CleoCatra and The Final Stretch

CleoCatra

Cleocatra was the final sketch incentive and was snatched up pretty quickly.  With only 9 hours to go on my kickstarter campaign I am very happy to say that I am currently over my funding goal and have reaching my first stretch goal of 8400.  So now everyone who pledges $15 or more will receive a calendar in addition to the rewards.  

I have instituted a second stretch goal.  If the funding reaches 10,000 by midnight EST then one backer will be raffled an original final painting from the book.  All backers will be eligible for the raffle.  

Thank you to everyone who showed support!

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

Survey Says...UPDATE July 19 8:30PM

Only 51 Hours to Pledge!!  I'm down by $968.00 with 100 backers!!

The survey will be up until July 23 so be sure to stop by and vote for your favorites! 

Click here to visit the survey.  I will be updating this blog with results so be sure to check back.

Vote for as many characters and animals as you want and feel free to add your own suggestions under the "other" category.  Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

I have 105 responses to this survey.  Here are some of the suggestions under the "other" category.  

Animals:

2 for fox, hare, coyote, siamese cat, binturong, bushbaby, anteater, turtle/tortoise, honey badger, manatee, dolphin, kangaroo, platypus (my personal favorite), otter, boston terrier, 2 for black panther, Rufus the Bobcat (correct spelling....sorry about that....I'm a terrible typist!), border collie, sea horse (wow!  Sea Horse!), tiger, 2 for pembroke welsh corgi, tasmanian devil, 2 for tuxedo cat aka Patches, ants, elephant, zebra, jackle, owl, stag, japanese bobtail, serval, raven, english cream retriever, aka Lily, wombat, dinosaur, chinchilla, african gray parrot (good call!), lion, egyptian may, short hair, labradoodle, bat, panda, shark, red corgi, cuttlefish

Historical Figures:

Isaac Newton, 2 for Rasputin, Gurdjieff, Colette, Anais Nin, King Arthur, Amelia Earhart, JFK, Martin Luther King, Marilyn Monroe, 2 for Winston Churchill, Charles Darwin, King Solomon, King David, Harriet Tubman, John Lennon, Al Capone, Isadora Duncan, Manfred Von Richtofen, King Tut, Leonidas, John Adams, Knight of the Round Table, Vlad the Impaler or Elizabeth Bathory (these could be for the children's version......), Stan Lee, Charles Dickens, Guy Fawkes, Madam Butterfly

Combo Suggestions: 

English Cream Retriever as Noah

Border Collie as a Scientist

Three Days to Go!

Our Phounding Phather

HISTORY!  Pledge $176.76 and you receive this sketch, 2 boxes of your choice of Tastykakes and the 100 awards.  

The infamous Philly Phanatic as one of our founding fathers.  In 1776 our declaration of independence was signed which declared our freedom from the British.  As a child I had a Philly Phanatic stuffed animal that was my best friend.  To this day I still giggle like a kid when I see the Phanatic at games and events.  By the way, he's not originally from Philly.  He was born in the Galapagos Islands.

Visit the updates section of my kickstarter to visit the Phanatic.

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

Four Days to Go!

Four more days to go on my kickstarter campaign.  Please consider pledging and sharing the project.  For $15 you will receive the ebook, $20 a post card pack, $35 both ebook and post card pack.  Pledge higher for your choice of pet/animal as a historical figure along with the original painting or drawing!

This next incentive for anyone who pledges $250 or over will be first come first serve.  Mary Shelley as a skunk.  I find skunks to be beautiful creatures.  Except when they would spray my dogs!  Anyway, the black and white fur markings remind me of the bride of Frankenstein.  Hence, Mary as a skunk.

Be the first to pledge 250 or over and choose from any one of my incentives.  Visit the updates section of my kickstarter to pick your sketch, Mary Shelley included.

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

Five Days to Go!

Everett and Anna Fitzgerald

Star Crossed Lovers from the San Diego Zoo

Snow leopards are truly majestic creatures.  They are solitary cats that rarely live together so when the San Diego Zoo paired Everett and Anna they had their fingers crossed that they would get along and mate.  It was a amazing.  The two not only loved one another but they were almost inseparable.  They would get nervous when parted.  They even ate together in harmony which is a rarity.  

The good news was they were mating.  The bad news was the Everett could not conceive.  

They were separated and a new male was put in Everett's place.  

F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald were a couple very much in love and very much plagued by turmoil.  Considering F. Scott used his life as a base for his famous novel "The Great Gatsby", among other works, I thought this was a fair parallel in historical couples.  

Be the first to pledge 250 or over and choose from any one of my incentives.  Visit the updates section of my kickstarter to pick your sketch, The Fitzgeralds included.

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

Seven Days to Go!

