Patti's Page

Illustration Friday Topic-Forward

2012-01-28T11:51:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of moving forward at a good pace I selected this image for the topic Forward. This is oils on board. I don't know why, but I like giving characters red hair.

Scotts Valley Artisans

2012-01-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

The Scotts Valley Artisans store is having their grand opening party on Feb 4. I have several of the pieces from the Two Can art line up in prints, cards and t-shirts and have also been doing some clay to put in the store. The clay has been really fun. I've been working with paper clay and clay polymer. I used to do a lot of hand building so the clay is a really comfortable medium. This is a bit of a departure from what I've been doing. Here are some pics of the display and also some of the clay things.

Illustration Friday Topic-Twirl

2012-01-21T15:29:00.000-08:00

Here is a watercolor painting of a porcine ballerina mid twirl.I was just playing around with creating characters, and a dancing pig seemed like a good idea.

Illustration Friday Topic-Prepare

2012-01-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Everything taste better when you prepare it with chocolate chips! This is watercolor on illustration board.

More Samples

2011-11-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

This is the last of the group of characters that were licensed for product. This guy is huge. Around 40". This is based on the characters from Amanda and Max.

Illustration Friday Topic-Vanity

2011-11-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

Here is an example of beauty being in the eye of the beholder. This is a watercolor I did for a portfolio piece for children's books.I really love creating characters.

Stripes and Polka Dots

2011-11-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well the topic for Illustration Friday is Stripes. I just got samples of some of the product that I licensed and was planning on putting photos here. Since the are striped and polka dotted I thought I would do it for the topic as well. Here are the dogs and cats in stripes and polka dots. They are in stores for Christmas. I love getting samples.

Illustration Friday Topic-Scary

2011-10-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

This is an image of a scary pirate from a story I wrote. It's done in watercolors on board. It's fun to come up with characters.

Samples of 3-Ds

2011-10-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

I just got the samples for the characters I did. I think they came out really cute. I have some other items I still need to photograph, but thought I'd go ahead and share these.

Illustration Friday Topic-Fuel

2011-10-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

Who needs to fire up the barbie when you have your own fuel? This is an oils on gessoed board.
Just for fun.

Illustration Friday Topic-Scattered

2011-10-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

This is a watercolor I did of my nieces Hannah and Mara as they played among the scattered leaves.

Illustration Friday Topic- Hibernate

2011-10-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

This is one of the Two Can Art images I did with my son Noah. It's one of my favorites. This guy is looking for a nice warm place to curl up into on a cold winter twilight.

Illustration Friday Topic-Ferocious

2011-09-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

This is a jaguar painting I did a while back. It is in watercolor. I really love the look of big cats, but wouldn't want to run into one in the wild. Where we live there are mountain lions that make appearances. I haven't seen one myself although I have seen bobcats.This images seemed to fit the topic. They are beautiful creatures and I respect their wildness.

Art Hanging at the Silver Spur in Soquel.

2011-09-07T17:37:00.000-07:00

I just finished hanging art up at the Silver Spur, a local eatery in Soquel. If you are in the area be sure to stop by. They have a great menu and it is a wonderful place to hang art. My work will be up for 2 months there. I also did a little section of Two Can Art prints. The prints came out really great. I did these on canvas. Hope you can go and enjoy the food and the work. Here's a preview of what's hanging.

Illustration Friday Topic-Mysterious

2011-09-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

It's always interesting to see the things that people save as mementos to remind them of an event that was important to them. To the outsider it may have no value at all and the mysterious importance of the item would be lost to them. I think it's nice to pass along the stories that go with these saved mysterious items to the generations that follow.
This image is in oils on board and was done for a story with those thoughts in mind.

Illustration Friday Topic-Influence

2011-08-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

I love to do paintings where the influence of light is dramatic. I love the outcome of natural light and how it works with shapes. This is a watercolor I did of one of our cats sunning herself.

