As the new job starts to settle down and become a bit more manageable (a bit), I'm getting back to my oils. Leviathan Queen is looooooong overdue, and it was really enjoyable to finally get back to her this past weekend--I literally had to dust her off before I started laying paint down again, though!

"Leviathan Queen"...closing in on the final phase!

It's been so long since I've posted any real updates on her, I'm not sure anyone will be able to see the progress without going all the way back to my posts from last year! It's weird, but it always seems like she's looking at me, no matter where I'm standing in the room. That's called resentment.

In other news, here's a new mini:

"Eye of Butterfly"

"Eye of Butterfly" - partial side view

This is actually a gift for a friend, but I will be adding it to my Etsy shop as a made-to-order item.

And finally, a digital study from today:

"Pumpkin Stem"

'Tis the season, right?! I made some pumpkin, lentil and potato soup and saved this. (I pre-cooked my pumpkin in a crock pot instead of the oven--totally worked! Don't poke it or anything, just put 2 cups of water in with it and cook on high--I honestly don't remember for how long, though...maybe three hours?) I realized one of my big issues with digital painting is that when I'm painting stuff out of my head, I just can't seem to get myself to push and sharpen the values the same way I can with oil--how am I going to overcome this? By doing lots of still-life studies! I think I'll do a buckeye next.

So, last night I had the idea that I should do a warm-up painting this morning, taking just an hour to create a loose rough--a painting "sketch", so to speak. Well, that plan failed--I became completely absorbed and spent the better part of my day working on it. Ah, well--I'll try again and hopefully I'll be more efficient next time!

"Una and the Elephant King"