Every month, I travel back in time one year, and try to find my fav painting to make a calendar page. It's a grand journey, and the decision isn't usually that tough. Except for this time. Last September was a break through month for me - I made a number of paintings that I felt were important in my journey. But I chose this one, "Lady in Blue," because she represented triumph. She initially was a sketch for a commission, and the client chose a different direction (here's "Gracie's Throne," the finished commission, here - I have no regrets whatsoever on this project!). Something wasn't quite right with the piece, and it languished on my shelf for months until I figured it out. While I knew it wasn't quite right to begin with, I didn't yet have the knowledge to fix things. Once I figured it out (values, more grays, and some additional saturation in her body, along with a complete redraw of her skeleton), things were simple. Yeah, right. I hear you all saying that. Persevere and trust that the answers will come. Just be patient - some lessons take longer to learn than others. So to implement this month's desktop calendar, simply download the file directly from my website. I've set up a couple different ways to do this, either via the photo album or a direct link. I am by no means an expert on the variety of operating systems, so I highly recommend that if you don't know how to change your desktop wallpaper, don't email me for advice. Instead consult your computer's help files - they will be more concise, more knowledgeable and more responsive than I could ever hope to be. Grace is sized to fit a standard screen height of 768 - I realize there are lots of variables that could impact how this file displays on your screen. Let me know if, once you get the file installed, there are display quality issues (keep in mind, too, that options such as "stretching to fit," "tiling" and "cropping" will impact your display, so check those first!). |
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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