Baby on Board!

 'Life has a way of knocking over the most brilliant plans'

(from the Jerusalem Train by Jon Dietz)

Isn't this quote so very true.... not only for my painting but life too...with a 'Baby on Board' you can never be quite sure what is going to happen next. (grin)

This has been a fun painting to do.  I wanted to keep the chess pieces and board quite mystical, almost like a surreal world in feel, so I kept it deliberately 'soft focus'. In contrast the baby is very much 'in focus' because, to me, he represents real life with all its unexpected twists and turns. I also chose to add another colour for the babies arms to help draw attention to his action of knocking over the king. Its fun to play with techniques to help convey a message.

Ona

Painting babies

A local gallery has expressed an interest in using me for any portrait commissions. Last weekend I put together a portfolio of portrait examples and as I was doing so I realised that although I have examples of toddlers, young children, older children, adults and older people I havent ever painted a really young baby so this is a small 10 by 12 inch painting that I can use as an example. I think it might make a popular design for my greetings cards too.

I wanted the focus to be those huge wide eyes as the baby takes in all the new experiences that are around but also include those cute baby features, the button nose and toothless mouth. 

This is actually an experiment too because I pre-stretched the watercolour paper over stretcher bars and now the painting is done I am going to fix and varnish it. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Ona

The Night before Christmas

"His eyes-how they twinkled, his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!"

Christmas Eve is a time full of magic and wonder for everyone but especially for young children. The twinkling lights and shiny baubles which glow, sparkle and shimmer have this baby entranced. His beloved Teddy is discarded for the moment in favor of a colourful Santa bauble which he has pulled from the tree. As he looks in wonder at this bauble he is unaware that a very special visitor has arrived.

This is the last of the Christmas paintings for this year. It is painted in watercolor on fabriano hot press paper and is 12 by 18 inches. I am sure the series will continue next year.

Ona