The theme for the acrylic challenge in October was autumn. I painted this view from the hydro line in the Duck Mountains. In the distance you can see the grain elevator in my home town. 14x11"
The fantasy/sci-fi challenge was Halloween and I painted this dragon carving a pumpkin. I believe I used Procreate on iPad for this. It still needs some work.
The November acrylic challenge was to paint something inspired by the Hudson River School. They often painted grand landscapes with a lot of distance framed by strong verticals. I wanted to use one of my own references and chose this scene. I don't think I really captured the feel of the Hudson River paintings though but then I also made it more challenging by painting it very small, 2.5x3.5".
I did another digital painting for Resource Factory Tycoon. This was a limited time painting available in the game in December.
In December I took part in a gift exchange in the fantasy/sci-fi forum. Names were drawn randomly and I painted this for a guy who had been a member in both the sci-fi/fantasy and the acrylic forums for some time. While thinking about what to paint for him I thought of a painting he had started of a lady in front of a swimming pool. I thought he might enjoy my version of a lady by a pool. This was done in acrylics, 7x5".
In January the challenge in both forums was to paint something inspired by a song. I didn't come up with something that would really fit the fantasy/sci-fi forum but I did do something in acrylics, just a little 4x4" painting for fun. Can you figure out what the song was?
If you haven't guessed, keep reading. And yes, I own sparkly gold shoes.
The February acrylic challenge was fun with vegetables. Something made me decide to paint an owl made of fruits and vegetables. 5x7"
In March I did two challenges. The acrylic challenge was to paint something based on your favourite quote. I thought of something Monet said... I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.
10x8"
The fantasy/sci-fi challenge was to paint your true self. This is me, head in the clouds and clouds in my head. Done with Painter 2017.
In April I was doing some beadwork, trying to make beaded eggs. It was difficult because it's hard to find instructions in English and everyone else uses slightly bigger beads than I have. I just wanted to try it out though. The first one really took a long time.
This one was quicker but I ended up covering an egg with clay to make the design fit.
Also did a quick sketch for the fantasy/sci-fi challenge, which was historical monsters. I prefer to do something cute so I drew Cerberus as a puppy.
And this month I did both challenges. The theme for the fantasy/sci-fi challenge was nature. I have been playing a game on Roblox called Fantastic Frontier which has some interesting plants, usually quite blocky in shape, and I thought it would be fun to try to paint some of the mushrooms in the game in a more realistic shape. Done with Painter 2017.
The acrylic challenge theme was Vermeer. After someone found a painting of a meerkat with a pearl earring I got my inspiration.. Dachshund With a Pearl Earring. I used my dog Diamond as the model. The hardest part was getting her to post just right. After many tries I finally got a decent reference but she was looking away so I had to make some adjustments to the eyes. This is 3.5" square.
This is how it looks in the frame.
Oh, and the song was Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes by Paul Simon.
