My Heart

I had completed this painting before as a digital work of art and after several months, I decided I wasn't too thrilled with the work. I decided to add this delightful kitty to my big eyed animal art collection, so I completed the same art again, this time in Prismacolor and with - of course - big eyes!

This is little Oreo. Her original photo had her holding a tennis ball, but I thought I'd create her holding a stuffed heart instead. You can check out the in progress photos on my website (though I didn't put as many up of this one as the previous ones). I've also added this art to lots of fun cards and gift items in my shop.

I've started my next work, which will be a delightful Emu. Watch the in progress page for her progression. There's one in progress photo up at this point. I would have worked on her more, but I got sidetracked when I stumbled on a fabulous tutorial. The tutorial covered burnishing and layering in great detail. I have used the techniques in depth on previous works...it definitely creates an amazing sense of aliveness. For about 10 minutes I thought about delving into that with these recent works. But then I changed my mind. I like the looser feel I'm getting with these works, and I'm not sure it would serve the pieces for this series well.

I have to admit though, I'm now feeling that little thump-thump in my heart to create a piece with extreme realism again, just like I used to do. Perhaps I'll burnish the Emu's nose and beak area on this current painting just to get it out of my system. But for the rest of it, I think I'll just keep things loose and free form. :)

--Jai