Hope everyone enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving holiday! This Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to go to Crystal River, Florida. What a great place! With temperatures between 40 and 55 degrees, it felt like Thanksgiving. And we got to see manatees in their natural habitat. Of course, to see them head-on, you need to swim with them but if you are patient enough, you can see one or two bobbing out of the water to get a breath. Very cool creatures who are gentle giants.
Two manatees swimming about in Crystal River, November, 2014. Watercolor and Gouache on 8.5″ by 12″ Khandi paper
Just returned from California. This time, I brought a portable art kit of gouache paints. This guy was the result of my first use of the bright, bold colors.
Young Koala, On Vacation in Orange County, CA
I also like these Blue Footed Booby Birds. So one was my muse this weekend.
Blue Footy (Watercolor on 5″ by 7″ Stock)
I am still on a manatee kick! Look at these guys. Who wouldn’t want to see them in the wild?
Two manatees swimming–watercolor on 5″ by 7″ card
Here are two manatees swimming in the warm Florida waters. The little one on the right is thinking of something amusing but we don’t know what it is.
Manatees in Florida Waters
Last weekend, I saw such beautiful flowers growing on Balboa Island, very close to Newport Beach, CA. I took several photos of them and this is a painting that was done based on the photo. You can see the photo also in my blog as “Crystalline Rose”.
Watercolor based on original photo. Original Painting is 10″ by 14″ on watercolor rough paper.
I had to run out to the balcony to get this photo. Totally untouched photo. Taken with Leica V-Lux 40.
Sunset in Key Biscayne, Taken with Leica V-Lux 40
Here you see a beautiful rose. It almost looked like crystal but instead it was a full blown rose with light shining through each petal.
Original Photo taken on Balboa Island with Leica V-Lux 40.
Just returned from Orange County, California. This photo was taken on Balboa Island, a part of Newport Beach. He looks very content and appears to have no intention to return to New York. He even picked up some nice color from all the plentiful sunshine.
Pigeon resting in Balboa Island, California (Taken with Leica V-Lux 40, Untouched)
Here is a wombat near a tree trunk. The wombat is the koala’s closest cousin. Wombats are also very cute marsupials.
Here is koala’s closest cousin, the wombat.
Although I thought I was done with wallabies, a photo of this guy showed up and I just had to paint him. He was a little wallaby wrapped in a blanket barely the size of a human hand and he had these big, alert eyes with a face that appeared to be smiling. How could I resist?
Baby Wallaby (Joey)
Here are two different paintings that I did this weekend. My goal was to play with lighting. If you look at the Ross Sea penguin, he is emerging from darkness to light. The tulips are also trying to grab some of the light.
Tulips are so pretty but after a week, they don’t last as cut flowers. If you paint them, though, they become immortalized!
Ross Sea Penguin Emerging from Dark to Light
So today, I returned to another favorite subject for my art–penguins! Check out this Sea Ross penguin mom with her little penguin baby at her side. This is a happy penguin scene…
Back to Penguins! Watercolor on Khandi Paper (17″ by 12″)
Signing one of two books
Here you see me signing a book and also some little ones coloring the outline image of Wally B. I noticed some very creative colors for the wallaby! Pink, purple, peach… all sort of colors. Wally B did not mind; in fact, he really enjoyed seeing the various renditions of his image!
I almost forgot how beautiful California is. This trip brought me back to my first visit while with my parents on a college tour. It was hard to imagine any area so beautiful with the deep blue and aquamarine colors of the water. In this untouched photo, taken in Laguna Beach, just look at all of these colors.
Laguna Beach, California, taken with Leica V-Lux 40
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2 Doves and an Inquisitive Kitten
By Sharyn Brotz |
Two doves appeared on my window sill this week and that inspired this painting. The kitten snuck into the painting.
Puppy Steering Gondola for 2 Panda Cubs in Venice
By Sharyn Brotz |
Our panda cub finished his racing debut and is now vacationing with a friend in Venice.
Miami Skyline At Night (and 2 Otters)
By Sharyn Brotz |
Miami Skyline–the bridge in particular, at night. Notice the two otters who are enjoying a swim also.
Colorful bird on windowsill
By Sharyn Brotz |
A little bird visited me a few times on my windowsill but I haven’t seen it since so I created one…
Bunny Spring Conference
By Sharyn Brotz |
Bunnies gathering for a Spring Conference just before the Spring Holidays.
Childhood-Cuddles and Tufts Elephant on a Chair
By Sharyn Brotz |
My friend who is an amazing artist, told me the elephant looked demonic. I had to fix that! So here is the corrected painting.
Giclée prints are available of all paintings.
Beautiful prints with acrylic overlay available in a variety of sizes. They are ready to hang with an aluminum back and a certificate of authenticity. Prints are shipped with a tracking number and arrive within 2 weeks in the US.