me a reason to paint them and sometimes I'll nearly turn inside-out to do so!

So it was that my friend and I were cruising through James Gurney's blog (check it out if you haven't) and stumbled across a link to the Share One Planet competition. A very neat project-- a global competition featuring the work of those that use computers as their artistic medium to raise awareness for wildlife conservation. This is something right up my alley... painting animals (birds), using the computer to paint with, and conservation! Unfortunately, I noticed that the deadline was less than a week away. Miserable luck, seeing as how it had been open for months. I applied, received a formal invitation, and got to work promptly. A week later, after working non-stop except for a few hours sleep each night, I got my paintings in just under the deadline.

Left:
"Forest Resplendence", Digital, using Corel Painter's Oil Pastel and Acrylic brushes.

For those not familiar, my method for digital art is remarkably similar to when I am painting with physical acrylic paints. I am presented with a canvas, and I will then create and refine a sketch to work from. Painting directly onto the digital canvas, I will build color up and blend as if working with traditional paints. While it does take less time than traditional acrylics (no dry time, and mistakes are easier to paint over), the computer does not do any of the 'work' for me and no computer rendering or effects are used.

"Veneration to the Sun", digital, using Corel Painter's Oil Pastel and Acrylic brushes.

Initial sketch and color mock-up for Veneration to the Sun. Parts of the composition were later adjusted and the image mirrored.

Wood Duck

2011-04-03T14:21:00.000-04:00

Here's a piece I painted in February for the Delaware Duck Stamp Competition. Judging was yesterday so I can now post the piece here!

This is a drake Wood Duck, gliding across a calm body of water. This painting was based on observation, and several photos I took while on the West Coast in January. Special thanks to my friends Hillary and Damian for taking me to the wild ducks and for lending a camera!

"Across the Surface - Wood Duck", 12" x 15" Acrylic on Hardboard.

Red-Crowned Crane

2011-03-17T10:06:00.000-04:00

This has a little bit of a story to it!

I have some new fancy watercolor paper that I wanted to try. Because of the expense of the paper I decided I wanted to do a meaningful painting on it so I planned it out carefully and painted with my normal techniques. Well, this paper just didn't get along with me and we fought. My normal technique which serve me well on my other paper exploded into disaster... and since I was using staining colors I knew I couldn't lift it all back off and re-do it. I was frustrated and felt as if I had wasted some expensive materials and two days worth of time. I think we all feel this way sometimes, as artists!

Stubbornly, I scanned it in anyhow. Why the heck not! And using a photo edit program I simply removed all the color from the background. Suddenly, it made sense again! Though the washes are still a disaster (to me), now the patterns were far more interesting, and the unsaturated background against the minimum colors of the crane seemed to speak more loudly of their plight.

While there is possibly some merit to the color version, I think the edited one is more powerful for my original message.

This is a Red-Crowned Crane (Grus japonensis), as with my other crane paintings it is inspired from seeing these birds in person. This bird is also called the Japanese Crane, or Manchurian Crane. These fantastic cranes carry much symbolism on their winged shoulders for Asian countries, where they can be known as a symbol of luck, longevity and fidelity. Despite this, it is rare, and endangered, with probably less than 1,500 of them left in the wild.

You can learn more about them and how to help if you'd like by visiting the International Crane Foundation: [link]

"Red-Crowned Crane" (modified) 10" x 16" Watercolor on Cold Press (background color removed digitally)

"Red Crowned Crane" 10" x 16" Watercolor on Cold Press (as originally painted)

Which do you like more? Which one has a stronger message?

The original of this painting is available in my store!

White-Naped Crane

2011-03-15T14:26:00.000-04:00

I've been pretty ill lately and while I haven't been able to sit and smush my brushes with acrylic paint, I was able to curl up into my chair and make some shapes with watercolors and a bamboo brush.
As an artist it always feels a little silly to say that I'm "in-between" projects.. because for me, every thing I do is in-between something else! So while this was certainly painted in-between other things I am working it, it is no less of a painting.

This is inspired by the cranes at the Woodland Park Zoo; this individual was going through a long preening ritual that I find so engrossing. I love preening poses and hope to paint them more into my personal work over time.

"White Naped Crane", Watercolor on 140 lb. rough

This piece is for sale in my web store.

Hooded Crane

2011-03-10T12:00:00.001-05:00

A lovely hooded crane, inspired by some individuals that I 'visited' in January at the Woodland Park Zoo.

