Baby portrait....Hayley

I painted this yesterday as a demo while I sat at an art "show" (emphasis on show, not many were buying). It's my now 13 year old daughter when she was about 7/8 months. This painting is why I love watercolor so much. It looks fresh and loose even when carefully controlled. It's about 7 x 5 inches.

Old, sold watercolors now new journal covers.

I have a lot of scans of my old, sold ACEOs and other watercolors, and love using them for other purposes. I've shown before how I created magnets from them. Now I've been even more creative, putting them on the front of journals, with other design elements.

Hope you'll take a look in the "WHAT'S NEW" section of my Cafe Press store:
http://www.cafepress.com/jilliancrider
Direct link to 'what's new':
http://www.cafepress.com/jilliancrider/3157762

I'm doing more right now, so be sure to bookmark it.
Thanks for looking.
~Jillian

Timana

4 x 6 inches, watercolor and gouache, 2009.

The beautiful green-eyed Timana, another of my mermaids.

Chase - Dog Portrait

Quite by accident, I seem to have fallen into dog commissions in the last couple of months. This is number 3. Though I'm not really a dog person, I have enjoyed painting them.

This measures 14 x 18. Watercolor on Arches cold press.

Valentine EBSQ Art of The Day is Mariotto!

"Il Bacio a tribute to F. Hayez" 4x6 watercolor

It's Valentine's Day and EBSQ's art of the day is Loredana Mariotto's rendition of "Il Bacio a tribute to F. Hayez" !

Congratulations to our dear Lore!

The Laughing Dolls

5.5 x 7.5 inches, watercolor and gouache, 2009.

The theme for the challenge in the WNW watercolour group this month is "still life". So I decided to paint some of the dolls I have knocking around, something I've been meaning to do for a while. The baby doll was one I found when out walking the dog, many years ago - she has no arms or legs and her eyes are a bit wonky, so that endeared her to me. The middle one is a "Jem" doll - bought for me by a friend back in the 80's, she was a "Pop Star" doll - her ear-rings light up and flash. The final one is something I found when clearing my Nan's house after she passed away. It was going to be thrown out so I saved it, hideous though it is. It looks sort of Chinese, but where it came from and why is a mystery. They all look so happy and jolly, like they are sharing a joke!

Fuchsia: Fancy Frills

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290295321234

ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR PAINTING
SFA - small format art
"Fuchsia - Fancy Frills"

by Jillian Crider
on heavy archival watercolor paper.

image size 5.5" x 6"



The painting is extended onto the mat. The mat is
part of the painting.

matted size 11" x 11.5"



"This artwork is from 1993 when I created a series of fuchsia paintings for a calendar (never published), and subsequently for an exhibition.
This painting remains from that time, it was never sold, just packed away.
Personally I love this work, I love fuchsias, and this is just too lovely to be stored away and not seen.
Fuchsias are such 'happy' plants - so colorful and festive, and, in turn, this painting is a 'feel good' painting.
I'm hoping someone will give it a good home. Thank you."

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290295321234

Thanks for looking.

~Jillian

The Romanov Children

8 x 10 inches, watercolour and gouache, 2009.
Commission.

The finished painting of the Romanov children. You can see the study here.

Anenome

4.5 x 6 inches, watercolour and gouache, 2009.


A larger mermaid portrait, the blue haired and beautiful Anenome.

San Francisco Pacific Palisades DSDF 21-22 and an Award

"Pink Yellow Blue and Black" about 5x7 watercolor on paper

Another impressive challenge from Karin Jurick at Different Strokes by Different Folks. This was a daunting challenge for me. Straight lines and I usually don't get along well lol However when I was 10 minutes into the drawing, I realize that it was going to be a really good project to undertake because it's an opportunity for an excellent refresher study on basic shapes! Good grief, I was feeling sorry for the builders as their challenge was far bigger than mine! I was able to start over halfway through my drawing because that's when I realized the tops of the cone roofs (I bet there's an official name for those lol), were not going to fit and that's just not acceptable! Part of the reason why I took so long to make up my mind about painting this was that I was drooling over painting the molds and cool shapes in oils! But I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if I were to paint it smaller than 11x14. I might still do it at some point, don't be surprised! Also, I try not to see what other people do with their DSDF challenge when I can help it so I can focus on my approach. As usual this challenged attracted a wonderful variety!

