Weekly Art Challenge: PARADISE!

Hey Folks!!

This week our theme is Paradise!

 

Dylan – Dog, charcoal on paper – Dylan’s interpretation of paradise is an emotional state of being that she receives from the companionship of animals. As someone who travels often, there are moments spent with my cat or dog that top any moment abroad or any adventure.

“The wonderful animals in my life are my paradise. Despite any events around me, being around animals always calms me, centers me, and points me in the right direction. Animals bring clarity to my life in a world of indecision. They are my favorite teachers and greatest motivation in life. Animals are my personal compass and paradise.”

 

 

 

Karri – Paint Brush, Watercolor and pen on Paper – I think many folks would relate to Karri’s idea that paradise is something you can create for yourself. In an era full of external distractions, many of us actively seek out small spaces or moments that are a distraction from the distractions.

“As I sat down and pondered the idea of paradise the typical thoughts came to mind. A beach on the ocean with palm trees, the sun shining… so I started to draw out a little scene of Horn Island thinking that this would be a great image of paradise that a few of my artist friends could relate to. But, then I looked up at my jar of paint brushes and realize that paradise is something we, as artists, create for ourselves. So my paradise is in my brush. The paradise that I can escape to daily.”

 

 

 

Amber – The Orchid, mix media (pencil,watercolor, pen) on paper: Another week with lots of ideas rolling around my head! In the end I decided on ‘The Orchid’. When I think of Paradise, I tend to think first about the details of a paradise more so than the actual location of such a place. It is in the details like nature, color or texture – for example –that will push any place from feeling mundane to feeling like paradise.

I picked the Orchid as my detail partially because I find them to be so elegant and beautiful and also because The Orchid family is vast in numbers! I once read that there were over 20 thousand accepted species of orchids in the world. Some are more common and easily recognized, but others are rare and unique – known only to grow in a small little corner of the world.

In my eyes they are a work of art and their presence can make a paradise out of any place.

 

 

 

Next week the theme is: Where the Wild Things Are!

Pet Portrait: Sophie!!

This month I had the pleasure of painting Sophie! She has such an interesting lovable face that I was almost sad when it came time to ship her portrait to her human mom.

Sophie and the Tulips – 2015, Acrylic on 16×20 canvas

 

Painting this portrait started last year when my friend’s cat, Ginger, became very ill and the vet bills to keep Ginger alive were both financially and emotionally draining. My friend then turned to a crowdfunding site to alleviate some of the incurring vet bills. To help my friend out I offered a free pet portrait as a raffle prize. Anyone who had donated $50 or more would have their named entered into a raffle.

I don’t know how many entries my friend had to pick from, but I was very excited that the name drawn from the hat was another childhood friend of mine, Magdalena! I haven’t seen Mags in years and I remember her has a kind, generous and sensitive individual. The kind of person who would literally never hurt a fly. Painting a pet portrait for her was a pleasure, especially when she sent me the photos that I would be working from! I saw the image of Sophie sitting amongst some lovely red tulips and knew THAT was the image!

I hope Mags Loves her new painting as much as I do and I can’t wait to finish the next two portraits for her!

 

If you are interesting in having a portrait of your pet painted, please contact me at Palechickstudios@gmail.com.

 

Tater the Tot gets his first portrait!

Months ago my folks had to say a painful goodbye to our beloved pitbull, Simon. We had Simon for 15 wonderful years, getting another dog was the last thing on anyone’s mind, except for my mother who was home alone for months with her grief while my father and I worked.  She ventured into Manhattan on three separate occasions to look at dogs and settled on this sweet lil pup!

Tater hours away from euthanasia when my mother found him and she believes that simon led her to him. I can see it, Simon would not want just ANY dog to take his place on the couch. 🙂

 

Tater has been a joy since joining our family.  He is lively, playful, social and funny. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to open my heart to another pet when my mother brought him home, but I am so happy that I did. I can’t imagine home without him.

Naturally, I have to draw his portrait and this pencil drawing is only the first of many to come. I chose one of the many photos I had of him sleeping. I wanted to depict his epic style of comfort.

 

Initially I was going to draw Tater in a more illustrative pen and ink style – hence the border and composition of the image – but got carried away with using my graphite pencils. It took me about two evenings to complete. Mom was happy and dad said that I made him look “too lazy!” hahaha.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed!

If you are interested in commissioning a pencil or painted portrait of your awesome pet then please visit my Etsy shop.

 

Peace,

Amber

Weekly Art Challenge: Tomorrow

Hello Folks!!

The theme for this week’s friendly art challenge is TOMORROW! It was a tricky challenge, but I think we managed to come up with some creative interpretations. What do you think?

 

RJ’s: ART ADVENTURE, digital collage – I love this piece!! Its a little funky, a little dreamy, definitely a bit retro (the imagery reminds me very much of the old school video game graphics from my childhood) and whole lot of fun! RJ had explained that he was inspired by both his past and future travels when creating his piece, and I can definitely see where and how his travels have influenced his imagery – those perfectly puffy white sheep are most definitely and partly reminiscent of, but not limited too, a few road trips that we have taken together. The colorful layering of bold patterns and textures created a quilted affect that only reinforces his visual story telling and sense of adventure. There is a part of me that can’t help but want to invoke my inner Alice, jump through the pink window and run wild through this vivid adventure!

