Origami Crane Sketch

nfs

And back to the around-the-house wildlife. I really do hope we'll be moving out in the country somewhere when our lease comes up... at the end of March. Life is about to get really outrageously busy for a while.

#1154

Beaver Skull Sketch

nfs

I'm glad this is just a sketch! The idea was to show something that really, really wasn't a cow skull in the traditional cow skull way, but it just ended up looking weird :-/

#1154

Cat Skull Sketch

nfs

Ah, the things that hang around an artist's house... the teddy bear yesterday was Nugget's. This is one of the million things I have around the house that I really want to paint, but it's a hard one to pose.

#1153

Peek a Boo

5"x7"
Orchids form the most graceful arches... it's nice :)

Teddy Bear in the Curtains

sketchbook

nfs

The type of wildlife we get here in the apartment :D

#1152

Ocelot WIP

18"x24"

wip

I hope I'm not jinxing this by showing an in-progress shot- that's what usually happens, but these cats were just so irresistably beautiful I jumped right in on the painting..... and the spots were so crazy that I had to do a pretty detailed drawing!

#1151

Elephant Sketch

nfs

Finally putting some paint down! I was amzed by how red the rhinos and elephants were- I guess because of dusting themselves in the red North Carolina clay.

#1150

Lemur Sketch II

nfs

I think I'm starting to get more comfortable with the critter sketches.... It's messed up, you'd think that if you can draw you can draw anything, but nope. At least not for me.

#1149

Lemur Sketch

nfs

And a lemur sketch. They're really cool little critters... like little cat people or something. Hyperactive cat people.

#1148

Bobcat Sketch

nfs

Went to the zoo today! It was so much fun.... I'll probably be sketching from that all this week... way outside of my comfort zone! The bobcats were one of my favorites, probobly because the tiny princess kept calling them kitties and trying to pet them through the glass :)

#1147

Spoon Reflections

6"x8"

click here for purchase info

Beautiful, sunshiny, blessedly warm day... and reflections to paint!

#1146

Foreshortening

6"x8"

sold

Ah, the challenge of this perspective... gotta love it :)

#1145

Canada Geese

6"x8"

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Enjoyed yesterday's so much... the water looks warmer today, though. Yay, springtime!

#1143

Canada Goose

6"x8"

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Something from the trip to Duke Gardens the other day- isn't that green fantastic? And it's nice doing a picture of something different...

#1142

Lime Green

3"x5"

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Bright and sunshiney :)

#1141

Wolfsbane

12"x16"

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And a skull piece. I love painting bone, and skulls are pretty much universally beautiful. The teeth will drive you absolutely up the wall, trying to get the details right (what was I thinking posing the lower jaw like that) but the eye sockets are always so gracefully formed it brings everything back together again :)

#1140

Ultramarine

9"x12"

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Sorry this is getting posted a day late! The tiny princess is still being high maintenance, poor thing.... she's in the living room trying to wake her Daddy up from a nap on the couch right now. Yep, I'm having a super-romantic Valentine's Day :)

I LOVE doing these reliquary pieces! Mad time-consuming, but so complete and meaningful-feeling....

#1139

Drifting

6"x8"

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Can't stay to gossip- Nugget is grumpy (teething) :-/

#1138

Evening on the Sound

8"x10"

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Still missing summer. It's supposed to be in the seventies this time next week, though, so there's hope....

Oh, and this is really exciting! North Carolina State University did an article about me and my art (my art and I?) and if you'd like to check it out, here's the link: http://www.ncsu.edu/www/ncsu/design/sod5/designlife/2011/01/27/alumni-profile-kellie-marian-hill/

#1137

Sunset over the Rooftops

6"x8"

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I miss summer...

#1136

Sunshine

12"x16"

available

And another one I realized I hadn't shared, and absolutely had to. I'm thinking about changing the light on the vertical foreground, making it seem more... I dunno, just better somehow, and maybe adding some detail to other parts of the peel, but the orange peel that is obviously the focal point, that curve that jumps out at you.... isn't that so much fun! I love how the texture came out!

#1135

Walking Tall

6"x18"

sold

I was digging around in the computer (trying to be a little more organized, though I know that to be a basically hopeless case....) and realized that somehow I never shared this piece with you guys! Simply had to remedy that situation :)

#1134

Sea Glass and Key Shadow

9"x12"

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I love doing these detail-oriented pieces! Like where the wood is weathered, where your fingers would rub against it as you turned the key to unlock the box? And the bubbles in the glass sphere? And the scars and age on the wood, and the way you can actually tell the wood in the background is pine? Oh, that stuff makes me so happy!

Yes, I'm a total dork. I know.

But it is cool, letting a painting evolve like this. Like the blue color of the box? Total surprise to me- I just kept glazing and experimenting and tinkering until suddenly it felt right, you know?

#1133

Blue

6"x8"

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Yes, I'm posting in the middle of the Superbowl. Don't worry, Dearly Beloved is calling the Baby and I in for the particularly funny commercials :)

This dog just makes me smile. And I'm so glad I went ahead with the stripes on the ears- it just didn't click until that point, curiously enough....

#1131

One Little Lady Apple

6"x6"

sold

And back to those adorable little apples! Anyone have any idea what the rules are for germinating apple seeds? I'm sure this is incredibly silly of me, but I'm saving the seeds :)

#1131

Silver Ball

6"x8"

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hm.... I'm doing some revisiting of themes here, aren't I? I don't think that's a bad thing, though if anyone has anything they'd particularly like to seen done as a daily I'd probably appreciate the ideas :D

#1130

Tea Close Up

6"x8"

sold

More tea! Something warm, since it went and got cold again today...

#1129

... sharing a failure...

gah!

Tea Portrait II - The Maypole

6"x8"

sold

Hello, everybody! Prettiest day ever... I know spring isn't here, but it sure feels like it! Maybe this title came from a bit of premature spring fever... but I think it was the floral pattern of the teacup circling around the upright of that wonderful spoon.

If you've got a thing for tea, I recently discovered a fun blog all about it- actually, she discovered me, but I'm following her now too :) http://teatimetales.blogspot.com/

#1128

Tea Potrait I - Walking Softly

6"x8"

sold

Hellooooo, February! This is one part of a two part commission (I'll be sharing the pther part tomorrow) that I really wanted to share- they just came out so well! I've never painted the little painted-on floral details that come on teacups sometimes, and I was scared to death of it this time, but... it's a nice feeling, doing those details. Making it a for-real portrait of the particular teacup with the for real spoon that goes with it....

#1127