Nazgûl’s

When I found out we were doing a Lord of the Rings binge watch for my sister’s birthday, I knew I wanted to do Nazgûls for my next piece, inspired by some online Ai I’d seen. Plus, it was about time I made something for my husband now that I was feeling more confident in my work, and he was a fan of the series, especially the Nazgûl’s. He loved them. Next, my sister asked me to paint her one based off an online picture she found. Here are the Nazgûl’s I painted in July and August. The two larger ones took about a week on and off because of the details; 20x24 canvases with acrylic paint. The more vague Nazgûl took a few hours because I couldn’t seem to think it was good enough and eventually had to walk away.  16x20 canvas with acrylic paint.

Flowers

 

A few months ago, a friend sent me a picture of a flower since I didn’t have anything in particular I wanted to paint. The red poppies were my first attempt at flowers. The hummingbirds were for my sweet MIL, and my first attempt at an animal. I loved learning through trial and error about shading and brushstrokes to cause illusions. These have sold quick or have been snagged by family. Tulips, sunflower, and poppies done on 9x12 canvas with acrylics. Lily done on 8x10 canvas with acrylics. Hummingbird and flowers done on 11x14 canvas with acrylics. Rose done on a vinyl record with acrylics.

Asian Inspired

My daughter and I have a love for Asian Inspired Items. She also has always had a deep love for anime and manga, hence the vinyl record she asked me to do for her that she finds hilarious. I don’t watch anime so I don’t get it. LOL. She also asked me to do the two Torri shrine gates for her. And yes, she is the one stealing paintings on her visits. All were done on 9x12 canvases with acrylics paints except the small cliff blossom tree was a 5x7, and the mountain in the sky with overhang of blossoms was a 18x14.  Most were done when I was first learning how to paint. 

Whidbey Island

 

I used to take pictures of sunsets all the time on my walks or late at night when the moon is the only light on the road. My dad is notorious for sending the family pictures from his waterfront view on Whidbey Island where we live. There’s something magical about putting this island on canvas and I can’t wait to do more from the photo hoard on my phone. All of these are sold except the Mt Baker one, the sunrise looking out to La Conner I gifted my dad since it was from his photo, and my stormy sunset walk was stolen by my daughter for her house, as she does. All have been done on 9x12 canvases with acrylic paints, except the last one with the driftwood, which is mixed media with pan pastel and acrylics. 

Trees

 When I first did a tree, it was an evergreen. I did up arrows and it was ugly. Yes, that happened. Then I tried different styles and brushes and how to do wet on wet to create illusions. I love making trees. In fact, if I take too long between doing them, I almost have to relearn it through trial and error.  Most are done on 9x12 canvases with acrylics except the vinyl record, the Twilight Moon was on a 11x14 canvas, the purple forest on a 14x18 canvas, the sunset tree in rocks on a 10x10 canvas. The only one remaining that hasn’t sold, was gifted, or again, stolen by my daughter on a visit, is the blue sunset skies of Alaska. 

Waterviews

Living on Whidbey Island means I love a good waterview. Day or night. Painting water is a different story, plus trying to get all the elements around it to highlight its beauty. I’ve enjoyed learning about wet on wet for certain lines, and when to be patience and let it dry or it’ll make it worse. That is so hard for me! All were done on 9x12 canvas with acrylics paint, except the one with yellow flowers, which was done on a 16x20 canvas. All have been sold, except the 16x20, and the “hairy tree” ones which were from a set of backyard waterviews I was commissioned to do.