I've never been a fan of painting people – but animals are another story. I love capturing the varying textures and the light in their eyes. This is a painting of Bowie, my in-laws' Boston Terrier that I painted for them as a Christmas present. Yes, his eyes really do point in two different directions.
This was one of my favorite projects while studying at RISD. We had to select and research a creature from the Nature Lab, create a composition using elements of its habitat, diet, etc., then color it using gouache. The catch: we weren't allowed to repeat a single color. I chose a beautiful specimen of a scarab beetle, then painted it using subtle, varying shades and a cohesive color palette.
My favorite illustrator is Alphonse Mucha. His detailed, beautiful work is something I have always aspired to. Though the subject of his paintings is usually people, I created this Mucha-inspired illustration of a peacock. It is influenced by Mucha's layouts, color palettes, and techniques.
This is a camouflage experiment: the goal was to paint something that blended in to its surroundings. This octopus disappears into the sea bed surrounding it.
