ʻŌhelo (Vaccinium reticulatum)

ʻŌhelo, 5"x7", oil on canvas (SOLD)

Back to my oil painting! Iʻm getting ready for the Volcano Village Artistʻs Hui Sale coming up Thanksgiving weekend. If youʻre around, please stop by Emily Herbʻs Studio. Iʻll be there as a guest artist and will have original paintings like this one and some prints ... and a few surprises!

ʻŌhelo is one of my favorite plants to paint, not only because of the colorful berries (theyʻre related to blueberries, btw), but their leaves are colorful, with hints of red, orange, and yellow. The berries are usually tart and rarely sweet like blueberries but they make great jam or great just eaten off the bush. This painting was actually a bit of a struggle because my reference photos were pretty monochromatic so I had to draw out the colors and exaggerate some. I used a bit of retouch varnish last night, with the plan of fixing some of the details. I quite like that dangling branch with the rain drops. :)

Feather Scene: EDM #63 - Something found

I found this feather at Wailoa State Park, not far from a couple feeding ducks. The white feather against green grass and weeds seemed a really nice contrast. Perhaps I'll consider doing this one in watercolor later. I'm submitting this for my Everyday Matters challenge #63, go on a nature walk and draw something you find.

Feather scene - 2nd draft

Still got a long way to go ... but slowly getting there! Happy early Father's Day to all you Dad's out there!

Feather scene - 1st draft

While walking along a path at Wailoa State Park, I found myself drawn to this single feather. This is the beginnings of a drawing of that little thing that stopped me in my tracks. You will see that the process is pretty organic for me. I just add things as I go along, keeping in mind what I'd like to achieve. I'm curious how this is going to end.

Earth ... in living color

Colored in my Illustration Friday submission this morning. Still needs work but I need to rush off. Toodles!

Illustration Friday - Signs

I struggle with the idea that our ability to turn things around as a human race is still possible. The ecological changes that have occurred in the short time we've been on earth is a sign of things to come. This concept is not an original one ... but as I doodled tonight, this is what I created.