5 Tips

5 tips to developing a unique art style, from imagekind's blog.

Seen on Etsy

Romantic Space, original illustration by dropesdementol

I love the work of fricdementol - she makes these incredible gocco prints, very colorful and fun, with lots and lots of patterns and details - so I was excited to see she opened a new shop for her original illustrations. This one is my current favorite. You can also find her on flickr and on her blog.

more portraits

Sometimes when I look at all my portraits lined up around the apartment it's very much like they're part of some secret conversation. Now they can have something to say!

Also, a friend in Denver cut all sorts of beautiful wood panels for me in varied sizes. The wood is very thick - about an inch - and the sides have this great striped texture. I'm so in love with them! I have painted two so far - the one above and another that I haven't taken a picture of yet - and it's so much better than masonite/canvas. (I'm very sick of the texture of canvas...getting coverage with acrylic is a huge pain. And with masonite, the painting feels a little flimsy, and the colors can get lost if I don't put on enough gesso.) I'm so pleased with the results!!!

double date

I started this last night. I'm thrilled with how it's looking (and as usual, my photography skills are quite lacking) but have no idea what the background will be. Right now it feels like a double date, with both men looking in different directions, but if I make the background something crazy and fun, that title might have to change.

This is the exact painting style I am trying for all the time...however, the acrylics are still fighting me every step of the way. Things look great while I'm painting, but as the paint dries the colors seem to disappear into the canvas. Actually, that might be the low-quality canvases I've been buying. I have some new wood panels to try out soon so we will see!

hank

I met Hank while in Denver for the past two weeks and needless to say, fell desperately in love. This portrait is one of two Hank-related paintings I created while there. I have many other Denver pictures uploaded to my flickr so more Denver paintings should be coming soon. Oh, Hank.