This is a digital drawing of four random characters. The two on the left were totally spontaneous -- meaning they didn't exist until this picture was drawn. Buddy (on the right bottom corner) is one of my recent creations and he's developed into a very loveable character. Ninjo, I've actually known for a long time. She's a crazy gal -- always chopping stuff and crashing through ceilings. Come to think of it.. she's not really like a ninja at all..!
The whole purpose of this drawing was to showcase my skill areas. I'm skilled in people (both male and female), animals, and even inanimate objects.
A colour sketch of Llyn Brianne in preparation for a much larger piece. The sketch was done in acrylic, but then I changed my mind and started the full-sized piece in oils.
This is a digital drawing I drew on the night of April 26th, 2020. Quentin was inspired by the animated television series Teen Titans -- which I was obsessed with growing up. In creating him, I wanted him to resemble the Teen Titans character, Raven. Like Raven, he wields magic and isn't one for noisy environments like parties and concerts.
A 4x6" colour sketch of Amroth Beach, Pembrokeshire in preparation for a much larger piece. The light that day was gorgeous, but the level of detail in the distance really could do with a larger canvas to make the most of it.
2021, pandemic is still upon us. My memory is fuzzy but it’s wreaching the one year mark when I had to tell a patient for the first time in my career that they were COVID positive. It was also the first documented COVID diagnosis in our clinic system.
This is a drawing colored with crayons and brush pens. His colors and appearance was inspired by a wolf avatar I created on an app. I completely transformed the likeness of my wolf avatar and made him half human.
When I grew up, I found that most of the time I was a supporting role in this world. Then at least in my own world, I'm still me, I'm my own superhero.
I joined an app called sketchaday. They give you one prompt a day. Our prompt for today was new and decided to create my own twist to new lipstick. I had so much fun drawing and coloring this!
This little acrylic was inspired by the autumn morning skies over Penrhos. My partner and I lived with her parents for a time while we renovated our first house. I used to hang out the 3rd floor window in the mornings to take reference shots of the skies.
I started painting with acrylics again towards the end of 2018. On 4x6" canvas wraps, they were so small, but so much fun to paint. I was pleased with this one except for the fact the magentas for the foxgloves weren't as vibrant as I hoped. The location that inspired it is Irfon Forest in Mid-Wales. I can't imagine it's a particularly touristy spot, but it's an absolute hidden gem with extensive views over the Brecon Beacons.
In late 2018, I started trying to be a bit more playful with art and experiment. This was a quick watercolour sketch I did. I'd like to revisit this one as a full watercolour painting.
When I was a child, whenever I was alone or lonely, I would fantasize about having super powers and being able to fly out into the universe and do anything. In my own world, I will always be the protagonist in my own story, guarding the lights of thousands of homes, world peace.
One of my early oils from 2017. I was still getting used to the medium. I liked how the oils worked well for the misty distant hills, and I used glazing for the first time on the clouds.
I got a pack of loose watercolour paper from eBay in 2018. The side this was painted on had a really strange pitted texture on it. I thought it might be interesting but I didn't like the way the paint gathered in the pits. I just use it for sketching and testing colours these days.
New Quay is a quaint little seaside town on the Ceredigion coast. This was my second attempt at pen and wash in 2018 and it totally bombed. I'm not sure there's anything I like about this - the colours, the linework, the lack of texture. Nah! Definitely worth trying again at some point.
Looking at Trichrug hill from the top of Pen Arthur Forest. This was my first attempt at pen and wash in 2018. I was pleased with it for an initial effort. I struggle to be loose with my art, so this was a step forward. The only thing that really bugs me was my colour choice for the distant hills - it looks more like the sea.
The reference for this painting was a quick snap I took at the roadside on a trip up to Angelsey. Didn't really manage to capture the scale or the atmosphere.
I know it looks a little sunny, but the reference photo for this one was a winter shot. It's the countryside in the hills surrounding Carreg Cennen castle, Carmarthenshire, Wales
This is my own take on Yoai’s mini chibi tutorial for Bonnie. You can find this in her book ‘mini chibi art class: a complete course in drawing cuties & beasties’. I wanted to follow her tutorial but also give my own style while doing so. This was done in procreate.
In 2017, I had a short run of finishing acrylic paintings after not painting for many years. Here I was pushing towards a more realistic style despite the very cheap and thin paints.
My first foray into acrylics from 2017. At the time, I wasn't that happy with it, but it sold within a day of posting it on social media. Looking at it now, I like how loose it was.
I was going to do a full landscape sketch of the ascent to Cadair Idris, but I kind of chickened out. Still, I quite like the simplicity of this little sketch.
Part of a huge doodle. Started as a doodle while I talked to a friend on the phone. She was one of those non-stop-don't-interupt-me talkers. I got hours of work done while on the phone. It ended up being purchased by our local public gallery for $4,000 bucks. Not bad! And I may use it in a future children's book.
"Whirlwind 23”, an original drawing. Micron pens on archival paper. Size: 4” x 6”. Title, signature, and date in the back of the drawing. This drawing is the 23rd in a series of drawings posted over a period of 100 days. The original post date on this drawing was September 23, 2020.
I'm working on getting a service dog and set up a website, an Instagram, and a fundraiser. This comic was my quick explanation of WHY I need a dog. There's a full color version, the pencil sketch, the inked comic, and a cute sticker of Theo, my service dog.
Class assignment: draw a crowd with layers and overlapping. I took this class because it is my artist heart's desire to capture people in real life action. We did learn a technique for that, but we did it from video. It was so stressful, and I'm considering practicing that 10 min a day for Lent. This one was a compilation from photos my teacher provided. What are your tips for capturing people in action? For me, the challenge was deciding what the action was. I kept changing the action as I saw it because it is SO FAST. I felt like I couldn't "see" fast enough.
