Botanical Garden Flower in Tucson

I went to the Botanical Gardens in Tucson this morning. I spent some time sketching the flowers and got to see the Tropical Butterflies before they leave for the season. I like this painting the most because it was the most dramatic for colors and got the dusty wind of the day in the blue around the flower. It was very fun and relaxing, but still struggling with the medication and overheating easily.

Living with Mental Illness

This is a 16X20 acrylic and the photograph takes away from a lot of the texture. This reflects my thoughts on mental illness. The narrow, green path of chemical balance that can be disturbed so easily and throw me into the highs of mania or the spiraling lows of depression. It was really fun to paint, but took me at least an hour to get the paint off of my hands and arms so that I could be presentable at the interview that I had this morning.

Bookmark of Flowers

Yesterday, my house mate, Julie, asked me to do a watercolor sketch of the flowers that her daughter, Anna, collected around our yard. The result of that was this bookmark that she wanted. I did this watercolor sketch while listening to mindless TV on Hulu while I was trying to recover from overheating yesterday. I did do a painting today, but it is still not dry. So, there will be a fun acrylic coming tomorrow.

Verde Canyon Train Ride - Cottonwood

I painted this watercolor sketch on the Verde Canyon Railroad Train. My friend Amy took my on this trip as a belated Birthday present. We were in first class on the Sycamore car. There were these beautiful Cottonwood trees all in the Canyon by the water with a backdrop of the red, orange layered canyon walls. It was beautiful. Although, it is not the easiest things to sketch while riding a train.

Aqua Caliente Park

Not thrilled with today's posting, the scan did not come out well. However, this is the watercolor sketch that I did Monday at Aqua Caliente Park. I saw a so many birds and then the all disappeared when I sat down to paint.

Flowers at Tohono Chul Park

It was kind of a rough day today. Nothing seemed to be working. I did kind of like this flower sketch that I did at Tohono Chul Park. Tomorrow will be a new day. I have an acrylic painting idea; I just might start that tonight.

Big Horn Sheep, April 17, 2012

Feeling so much better and can drive again, so I went out to the International Wildlife Museum today. It is a perfect place to sketch and look at animals without any of the Tucson heat and sunlight that I have been struggling to cope with. This was a watercolor wash of one of the Big Horn Sheep there.