Recently I’ve been wanting to paint just simple images from around my house. I take comfort in these images of my everyday trinkets, and the block-style of painting I have been doing again recently, with patterns and bright colors, is a style I have always found therapeutic to paint.

As a full-time veterinarian, unfortunately I am around death more than the average person. It is emotionally tolling for sure, but the silver lining is the gift of gratitude for everyday things. Our pets age so much more quickly than us. The silver lining I take from that, is that every moment is precious, and that staying present is essential. That is what these seemingly mundane subjects remind me of when I look at them. I also see the gloriousness of the downtime I had in order to paint them and am reminded what a gift that is. I am sentimental, but it is true.

My last painting, Lady Planter, I documented some of the works-in-progress, and I thought it may interest someone to see them.

So, here they are…

I have no idea if anyone will find this interesting…

Reference picture.

Does anyone else end up with 1 billion of the same, same, but different picture on their phone because maybe that 1 mm difference in the angle makes it great, not good?

Maybe it’s just me.

Side note for those wondering: In the end, the 1 mm did not matter… Why am I like this?

First progress picture.

I drew the planter and the leaves free hand, and then painted them using water color and acrylic paint pen. I then marked down where I wanted the windowsill to run and filled in the background, also using watercolor, with the colors being as dilute as possible in order to help the planter and leaves pop out more brightly, as I wasn’t sure how I wanted to portray the background out of the window yet.

Second progress picture.

Even though it seemed a little busy at first, I decided to paint the leaves through the window using watercolor, with bits of sky popping through represented by blue pointillism using gel pen. I also used a gel pen to draw rays representing the sun pouring in through the window. Through this window in my house specifically, during certain times of day, I get beautiful sunbeams catching little bits of dust in the air.

the untaping video

🤤

the untaping video 🤤

One of my favorite parts …

I find that taking the tape off of my watercolor paintings is one of the most satisfying parts before the finished work.

But wait, then I get to start the

mixed media…

I have never officially embroidered before (only doing random stitch work I made up on previous paintings), so I bought several embroidery books to help me. I planned out the different stitches I wanted to try and where I wanted to use them to create a little texture in the finished piece.

I had a lot of fun with this part. Experimenting with new things in my artwork is the best, and I love adding beading and embroidery. It’s just that little extra flare that I love. I try not to make the mixed media additions too overwhelming. I like my flare subtle, so you have to pay attention and lean in close to notice.