Pen, Paint and Pixels

Illustrated Children's Books

These are two of my latest children's books. Grumpy Grumblyhuffs is a picture book for very younger readers (3-6), and Canberra Camembears is for older readers who can read chapter books (4-8).

Grumpy Grumblyhuffs

Why are these hippos always so grumpy? The Grumblyhuff family of hippos, who live on an African savanna, are so grumpy, they don't let anyone near them. But what will happen if they finally let someone in their lives?

They're grumpy because their BUTTS ITCH! And they can't scratch their backs and butts themselves. So, they push everyone away in their lives, until......some oxpecker birds show up.

Canberra Camembears

Way 'down under,' in a land called Australia, there was a town called Canberra, in which lived a family called the Camembears. This family, the family Camembear, was not your ordinary family. That's because this family happened to be a family of koala bears. And they weren't even your ordinary family of koala bears. Somehow or another, the bears were always discovering things, going on adventures, getting out of trouble, getting into trouble, getting out of pickles, and all the while having a good old time, as you shall see.

Self Portrait, 12" by 16"

Nephew as the Infant Octavius, the Future Augustus Caesar

8 x 10", oil on canvas board. The baby who will be Augustus Caesar, Imperator of Rome.

Boy With Dog, 8" x 10"

My friend with his dog.

Baby With Dog

8" by 10". Guardian Angel dog watching over baby.

Brendon in Fur Blanket, Oil 16" x 20"

How to Paint a Modern Conquistador

This is someone I know posing as Francisco Pizarro, who conquered the Incas in Peru in the 16th century. Everything but the face is copied from a painting of Pizarro by Amable-Paul Coutan. 16" x 20" oil on canvas board.

Turtle and Snake Painting, Painting Pets III

Is your pet a turtle or snake? If so, then I just painted your pets, or at least something like them. Painted from a photo, 5x7" canvas board.

How to Paint Like Caravaggio, Part II

This is the second post about Caravaggio and I've lost track of how many times I've painted in his style. In the other post I reproduced Youth With Ram and David With Head of Goliath. This time I painted my usual model as Boy With a Basket of Fruit; not copying the original but painting to look similar to it.

Cloudy Sunset Painting

A very quick and small, about 5 x 7", painting of a cloudy sunset, a nice excuse to paint the pinks and purples found in nature.

Friend as a Giant Eating a Person

This is a portrait commissioned by my friend Jim showing him as a giant eating a person like a sardine. It's somewhat similar to Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son. 5 x 7" canvas board.

Orange Cat Painting

Cross-eyed orange cat painting, commissioned. 8" x 10" canvas board.

Cupid Painting Reproduction, Detail of Titian's Sacred and Profane Love

Cupid oil painting reproduction, detail of Sacred and Profane Love by Titian. 6”x6” canvas board.

How to Paint Like Michelangelo, Creation of Adam

Technically, to paint the Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarroti you'd have to paint with tempera paints onto wet plaster. If this plaster is part of a ceiling, as is the case of the Sistene Chapel, you'd paint it much larger than life so the people 70 feet below could see it without squinting. My reproduction painting is done in oil paints on a small piece of canvas sheet measuring about 5 inches by 8 inches, meaning you still might need to squint if it was right in front of you, and I didn't really paint like Michelangelo painted. But I still liked to reproduce the famous fresco in my own way.

Cherry Blossom Painting Van Gogh Style

Cherry blossom oil painting, painted Vincent van Gogh style similar to his Almond Blossom paintings, ~5 x 8" canvas sheet.

Van Gogh Reproductions: Starry Night and Sunflowers

I did two painting reproductions in one session: one of Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers (8x10" canvas sheet, 1.5 hours), and van Gogh's famous Starry Night (8x10" canvas board, 1 hour speed painting).

This is the first time I painted van Gogh sunflowers. One of his sunflower paintings is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It is an impressively large canvas that catches your eye as soon as you walk into the room with its vivid colors, stark contrasts, complementary colors, and the thick impasto forming all the parts of the flowers that jut out toward you. The first time I reproduced the Starry Night was on a 16 by 20 canvas for my sister, this little one is for me. I could have perfected the details and added more of his signature brushstrokes but the goal was to finish it in one hour.

Water Lillies Painting a Day

These white water lillies are not a Monet knockoff, but rather painted from a photograph, and just to be different (or to save canvases), it is painted on the acrylic-primed back, or verso, of a previous 5 by 7 canvas.

Painted simultaneously, an orange friend for the octopus the other day: