Animals for the kiddies!

I will admit upfront that I was inspired by some original work in Restoration Hardware recently that this post gets its creative juice from. I am planning on giving the giraffe to my friend Lauren's baby Pierce and the elephant to a colleague who recently had a baby boy! If anyone is interested in purchasing, please send a request to kimtraut@yahoo.com and we can pick animals together. :)

Here I am with baby P and his favorite giraffe last summer. Time flies, he is running around riding lawnmowers now!

My watercolor supplies are basic for this project. I love Arches paper for projects like this.

I sketched the animals using some photos of the RH work as a guide. You could also use coloring book pages for inspiration.

After practicing, I drew the giraffe on the watercolor paper in pencil.

I painted the giraffe with watercolor paints and shaded in the spots.

Last step was to add some defining lines in pen and sign off!

The elephant was the same process - sketch, paint and define with pen.

Layers of watercolor shade the drawn shapes

Pen is applied last so it does not run underneath the watercolor.

This was such a fun project. I can't wait to see these framed!

Rolling Apples

After a few days of chipping away, the apples are in a good place. As I mentioned in my last post, I have been working on a series of rolling apples on wooden panels. The panels are painted in acrylic and the apples are painted in oil. There are three panels total in this series.

I began with a swatch of all of the colors I started with

Building the base of color with oil paint

I worked on all of the panels together so they would be consistent

Three panels making progress

I wanted a playful coloring book look, so I painted dark green oil paint around each apple to define them.

I will be posting these on my main site soon once they dry (likely a week from now!). In the meantime, I have a great jewelry project coming up for the next post!

Apples

I am working on a series of paintings on plywood panels. This time I am planning on using a mix of oil and acrylic; acrylic base with oil on top. I am early in the process but am planning to paint 3 panels that include a series of rolling green apples.

Early planning stages - sketching apples

Preparing the panels with gesso.

:) To be continued....

James Chris

My dad cut me a bunch of plywood panels and I have been so excited to show you all what I have been working on to turn these panels into art! The flights were cancelled this weekend due to a tornado watch (in New York!) and our 4th of July plans were off, so I spent the time finishing up this painting I have been working on and sourcing some inspiration for my next project with my friend Erin.

I prepared the plywood panels with a thick coat of Blick Gesso.

This was my first time working with oils since college and it was fun to get back into it.

We've been going to a lot of museums lately and James always likes the portraits so I wanted to make him one of him.

The oil takes forever to dry!

There may be a few more adjustments but I am going to let this dry for now.

Pink Eyeshadow Monkey

I recently moved into a new loft apartment and have so much space to be creative and to paint. I have been feeling so inspired!

About a month ago now, my boyfriend helped me stretch a massive 6 foot by 4 foot canvas with linen and rabbits glue, the traditional method. He helped me brew and paint the rabbits glue to size the fabric which was a big job and his first time helping with a project like this. Thanks James! You are the best!

I originally thought I would paint modern overlapping squares but decided to do something more fun, which is how this huge monkey came to be. I am still getting used to him staring at me but I love how thick and high quality the linen is and how well it is folded on the frame (especially the corners!) and I love the neutral colors and the splash of pink.

Here is some insight into the process - thank you to Erin for the lovely pictures!

The beginnings. A frame that I assembled and a folded piece of linen! Seemingly effortless!

This is prep work. I drew the monkey onto a piece of parchment paper, traced on a grid and transferred the image to the canvas with chalk.

Getting started - you may recognize the IKEA Ivan chair seats to my left and in my hand that were left over from my last craft project (see post on the leather woven chairs!). I have since recycled these seats and turned them into painting palettes.

Talking and painting! My favorite things!

Here's a good shot of the prep drawing.

Filling in the gaps with acrylic paint...

Eyeshadow monkey starting to take shape.

Good night monkey!