Illustration Friday Topic-Imperfect

2011-08-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

This is an image of a fairy tale gone wrong.Not exactly what a boy would expect when picking up a frog to examine. To him an imperfect encounter.

Illustration Friday Topic-Obsession

2011-07-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

I think most people have a soft spot for incredibly delicious chocolate. I got a real love of it after biking through Holland and Germany years ago. There were some incredibly good chocolates there. It was great that I was biking. I could eat it and then ride it off. The great thing about doing this painting is that I got to eat the reference! It's oils on canvas.

Illustration Friday Topic-Gesture

2011-07-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

This is an image I did for a story that I wrote. The muse for the characters was my grandmother and her sisters. When they would get together, they would laugh and tell stories about things they remembered as children. It was always fun to listen in. I loved painting this and had a lot of fun making the shapes in the clouds and hair. ( a little self indulgent) This was the first image that came to mind for the topic,gesture as they did as much talking with their hands as the did verbally.

Illustration Friday Topic- Stay

2011-07-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

I did this image for the International Humane Society. These are creatures we want to STAY on this earth.

The Humane Society brings attention of their plight to light. The image was made into cards. It is done in oils on board.

Illustration Friday Topic- Remedy

2011-07-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

I had several ideas for remedy, but thought I'd limit it to these two images. I think going to the beach on a warm summer day can be a remedy for anything that ails you, and if that doesn't work a nice cold pink cocktail!
These are both images from the Two Can Art collection. (see post below)

Two Can Art E-Commerce Blog

2011-06-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

I am excited to announce the Two Can Art e-commerce blog. The blog has several images that can be made into giclee prints on demand. They will be printed on high end art paper and signed. These are all images that I did with my son Noah's painted textures. Noah is autistic and loves to paint. After he finishes his paintings I scan them into my computer, then I fuse them with design. It is really interesting to do work where I am limited to only using those textures. It has been really fun and I think that the fact that the images are just those textures gives the collection a really cohesive look. My licensing agent is representing Two Can Art as well as my individual work. Noah continues to do lots of painting, so I am sure we will be adding to these images. I am really thrilled that this is something that we share and love to do.

Illustration Friday Topic- Launch

2011-06-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

This is an image I did for a children's book I wrote. I have the dummy all done for it. I am thinking about doing an e-book. It was fun coming up with the friendly aliens.

Illustration Friday Topic- Swept

2011-06-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

There's something wonderful about being swept up in a moment of joy. I think dogs are wonderful at this. This is a painting in oils on masonite. I did it just for the joy of it.

Illustration Friday Topic- Asleep

2011-05-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

I did this image after reading a book about American Indians and dream interpretations. I liked the idea of having the warm tones of the boy against the cool tones of the night and illustrating his dream in those night tones. The image is oils on board.

Illustration Friday Topic- Soaked

2011-05-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

I thought this image seemed to fit the topic soaked. It was just a fun thing that I did a while back. I was playing around with characters and wanted to do something sort of funny. I did some t-shirts that said welcome to the food chain.

Illustration Friday Topic- Safari

2011-05-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

I did this painting recently. It's oils on masonite. Love the big cats.

Illustration Friday Topic- Lesson

2011-04-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

One of the first lessons as a kid that you learn is to share. This image is from Amanda and Max, Friends. (my e-book) I'm not sure if the lesson is learned here since the sharing is inadvertent.

Launch of Two Can Art

2011-04-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to announce the launch of Two Can Art. This is a collaboration between myself and my son, Noah who is autistic. Noah has always loved to paint. He really enjoys the incredibly tactile experience that it gives him, and creates wonderful textures using brush, fingers, sponges and even bubbles. I have always thought they were wonderful and that it would be great to fuse his textures with design. I have been scanning his paintings into my computer and have a large group to work from. We now have a whole line of images that are entirely his textures and my design. My licensing agent, JMS Art Licensing,llc has just put the collection up on her website and she will also be showing the work at Surtex in New York in May. Here is her website link. http://www.jmsartlicensing.com/two_can_art/
The images are bright and fun. They cover a range of themes from beach and animals to florals and holiday. When I show Noah the finished designs I get wide smiles back.