Chunky with impasto (which never scans properly of course).

Many species of crane worldwide are seeing a decrease in population, which is putting many on the endangered or threatened species list. To learn more about crane species and how to help if you want to, check out the International Crane Foundation: https://www.savingcranes.org/ Some crane species are critically endangered.
Like many of my paintings, once I get this one ready for sale, I will pledge a % of the sale to be donated to the ICF.

"Hooded Crane" , 5" x 7" Acrylic on Hardboard.

This piece is for sale in my web store.

North Carolina Gadwalls

2011-02-13T11:05:00.001-05:00

Though the judging was on January 31st, the winning paintings for North Carolina's Waterfowl stamp competition were revealed last night. I am humbled and excited to say that my painting of a gadwall drake and hen placed 4th (honorable mention) in this competition.

The photo I took of my painting isn't very good (the color balance is a little goofy)-- truth be told, it was quickly done so that I could get it mailed off to meet the deadline, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like.

Cypress Gadwalls - 15" x 20" (matted to 13" x 18" for the competition), Acrylic

Here's a link to the other paintings that placed in this competition: http://eastcarolinawildfowlguild.com/2011NCDuckStampCompetitionTop5Entrys.htm

Thank you to my friends who lovingly kick my butt to help me get better at this!

A special thanks has to go out to my friend Hillary Esdaile, who not only helps me with reference for these ducks, but gave me a tour of some of their favorite places to go so that I may collect photos of my own.

This piece is for sale in my web store.

Blue-Winged Teal

2010-12-28T13:31:00.001-05:00

This was my entry for Oklahoma's Duck stamp competition. With most of these competitions I am usually very conscious of what the judges might be looking for and try to cater to that, but with this one I decided just to have fun. I knew it probably wouldn't do well as a result, but that was okay with me this time!

Needless to say I didn't do well, but the painting was fun to work on.

"Blue-Winged Teal", 9" x 12" Acrylic on board

This piece is for sale in my web store.

Rio Grande Turkeys

2010-12-14T14:39:00.001-05:00

I love turkeys but I haven't had the chance to paint them recently, so I jumped at the chance to do so for a game stamp competition. This is one of those paintings that fought me the whole way, but it ended up being a great learning experience and I think that is what counts!

While I did not place, my painting made it to the 'semi-final' round (always a relief when they don't think it's rubbish!).

"Rio Grande Turkeys" - 15" x 20", Acrylic on board

This piece is for sale in my web store.

Beaks and Cheeks

2010-12-06T15:15:00.001-05:00

I love birds and have a great deal of fun painting them! The cormorant below was a cheeky sort of fellow, and I fell in love with his gem-like eye. The cockatiel is actually one of my own parrots (or should I say, she owns me), Zephyr. I've had Zephyr for nearly 11 years now, and she loves to sit on the arm of my chair as I paint and snooze with her 'cheek poof'. It is a great chance to paint from life.

Unfortunately you cannot get a sense of impasto from the scans.

"Double Crested Cormorant", Acrylic on 5" x 7" board

"Cockatiel Cheeks", Acrylic on 5" x 7" board

These pieces are for sale in my web store.

Two Gryphons

2010-12-01T11:56:00.000-05:00

I'm behind in posting new works, but I'll remedy that.

Here are a few fanciful watercolors I've painted in the last month, both sporting mythological beasties. The first is a gryphon I've based on a peregrine falcon, stooping on some doves. The second is just for fun. I hope you enjoy!

"Split Second", Ink and Watercolor, 6" x 18"

"Skimming Gryphon", Ink and watercolor, 6" x 18"

A sad entry and a plea

2010-11-04T11:52:00.000-04:00

On October 15th, my friend Grace lost her battle with Cystic Fibrosis. She had just turned 25.
She was a fantastic artist in her own right, a really wonderful girl and a fellow 'bird nerd'. She will be dearly missed. She is survived by her family and twin sister, Caroline. I've adopted her two cockatiels that she had since she was a little girl and hope to give them the best life possible.

Grace was going to have a double lung transplant but couldn't make it long enough. Please consider becoming an organ donor if you have not already.

Federal Duck Entry

2010-10-21T20:11:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to share my Federal Duck Stamp entry for this year!
Judging was last Friday, and I was elated to watch round one live, broadcast online.
My piece did not make it past round one (5 "OUT" votes) but after seeing the other entries I didn't expect it to. Some really fantastic work this year! You can see them all here.
Here are the scores....
And the top three!

