ILLUSTRATED PHOTO MAT: Garden Buffet (Snails!)

Lest you think the flowers are the subject of this mat, look again!

I've had MANY people tell me they love the cat illustrations I did, and would I please do something in a similar style for [enter other animal type here].  I don't take commissions (yet?), but I'm always amenable to a suggestion for future work!

So, a friend asked me to do something with snails.  I actually had a very different plan for the snails, which is still in the sketchbook waiting to be transferred to a photo mat, but somewhere between there and the actual inking I kept coming back to this over-the-top almost-abstract idea for snails in a flower bed.  As you can see, I went with the color bomb.

As a result of their VAST reduction in size, the detail in the snails was dialed waaaay back.

[Never fear, snail-lovers!  You, too, will have your zany cartoon snails . . . just not so much in this illustration.]

Here's an extreme close up:

Each snail is about 1/4" in diameter on the actual mat.

STUFF I PAINTED: Apple Blossom Crowns

Here ye!  Here ye!
These are the bee's knees AND the dog's bollocks!  In American Engligh that translates as: AWESOME²

My town has an annual spring celebration called Apple Blossom, which is not unlike a pink and green Mardi Gras with slightly less nakedness and fewer moon pies.  We usually have a swarm of A and B-list celebrities come through, and some celebrity offspring is crowned the Apple Blossom Queen (local pageant winners are the court princesses).  The circus AND the carnival hit town, waaaay too much carnie food and 50-gal drums of liquored fruit are consumed.  Thrills, spills, golf tournies, parades, buffet lunches, discos.  It's a complete mess . . . I love it!

I found these plain cast iron hooks on super-sale at Hobby Lobby (I think) and KNEW they needed to be painted.  Over a year later I rediscovered them buried in with my (rarely used) painting supplies and gave them a make-over.  Not bad (says I) for my first forays into under-painting and tonal values!

I have three.  What doesn't sell at the Boundless Bazaar (July 12 - 13 here in Winchester) will be hawked on Etsy.  Perfect for any Apple Blossom Princess!

ILLUSTRATED PHOTO MAT: Wheat & Lavender

Wheat & Lavender.  Pen & Ink on mat board.  2014

Two of my friends were married this summer in the Outer Banks, NC; this was the guest book.

I was given the following parameters: simple, beachy, natural elements, shiny periwinkle blue ribbon, must fit an 8 x 10 photo.  Viola!

My favourite part of this illustration?  Interestingly, it's the "plain" section of image with the browns, yellows, and greens of the stems with the blue ribbon . . . something about the color blending and combo of hues turned out perfectly.

Here's a few close ups:

ILLUSTRATED PHOTO MATS: Kittens and Charley

Charley.  Pen & Ink on mat board.  2014

Kittens.  Pen & Ink on mat board.  2014

For the true cat aficionado!  [Heh!]

All my cat illustrations are based on actual cats that [I own?] keep showing up at my house.  Please don't ask how many, only know they are all fixed, unadoptable, and rather like cartoons in motion . . . I just decided to capture the cartoon part of it all.

I kept messing around with the cat illustrations, trying to find some sort of groove that felt right: loose and fun, adaptable to movement and variations in each cat, yet with a zany "Bill the Cat" quality that suits so many of their personalities.  In case you don't know Bill the Cat, here he is:

Borrowed from the Interwebs

[I have one cat that resembles Bill, but only on brushing day with an OD on catnip.  Otherwise, he could be the star of his own animated "if cats were slightly tweaked college frat boys" series. . . which he will have.]

Anywho.  Yes, I am working on developing this style a little further, and yes there will be other cats introduced, and no, they will not all be on photo mats.  Some of them (like Charley) have their own mini stories on the to-do list.

In the meantime, here's a few close-ups of these first two illustrated mats:

Charley.  Yes, RL Charley has a perennial look of worry on his mug; he's the low man on the totem pole in our group.

Junior (L) and Snook (R).  Snook (shown actual size, ha!) is the feline equivalent of a Mogwai.  Really.  Also Charley's litter mate (brother).