Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 18- 9x12 on watercolor board
On this page Booger assures Bernie that their house will not flood because it is so much higher than the street. We know that isn't going to end well....!
These pages of flooding, blowing wind, and night rain have presented quite a challenge. I am pretty happy with this page, just a few more tweaks and I think it will be fine. I will post some other night scenes this week. Trying to print this soon. Thanks for viewing my blog!

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 6-9x12 watercolor on cradle board
On this page Bernie and Booger notice the wind beginning to blow wildly. Bernie refers to his puffy hind quarters as trousers and Booger and Bernie both share a laugh about how funny he looks. Little do they know about the adventure they are about to embark upon!
I am having such fun with the pages, can't wait for it all to be done and ready to view!
Thanks for viewing my blog.

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 13-9x12 watercolor on cradle board
Hurricane Katrina was coming, a Category 4, the worst in decades. Bernie was so frightened of storms. ...this is one page of a two page spread, also showing the viscous winds blowing in on the shoreline. I was very happy with the way Bernie came out, I felt like I captured that look Bernie gets when he hears a storm. So true to character for Bernie! Thanks for viewing my blog.

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 26-9x12 watercolor on cradle board
Bernie and Booger wait for their family to arrive at the animal shelter and take them home.
I had posted this page earlier in black and white so here it is with watercolor added. I am having so much fun with watercolor, I had not painted in watercolor in quite some time. Thanks for viewing my blog!

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 9-9x12 watercolor on cradle board
Here is the color version of yesterday's post. I still have a little tweeking to do but thought I would go ahead and post. The sunset paintings always take longer to nail the colors and still not happy with the sky. I will repost when I think I have achieved the effects I am after. Thanks for viewing my blog!

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 9- 9x12 pen and ink on cradle board
In this drawing Bernie and Booger's friend Grady and his faithful bulldog Lucky head home through the deserted streets.
I am presently applying watercolor to this page. It is a bit of a challenge because it is an evening scene. All the colors become muted and reflect the evening sky which is very tricky when I am just doing the color scheme from memory with no true reference on this drawing. I will post the color version tomorrow! Thanks for viewing my blog!

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 10-9x12 watercolor on cradle board
On this page Bernie and Booger wait for their family to come home. The house is dark and the neighborhood is unusually quiet. They wait at  the window unaware of the torrential storm on the horizon. Booger assures Bernie that all will be fine! Thanks for viewing my blog!

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 8-9x12 watercolor on cradle board
Bernie and Booger's friends Grady and his bulldog Lucky stand at the bus stop. His neighbors are boarding a bus after the mayor decreed to evacuate the city. Grady refuses to leave his faithful friend "Lucky" the bulldog behind. This was one of the faults of the New Orleans evacuation, there was no consideration of the pets and animals of New Orleans. Authorities learned from these mistakes in future city evacuations the animals were allowed on the buses etc. Bernie and Booger will be glad to see Grady and Lucky soon! Thanks for viewing my blog!

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 11- 9x12 watercolor on cradle board
The boys curl ed up together that night never leaving each other's side. . . . On this page Bernie and Booger waited all night for their family to come home, finally falling asleep beside each other. Unknown to them are the impending flood waters that they will soon encounter changing their lives for ever. This page will be painted in purple and blues my favorite colors to use, can't wait to paint this one! Thanks for viewing my blog!

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Advenuture

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 2- 9x12 watercolor on panel board
This page depicts the colorful New Orleans streets lined with buses as the evacuation of people begins before Hurricane Katrina. With my background in architectural illustration I loved working on this page, brings back many memories of hours at the drafting table. However, I was very comfortable working on this page, the animal pics are much more of a challenge since I have not done much wildlife or animal art. I hope to be doing a lot more. I am presently putting the color on this page and intend to post it tomorrow with color. Thanks for viewing my blog!

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 17-9x12 watercolor on cradle board
On this page Bernie and  Booger after swimming out of their flood ravaged house, pull themselves upon a nearby rooftop. They are shivering and dripping wet in the cold dark flooding waters but happy to have made it to higher ground. They wait to be rescued..... Stay tuned. Spending all day watercoloring pages tomorrow so excited to have the week to spend on color! Thanks for viewing my blog!

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure-The Katrina Dogs
Page 16- 9x12 watercolor on panel
I can't wait to paint this page. The reference for the water is so lovely I hope I can do it justice! This page depicts the boys paddling out of the front door and the water bursts through, searching for something to cling to or get them out of the flood waters. Today I finished adding color to the first page, I am pleased with the way it came out but I better go faster. I want to publish the book by the end of September. Working Hard to get this done! Thanks for viewing my blog!

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure
Page 5 9x12 - Pen and Ink on panel
On this page the boys are going for a walk unaware of the impending storm. It's a sunny day but then the wind begins to pick up and blow wildly. Wait and see what happens on the next page, it's kinda funny. This is the first page I am applying color to and I am very excited to finally be to that stage. This first page of applying color has taken quite a while. I think I can pick up my pace once I get in a groove with how I want it all to appear. Thanks for viewing my blog!

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure- The Katrina Dogs

Bernie and Booger's Hurricane Adventure- The Katrina Dogs
Children's Book Coming October
Over the next few weeks I will be featuring pages from my children's book releasing in October. I was inspired to write this book in hope's of encouraging animal adoption to an up and coming generation. Also, I intend to donate a percentage of the sales to animal rescue. I have always been concerned with this issue and hope that my book is my way of giving back to a cause that is dear to my heart!
Thanks for viewing my blog!

The Katrina Dogs- Bernie and Beau's Hurricane Adventure

The Katrina Dogs- Bernie and Beau's Hurricane Adventure

20x24- Acrylic

I have just finished roughing in all the pages for my upcoming children's book so I thought I would start by reposting the cover. I have spent many hours on all the pages and the story that I wrote. I am working very hard to have the book complete and published for the fall. I will be posting some pages to share in their rough stages. I am very excited to continue this process and look forward to sharing the progress. Thanks for viewing my blog!

Purple Cabbage II

Purple Cabbage II

18x24 Oil Painting

The purple cabbage contains beautiful nuances in luminosity that prove to be a real challenge to capture. The cabbage is an everyday object that is always viewed below eyelevel never presented at eyelevel and seen for their amazing colors and depth. As I worked on my thesis I was fascinated to read Looking at the Overlooked- Four Essays on Still Life Painting by Norman Bryson. I learned that there actually is a study on the type of still life painting I do -rhopography. Rhopography is the study of still life painting of insignificant or unimportant objects presented as important. I had been doing this all my life and didn't know there was a name for it! Thanks for viewing my blog. If you are interested in purchasing this painting please contact me. Prints are available at fineartamerica.com  http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/donna+page/all