Three Frogs Hangin' 2
Watercolor
13"x9"
$150.00

My sister and I took Mom and Dad to a butterfly farm. In the gift shop Mom saw the statue of a frog that Mom liked. Karen, my sister, is a stained glass artist. She wanted me to download pictures of frogs from the Internet so she could make a stained glass piece for my Mom.

I got an idea for a painting for the 'Think Green' Show at Waverly house. I started downloading images of frogs. Heads pocking out of the water and bodies under the water, were my target.

There is a copyright issue about painting from photos that someone else has taken. I used an eye here an mouth there and developed the bodies from several photos. At no time did I copy an image. I just used the photos for information. Problem solved.

I painted the frogs first. I had to mask the heads to do the water on the top. I did the same for the bodies under the water, but also did several layers of washes that went over the top of the frogs. As with the other frog painting, I worked to make above the water cool. (sky reflection) Under the water was done in warmer tones.

This painting was the first of the two started. I did not like how it was going so I started another painting, which I finished in one night for the competition. This painting was toyed with, for several more weeks. I finished it for the Animal show at Finley River, but I did not enter it because I had two other paintings ready for that show.

Finally I put this painting in a show this fall at the College of the Ozarks. I will ship it to St. Louis as soon as it comes home. It has sold.

Toucan Watch

Watercolor

13"x16"

$150.00

I took this photo at an bird habitat in Banson, MO. I put this on my desktop as wallpaper and created a shortcut on my desktop to the picture. The shortcut was mistake. The photo was deleted and the shortcut was useless. Not being able to print this one, I ended up photoing the computer screen.

When I went to Florida with this painting in tow it got a nasty scratch across the belly. It showed up on the white and would would look worse if paint were to be applied. I eventually started to grove the paper with the back of a chiseled brush to simulate feathers. The embossing actually disguised the scratch.

I have an attitude with a painting that I believe is dead. I can do anything to them, because a dead painting cannot be killed. There is nothing to loose, being really creative begins. An artist is a problem solver.

The background is done with paint being put down on a wet surface. After that dried I lifted paint out to create the impression of foliage. As always there was not much information in the black. Photos are that way. I downloaded images of other toucans from the Internet to give me help.

This painting was punched out to enter in the Finley River Competition, wild animals as a theme. I had been stewing over this one for more than a year. It is good how a deadline can get some paintings off the board. I was shocked that this won Best of Show. I nearly spit my coffee out with they announced it at a meeting.

This bird got painted because of the colors in his beak and eye. It is now hanging in our condo in Florida, and my sister loves it and is probably trying to figure out how it could could come to live at her house.

When photographing this one for printing, the lighting must be angled to catch the grooves. I think I got the right photo. We'll see when I fire up the giclee printer.