Pencil Drawing is Always Fun

I have always enjoyed pencil drawing.  It only takes a pencil and some sketch paper of some kind to do a pencil drawing.  I'm a little unorthodox in that I like to use a .05mm mechanical pencil with B lead.  I will draw on anything from bristle paper to copy paper.  I have used tracing paper and sketch paper depending on what the drawing will be used for.

This sketch of two running horses was done on plain copy paper with my mechanical pencil.  It was on of sevearl composition produced in preparation for a large carved wood mantle to go in a home in Idaho.  There were three different compostions in all.

I produced this drawing on a good sketch paper as a study for watercolor painting I did about ten years ago.  It is the Heber C. Kimball home in old Nauvoo, IL.  This drawing is about 9"x12", and the painting is 28"x32".  May I say the painting looks wonderful in its frame?

These two drawings are location drawings.  The one on the left is a drawing I did while visiting some friends in St. George, UT.  It is of the red cliffs above the Kayenta housing development.  I was drawn on quaility sketch paper about 9"x12" in size.

The drawing on the right was made while I was sitting on the porch of a beach house on the Oregon coast.  The day was overcast and a little breezy.  The drawing is also 9"x12" on quality sketch paper.

You may have guessed by looking at my blog that I like doing wildlife.  These four drawings are also 9"x12" and they were done with my mechanical pencil on bristle paper.

Watercolor & Acrylic

Unlike oil painting, watercolor and acrylic painting presents a unique set of challenges.  Drying time and the use of water are two important ones.  The following paintings are a sampling of work I have created with watercolor and with acrylic paints.

While standing on the west bank of the Mississippi River looking east across the river at Nauvoo, Illinois this is the vista you will see.  Actually, this is the scene you would have seen about 175 years ago.  This is a watercolor painting aproximately 12"x32" in size.  It is now owned by one of my son-in-law's parents.  They spent about three years in Nauvoo, and they love this painting.  It brings back many good memories for them.

This watercolor painting of Delicate Arch was painted on white cold press illustration board.  I love the way the water worked with the paint.  The painting is 15"x19".  This painting is priced at $425.00 unframed.

I love the red rock country of southern Utah and Arizona.  This is a watercolor painting of Weaver's Needle in winter.  This formation is in Arizona.  This painting was produced on warm press illustration board.  The size is 22"x28".  This painting is for sale at $770.00 unframed.

This mallard drake was painted with watercolor on watercolor paper.  The background was done is a way that allows the imagination to decide what the weather is like and what the countryside might be.  This is one of my favorite watercolor paintings.  It's size is 11"x14" and it sells for $195.00 unframed.

I think the big horn ram is a majestic animal.  I love the masive curled horns and their proud look.  This painting is done with acrylics.  I thinned the paint with a good deal of water and built the color up.  People look at it and think it is an oil painting.  I like working with acrylics in this way.  This painting was produced on a 22"x28" warm press illustration board.  This painting is $925.00 unframed.

The next two paintings were created as a diptic (is that spelled right) with acrylic on canvas board.  They are 20"x24".  They are for sale as individuals or as a pair.  Each painting is $595.00 unframed.  I will sell them as a set for $1,050.00 unframed.



Rocking Horses

A few years back - six years I think, I helped a fellow out of a jam.  He had someone carve a rocking horse for a friend of his that didn't turn out very well.  He asked me if I could repair it.  Of course I said yes.  This little bay rocking horse is the result. It has a body length of about 22".  It is colored to match the friends real horse named "PR".

Depending on the size and design of the rocking horse, they compete with rocking horses made all over the world selling from between $3,500.00 on up to $25,000.00 or so.

The rework of this rocking horse turned out well enough that I was asked if I would produce breed specific rocking horses that he could market. The following photos are of a couple of the breed specific rocking horses I carved for him.

This rocking horse is a thoroughbred.  It has a body length of 5'.  The horse and rocker are made of clear alder wood.  The horse has real horse hair.  Thr bridel is leather made to fit.  The rocking horse logo on the rocker is my design as well.

The next two rocking horses I made were Friesians.  They had a body length of 44".  They are made of alder wood and colored with stain.  They have real horse hair, and the saddles and bridels were made to fit.  They were sold, one to a breeder in Salt Lake City, and the other to someone in California.  Here is a photo of the head. to show some detail.

Next came a couple of american saddlebred rocking horses.

There were two of these rocking horses.  They are made of alder wood and sold to the American Saddlebred Museum back east.  This photo is of the first to be stained before the mein and tail were added.

It was at about the time I was beginning the carving of some quarter horses that I stopped making rocking horses for this fellow.  I realized he had been dishonest with me by taking advantage of my trust.  A couple of years later I created four of the following rocking horses.  They are patterned after a walking horse.

Two of the horses were colored bay and two were colored buckskin.  They are made of alder wood with bodies that are 24" long from chest to rump.  They have real horse hair as well.  I sold one of the bays and my children would like me to make some more so each of them can have one for their families.  My grandkids love to ride them.

A Little Wildlife Sculpture

About a year and a half ago I got excited about combining some wildlife sculpture with some natural wood elements.  Here are a few pictures of about 40 different creations I did that summer.

