The Garden

The Garden - 21" x 24", oil, ink & watercolor pencil on Maple
click image to see it larger

The last piece in the series of tattooed ladies. Although I seem to have become strangely addicted to the tattoos  so I don't think this series has ended. I suppose I would call this more of a phase than a series.

 I consider this piece to be the best work that I've ever done. This feeling is a little daunting though.  In a perfect world, I would think that each new piece should be better than the last, but instead I feel like I just get lucky. Since I did these three paintings relatively quickly, I have learned from each piece vital things that I have carried in to the next. My previous piece, Eternal Summer, I wasn't entirely satisfied with how the skin turned out, as I found it difficult to use the oils on top of the primer. For this piece, as an experiment I applied the GAC 100 everywhere but the skin portion: 

I love the way the raw wood soaks up the oils; it makes them dry much quicker that way. I also paint in very thin layers and use linseed oil, which also aids in a faster drying time. The quicker the oil dries, the quicker I get to draw the tattoos! 

As you may know, I am usually the model for my paintings. I find that this way I have the most control over the direction of the piece, and I also don't feel any weird pressure to make it look like anyone specific. I don't try and make my ladies look like me, though sometimes it's kind of inevitable. This time around, I wanted to make her face very different from the others, so I did. She's modeled after Lara Stone, whom I adore.

The butterfly tattoo in her early stages. That afternoon the sunlight joined me through the blinds and warmed my hands.


  

Anyway, I'm strange. I work really quickly and sometimes I think I need to slow down. If I spend more than two weeks on a piece I seem to lose inspiration and I wont work on it any longer. I'm a maniac and will paint nonstop if I have to, while the window of inspiration is still open. If I wait too long, my mind and heart wander to other ideas, other patterns, figures, shapes..
Oils and I have rekindled our romance and I think I'm going to continue this love affair. I have many projects that I do need to be working on, but I'm tempted to just glue myself to my easel and not resurface for a week. Alright, so not the best idea.

xo,
C

floral birds part II

8" x 10" Watercolor & ink 

Last night I was doodling and couldn't help drawing more flowery birds! One of my shows coming up is garden themed, so I thought this would fit.  I love combining patterns and mediums, kind of like a drawn collage. I'm working on a little floral fox right now, which I can't wait to show you. I'm totally hooked on drawing with watercolors! It was especially enjoyable last night; drawing, listening to some old music that made me feel really nostalgic, sipping on some green tea matcha and a kitten snoozing on my lap. Although, kitten has been a little psycho lately. He likes climbing up Joe's back while he's working, so now has all these little red dots from kitten claws. Awww. But I did give Joey a haircut the other day.
Muahaha. Clippers are fun.

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 Also.. Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on my Facebook giveaway drawing. And it's not too late to participate! Here is the link to the drawing, just leave a little comment and then I'll be randomly selecting a name and announcing the winner tomorrow morning (PST), so stay tuned!.

Thank you for being such sweethearts, it's really encouraging and you all keep me so inspired!
I really wish I could give each and every one of you a drawing.

Happy 4th of July! Alright, I'll stop blogging now, time to BBQ!
xoxo,
Charmaine

Facebook Drawing Giveaway!

Hello my lovelies! 

I'm doing a little giveaway on my Facebook of this brand new drawing! It's an 8" x 8" watercolor and ink drawing, and it can be yours! If you haven't already, just click "Like" at the top of the page, leave a little comment on this piece, and I'll randomly select a name and announce a winner on Monday. Thank you for all your support and kind words!
xoxoxo,
Charmaine

Flower Boat

Boat!

Kitten paws! He's taken a liking to sleeping on laptops, and sometimes my artwork. The other day we come home and lil Finnegan had typed a message to my friend and Neil Young was playing on iTunes. What a keeper.

Have a lovely week my beauties! 

Love,

Charmaine

summer lovin'

sunny sunshine.

Oh, and we got a kitten today! Oh my goodness, he is the most adorable thing ever. Expect a ridiculously long kitten photo post tomorrow. Like whoa.

SKULL SQUARE

eeeeeeee! little skull flowers!

8" x 8" - Watercolor on Canson watercolor paper

(click image to see it larger )

This little guy is my favorite.

And no, I haven't forgotten about my 50 States series. I've just gotten a little distracted with my newfound love for watercolors and teeny skulls. 

more flowers + upcoming shows

Wow, I am seriously on a flower kick right now.

watercolor and india ink on Canson watercolor paper

Here's a little preview of something I'm working on. 

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I also have two upcoming solo shows in SF. One in July and one in September, more details soon!
I hope your holiday weekend was lovely, the sun showed it's face for a day or so, and now it's back to the feeling like it's November. Drat.

flower balloon and a pretty song

A flowery hot air balloon, for your warm summer days.

Here, listen. I'm so in love with this song:

Anna - Taken By Trees

Flowers + Quilts

Progress shot

I am falling in love more and more with watercolors.

Flower Anchor

Floral anchors don't work very well.

I had a mini artistic epiphany today. I've always felt very limited with watercolors because I love drawing intricate lines and found that difficult to do. So today I decided to experiment! I dipped my ink pen in some watercolor and tried drawing with it. It actually worked really well and we able to make the thin lines that I love so much! Can't wait to draw some birdies! So excited!!
❤