Jack

My aunt contacted me through facebook about painting her dog Jack. I haven't seen this dog in awhile but as a kid I ADORED him. He has the sweetest personality. Here is the painting I did for her of the adorable Jack. 

Sweet Zoe

This painting is very dear to my heart. A dear friend asked if I would paint Zoe. Zoe is her friend's dog and recently had to be put down. Losing a pet is probably the hardest thing one will ever face. I'm glad I was able to do this for her as another way for her to remember her sweet Zoe. Lots of loves Karen and Joan. 

Little Owl

So, this weekend my very best friend will be moving across the country - away from me. We had a lovely goodbye dinner tonight and spent time just being in each other's company. She's pretty much the best. She knows my heart and I'm so thankful for her. Here's to a new chapter in our friendship!

With that being said, this Little Owl was a gift to her. We did a trade awhile ago and this is her end of the trade but more importantly a little going away present. I love it, I love the character in this bird's face. Enjoy!

Spanky

So lately I've done a few commissioned pet portraits for the buyer to surprise their friend/significant other/etc. with. It's been really fun but I have to wait to post about them just in case it ruins the surprise.

That was the case with Spanky, the pug. I had previously painted a cat named Ursula for a co-worker's husband as a surprise for him. He in turn wanted to surprise her with a painting of Spanky, her pug. It was fun and a challenge as he requested it a little larger than normal and on canvas. So here's Spanky! And you can see Ursula below Spanky.


I'm finishing up some paintings that are gifts so hopefully a few more posts will be coming next week! Happy Saturday and thanks for looking!

My niece pup.

My sister has three adorable dogs. I've painted the two boys she's had, but this girl is the newest member to the fam. This is Abby and this painting is from when she was a puppy. This was a VERY belated birthday present to my sister. I feel like the scan didn't do it much justice, but I still love it.

I have a few more pet portrait commissions coming up so I'm pretty excited - be looking forward to those!

Moose

I've been painting a lot for different gifts for people. Birthdays, belated birthdays, you name it.

My littlest sister turned 16 this month! For her birthday I thought it would be both fun and funny to paint her a moose. Somewhere an obsession with moose happened. I'm not sure if it was her or my dad - either way a moose was fitting. Very different than my normal work but I really enjoy the end product. Happy Birthday Little Sister Moose! :)

Free Shipping!!

Free shipping over at the Etsy store!
I am about to update the store and thought it would be fun to do a little promotion to make some room.

Visit the etsy store:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/yellowbirdcreative

And then in checkout use this code for FREE shipping! FREESHIPPING1
Hope you enjoy looking around and seeing my work! And thanks for stopping by!

Bird a Day #46

The Blue Crowned Mot Mot.
Oil on Woodblock

Bird a Day #45

Always a favorite of mine, the Lady Ross's Turaco.

Bird a Day #44

The Chestnut Sided Warbler.
This is one of my favorites from the 6 that just finished drying. It is 2 3/8" x 2". Pretty small! I think the post of it is actually larger than in real life. Enjoy!

Etsy shop!

Prints and new earrings are up in the Etsy shop! And I've already had two orders!

Hope you enjoyed your weekend! I had a productive one and finished six paintings! So once they are dry I'll have some fun things to share.

Lakewood Cultural Center

Hello all! I'm so sorry the Etsy shop hasn't reopened. The nine original paintings I have were put in the shop at the Lakewood Cultural Center! It's here in Lakewood and be sure to stop in if you are by the Belmar area. I will be opening the Etsy shop this weekend with prints of original paintings as well as jewelry. Thanks for hanging tight!
Happy Thursday!

Bird a Day #43

The Magpie King.
The wood shows through a lot on this painting but I love how the texture works in real life.

Bird a Day #42

A chickadee.
I'm especially missing my dear Eliza today.

Bird a Day #41

An owl.
(This original sold at the Art and Music Festival! YAY!)

Bird a Day #40

A sparrow.

Etsy on Vacation

Hello all! Just a note that my etsy site is on vacation mode currently. I had a great day selling art and jewelry at the West Colfax Art and Music Festival so the shop needs some updating. I'm hoping it will only be down a few days but come back soon as I have some new pieces to post! Hope you had a great weekend! I sure did, it was fun and saturated with art events!

Bird a Day #39

A warbler.
I got backed up on my bird a day drawings so here is a painting to make up for it. Also I've finally made prints of my work! After this weekend they will be up on etsy so be sure to check those out!

West Colfax Art + Music Festival

This weekend I will be selling artwork and jewelry with some friends at the West Colfax Art + Music Festival here in Lakewood. Stop by and say hello, I would love to see you!

Bird a Day #38

The Carolina Wren.

Bird a Day #37

The Yellow Warbler.

Cari's Hedgehog

I had a lot of fun with this painting. Letting go of the realism and just playing with the spikes of this critter was great fun for me. And I'm happy with how he turned out.

Bird a Day #36

The Silver Throated Tanager.
I was up in the mountains this weekend with no connection to internet. It was a lovely escape with the hubs and we actually got to see some great wildlife while up there.
Happy Tuesday!

