"Tess," 4" square, commissioned pet portrait, acrylic on canvasboard, depicting a beloved grey kitty, private collection (THANK YOU!). Inquiries may always come to me. In my opinion, a portrait is empty if the eyes are. Put all the light and reflection and life into the eyes, and the rest will follow along. I was reading another artist's blog this morning (Carol Marine, a wonderful still life painter) and she was dispensing advice on how to paint something in particular. It essentially boiled down to painting what you see. So really look. Squint down and study things. Throw out all your assumptions or prior knowledge, and see your subject as if it's the first time you've laid eyes on it. You might be surprised with what happens. Thanks, as always, for looking at - and sharing - my artwork with your friends and family. Kim |
The cover of "A Dog Named Blue," now available from Blurb publishers. When I first painted Amelia I never imagined that she would be re-christened "Blue" and inspire a book. In her defense, Amelia had a number of other partners in crime - animals who's portraits seemed to fall into a specific color category and prompt color-centric names. In typical ADD fashion, my brain started spinning 100mph. What if I turned those muses' paintings into a picture book for animal loving kids? I shared my idea with three friends in the industry, and they eagerly offered their expertise. I am truly indebted to them. Illustrator and author Matt Faulkner and children's book author and literacy expert Kristen Remenar edited an early version of the draft. They suggested key plot/conceptual changes that made it oodles better. Designer Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson worked her magic, pairing the images with perfectly color
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