Meet Mac - as ML Jobs

I wanted to create a portrait of Steve Jobs to honor his memory.  He was a brilliant inventor and his work changed the way I illustrate.  If it wasn't for Steve Jobs and his creation of the mac I would not be here typing today.

For those who are PC users Apple names all of their operating systems after wild cats.  I originally wanted to create him as a snow leopard but I felt it only right to portray him as the newest release in mac software...the mountain lion.

While searching for reference I found a gorgeous image on Big Cat Rescue's Facebook page of a mountain lion and when I saw this guys name I laughed out loud.  Mac.  How appropriate.  I guess it must be fate.

Pledge 250 or over and choose from any one of my incentives.  Visit the updates section of my kickstarter to pick your sketch, ML Jobs included.

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

Eight Days To Go!

This is Lennox.  He was taken from his home, imprisoned for two years and then put to death.  The only reason for the execution was because he looked like a pit bull.  Roscoe (my basset hound) has gotten into many of tussles at the dog park but the only ones that made him bleed or harmed him were the dogs that were smaller than him.  Every pit we have run across, which has been a lot, were completely amicable.  


So for wrongful persecution I have decided to portray him as a saint.  Not a particular saint.  Just a saint.

Saint Lennox Barnes

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

Nine Days to Go!

For the next few days I will be offering incentives for my kickstarter project.  Right now I'm 65% funded and hope to get full funding with in the 9 day time frame.  So back my project if you love animals!  Even if it's a buck or two.  Every dollar counts.  Below are two incentives that I posted today.  Frida Kalhocelot went within 10 minutes of posting so I drew another.  If you are the first to pledge 250 or more you get the Rufus and Skip Wright sketch in addition to your rewards!

Happy pledging and help spread the word by sharing on Facebook!

 Frida Kalhocelot

I used Amazing Grace from Big Cat Rescue as inspiration for Frida

The Wright Brothers - Rufus and Skip

I used Rufus and Skip from Big Cat Rescue as inspiration for the Wright Brothers

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

Bruno the Brave Oil Overpainting

I sent Bruno home with my client, Freddy, a few days ago and I'm happy to report that he was a happy man.  Below are some close up shots of the process.  

Only 11 days to go!  Please share this link with your friends so this project can come to life!  THANK YOU to all of my current backers!!

"Animals From History"

Bruno the Brave

The print is initially mounted to hardboard and repainted.  Then I started with acrylic washes and gold paint (if the project calls for it), move onto oil paint and top it with a varnish.  

Once it's dry I wrap it in organic paper and bubble wrap and hand it off to the client.  This particular painting was a smaller size at 11x14.

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

Survey Update

The survey will be up until July 23 so be sure to stop by and vote on your favorites! 

Click here to visit the survey.  I will be updating this blog with results so be sure to check back.

Vote for as many characters and animals as you want and feel free to add your own suggestions under the "other" category.  Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

I have 72 responses to this survey.  Here are some of the suggestions under the "other" category.  

Animals:

fox, hare, coyote, siamese cat, binturong, bushbaby, anteater, turtle/tortoise, honey badger, manatee, dolphin, kangaroo, platypus (my personal favorite), otter, boston terrier, 2 for black panther, Rufus the Bobcat (correct spelling....sorry about that....I'm a terrible typist!), border collie, sea horse (wow!  Sea Horse!), tiger, 2 for pembroke welsh corgi, tasmanian devil, tuxedo cat aka Patches, ants, elephant, zebra, jackle, owl, stag, japanese bobtail, serval, raven, english cream retriever, aka Lily, wombat, dinosaur, chinchilla

Historical Figures:

Isaac Newton, 2 for Rasputin, Gurdjieff, Colette, Anais Nin, King Arthur, Amelia Earhart, JFK, Martin Luther King, Marilyn Monroe, 2 for Winston Churchill, Charles Darwin, King Solomon, King David, Harriet Tubman, John Lennon, Al Capone, Isadora Duncan, Manfred Von Richtofen, King Tut

Combo Suggestions: 

English Cream Retriever as Noah

Border Collie as a Scientist

Iris Study

Pencil Study

This is a pencil study I did a few weeks ago.  Irises have always been a welcoming introduction to summer and I always enjoy seeing many pop up.   They are also loaded with curves and turn similar to fabric.  The best thing about drawing flowers is that they don't have to be drawn exactly as seen.  

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

Coffee Break

MMMMMMMM.....Donuts.

Jelly Doughnut No. 1

Jelly Doughnut No. 2

I love to make food.  I love to eat food.  I love to paint food.  These are two Dunkin Donuts I got the other day.  I painted them in oils on 5x7 hardboards.  It was a nice break from working digitally and I learned a lot, as I do with every project I work on.  It was a great exercise to precursor "Bruno's" overpainting which I will be showcasing in a few days.

I always have a habit of tightening too much so I really enjoy the chunky deliciousness of the paint strokes!

Have a great Fourth of July everyone!

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!