Here is my entry. I think you can tell I struggled with it! It is not the best painting I have ever done. I will try again next year, if I can afford the entry fee. There are some really pretty species to choose from next year!

Northern Shovelers - 9" x 7" Acrylic on Masonite board

Ocelot

2010-10-09T10:56:00.002-04:00

September's rushed right by without even a peep from me! How embarassing. I've been painting various pieces for duck stamps, both state and Federal levels. Sadly I cannot share them until they have been judged. I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go!

Here's a painting that I can show you right now that I just finished this week!
Painted just for the joy of painting and as an excuse to experiment and 'warm up' with my paints again.
This painting was inspired by several photos and sketches I made of an ocelot at the Buffalo Zoo last spring.

There is a fair amount of impasto on this piece, and my scanner really didn't know what to think that nonsense so I regret that this scan is not entirely accurate to the original. It's a bit richer and the whites are not quite so blown out in the original.

"Ocelot" Acrylic paints on 8" x 10" masonite board

This piece is for sale in my web store.

Print Orders

2010-08-27T12:39:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Just a quick note to say that I'll be taking orders on a Limited Edition run of "Rise" until September 15th. These will be super high quality prints. If you're into Gryphons, have a peek for more details!

"Rise" Print orders - Click here for more information!

In other news, I just finished both my Federal and Oklahoma duck stamp entries this month, and now it's time for a brief break from ducks to get some other work done. In process: some more fantasy art, wildlife paintings, and some custom Windstones!

Hope you are all having a great summer. :)

Amaranthine - Hooded Mergansers

2010-08-10T22:36:00.001-04:00

This is my entry for Michigan's Duck Stamp competition! It did not place, but I had a lot of fun painting it.

"Amaranthine - Hooded Mergansers" Acrylic on 9" x 12" board

This piece is for sale in my web store.

Website Update

2010-07-30T14:41:00.000-04:00

I've finally found time to push an update through to my personal site! I've got a bunch of new originals and a ton of new pendants for sale. If you're so inclined, please feel free to check it out!

Also, for those of you that are into Facebook, you can follow my art and get updates there, too!

In the interim, I am working hard at getting an entry together for the Federal Duck Stamp competition, which is due the 15th! Crossing my fingers that I can pull it off. Thanks for reading, all!

A Red Panda and his tea

2010-07-16T13:28:00.001-04:00

I am a bit behind; this time of year is endlessly busy with events and lots of painting deadlines!

A more whimsical piece of a Red Panda (Wah) enjoying some hot tea (Cha).
This piece was a special one, done with my longtime friend (and fantastic artist) Amber Hill.
She drew the sketch/drawing for this, which I then transferred, inked, and painted! You can visit Amber's gallery here!

All credit for the idea and original drawing go to her. The inkwork and painting are my own.

"Wah Cha", Ink and Watercolor on 300lb rough, 7.5" x 11.5"

This piece is for sale in my web store.

Suddenly, a dinosaur

2010-06-03T16:18:00.000-04:00

Just for fun!
I love theropods in general, but especially dromaeosauridae.

This is a whimsical depiction of one, and is NOT intended to be scientifically accurate.
I did do my best not to fly in the face of science and do something crazy, I don't have enough paleontological background to claim this as being nearly 'scientifically accurate' to our current knowledge.

I based this off of a deinonychus skeleton, though as I understand that to date there is no irrefutable evidence for them to have feathers like this. I do however know that they found evidence of feather butts in the arm bones of velociraptor, which indicates that they did have arm/wing feathers! They are discovering more and more theropods had feathers, to varying degrees. They have even been able to find some color marker remnants in the fossilized feathers to determine some of the colors the feathers were. That's so cool.

"Dromaeosur Ferns"
Ink and watercolors, 11" x 15" cold press watercolor paper.

Real ferns were used for the fern impressions.

A few Gryphons

2010-05-29T14:22:00.001-04:00

Just gearing up for an upcoming convention/show where I know fantasy works tend to be well received. This was some fun self-indulgence!

Both pieces are inked with India inks and then painted with watercolors.