Pretty in Red! - Carino in rosso!

Watercolor 13 x 10 inches on 180 lbs Favini Torchon Paper, painted with Winsor & Newton artist's paints.

This is an old (1970 circa) Italian telephone, most of our homes had it in turtle-dove color or in black, but I can hardly remember that there were also in pomegranate and dark-green.

Forgive the pink background, the paper is bigger than my scanner and the edge of the sheet takes the shadow of the paint below (which is obviously white)

I'm not sure if this is the last version of this paint, I need to add something, but I'll come back on it later.

The Angel's Tears

ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolour and gouache, 2009.

An angel sheds tears for the sorrows of the world.

Evangeline

ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolour and gouache, 2009.

Another mermaid, Evangeline gazes at the shoreline, wondering how it would feel to walk on the land.

Phaedra

4 x 6 inches, watercolor and gouache, 2009.

The beautiful Phaedra was inspired by the Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood song "Some Velvet Morning". The exact meaning of the song is a little obscure but to me the male character in the song has been seduced by the magical Phaedra and has fallen under her spell.

Figure Painting

Patty, 24 x 18. Painting from Life
Hillary's Blog
Hillary's Web Site

Figure Study

Jana Reclining, Watercolor, 18 x 24
Hillary's Blog
Hillary's Web Site

"Sittin' Pretty" ACEO Little Girl in Victorian Garb.

This is a little girl, dressed up in Victorian costuming.
She is part of a local historical town's re-enactment society.
She was totally adorable. I want to do a large painting, but settled on an ACEO - which is 2.5x3.5".

I have her listed on eBay. But only for 3 days.
She took hours to do. There is much more detail than shows in the scan.
http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/artistjillian

~Jillian

Lulu

ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolour and gouache, 2009.

Lulu - the femme fatale, the dancing girl, the thief of hearts!

Aqua

ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolor and gouache, 2009.

Aqua sits underwater, her green hair flowing, as she searches for shipwrecks and treasure.

Underwood # 5

This is the first after a long time:

Watercolor on Favini 180lbs artist paper painted with Winsor & Newton artist's paints. 13 x 10 inches.

This is a typewriter, the glorius Underwood model Number 5, a museum piece and one of the most appreciated ever.

I love those old objects that also if not very easy to use bring back memories and feelings.

The Romanov Children Study

8 x 10 inches, watercolor and gouache, sketchbook, 2009.

This is a rough sketch for a commission i am working on. It's a portrait of the Romanov children who were murdered at the start of the Russian revolution. The reference image is black and white but the finished painting will be in colour so this sketch is a colour test as well as compositional - I have moved Alexei to a central position whereas in the original photo he is on the far right. I didn't worry too much about likeness as that will be more important in the final painting.

Telemachus

2.5 x 2.5 inches, watercolor and gouache, 2009.

In mythology Telemachus is the son of Odysseus and Penelope. His father missing after fighting in the Trojan war, he goes in search of him and along the way becomes a man and hears stories of his father's exploits.

42

8 x 11 inches, watercolour, 2009.

Another self-portrait for the EBSQ Self portrait show and WNW January Challenge, and also a companion piece to "22", my previous self-portrait of myself aged 22. This portrait is intended to show not only how I have aged over the 20 years but also how I see myself as a happier and more relaxed and contented person.

In the works

Gradually growing into larger work, this one is 12 x 16 (in progress) and will be matted at 11 x 15, give or take. Need to decide on a background and I'm not sure how dark I want to go. I like a mid value background so I can play with a cast shadow but a deep color would surely make the white orchids pop!


If you have an opinion, comment and share it. I'd love to hear your ideas.


Did you ever wish you'd stopped sooner? I do...


This isn't exactly what I had in mind. The dark really washed out the colorful whites and made the whole thing flat. What a great learning experience.