Moving...

I've decided that Blogger just isn't working for me, so I'm moving my gallery to another platform.

My new address is: http://rachelscanvas.wordpress.com/.

I'll post a few of my old works, but mostly will use the new site for new things I paint, so I'll leave this site up so that people can see my old stuff. This will be my last post here, though, so - hasta la vista on my new site!

Winter Coats

I was wondering the other day where the idea for this one came from...and I couldn't remember. I guess I must have thought it up one night when feeding my son and been really excited about it. I'm not sure why, but it was fun to paint!

I don't have any idea of the story behind this...maybe someone creative can come up with something. :) It reminds me of the tale of Snow White and Rose Red and the bear that they take care of that turns out to be a handsome prince. I DID kind of try to give the wolf a human kind of air...

I redid the dress several times, as I wasn't satisfied with it.

I also couldn't figure out how to paint the darned wolf fur. I did it over and over a million times until I came up with something that worked. I looked at a few tutorials for some ideas on how to do it, but in the end I had to work out my own way.

I feel I am getting much better at composition! This one has a nice sidways V format, what with the figures and the clouds in the background.

Click here for a better, cleaner, non-messed-up version.

King Davenport

This image took me a long time to finish because of all the little details. I studied a TON of royal portraits, both painted and photographed alike for much of the inspiration. Probably the most obvious influences are Ingres portrait of Napoleon and Holbein the Younger's portrait of King Henry VIII.

I like red. A lot. Maybe you can tell?

Learned more about painting gold and various textile textures.

The character is one of my own, from my first book. Basically he wouldn't have ever been king except that the real king was in self-imposed exile. King Davenport (above portrait...) took his place for many years. He ends up being a general in the war to recapture his lost kingdom, which has been taken over by the enemies. He's a good guy.

Blogger chewed this one up and spit it out again, so click for the REAL image.

The Fire Necklace

I don't know why I titled this the way I did... I couldn't think of anything I liked so I decided to come up with something cheesy.

Anyway, as always with me, fun with light and color!

This is my first painting since having my son, and boy, have I missed painting!

And yes, she is holding a glowing necklace.

Announcing Our New Baby!

City Light

Sketch inspired by the scene out our back balcony.

Tree of Life

Fun one day sketch playing with shape and light.