"Wisteria Gryphon", ~11" x 12" on 300lb rough

"Rise" 10" x 14" on 150lb rough

Memorials

2010-05-21T12:03:00.001-04:00

doThis is a memorial painting of Nikki, our family pet and friend. He was a shelter dog, and we suspect he was husky-German Shepherd mixed. We lost Nik to lymphoma recently and we miss him very, very much.
I painted this as a gift for my father, who cared about Nik as much as any of us, and they were best buds. Dad's birthday is today so this is a surprise gift for him.

"Nikki - Memorial" 9" x 12" Acrylic on board

Immature Gyrfalcons

2010-05-11T13:35:00.004-04:00

Just some quick pencil and watercolor studies of immature / baby gyrfalcons. I was inspired to sketch the young gyrfalcons as I watched a special from the BBC called "White Falcon, White Wolf." http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/white-falcon-white-wolf/introduction/3323/

Since I cannot travel to see wild gyrfalcons, sketching them from 'life' on the video was the next best thing for now at least. I was really taken by one of the fledglings that twisted her head every which way to follow some feather down floating around in the breeze in front of her.

My sketch-work has never been very good, but a few folks expressed interest in seeing it so here it is!

Immature Gyrfalcon Studies, approx. 11" x 8" pencil (graphite) and watercolor.

This piece is for sale in my web store.

Whoopin' it Up

2010-05-04T09:37:00.004-04:00

A pair of Whooping Cranes!

Whooping cranes have this crazy dance they do as a mating ritual. They bounce and hop and flail and looks beautiful, graceful, and completely ridiculous all at the same time. (video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzXiD88cqt8 )

Sadly there is not much footage of them doing this (at least online) because these guys are endangered. Right now I think that the latest numbers are only about 300 in the wild. If you've heard about the cranes that they raise from babies, then guys in ultralite aircraft show the cranes the migration routes, those are likely whooping cranes (though they have done this with other large migratory waterfowl). This is really inspiring and cool stuff. Check it out. http://www.operationmigration.org/

This piece is intentionally executed in a slightly unrealistic, 'romantic' way.

"Whoopin' it Up", Whooping cranes, 10" x 7" acrylic on board.

Done for an upcoming project calling "Preserving Love" which aims to sell a collection of works featuring male and female pairs of animals, the sales of which will go to benefit wildlife.

This piece is for sale in my web store.

Drake Bufflehead

2010-04-26T14:22:00.002-04:00

This piece was painted to enter in the Delaware Waterfowl Stamp Competition.
I have always loved buffleheads (affectionately known as butterballs by some) and jumped at the chance to paint them. They are a wonderful and I love that they never stop moving, even when sleeping. If you have never seen one of these little fellows diving and bobbing up in the water you are missing out!

Buffleheads are not a frequent visitor where I reside, and though I do hope to travel sometime in the future to their flyways to better observe and photograph these guys, my time was limited for this painting. Friend and amazing photographer Damian D. was very kind and gifted to me some unpublished photos of buffleheads for me to use in my painting. A great deal of thanks and credit for this paintings very existence go to him! Thank you Damian. You can see his spectacular wildlife photography here. It is well worth checking out.

This piece did not place in the competition, so I will be excited to try again next year.

Drake Bufflehead, 9" x 12", Acrylic on Board

This painting is for sale in my online shop!

Pintails

2010-03-23T15:51:00.002-04:00

Here is a painting I worked on for most of February. It was my entry for Colorado's Wildfowl stamp competition, which I just received back yesterday. I worked on this largely with no reference other than my studies and photographs from several waterfowl reference books I have. Since I did not have my own photographs to work from, all of the major aspects of this work were 'made up' - pose, composition, setting, and lighting.
Ironically, just after I had to ship the painting away I had the opportunity to study some live pintails and found a new understanding of their anatomy (I had only had the chance to study mallards and spoonies before). So, I see a lot of things that I would now do differently... but it is what it is for the time that I painted it! I feel that I am learning a lot every step of the way, which is very exciting to me.

It placed 12th out of 43 entries.

"Chilly Morning - Northern Pintails", 13" x 18", Acrylic on illustration board.

This painting is for sale in my online shop! :)

Kookaburra

2010-03-15T21:19:00.002-04:00

Over a month since my last post! This makes me look like I am falling behind, but I have been hard at work! I've completed four paintings in the interim, but sadly a few of them I cannot share in public just yet as they were entries for different contests. I will be sure to share once judging is complete!

With such tight deadlines and many hours stressing over making paintings that I hope will not be a complete flop, I found that when I finished I needed a short change in pace. Long have I admired kookaburras, and I found myself inspired by a wonderful photograph by Rob and Stephanie Levy (who granted their kind permission further to follow my inspiration..!).

Thus I set out and painted a quick painting of a Laughing Kookaburra; a most amazing and large type of kingfisher. I aimed to keep this fairly quick, fresh, and away from fiddly detail as a way to refresh myself after several very polished paintings.

Laughing Kookaburra - 7" x 13" Acrylic

This painting is for sale in my shop!

Sparkly

2010-02-04T14:03:00.001-05:00

Though it is not my calling in the same way painting is, I do enjoy crafting jewelry. It is the same primal feeling of taking things from the earth and working and combining them to create something new and hopefully beautiful. Wire wrapping is one of the oldest forms of jewelry creation, dating back to 2000 BC and possibly even earlier. I use nothing more than my hands, fingers, and some very simple pliers to craft these pendants.

Here are a few from the most recent batch; Labradorite, Moonstone, Lapis Lazuli and Smokey Quartz.

Not to scale.

There is something to be said about the timelessness and transience of jewelry. It is an item of luxury that is treasured amongst every demographic, culture, age, gender.. and I am immensely thankful for it, because it is what keeps me floating when the other types of art aren't selling. It can be a very zen-like art form, because I never know what's going to happen when I get out a stone and cut some wire. Each one is different and takes its shape with no planned thought.

Plus, you know... it's fun to play with the sparklies!

Gadwalls

2010-01-26T11:28:00.002-05:00

It's been a while in-between posts, but I've been working hard on a new piece.

Gadwalls - 13" x 18" Acrylic on board

This piece was my entry for North Carolina's duck stamp competition this year. It did not place, but I wasn't expecting to do overly well... this was my very first competition, and my first time painting ducks in acrylic. I had to bear in mind what the piece would look like reduced down to a very small stamp as I worked on it.

I have been wanting to get into the Duck Stamp "scene" for quite a while now, but have only recently been able to work up the courage (and finances) to do so. Going against this country's best waterfowl artists is very intimidating to me, but I am trying to overcome that since I do really love ducks and I hope someday to get to the point where my work is up to par with the competition. Maybe. :)

This painting is available in my online store!

A bit of Wildlife Holiday Silliness

2009-12-22T11:13:00.000-05:00

I wasn't going to post this here, but I have to remind myself not to take myself too seriously, and accept some silliness in even my professional venues...!

Background: This is the first Christmas at my first house, and all such lovely things. We trekked up the hill a mere 400 or 500 feet from the house and cut our first tree.

Now, not one to be traditional in nearly any aspect, I had to craft a handmade topper for my tree. I knew I wanted a bird, and at the suggestion of fellow bird-nerd (this is meant as an affectionate term) who goes by Kynekh online, I decided to craft a Shrike. I went with a Northern Shrike, as they are native to this area in their winter range.

For those unfamiliar with Northern Shrikes (or, shrikes in general) they are fascinating predatory songbirds. When they catch their prey items (things such as smaller songbirds, small rodents, reptiles, amphibians, and large invertebrates) they will often dispatch the unlucky critter with their curious bill which has a hooked notch, or tomial tooth, much like true raptors. Then the fun begins, as shrikes will often impale their catch upon a sharp branch, thorn, bit of barbed wire... or any sharp pointy implement. They do this to more easily tear off bits to consume, but also to store the meat until a time when they will return and eat it.

Thus we have the Christmas Shrike; a Northern Shrike I quickly crafted from cardboard, scraps of various things and some mache. There is a lack of attention to detail and it was created quite hastily to put up on the tree in time; I'll win no awards for sculpting this bird! Nonetheless it was fun and created in the spirit of being silly. It's not intended as a serious piece.

Complete with impale-ees....

A close up of the imapled cardboard cutout critters. They took perhaps 20 minutes to make, in total.

And in the spirit of this just for fun project, I took photos in progress of how this was made to share with friends. It was suggested that I share them with all, and so here they are! Creativity can come in many forms...
Stage1, drawing
Stage 2, raiding the recycling bin
Stage 3, lots of tape and more trash
Stage 4, even more trash and tape
Stage 5, making a mess with mache
Stage 6, a beak
Stage 7, some paper feathers
Stage 8, ready to paint

I hope this was as fun to look at as it was to craft. Happy Holidays, everyone!!

