That City I Love

This one might not necessarily be Minneapolis. Or St. Paul. They've certainly influenced this painting, but even more than with the other city paintings, I was more interested in depicting the impression a place can give.
Next week I'm going to L.A. I love L.A. I've only been there once, and between then and now my brain has painted it into this glorious place that it almost certainly isn't. The great thing about it, though, is that I think part of our existing experience is in our heads. I think we make our places beautiful or terrible.

This painting is for my godfather, who travels the world. I've learned a lot about loving places from him.

watercolor and acrylic on 180 lb cold press paper

Snowglobe!

Alyssa prompted this piece. She insisted that making snowglobes was the thing to do. After seeing the really cute one she made, I really wanted to make one, too.
EDIT: Ten Paces has a whole menagerie of snowglobes over there! Check'm out!

Cold Winter Night

I had a hard time with this one. Ultimately, I think it's one of my favorites, but boy oh boy did it put up a fight. I struggled with getting it as deep and vibrant as I had planned, and then when it was deep enough I was frustrated with the lack of subtlety that watercolor usually provides.
This also served to remind me that sometimes sticking with something is the best course of action, even when you want to start all over.

Halloween Patterns

Another benefit of making so many patterns is that there's always some art for the holidays. Here's a collection of Halloween patterns. I've posted the last one before, but I'll post it again.
There's a Halloween pattern for today in the works; if it's finished by the end of today I'll add it.










EDIT: And one more:

Mice Activities

A gift piece for some very very kind people.
I'd also like to direct your attention to that border. As usual, I masked the border off with tape. Unlike usual, when I took the tape off, it turned out perfectly clean, straight, and without weird bleeding. I used regular old artist's tape and didn't really do anything different that I know of, otherwise I'd be talking about it because do I ever want the official secret of clean watercolor borders.
Excited things, guys.


watercolor, gouache and ink on 190 lb cold press paper

Cozy Inside

I finished another piece in the urban winter series! There are a couple posts with process here and here. This one was kind of a challenge. I think I changed color palettes a few times while working on it in attempt to find the right...mood? Atmosphere, maybe.


watercolor, ink and gouache on 300 lb rough press


After working on a painting, nothing helps wind down like sketching whatever. My cat likes sketchbooks almost as much as I do.



This time she was just covering up this drawing I made of her. She's pretty modest.

Small Animal Friends

I made some small paintings for a pattern. Every once and awhile, I decide it would be really fun to paint icons with paint for a pattern instead of working digitally. I enjoy it so much more, but it also takes twice as long.








gouache and watercolor on 180 lb rough press paper

Minneapolis deadlines

I'm working on a few city-related projects whose deadlines are fast approaching. Last night I pulled out the paints and ink and a few pieces and sat down to work. Computers are wonderful things, and they are excellent tools for making art. Still, after a few minutes into actually painting, with actual paint, I can't help but feel one medium is superior to another.

Fall Watercolor Studies

I did a watercolor demo for my friend Adam's class and here are the primary remainders. As I was biking to the class I noticed how crazy amazing my neighborhood is looking these days. The fall foliage always seems very short-lived, but it's worth appreciating.





watercolor on 180 lb rough press

Urban Winter

I've been working on and off on a series of watercolor paintings inspired from winter settings in the Twin Cities. One of the things I marvel at the most is how easily the idea for the next image comes. I do have plans for the future ones, but until I start the next painting, there's no telling. The one I'm currently working on I hadn't decided on until the moment this one was finished. You can see the other two I've already done here and here.


watercolor, ink and gouache on 300 lb rough press