Kitty Commission Final (probably)

Here we are pretty much done. I may putter around a bit but for the most part, I think we are in the clear. Hope my friend likes it!

Kitty Commission Step Three

Okay, here we see lots of progress from the last image. We are starting to see things more like they will when they are finalized.

Gone are most of the outlines as I have honed the drawing somwhat. I am loving how the cream fur is played against the blue wall and the floors.

Now, I'll step back again and see what stands out as needing work and then start deepening and smoothing the colours into each other.

Kitty Commission Step Two

Okay, here we have the basic drawing done on canvas with the background and shadows blocked out. None of these are the final colours. I will look at this painting for a while and compare things and then set to work on the next layer.

Kitty Commission Step One

A friend of mine has commissioned a painting of her favorite kitty. This is the rough sketch. Mainly it is to establish the composition and get familiar with the subject. I will post a pic of the work in progress once it is dried.

New on Etsy: Birth Announcements

These little sets of 5 hand drawn images used do really well when I sold at a Farmer's & Artisan Market. I have just listed 2 packs of each image shown above. Check out my Etsy store for more information.

The Four Seasons ACEO set

Again, I'm trying out something a bit different. I wanted to see what I could do with a set. I have a few others in mind but this one is small and simple. I have a lot of stuff going on that I don't normally cram into one ACEO.

We have a background scene - the same landscape in the different seasons

We have a feature portrait - all the ladies are faced in different ways, different hair and different smiles.

We have a pattern border - I chose a black oval and embellished with items common to that card's season (snowflakes, flowers, fruit and leaves)

My eyes and hand were tired after this set.

I'm selling them separately mainly because I want to see what happens. LOL.

Sunday Walk ACEO

Those of you who remember my procession painting will see similarities in this card. I really wanted to express a walking person using only a black shape. I think I pulled it off. The shoes are really important in the piece. I wanted to get the motion just right. I like how they turned out.

Also notice, I'm getting better at trees. For years and years it was something I struggled with and I've been really studying and working on them. Thank goodness they are looking better and better.

Goth Girl with Pearl Necklace ACEO

Okay, I'm in love with this card. It turned out exactly how I wanted it to (which doesn't always happen in my world) I really love illustration that is all about clean lines with the lines giving the view direction as opposed to shading. Her eyes and the angle of her head are bang on for what I wanted. Again, there is a William Morris influence in the wallpaper.

Goth Girl with Corset ACEO

Okay, this one needs some explaination, LOL. I was reading discussions lately about corsets, so then I kept thinking about that whole style of fashion. Plus, I've been looking at William Morris wallpaper patterns. There you have it, a jumble of references colliding into one handy dandy ACEO.

Love Letter ACEO

This was fun doing all the shading and detailed swirls. She just kind of emerged from the paper instead of being planned out.

Christmas Came Early at My House!!!

A friend on a running forum was cleaning out her basement and thought of me when she came across some supplies she had bought for an art class she had taken a while back. Needless to say I was more than happy to hear this!

I have never actually painted with oils, I only have a vague idea where to start but I can't believe how excited I am to experiment. The time must be right for this old dog to learn some new tricks.

Well, I have an Etsy Shop Now!

Whew. After some sign up hijinks, I'm finally on Etsy as well as Ebay.

You may notice that my prices on there seem to be higher than my auction starting prices. These reflect my real world prices a lot more realistically. Also, since it is not an auction format but a straight ahead "buy it now" there are no bidding wars to be had.

I will continue to do Ebay auctions to introduce each piece and if it does not sell, then I will transfer the item over to Etsy.

Its kind of fun having a store. You can take a peek by clicking on the link on the right or try it here:

http://mwiebe.etsy.com

Blue Door with Graffiti

I've been saving this one to paint for a while now. I went walking with my new picture cellphone. Not the highest quality but I was surprised it could capture the details like peeling paint and the finer strokes of the graffiti.

Coincidentally, one happy thing has happened since getting my camera phone. I purchased square canvases for the first time in a while, this phone ends up with pictures that are almost square.

Totally reminds me of when I used a Mamiya C220 TLR in school.

Blogging Chicks

I was poking around my friend Caylynn's blog (yes, if you leave a comment with a link I *will* snoop.) and noticed that she had joined Blogging Chicks.

I had never heard of a blogroll, but this seems like an interesting concept to me. Basically, it opens up a whole world of blogs that may or may not have things in common with you. I'm looking forward to checking out the bloggers.

This particular blogroll is a group of women, who have one thing in common: they love to blog. It is a diverse group of women, from all walks of life.To quote from the Blogging Chicks site:

This is a women's only blogroll. There are Christians and non-Christians on the blogroll. There are women who use profanity (but not excessively) and there are women who don't. This is a diverse group of women, intentionly so. There are no hate, spam or porn sites on the blogroll.

Anyways, if you are interested in learning more, scroll down and check out the links in my sidebar. Lots of blogs and you can also find some information if you are interested in adding your own blog to the blogroll.

Autumn Has Arrived

One thing I love about living near Calgary are the old neighbourhoods. There are substantial brick buildings, wooden sheds that are almost falling into ruin on the edge of trendy neighbourhoods and just peeling paint and textured patina on all sorts of stuff.

Another thing that I love are the old trees. Trees that have been planted ages ago that are now towering over everything on the street.

I was walking through Inglewood, a wonderful little hub in the downtown area and came upon this tree. The branches were just loaded with yellow leaves waiting for the first gust of wind to scatter them everywhere.

I love how the sky is so bright and the yellows are so vibrant. The background alleyway and street are covered in shadows which just makes the tree that much more important.

Procession

This past week has brought something out in my work. I had to take a break from painting pretty things and express some of the stuff going on inside. My main point of this work is to express sadness and grace. I honestly don't really care if it sells, I posted it on ebay more to show it than anything.

This is a painting of figures heading towards a simple white church. They are dressed in black, some with white bonnets. The field is a deep vibrant red, but where the figures walk the grass is green.

There are five crosses in the church yard, some of the figures are moved to emotion as they look in that direction.

In the background you see a neat white fence and beyond that is a clear blue sky.
The compostion of this piece is unusual for my style. It is reminicent of early North American folk art and the perspective is skewed and stacked in places. The paint is applied loosely and there are thin washes of paint in the fields which add depth to the color.