Not a Bird

2009-12-10T13:18:00.000-05:00

Not a bird at all!

Unicorn Portrait, Acrylic on 1.75" wide Canada Goose feather.

A unicorn based on a scruffy looking pony I saw recently. I loved the wild look to him. This was done as a Christmas gift to someone; equines are not my expertise by a long shot but I still had fun painting this one. :)

Pluggin' along

2009-12-07T22:55:00.000-05:00

This blog is mostly for talking about my painting but the last week I've been working hard on getting some new jewelry made. I started crafting handmade jewelry some years ago as a solution to some of my favorite gemstones that I collected just sitting and gathering dust. Since then it has been a good creative outlet when I need a break from painting (or, when I need to pay bills!).

This tends to go hand in hand with getting website updates done, which sadly can take all day or longer! So, finally, I have my new artworks, paintings, painted feathers, etc... are all up for sale.

Original paintings for sale

Hand made pendants for sale

Now I can take a deep breath and focus on painting. Well, soon anyhow. Next up the house gets some badly needed maintenance. :)

Bald Eagle Portrait Feather

2009-11-28T15:40:00.000-05:00

Bald Eagle Portrait, Acrylic on 2" x 8.5" Eastern Wild Turkey tail covert feather

I have had this lovely turkey feather for some time, but struggled a bit with subject matter. The lovely barring and dark color meant that a dark or brown colored subject would not contrast well with the feather. In the end I decided to paint a bald eagle. These birds have an immense fierce pride to them, but at the same time I also know how goofy looking fish eagles can be. I hope I captured a bit of both in this painting!

American Kestrel Feather

2009-11-27T16:40:00.000-05:00

American Kestrel (Male American Kestrel), Acrylic on 1.75" x 9" chicken wing feather

This charming fellow was painted from photos and life studies I did on a falconer's tiercel American Kestrel. He was a calm bird and allowed me to study him (hands off!) for quite some time. I have always loved these little falcons and I hope to revisit this fellow with a full painting someday!

I was excited to find a good subject to paint on this chicken feather. Chickens are often overlooked but they are quite beautiful in their own right. I have another chicken feather and I think I may just paint a chicken on it.

Another Macaw

2009-11-25T16:01:00.001-05:00

What can I say? There is a novelty to the idea of using a bird's feather as the canvas to paint his or her own portrait on that hasn't worn off just yet....

Blue and Gold Profile (Blue and Gold Macaw), Acrylic on 1.5" x 10" Blue and Gold Macaw tail feather

Wood and Magic

2009-11-24T13:36:00.001-05:00

There is nothing quite like seeing your work framed! That final finishing aspect is a nervous type of relief.
I have had to be selective about what I frame due to the poor financial year it's been (for us all no doubt).

Still, it is a joy when I finish up the frame and get everything together. Here are three recent pieces, framed. I'll have them for sale on my website soon, once I gather the time to update it. November is harvest season and I think I've been outside for more hours than I spend in, lately!

Framed artworks are very hard for me to photograph. Please forgive the glare!

Preening Macaw

2009-11-20T15:06:00.001-05:00

Preening Macaw, (Blue and Gold Macaw) Acrylic on 1.75" x 13.25" blue and gold macaw wing feather

I knew what this feather was destined for the moment I got it and cleaned it. I love the dreamy look parrots (and most birds) get when they are preening their feathers and tried to convey it on this feather. One of my larger feathers for sure, despite being less than 2" wide where I painted it.

Two Feathers

2009-11-19T13:43:00.000-05:00

I started painting feathers as an experiment some 14 or so years ago, as a way to use some of the wild turkey feathers I had acquired over the years. At the time I really had no idea that other people painted on feathers, indeed it is an artform in of itself. I was just experimenting (at the time I was painting on everything... rocks, wood, slate, feathers..).

I have since dabbled in it several times a year. A feather is a fascinating and frustrating canvas; care must be used not to split the rachis of the feather (and if you do, once there is paint on it it will never mend again). Correcting mistakes is often hard to impossible if you get paint in an area where you don't want it (one cannot lift the paint back off, nor scrub it, and over-painting ruins the appearance of the feather). Further, the size is tiny, the texture is great, and the surface is flexible. They are quite a challenge for me!