Illustration Friday Topic- Duet

2011-04-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

This is an image that was actually a commission. It is oils on canvas. It is only the 2nd realistic horse painting I have done and I amazed at how beautiful these creatures are.

Illustration Friday Topic- Toy

2011-03-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

This is an image that I did with a story in mind. Imagine exploring your town on the back of your stuffed purple elephant (with wings) toy.

NEW E-BOOK IS OUT! animals MUST BE is now available.

2011-03-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

I am really excited to announce that my new e-book animals MUST BE is now available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This has been in the works for a while, and was a (rather long) labor of love. I enjoy painting animals, and this book is full of them. A special thanks goes to my wonderful writing critique group.
What's really great about the Amazon and Barnes and Noble sites is that they have apps, so that the book can be put on other devices as well as Kindle and Nook. The apps make it possible to put them on pcs, phones, droid devices and i-pads.This whole technical adventure has been interesting. I am now delving into the world of marketing. I am a cave (studio) dwelling creature, so this is a new thing for me. I am always open to creative ideas regarding this and welcome any input. It is a challenge, but it's also great to learn new things.

Illustration Friday Topic- Cultivate

2011-03-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

I love the variety and colors of tulips. They are my favorite flower and are such a wonderful beginning to the season of
beginnings, Spring. They are also really great to paint.

Flag Samples Came

2011-03-11T16:17:00.000-08:00

I just got my spring flag and mailbox cover samples. Now it feels like Spring!

Illustration Friday Topic- Danger

2011-03-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

This is a painting of a young elephant seal. One of the writers in my critique group wrote a great story about this adorable creature and I was inspired. One of the grave dangers for them are sharks. There is a place in California, Ana Nuevo where you can go and see these extraordinary creatures. It is incredible.Here's a link to the park. http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=1115

Amanda and Max, Friends Blog Article

2011-03-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

There is a really great article about my e-book, Amanda and Max, Friends on the Kate Harper Design Blog.
http://kateharperblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-publish-childrens-e-book-one.html

illustration Friday Topic-Swarm 2

2011-02-26T11:34:00.000-08:00

After seeing my bees posted I was informed that I probably had something better to fit the topic. It was suggested that I post the koi fish painting I have. It is truly a swarm. This is an oil painting on Masonite. I love the brilliant color and textures of these fish. It was an exercise for me regarding how water works and light and how things look under water.

Illustration Friday Topic-Swarm

2011-02-26T11:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, technically this isn't exactly a swarm, but they are bees and bees do swarm. I think if these bees did, it would only be to give you honey.

Illustration Friday Topic-layers

2011-02-22T13:02:00.000-08:00

I've been busy working on a new book, so I thought I'd pull this image out of the archives.One of the first things I think of with the word layers is onions. I did this painting after buying these beautiful onions at the farmers market. It's oils on canvas. I just loved the colors in these and enjoyed painting and eating them!

Amanda and Max Friends is an E-book

2011-02-12T16:38:00.000-08:00

Amanda and Max Friends is now an e-book for young children. It is about an orange tabby cat and a wee dachshund pup exploring what it is to be a friend. I am really excited about this. I have been reading about all the changes that are happening in the book industry and this seemed like the right thing for me to do. The book is priced at $2.99 so that it will be inexpensive for parents to put on their reading devices for kids. I think this would be great if you are traveling with a young child instead of bringing a ton of books along.I am also starting a blog that will be in the voice of Amanda and Max with hopefully fun things for kids. I plan on putting coloring pages up. The first thing I did was an interview. The address for the new blog is http://amandaandmax.blogspot.com/. I will keep you all posted on how this venture is going.

Illustration Friday Topic-reverse

2011-02-04T15:57:00.001-08:00

Hey, does this thing go in reverse? Just playing around with creating a character in watercolor.

