Feeling Handsy

Still working on wooden canvases. I'm enjoying using my hands more in making art. Obviously working in photoshop requires hands too, but somehow it's not the same.  It's nice to put a pencil on a surface and whatever mark it makes is the one you're stuck with.  No erasing, line smoothing, adjusting.  It's honest.

This is a series done on pieces of balsa wood.  I also have a surfboard made out of balsa wood. It seems like there's a connection between sea & summer and balsa. So this series is a happy, bright set. Simple patterns and warm summer colors.

They're about 4 x 6 and are in my Etsy shop. Each one is matted in a bright white mat.

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I did a design that I submitted to Threadless a couple years ago called "Best Knot Sail Here."  Part of it was a happy whale character that I really liked. A lot of times I'll have these characters that are cool on their own, but need to be developed more to make a good design.  This guy was one of them, and I didn't know what to do with him.

So I tried painting him in watercolor in my next wooden block piece and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I'm slightly less happy that I can't take a photo that makes it look as good as it does in person... but that's how it goes.  Still, he makes me want to do a series of sea creatures.  I'm going through my sketchbooks to find all the other abandoned critters from the past.

"Depths Below"
8 x 12 Watercolor and graphite.

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