Deadpool Logo Acrylic Painting

I've made a Deadpool hoodie, scarf, and dog jacket for my daughter. Now, we've gone a little larger.

She wanted a mural but I didn't want to sand off the shadow image left on the wall when it is someday repainted.

I considered buying a large canvas but decided to use some of the 18 inch square canvases I had on hand. Blick had a great sale and I bought a few too many canvases. I love the potential of a blank canvas.

Nevermore

I love funky witch shoes and striped socks are a must. I need a pair of purple boots with curling pointy toes.

A Pumpkin To Crow About

In fourth grade we had to recite a poem. Most students picked the shortest one they could find; I chose The Raven by Poe.

Carved Wood Fish Folk Art

Fish Stick. I think I just heard my daughter shake her head and sigh.

He doesn't look terribly happy about being on a stick but the pond is frozen solid so this may be a better place to be.

I started whittling when I was a young child and carried a pen knife with me until it was decided a few years ago that all knives were evil. I would sit on the steps and make a big stick into a smaller stick.

I carved the body from pine, the fins are painted metal and the floor is a mess again.

Santa Painted Cheese Box

Santa is wearing his spectacles and is ready for Christmas. I painted him on a wooden cheese box and he will keep fancy string and ribbon safe.

Painted Cheese Box Sewing Box

I bought some wooden cheese boxes from a local deli. I painted this one with a knitting and sewing motif; I'll use it to store thread and needles.

Golden Embers Abstract Acrylic Painting

This painting is heavily textured and painted with reds, oranges and metallic gold.

Cabbage, The Vegetable of Mystery

I had done this previously as an art journal page but decided to try painting it with lots of transparent acrylic washes. It was similar to watercolor but a lot more work. It would have been easier to paint on resist and do a water color.

Extreme Close Up Of A Pine Tree Abstract Painting

I enjoy puzzles where the item has such an extreme close up it becomes difficult to determine what the image is.

These abstract acrylic paintings show pine bark, a pine cone, and the tip of a pine branch.

Acrylic Portrait of A Young Man

I liked attitude of Sandro Botticelli's Portrait of a Young Man 1482-83 so I reinterpreted him with a more modern twist. He has a backwards cap, purple t-shirt and was painted in acrylic black, white and the complementary colors purple and yellow.

What caught my eye the most from Botticelli's original was the way he held his hand, the gesture had a hip hop attitude.

Abstract Acrylic Portrait of Marilyn

Blue is Marilyn's color.

Carved Angel Folk Art Whistle

This cherub is demurely dressed in blue and she's blowing a golden horn. The carved, wooden whistle actually works.

Portrait of Nissa Dressed As Link

My daughter Nissa, enjoys cosplay and this is her Link costume. The pop art style painting was done with acrylics and took considerably less time than it did to make the ensemble.

We made her shield from foam core, the sword is carved foam, the scabbard rests on her back. She has an orcarina on her belt along with a fairy in a bottle and a pouch for essentials. The gloves and boots were made from faux leather and the boots were hot glued over an old pair of tennis shoes. She found the elf ears online which was wonderful since I had no good ideas for making believable ears.

She attended the Chicago Comic Con and won Fan Girl of the month by winning all the challenges.

Tropical Crooners

I saw an old shampoo label from the 1930s and turned it into an acrylic pop art painting.

Woman On A Painted Table

I had this metal table at the cabin and always meant to paint cherries on the dangling drops but went a different way after I put my purse on top.

I wanted her to have an "oh no" look when items were placed on the surface. I painted the illustration in a cartoon style with very bright colors in order to keep the painting from becoming sinister. The funny thing is, after I painted her, no one uses the table any more.

To ensure good paint adhesion I base coated the top with Gesso.

Blushing Zebra Plant Stand Pedestal

I used to dumpster dive at a metal recycling place for interesting metal bits for sculpture and found this rather rusty thing-a-ma-bob.

I rescued it from the garage yesterday, gave it a base coat of Gesso then painted it pink. After the pink was dry it received black zebra stripes.

Folk Art Painting From Jamaica

I bought this vibrant painting in Jamaica. The metallic blue is from a large tabletop easel that I have it displayed on.

I like the simple shapes, and the hub-bub of market day.

Recycled Painted Stool

I found this metal stool in a recycling bin. Some gesso and paint and now it's ready to hold a plant on the deck. The metal surface was rather rough so I wasn't inclined to spend a lot of time doing an elaborate painting.

My deck is small so it's nice to have plants be layered at different heights. BTW, house paint does not bond well to treated decking despite what the 18 year old at the paint store says.

My Daughter Cleaned Out Her Closet

Alethea cleaned out her closet and found this painting I did of her when she was little. She never liked the painting and put it in her closet about 15 years ago.

It was done back in the 1980s when antiquing surfaces was popular and I was inspired by a public TV program called Painting With Elke starring Elke Sommer. Elke demonstrated blocking in the painting, outlining the shapes with a Sharpie, and covering the dry painting with black watercolor. You take a damp cloth and remove the excess watercolor leaving black shaded areas.

I only had craft paint and discovered that craft acrylics don't release the watercolor overlay as effortlessly as Elke's tube acrylic paint. My kids liked to paint and I was concerned about the chemicals in artist's paints so I only had nontoxic paint in the house.

The painting has special meaning for me since Alethea loved to be tossed in the air, she adored flying kites, and this was her favorite outfit.

Watermelon with Ants Painted Wooden Chair Directions

I put this painted chair by the front door as extra seating and a spot of color. I found the chair at a garage sale for a $1 and painted it with gesso. I would have sanded it to remove the glossy finish if it still had one. Gesso is an excellent surface to paint on and seals the item at the same time.

I blocked in the green and white areas with acrylic paint. There is a soft line along the hard melon edge that was done by side loading a brush. To side load a flat brush you take a brush that was loaded with water, lightly squeeze the bristles to remove the excess and dunk one corner in the paint. When you stroke on the paint the water that remains in the brush allows the paint to float out gradually. This takes a little practice to get the technique down. If you make a mistake you can wipe it off with a damp paper towel.


The light green areas were sponge painted with a small piece of sea sponge. I sponge painted the melon flesh with 3 colors on a palette and and had bits of the all of the colors on the sponge at the same time. The colors mix slightly and it gives the paint a more translucent appearance.

The ants are painted with simple black shapes and some of the ants are carrying bits of melon. The ants were made by dunking the handles of stencil brushes in black paint and dabbing on dots. The reason the ants were made with dots is it's easier and the dots keep the sizes relatively uniform. I elongated the shape of the ant's tail with a brush and brushed on the antenna and legs.

The watermelon seeds are black and with thinned brown paint used to make subtle lines. If you look closely at a watermelon seed they are not solid black.