Cari's Alot

Bird a Day #35

The Mallard.

Bird a Day #34

The American Kestral.

Bird a Day #33

The Rosebreasted Grosbeak

Cari's Cicada

A good friend commissioned a series of three miniature paintings. They aren't really miniature they're just on the small side. Anyway, the subject matter was new and fun for me so here's the first of the three - a cicada.

Bird a Day #32

The Stellar Jay.
I've decided to resume my quick pen drawings daily. This is a good practice for me so I don't get out of the rhythm of drawing. Here is a stellar jay. We have these here in Colorado and I've seen the occasional one at the family cabin in the mountains. They are beautiful birds with a deep blue coloring.

Flamingo

I should start this post by saying I have wonderful friends! Friends who support and encourage me in all I do - especially by commissioning me to paint. The next couple of posts are all commissions that friends have asked me to do. I painted A TON last week and finished four paintings. I'm in the middle of a few others and have a list backed up. So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the love, lovely friends of mine! So here is the flamingo painting, I'm really happy with how it turned out and I am in love with the colors.

This painting is 7 3/8" x 6" on a wood block.

Watching paint dry.

So I'm about to finish a fourth painting. The great and bad thing about working in oils is once they're done you literally watch the paint dry for days. Sometimes longer. I'm excited for them to dry so I can share them with you. I have a few pics but I don't think they would do the paintings justice since they were taken on my cell phone. Anyway, Happy Tuesday! The paintings will be up soon (hopefully).

Etsy

I posted a few new things to Etsy this morning - a new painting and some earrings. Feel free to check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/yellowbirdcreative

Eagles

So, I've been inspired by watching these eagles everyday. This weekend I am going to try and do some eagle paintings. Unfortunately I don't have any paintings to post today but here's the link again in case you want to check out adorable eaglets!

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

Happy Friday!

Basmati the Cat

Basmati is a friend's lovely cat. She's so tiny and small and especially cuddly. My friend asked if I could paint her for her husband's birthday and this is the result. The scan has the wrong color of eyes so I touched them up but it was too wet to scan so the picture is just a close up of that part.

Sun Bittern

The sun bittern is one of my favorite birds and I loved the way this painting turned out. (It's also pretty small, 7 1/8" x 2 3/4".) This bird will open its wings to warn off any other critter it feels is a threat. It has two large red spots on its wings that almost make it look like a butterfly. A male once saw me as a threat at the zoo and I was amazed at how beautiful a warning can be. Enjoy and Happy Wednesday!

Miniature Chickadee Painting

When I was finding scraps in our wood shop, there were a bunch of tiny redwood rectangles. I took them not really knowing what I would use them for. I started three tiny paintings this weekend and am LOVING them! This painting is 2 1/4" x 3 1/4". It was new to me but it was really fun to do. I have another small painting to post (it's not quite as small) that just might be my favorite so far. Happy Tuesday!

Eagle's Nest

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

The link takes you to a live feed of a pair of eagles caring for their young. The camera is on the nest 24/7 and currently there are two eaglets and an egg. It's so intriguing - I've had it on in the background during my work day and getting to see the pair of eaglets as well as the pair of eagles together are a special treat. Enjoy!

Soon.

I finished a few paintings this weekend that I'm really excited to share! Once they're dry I will scan them in and share. Just wanted to have a small update. Happy Monday!

Hill Mynah

A friend of mine just returned from Bali with gobs of beautiful bird pictures. I was inspired by her favorite, the Hill Mynah and made this quick illustrator version of one.

Something I'm working on.

I'm still working on a few tweaks here and there but I'm really happy with the way it's turning out. This drawing of a kingfisher is from one of my own photographs. I'm excited to continue drawing more in addition to my paintings.

Finches

Three finches. I started this a while ago and just finished it a little looser than my normal paintings. I'm really loving their subtle personalities.

Owls

I did a small series of different owl closeups. I'm really pleased with them. They are for sell as a set on etsy if you're interested. etsy.com/people/yellowbirdcreative

Some recent projects....

I was commissioned on etsy to paint the goldfinch. And commissioned by a friend to paint her husband's siamese, Ursula. The dog I painted for a good friend at work, just because. :) I have more to post soon, I'm just waiting on them to dry so I can scan them in.

Bird a Day #31

The Fairy Wren.
(This is for yesterday. I'll post today's later.)

Bird a Day #30

The waxwing.

Bird a Day #29

The White Throated Sparrow.

Bird a Day #28

The Robin.

Bird a Day #27

The Gray Crowned Crane.

Bird a Day #26

The Great White Pelican.

Bird a Day #25

The Cardinal.

This is fun because growing up my husband's high school mascot was the Cardinal. However, he had never seen one in person until we visited my family for Christmas this year. My mom's bird feeders attract all sorts of birds so we were in luck!

Bird a Day #24

The Magpie.

Bird a Day #23

The Eastern Bluebird.
I've started painting on 4x4 inch woodblocks with oil and gesso. It's been a fun learning process and I really love the style of these. This is the first of four.

Bird a Day #22

The Blue Footed Booby.