A few tattoos

gnomes

owls

sun

Thought I'd toss up a few pics of what I'm doing at work.

Owl painting

Owl

6" x 8"

Acrylic and colored pencil on watercolor board

Shocked? a bird all intact with feathers and everything! This was my weekend project, and it was so nice to break out my colored pencils again... I think they will always be my first and true love... but there's no getting them smooth on cold press watercolor board! I really liked mixing the paint and pencils so I shall now be investigating supports that will work with both... any suggestions?

Animal Skull Watercolor Paintings

Of all the subjects in the world why skulls? This thought has been bouncing around in my head for a while now and I think I have an answer. As a tattoo artist I've been surrounded by them; in the flash art, the paintings my fellow artists do for themselves, and as knick knacks all over the shop... sometimes models, sometimes the real thing... but always the same thing, human skulls.

For years I've mostly ignored skulls as subject matter, I found the idea of drawing endless pictures of the same thing frightfully dull. Animal skulls, however, are widely diverse but with all the interest (maybe more) of a human skull as a subject. Lots of nooks and cracks, large smooth areas, not to mention that some of them just look completely alien.

My biggest hurdle as an artist has always been completing a 'body of work', I lose interest halfway through and go on to another subject. I'm planning on completing at least 10 skull paintings, not a large number but hey, start small right? Below are the skulls I've done so far...

Moa Skull

Saber-toothed Tiger Skull

Chihuahua Skull

Burrowing Owl Skull

Osprey Skull