art portfolio

My Creative Process

Pen and Ink Portraits

After the drawing is sketched in detail onto a nice smooth Bristol paper, I select my“bluegrass drawing mix” on my ipod and begin stippling. My pen and ink portraits always start out the same - I ALWAYS begin with the eyes. A person’s eyes are such an important feature on a face that if they are not done correctly there is no point at all in continuing with the drawing.

I create pen and ink drawings both as stipplings and as pen and ink drawings with washes of ink. I especially LOVE doing portraits of infants, the soft features of a baby transcribe well into a stippled pen and ink drawing, they are a true joy to complete.

Commissioned House Portraits

Commissioned pieces vary greatly from project to project, to date commissioned pieces have been done in watercolor and or pen and ink. Recently I have completed some complicated pieces bringing together a variety of elements such as a house, pets, flowers and a favorite vacation spot, creating a storybook type piece done in panels, for these paintings I meet with the client during the process several times, first to collect ideas and photo references, a 2^nd time to show them the layout and receive approval/input and often a third time just to touch base and confirm that I am “on track”.

Painting with Acrylics

Painting in acrylics is my release and exploration time; by the time my paints are laid out on the palette there are

bluegrass tunes humming thru the air and I am ready for fun. When I paint, I begin a piece looking at my chosen

reference photo, searching out the underlying hues so that I can “build”my layers by weaving colors together to

form the atmosphere. If I am seeking a great deal of detail I will be working on either a canvas panel or a stretched

canvas that has been prepped with several layers of gesso; if I am working looser my substrate will first be

slathered with modeling paste, dried, sanded and gessoed adding additional texture to the painting.

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