"Sunny Goat" - New Art

"Sunny Goat" - 4" x 4", ink, watercolor and color pencil on watercolor Art Board

This painting of a cute pygmy goat kid will be available at my upcoming Open Studio Garage Art Thing on September 25th (scroll down for more info).

I came up with this yellow & purple color scheme after painting two other goats in shades of orange and purple. Although the colors of this painting aren't exactly true-to-life, they're not as over-the-top as the orange goats. I titled it "Sunny Goat" because the yellow tones make him look sun-washed.


The original photo.


The cropped version to fit the square format. I also adjusted the contrast a bit.



Ink and watercolor applied at this stage. The colors are a little "off", but this was just a quick photo of the progress. After this, I painted a bit more and then added color pencil to finish it.



A detail of the finished piece.


If you're going to be in the Newcastle, CA area on Saturday the 25th, here's the information about my art show. Click on either side of the postcard for a larger image.




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Materials used for "Sunny Goat":
Watercolor Art Board
Micron Pen (black ink)
Daniel Smith Watercolors
Prismacolor Colored Pencils
Krylon UV Resistant Clear Spray

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"Hey Kid" - Pygmy Goat ACEO

I started this mini (2.5" x 3.5") color pencil drawing in 2007! The poor little partly-finished goat was pushed aside until last month when I pulled it out to have on hand for the Autumn Art Studios Tour.



I finally finished it earlier this week and am very pleased with the way the color scheme turned out. I wanted to use a bright palette for this one, shifting the real colors of the chocolaty brown and grey goat to reds and oranges. It's all done in Prismacolor color pencil on bristol board (a heavyweight drawing paper). The pencils are back in their storage box, so I can't tell you the actual colors, but I used only two colors for the background (light blue and aqua) and shades of red, orange, magenta and yellow for the goat. The darkest colors are grape (the one color I do remember) and a deep purplish red. I also added some of the aqua color from the background to areas of the goat.





The drawing in progress. You can see my scribbly color notes around the edge of the photo. The colors on the left are quite different from the final drawing. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't bother to color correct this photo, or if I really changed things that much - probably a little bit of both.


The original photo in color


The color photo cropped to ACEO size

I've said it before and I'll say it again, even though I use photos for reference, I rarely ever use them "straight out of the camera". I look for interesting ways to crop them. I just love the goat's lower lip and eyes, so I wanted to zoom in on them. By cropping the image, it appears that he's coming out of the drawing. Much more dynamic than the original photo of a goat standing in a pen. Notice too, that I didn't draw his body on the right side, which also adds action by making it look as though he's just popped up into view.

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A Nifty New Painting Panel

I learned about these panels from Nancy Holtz, another member of the Auburn Old Town Gallery. She had some paintings on them in the Gallery last year.

Made by Art Boards, they are a natural fiber panel with different painting surfaces adhered to the front. I used the Cold Press Watercolor Panel. There's a bit of texture, but not too much, so the paper works great mixed media pieces like those below. I use ink (a Micron pen) for the darkest areas, then watercolor washes, then I finish up the detail with color pencil (typically Prismacolor).

What's nice about these is they don't need to be framed. I spray the art with a coat of UV resistant spray and that's it. The boards are 1/4" thick and have a slot on the back for hanging. I also tint the panel edges to match the color of the paper next to the edge.

They're a fun way to create a small piece of art. Now that I've done three of these (with 2 more in the works), I'm offering them as an option for commissioned pet portraits. I enjoy working in different styles and mediums and by offering a variety, my clients have more styles and prices to choose from. This "art board style" is a hybrid between my looser "Paintings with Petzazz" watercolor on Yupo pieces and the far more detailed ink on scratchboard or pencil portraits. As you can see from these three paintings, I use vibrant colors. A white dog does not have to be white and grey and a goat does not have to be brown!


"Bailey" - Wheaten Terrier, 4" x 4"


"Goat #1" - 4" x 4"


"Goat #2" - Pygmy Goat, 4" x 4"

You can find Bailey & the two goats on magnets in my Zazzle shop and on note cards in my Bonanzle shop. They're also on all sorts of merchandise (ceramic tiles, mugs, t-shirts, etc.) in my CafePress shop: goats and Bailey.

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New Art: Muggs the Pug . . . and a Goat

My latest ACEO (2.5" x 3.5" small format drawing) is a pencil drawing of Muggs the pug. Now, don't get me wrong, I like pugs, they're funny dogs with lots of character and they love their people . . . but really . . . I have to say they are not the most attractive dogs. And dear Muggs, well, let's just say she had a face only a mother could love. Muggs passed away a while ago, but I was able to meet her and take some photos a few months before she passed. She was a very sweet dog who belonged to friends of my Dad. They have been so good to him, I wanted to give them a gift of a portrait of Muggs.


My photo of Muggs


The same photo cropped to ACEO format

Another new drawing is this small ink on scratchboard pygmy goat. It's only 2.5" x 2.5" - mainly because a 4" x 4" piece of Claybord I had was defective on two of its sides. I didn't want to throw it out, so I just used the center.



I'll have the framed drawing with me on Thursday night (June 11, 6 - 9 pm) at the Auburn Art Walk. If it doesn't sell that night, I'll hang it at the Auburn Old Town Gallery. For the Art Walk, I've put together a show of works from students that have taken my ink on scratchboard classes. I'll also have my drawing of a pinto filly in the scratchboard show. The show runs for two months - until the next Art Walk in October. The scratchboard work will be at Dancing Dog Productions, 1101 High Street. Other locations in Old Town and Downtown Auburn (CA) will feature art by other local/regional artists.


Click here to see my previous blog post about this drawing.

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