 

Mikayla’s: DAWN,  Crayon and pencil –  Rj’s very talented niece has created another wonderful work of art for us this week! I’m very much impressed by her use of color! She cleverly layered reds, oranges and yellows to create a glowing sunrise and was very smart to leave the soaring bird white so that it would stand out against the primarily warm color spectrum. I look at the bird and wish I could join him in flight on what looks like a perfect morning. I also love how both the coconut trees bend toward the sun, as if they are eagerly greeting their friend. Great job Mikayla! If I had a gold star I would give you one 🙂

 

 

 

Mine: TAROT CARDS (The Fool, The Lovers and Strength), pen and ink with watercolor – When Rj gave me this week’s challenge I must admit that I was a bit stumped.  I had to spend a couple of days thinking about what the heck could I create that would interestingly depict ‘Tomorrow‘. My mother offered some decent suggestions, but nothing seemed just ‘right’. Then I began to think about fortune telling and the beautiful artwork depicted on tarot cards. I have my own deck of tarot cards, given to me by my mother years ago, that I sometimes still use for fun. I picked a few of my favorites from the major arcana – The Fool, The Lovers and Strength – and worked on recreating each card to reflect my own personal metaphors while still maintaining the core meaning of each card.

The Fool – I wanted to depict a man who  hasn’t quite grown up yet and is in search of new experiences, but not fully aware of his surroundings because he is too absorbed with his own pleasure. He has a lot of learning to accomplish and the potential to take a wrong step should he avoid life’s lessons.

The Lovers – For this card I wanted to combine imagery that reflected both past metaphors and current trends. Though times may have changed, some things will always remain the same; the desire to connect and love another.

Strength – Traditionally this card depicts a young maiden taming a lion. I chose to substituted the lion with a pack of lovable well behaved pit bulls.

Of course I could not resist inserting my beloved dandelions into each card and I was quite upset when my pen leaked black ink onto my Strength card. Also, I wish I had drawn the people a bit better – Illustration is not my strength – but in the end I am happy with what I created and had plenty of fun working on them!

It was a good challenge, RJ!

 

Next week’s theme: MANDALA!!

 

 

Simon

This was our Simon. My sweet loving “piglet” as I liked to call him.

About a week ago our family had to make the hard decision to put him to sleep. He was 15 years old, covered in cancerous tumors and having seizures. We know it was for the best, but never is it easy to say goodbye to a member of the family. His portrait, a gift for my mom, was one of the first I painted after years and years of not painting anything. I nicknamed him the Piglet because my mom kept him well fed and when he would run his white fur would become a brilliant pink from the exercise. My folks nicknamed him The Prince, because he did what he wanted in his last few years, house rules be damned!  If there was a spot on the couch it was his, if there was a need for a ‘cookie’ he got it, and if he wanted to get up at 2 am to go outside and enjoy his ‘domain’ from the porch he did.

Simon was a great dog. He was pit bull that was so naturally friendly and sweet he manage to change many people’s views about pit bulls. In his entire life there was maybe 3 people he did not like near his family, but everyone else was okay especially if they had a ‘cookie’ for him or just gave him attention. He loved his toys. His favorite was popped basketballs and a ginormous bone that he would run around the house with trying to temp my dad to play “where’s your bone”. He was great with kids, mostly because he learned early that kids are more generous with their food than us stingy adults. And he could clear the house with his endless supply of farts.. Oh My Lord could he shamelessly clear a house. He hated thunderstorms and fireworks, poor thing would shake like a leaf and cry. He often told on my nieces or our other dog, Maggie, when they did something wrong and he knew it! lol he was such a hall monitor. And because I would never give into his begging for my food he switched tactics and would look at my mom with his “I’m hungry mom and she won’t share” look while standing in front of me. Never worked but he did it every time. He was great dog.

He was the cutest little puppy and an important member of our family for for 15 years. We will miss you always, Simon, farts and all.

Simon 9×12 acrylic on canvas board

Simon circa 2006

Simon and his Ball, 2011

Simon snuggling up on the couch Christmas of 2012

Memphis Mornings

This sweet Australian shepherd mix is Memphis.

I love this dog and had so much fun painting her! She is such a sweetheart and those big brown eyes are so easy to fall in love with. Memphis belongs to my roommate/best friend and I thought what better belated – though started prior- birthday gift than a portrait of her Memphis. I worked from a photograph I took of her last year while we had a lazy morning in bed. Its not unusual to wake up from a nap with this up-close and personal view. I was surprised that she stayed so still when I took the photo of her, normally she sees you move and she jumps on the chance for some affection. I think this might be my favorite pet portrait so far!

Memphis Morning, 12×24 acrylic on canvas

If you think you are interested in commissioning a portrait of your favorite pet companion please visit my Palechick Studios Etsy Shop

Pet Portrait: Casey!

A couple months ago while I was traveling across Alaska — photos and details of that awesome trip to come soon so stay tuned! — I received a wonderful email from Kate who came across this blog and liked my Pet Portraits enough to commission me to paint her beloved Casey; a lovely cocker spaniel who had sadly passed away last November.  When I received Casey’s photos I instantly fell in love with her big soulful eyes and thick curly chocolate colored locks! I hope that Casey portrait conveys what sweet soul she was and that she was very much loved by her human family.

Thank you Kate for supporting the arts and I hope your family enjoyed the portrait!

 

Acrylic 2013

 

 

Sammy

This is Sammy, He past away not to long ago and was well loved by my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins. As a way to say ‘Thank You’ to my Aunt for everything that she has done for our large family this year, I wanted to give her a portrait of her beloved Sammy.

Sammy, 2012 – Acrylic on 12×12 canvas