Barn Owl Profile, acrylic on 8" x 2" cockatoo tail feather, and Blue and Gold Macaw, acrylic on 7.5" x 1.5" Blue and Gold Macaw secondary wing feather, respectively.

These feathers were naturally molted (or shed) by healthy parrots in a bird rescue in Florida. The first is intended as a gift, while the macaw will be auctioned off with 100% of the proceeds going to Two Feathers Wildlife Center Inc., which is where the parrots these feathers came from reside. I will be posting more information on the auction once I have more details.

Peregine

2009-11-16T15:34:00.001-05:00

At last, we are up to date with my current painting.

As I continue to work with my new acrylics I am trying different techniques and experimenting a lot. I have always loved birds of prey and peregrines are one of my favorites. This autumn I had the great chance to study, photograph and draw a life falcon that is now an educational bird as he had a wing amputated after a car strike. A beautiful mature tiercel, he was very dignified, wily and still strong spirited. I tried to do him justice in my painting.

Peregrine Portrait, 9" x 7" acrylic on illustration board

This painting found me struggling for some weeks despite its small size. I had a bit of trouble with a medium used to 'lock' the background becoming milky and there were a few points in time where I was about ready to toss it all out the window. I think many paintings by many artists have that stage! A story that always keeps my heart in things is remembering Bob Kuhn speak in one of my art books about his painting, "A Flap of Vultures" (which I don't think exists online anywhere, else I'd link it). He told how the painting was one that he was very unhappy with for several years and it had even been to some shows, before he finally reworked part and it ended up being one of his best.

Several stages of this painting in progress:

Green like a Lichen

2009-11-14T22:34:00.001-05:00

At the end of October, my acrylic set arrived! I was very excited and got to work right away.

I felt that I would be more open-minded with the new paints and less prone to frustration if I painted a subject that I was very familiar with and could study in person at length. I felt that this approach lends itself better to my learning of these new paints.

So, since he is someone I am very familiar with, I painted one of our beloved parrots, a Maximillian Pionus named Gorbash (who was indeed named after the dragon for those nerdy enough to get the reference). He is partially blind and usually has a very slow and calm manner and so was great to draw and paint from life. He sits on top of his cage most of the day and I liked the angle this presented.

Gorbash, 5.5" x 6.5" Acrylic on Illustration Board

Waiting with Watercolors

2009-11-13T11:15:00.006-05:00

In my last post, I talked about getting some good artist's tube acrylics. So I sat down, opened up DickBlick.com, and several days of research later (and a crying wallet), I had ordered a basic set of Atelier Interactive acrylics. It was either those or Golden Opens... I like the Ateliers better for pigment load and buttery-ness.

While waiting for my woefully out of stock order to come in, I sat down and dedicated two weeks to some watercolor paintings. These are more 'studies' than full out finished works. I could yammer about them at great length, but I'll spare you that and just put a few notes about them!

These first few I painted exclusively with a water-holding sketching brush that I got. Painting an entire piece with a single brush was very interesting.

Mallard Pair, 5" x 10" on 14lb rough

Greater Scaup, 5.5" x 10" on 140lb rough

Alert Ruffed Grouse, 9" x 10" on 140lb rough

Green Heron, 6" x 11" on 140lb cold press American White Pelican, 6" x 11" on 140lb cold press

Finally, I switched to using some different brush sizes. I found that while I really love the little travel brush, it was probably not the best to use it on everyday painting, for me.

The following are where I started using my sable brushes.

Redhead Duck, 6" x 11" on 140lb cold press

Mute Swan- Repose, 6" x 11" on 140lb cold press Tree Swallow, 5.5" x 10" on 300lb rough

Canada Goose, 7" x 10.5" on 300lb rough

We're very nearly up to date now, and these posts will get much shorter thereafter! I also suppose I should mention, for any interested parties, that these are all very much for sale on the Featherdust Studios site.

Starting, but not at the beginning

2009-11-12T13:31:00.002-05:00

So I've been puzzling over where to start with my posts. I've been doing art (not good art.. but art) for years, but to start this blog with years-old-art seems a bit silly. I should start fresh... or, if not entirely fresh, I should start with the beginnings of my current pursuits. Right? Sure, we'll say that it sounds good.