Illustration Friday Topic-chicken

2011-01-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

The chicken dances alone at this ho down. Does that mean he's doing the chicken dance? I did this image a while ago just for fun.

Illustration Friday Topic-Resolutions

2011-01-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

My resolution is to eat at least 1 vegetable a day. Does tomato sauce on pizza count? This image is oils on canvas. I was interested in doing something with a strong light source and a mix of the warms and cools in colors that work together.

Illustration Friday Topic-Winter

2010-12-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

I did this image a while ago. A bit of a whimsical take on winter and all the little creatures that inhabit the landscape. Our winter is a bit different. We are getting rain. Winter means green. I did however live in the white stuff for quite a few years. I like looking at pictures of it. Happy Holidays to all.

Illustration Friday Topic-Mail

2010-12-20T11:05:00.000-08:00

I did this illustration a while ago as part of a story idea I was putting together. It is done in oils on illustration board. I think it fits the Illustration topic, mail. I had fun creating the characters.

Illustration Friday Topic-Phenomenon

2010-12-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

I thought considering the time of year that this image would be a good choice to represent the topic phenomenon. This was a really fun piece to paint. I love painting both animals and Santa so it seemed like a good combo at the time. Hey, they are both at the North Pole so why not?

Illustration Friday Topic-Prehistoric

2010-12-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

I thought it might be fun to think of those toy dinosaurs coming to life. Image having a 5" T Rex as your birthday gift after the paper has been torn off.

Illustration Friday Topic-Savour

2010-11-26T15:35:00.000-08:00

During the holidays there are all kinds of wonderful treats to savour. Anything chocolate fits the category in my mind.

Santa Flags and Mailbox Cover

2010-11-24T13:10:00.001-08:00

I received my samples for flags and a mailbox cover with my Santa Image on it. I figured it is okay to go ahead and put them up. The stores have had Christmas things out for months now. (and it's fun decorating for the holiday.) Almost done with all my shopping and will be shipping things out across the country soon.

Illustration Friday Topic-Burning

2010-11-13T13:24:00.001-08:00

This image seems appropriate for the Illustration Friday topic, Burning. This is on gessoed board in oils and was really fun to paint.

Illustration Friday-Afterwards

2010-11-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

For the Illustration Friday topic. This is the image that I thought exemplified afterwards. Afterwards a delicious lunch of pureed peas.

Spoonflower woodland animals entry

2010-10-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

Spoonflower is a really great sight that has some fabulous patterns. You can create your own patterns and have fabric made. They also have contests. This is my entry for the the woodland animal contest. You can go to the site if you would like to vote.
http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters/new?contest_id=53#conpage7

IF Racing

2010-10-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here is an image for Illustration Friday's topic, Racing.

Open Studio Artists

2010-10-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went with my friend Diane to some Open Studios in Santa Cruz. We went to the gallery at the Art League first where there was a piece from each of the artist's up. There were some really wonderful pieces in all kinds of medium. There were glass, metal, and ceramic 3-d pieces as well as some really good paintings.
We also went to the tannery. It was the first time I had been there. It was interesting. There are apartments and studios for artists there, so there were several studios. One of the studios there was Cheryle Winn's. She has some beautiful quilts. Her sense of color is really lovely in the pieces she had. I will post a couple of pictures of some of her work here.
Another artist that we saw at her home studio was Sandra Cherk. She lived in Greece for a while and you can see that influence in some of here work. She had several pastel landscapes and was also selling jewelry. She has a website at www.sandracherk.com. I will also put up piece of hers.
We also saw a watercolorist that I really liked a lot. She has a wonderful sense of color and her images are beautiful. Her name is Gwen Davin Revino. I took photos of two of my favorite pieces that she did and will put those up here as well. She has a website as well. www.gwenrevino.com.
It is fun to see what others are doing, and amazing to see the diversity. This area is really loaded with lots of talented people.