This is a desert gecco under a manzanita branch.  They are mounted on a black walnut base.  All of these pieces are created with manzanita and black walnut (finding the right branch or stump and chunk of walnut takes a lot of time - not to mention the work it takes to finish them).  I sculpt the critter or bird with clay.  Then I make a mold, cast it in resin and hand paint the animal.  This gecco under an arch sells for $195.00.

This mourning dove and the next two are selling for $245.00 each.  All of the animals are life size.  Each of these three pieces is about 12" to 14" high.

The next two mourning doves are mounted to larger pieces of manzanita.  The shorter one is about 16" high and sells for $350.00.  The taller one is about 21" high and sells for $395.00.

To add a couple of notes about the manzanita and the black walnut:
The manzanita is dead and weathered gray when I find it.  Most of it has been burned in brush fires.  I have to thoroughly clean the surface and seal it to bring out the beautiful color you see here.
The black walnut is from down in the root area of the log.  Because its from the roots, it is very burled and rustic.  I clean it up using saws, planers, sanders and dremil tools.  It is then sealed to bring out the rich color.

I'm Oil Painting Again

When I say I'm oil painting again, I mean I haven't painted with oils for about 50 years or so.  Way back then I became frustrated with oil painting.  I would do a painting but it would never look as good as I thought it should.  The last oil painting I did was when I was about 18 years old.  It was a portrait of my girl friend at the time.  She married someone else.  I wonder if that's why I stopped oil painting....hmmmm.

The first oil painting I did after all those years is the one you see here.  My lovely daughter, Kristen, asked me to paint this picture while my wife and I were visiting her family in Washington last September.  She had purchased the canvas and wanted to know what medium I wanted to paint it in.  I had been thinking about getting started in oils again, so we went out a bought a small kit with a few colors and a few brushes.  Three days later Kristen had a new painting for her house.  She wanted to put it above the mantle you see above my head, but I think she has since put it in the master bedroom.  I'll bet she needs another painting for the mantle.

Upon returning home I went to work building an easle to paint on.  When the amazingly beautiful and functional easle was completed, I purchased some oil paints and brushes and started some smaller landscape paintings.  This meadow is the first one I painted.  It is 9"x12".  I am selling it for $135.00 unframed.

I have always loved paintings and photos of old barns so I collected a bunch of reference and painted a couple of small ones.  This painting is also 9:x12".  I am selling it for $135.00 unframed also.

Here is another small painting of an old barn with large trees and grasses.  This scene reminds me of late summer.  This painting is 11"x14".  I am selling it for $190.00 unframed.

I love to draw horses

The first thing I remember drawing when I was about five or six years old was a horse.  I wanted to own a horse from the time I was just a little boy.  I rode horses a lot during my youth, but was never able to own one.  I raised other animals but never a horse.  My favorite horses are quarter horses, thoroughbreds, and Arabians.  I love the build, and quickness of a quarter horse.  I love the speed of a thoroughbred.  I love the dished head and large eyes of an arabian.  I love their stamina.

I found a picture on the internet of this black horse.  It is supposed to be a quarter horse, but it has the head of a thoroughbred.  I love it's form as it gallops through an open field of wildflowers.  I painted it in colored pencil.  The painting is about 12"x15".  I did the painting on 17.5" x 23" high rag content white paper so the large white field around the painting can be part of the matting when it is framed.  I am excited to get prints made.  I haven't decided on a sales price for the original yet, but probably around $250 or so. 
11"x14" prints will likely be $45.

Quail Gallery

With the beginning of a new year, and with lots of enthusiasm and a little fear and trepidation, I introduce a new blog for my fine art creations.  This site will contain some of my former creations and many of my new pieces as they are created.  Many of these works, or reproductions of them, are for sale.  Many have been sold as original works or in some cases have been sold as reproductions.  I work in a variety of mediums and enjoy them all.  I hope you will enjoy my works of art and perhaps add a few to your collections.

I usually create at least one piece each year that I call my seasonal piece.  The oil painting I did this past Christmas is of Santa Claus showing reverence to the Christ Child.  It's not a new idea, but I'm unaware of any other quite like it.  The original is oil on canvas and is 20" wide and 24" high.  It is for sale for $575.00 unframed, and $700.00 framed.  I have 8"x10" prints that are matted to 11"x14" I'm selling for $35.00.  Shipping costs vary depending on the carrier and distance.  The average shipping cost is about $8.00 for the matted prints.

This is a pencil drawing I did for Christmas, 1998.  I did it as a Christmas gift for friends and family.  It became the composition for the oil painting above it.

For Christmas, 2009 I created a computer illustration of Santa searching for the Christ Child.  I created it from a watercolor painting I did in 1998.  The original watercolor is 22" wide by 28" high.  Currently I am selling 8'x10" prints of this computer illustration for $30 with a matte.  The matte size is 11"x14".  I'm considering selling the original, or at least prints of the original, but haven't done so yet.  The original watercolor is framed and really ads to the true spirit of Christmas, as even Santa is focused on finding the Christ Child.