I have been long into wildlife art; beyond my daydreaming of dragons and kin when I was barely able to write or count to 10, I dreamed of being a wildlife artist. At around age 8 or so I discovered that the folks that paint and draw animals were wildlife artists, and so I came home from the library with two precious Bateman books and poured over every page. My wonderful aunt got me a few 'how to draw animals' books and a set of pencils for my birthday when I turned 9 (I think it was 9). Thus began a lifelong affliction with Wildlife Art- especially birds.

This year, after floundering for so long without a real direction, I decided to really concentrate on improving my wildlife paintings. My theory is that if I can get better with real critters, I can then translate my new knowledge into fantasy to produce really believable stuff. Or you know, in theory. It works in my head. Let's see if I can actually do it!

So, I suppose the beginnings were when I painted two images for the Endangered Ark playing card decks, which is a cool deck of cards, each featuring all new artwork of endangered or otherwise at risk species (and sadly in a few cases, species thought to be extinct). This was a great project because much of the proceeds are donated to animal charity groups, and I've sent off a good bit of the proceeds to the World Parrot Trust.

And so were the Resplendent Quetzal and Northern Spotted Owl done. These two pieces are painted digitally, but in traditional paint techniques... with no use of computer rendering tools, layers, etc.

They were a great appetite whetter. I don't think whetter is a real word but we'll go with it.
I had been drawing the odd wildlife piece here and there, but mostly it was fantasy work and whatever I was being commissioned to do.

Then, in June I was preparing for a show, and I decided that I really needed to take my wildlife stuff back to traditional media. As much as I love digital paint, people need to be able to touch a tangible painting, see the brush strokes. Not to mention traditional paintings sell better than digital ones, where there is an inferred loss of value when there is no true original. All debate on that aside (because I have some strong thoughts but they are unpopular ones), I just wanted to do traditional again anyhow. And so, I did.

I still had the bitey teeth of fantasy nipping at me, so I went with a ~~whimsical~~ silly theme of Rockhopper Penguins eating sushi. Why not? Penguins do enjoy raw seafood after all, and I always felt that they were very expressive critters.

Sushi with the 'Hoppers

This piece was done in acrylic and measures 12" x 8" on illustration board. This group has it all... the messy eater, the sushi-tosser, the uptight chopsticks-guy... and don't you know it, there's always one in the group that thinks sushi is gross. You know how it is.
Interestingly, this was the first time since I was 12 or 13 years old that I had attempted an acrylic painting, and I learned a lot. I use acrylics often for Windstone Editions when I paint for them, but applying color to a fantasy sculpture is considerably different than rendering a painting. Or, it is for me at least, in my inexperience.

Despite my problems and mistakes, I found I was having a really good time of it. So, within a week, I had done another painting...

A Silence in the Hemlocks

7" x 15" Acrylic on illustration board.

I was really inspired by all the spring runs with hemlocks growing in them in the area I live, and I've always loved pumas. I found that while I really was enjoying painting, the Golden Fluid Acrylics I had been using didn't lend themselves to big expressive brushstrokes like I was hoping for, and I was having trouble blending. I knew that my next goal would be to purchase a set of nice buttery tube acrylics....
And that is a story for another entry.

The Dreaded First Post

2009-11-11T12:58:00.000-05:00

The dreaded first post; a time of awkward introduction and a nervous 'hello'- is there any real way to say it easier than 'here I am, this is who I am, read on (or not)!"?

Maybe so, but I'm not nearly so eloquent with words. I've always relied on the visual to convey my ideas, and so to an extent, that is what this blog is about. I'm a visual artist, but at heart and by trade... art is how I earn my bread and how I soothe my soul. It is wonderful, enriching, enlightening, frustrating, messy, never-quite-right. Nonetheless, here it is, and here I am!

I try to hover between two worlds; I take pride in the work I do and I think that some of it can hold its own, whatever that is supposed to mean. However I know I am still just an infant in the art world and the things I have yet to learn greatly outnumber the things I know. I am constantly seeking to improve and am stumbling along as I do. I also have a sense of humor- I never quite take myself seriously, and I get a good laugh out of the ugly, messy, goofy things I've painted (and will paint). And as such I am always open to constructive critique should anyone desire to give it. Most of the time when I post art I am ready to be done with it; so while I may not correct things that are pointed out, I am still learning from those mistakes.

So, welcome! I hope you enjoy what you see here, and I'm honored my words and art have caught your eye even if only for a moment in the vast sea of the internet. The fact that you are here is a great honor to me.