Flag Samples Came

2010-09-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

It's always interesting to see how your images end up looking on product. It's also fun to get your product samples. The horse flag came and is up. In the mean time I am painting away trying to get new contracts for licensing. I have been a bit pattern crazy lately and have been sending my agent a multitude of designs. It's fun taking elements from my art and creating something totally new.

Kittens Flag The Catalog Page

2010-09-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Here is how it looks as a flag on the catalog page for the Spring /Summer of 2011.

Kittens

2010-09-17T10:54:00.001-07:00

I thought it would be interesting to see how an old image was transformed for a new product. The original art is from a card I did for Sunrise years ago. With the help of photoshop I added more flowers to the background and changed the color of one of the kittens. I also worked up the color overall. Here is the before and after.

Catalog Page

2010-09-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here is the catalog page for the bunny image. The color looks pretty saturated here. I think they do this so the images look really bright in the catalog. It is nice to have a full page for this.

For Next Spring!

2010-08-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

Here is another bunny image that will be a flag for next spring. This image was done in watercolors. It was a mix of Dr. Martins dyes and watercolor which give me really nice vibrant color. I like doing images that have a clear foreground, middle ground and background. I think it helps give depth to the piece. I had been to a conference where Kadir Nelson spoke and this was something he spoke about in his work. His work is so incredible and I really like how he uses space in his work. I took that idea and put it into my own images.

Humane Society International Image

2010-08-20T09:28:00.001-07:00

I recently painted an image of a harp seal pup in oils. It has been chosen to be a card for the Humane Society International organization. I really love having my work go to places that do so much to help animals and am very pleased that the image was chosen.

Inside Catalog Page

2010-04-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

My horse image also got a nice half page inside the catalog.

Catalog Cover

2010-04-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

I just got the catalog from the Flag Company that I have been working with. My Santa image is on the cover!

Begonia Festival Poster Entry

2010-03-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

Well here is the image that I did as an entry for the Begonia Festival Poster. Alas it did not win, however my licensing agent sold it and two other images for prints on canvas. All in all I am pretty happy.

2010-03-03T13:23:00.000-08:00

The Great Chair Take Over

2010-01-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

Well, It doesn't look like I'll get much work done on the computer for now. I did send a revised manuscript for my picture book to an agent in NY that has shown interest. I had to do it standing up though.

Commissioned Painting

2009-12-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

I recently had art up at a cafe in Santa Cruz. A woman contacted me after seeing a print of a horse painting I had done that was there. She was curious as to if I did commissions. I wrote her back and didn't hear from her, so figured she had changed her mind. A week later her husband contacted me and commissioned me to do a painting for her for Christmas. I've been painting like crazy since. A couple of days ago I got another e-mail from his wife saying that she was still interested and would contact me after the holidays. She is in for a big surprise!

Here is the finished art. I am taking it to the framer in the morning. The ordered frame is in, and the woman's husband is meeting me there to pick it up.

Coming This Spring

2009-11-13T17:24:00.000-08:00

Here's my new flag design that will be coming out this spring. The original is in watercolor. I love painting animals, so it's nice to see this one on product. I am also happy to see that it is shown so nicely in the company's catalog.

Work in Progress

2009-11-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

I am working on a new painting of a woman from Senegal cooking. The first image is just laying down color after the sketch was complete. I am working with cool colors (blues and purples) in the white to contrast with the warmth of her skin. I also really love the contrast of the white against her dark skin.

The second image shows going in to pull out some more detail in some areas. I still have a lot to do on this, but thought I'd show the stages as I go along.

Art Up

2009-11-05T16:44:00.000-08:00

I just put a variety of prints and originals up at the Seabreeze Cafe in Santa Cruz. I decided to hang a few animal images and some of the food images. If you're in the area stop in. They are on Seabright. They also have really good food!

