The work on “Three Buckeyes” continues, and here is the drawing with the stippling finished.  In some of my more recent paintings I’ve gotten away from doing this amount of ink detail, but this design calls for more of it.  I think when all’s said and done, this painting may take as much time as some of my larger ones; “Buckeyes” is 7″ X 7″.

I’ve started on the watercolor, and the obviously that’s what will make the butterflies stand out, as they’re mostly brown and the flowers will be colorful.  Next up…the completed painting.

When people see my work, they always ask me what medium I use, and how I create my images.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to demonstrate my process using “Three Buckeyes”, the piece I’m currently working on.

This has been an exceptionally dry summer, and among the few things blooming in the front yard have been a clump of lavender and some dwarf zinnias.  Both have turned out to be butterfly magnets, and have been covered in them for weeks.  Just walking by the lavender scatters a literal cloud of skippers and other butterflies into the air.  I’ve noticed lots of buckeyes, which are small brownish butterflies with cream and orange-colored spots.  At first glance they don’t seem that interesting, but when you look closely you can see how intricate and perfect their markings are, with beautiful eyespots on their hindwings.  Many of my paintings feature one large butterfly, but several years ago I did a work with two Painted Ladies, one inverted over the other.  This was after I observed over half a dozen on a butterfly bush.  Seeing all these buckeyes this summer, I decided to create a work with three of them arranged geometrically over zinnias and some other flowers.

My paintings begin with small rough sketches (thumbnails) in my sketchbook, and once I have a clearer idea of my composition I create a detailed pencil drawing in a larger drawing pad.  I then trace the final drawing and transfer it to watercolor paper, making sure all the lines are correct.  At this stage many people think I begin painting with the watercolor, but the ink comes first. Using a waterproof Micron pen with a .005 (very small!) tip, I begin stippling, and gradually build up the shaded areas.  Yes, it can be time-consuming, but I’ve found that I usually spend the greatest amount of time researching my subject and creating the initial drawing.  The stippling often feels like the lengthiest part of the process, but it usually becomes very meditative, and I like how sensitive a technique it can be.

So here is the work in mid-stage: the drawing on watercolor paper is complete, and I’ve started in on the ink.  Next up…the completed ink drawing!

Having spent a good deal of time framing and getting ready for my show, it’s been really satisfying to return to the drawing board and get back to creating art again.  This new work, “Blackbird with Cherries”, was inspired by looking out at the tree line behind our house and spotting a big crow perched among the branches.  As I watched it, it kept shifting among the foliage until I couldn’t tell if I was looking at black feathers or the negative space made by the branches and the leaves.  My original idea was to create a painting of a blackbird’s outline defined by leaves, but I decided I wanted to paint the bird itself.  The big black crow became a red-winged blackbird (one of my favorite birds) and the spot on its wing reminded me of cherries.  So that’s what we have here, just something painted for fun, which to me is the best kind of art-making.