Licensing

2009-07-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

I've been very busy creating product sheets for licensing some of my images. This helps to show potential buyers what my work would look like on their products. I then send them to my licensing agent and she can show them to the buyers. It's been fun playing in photoshop to create these. I recently got the new version , cs4 and am really liking it. I also got a new mac with a larger screen which has been really nice. With my old mac I was never sure if I turned it off if it would come back on again. ( a definite sign that a new one was in order) On top of that I got a new wacom pad. I am left handed, and I love that I could set this up so the controls worked for me. I was always bumping the controls on the old one, and things would either blow up or decrease in size suddenly. The wheel for sizing on the new one is pretty cool too.

Furniture

2009-05-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

I went through a period where I was painting furniture in the house . It started with a bookcase, and sort of branched off from there. I got the idea to do a screen, then a cabinet. The cabinet I found at a garage sale. I did them all in a similar style. It was fun and now they are all functional in my house. I like doing them, but as far as doing more to sell ???...I'm not sure how I would market them.

Illustration Friday -Contagious

2009-05-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

This is an image that I think fits the contagious theme in that laughter is contagious. It was inspired by my grandmother and her sister. When they would get together they would just laugh and laugh! I did it for a picture book that is still in the process of rewrites.

2009-05-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

Postage went up again this week, so I got a few more postcards sent out to publishers last week.

I thought I was being really smart and using up the stamps I had left, only to find on Monday that I had another roll. This is the most recent postcard. Guess I'll be visiting the post office for penny stamps.

Illustration Friday -Parade

2009-05-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

Spring!

2009-05-06T15:28:00.001-07:00

I took a couple of pictures of my garden. Everything is so colorful right now. I also thought I'd put up one of my floral images. This is actually a watercolor. I've been mostly working in oils lately, and haven't been doing many florals. This was a bit of a departure. Most of my florals have a soft look. I wanted to go with some bolder, brighter colors here. I think it is more indicative of the colors I've been painting with lately.

Children's Art Realistic

2009-04-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

I also thought I would work on some pieces that could fit more of the YA and MG markets. I love painting people and these were great to work on.
I did use photo refererences for these. I have a friend with a young teen and he and 10 of his friends showed up to have their pics taken. It was really fun and was like something out of Peter Pan with all these boys climbing the tree. It was good for me to work on something with an unusual perspective.
On the painting of the girl with the box, I wanted to have a really natural and dramatic light source.
Patti

Open Studio-Art

2009-04-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

This past fall I decided to do Open Studios with the Cultural Arts Center in Santa Cruz. It was an interesting experience. I met a lot of people from the area and ended up with a large project from one of the visitors. I have also been hanging things locally and actually have work at Pacific Thai in Santa Cruz for the month of April.
The paintings in Open Studios are different from the commercial work. I like working on projects that push me to do things that I find difficult. The apple in the water is one such painting. I wanted the challenges of working with a bright natural light source as well as the distortion of objects in the water and the glass shape distorting the apple. The pears were interesting to me in that I was working with the silver and the reflections.
I also had a large canvas that I decided to do the horse painting on. I usually work smaller on my drawing table, so this was a departure for me.
I like working on different kinds of projects. It keeps things fresh and interesting for me.
Patti

Product Work

2009-04-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

I have been doing work in the gift industry for several years. I thought I'd just post a few of the images that have been published. I have done a ton of Santas. I like painting people and older people have really interesting faces. I've also done more whimsical images. I like painting animals and have done a lot of floral images as well.
Patti

What I've been doing til now.

2009-04-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

My friend and fabulous artist Frank told me I really needed to get a blog. Ta dah. Today is the first post. I thought I'd do a bit of back pedaling to show what I've been up to up til now. I'll start with an assignment I received a couple of years ago to create an image that the United States Humane Society could use for their holiday cards to donors. I was to incorporate pets, farm animals and wildlife. I had been doing some work in waterbased oils and used those for this piece. I was really surprised to find out that the art director submitted it to several design competitions, and that it received awards. I really loved working on it , and it is an organization I really admire. All of our animals have been rescues.
Patti