Dining Bat

"LIFE ON SUGARLOAF"

is a series of 12 dozen articles

inspired by our surroundings near Key West.

My partner , Bill Suddaby, wrote them.

I'll do a dozen digital illustrations for the self-published book.

"EXPLORERS"

"EXPLORERS"

Oil on panel; 16 X 20 inches

An imaginary outing on the water.

Near an interesting shoreline.

Where all sorts of plants grow.

IF: "CARRY"

"CARRY"

is word-of-the-week

on

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY.

Too good a pun to pass up.

Corel Painter.

TURKEY MEAT BALLS

Dice up some garlic and a big shallot and cook in butter in a skillet ‘til translucent. Set aside to cool.

While that’s on : wash , drain and chop cilantro and scallions. Grate a big handful of cheese

(I used snoked gouda for our party; usually use parmesan or a hard savory cheese) and 

mix with the greens in a bowl. Toss with a good amount of Italian breadcrumbs until coated.

In the same bowl add lean, ground turkey meat and one whole egg and the shallot garlic 

mixture. I clean up the excess butter from the skillet with a bit of breadcrumbs and add that, 

too. Mix all together by hand until greens and shallots equally dispersed.

Put a big skillet on with olive oil and start to make the meatballs. When the oil is hot,  space

 them around the skillet and turn them as needed til done. It’s really a big assembly line of 

rolling the balls whilst the others cook. Remove the cooked ones to drain on paper towels.

Add more oil if needed to the pan and bring to temperature and start the next group.

These can be frozen to microwave later. I made my batch the day before and just 

refrigerated.

PHOTO: HOBBS

"EXOTICA"

Acrylic, watercolor on collage.

Badry collection.

Some prints still available.

"DOG, DOG, DOG, DOG"

One of many dog images, you know.

Lucky 13 of 25 prints. $50.

Impressed drawing with oil pastel,

watercolor and acrylic.

The watercolor fills the drawing's grooves

but beads up on the oil pastel.

This was such a flat design I set them running

in front of ancient pyramids on the Nile.

"A GOURMAND"

That means chow-hound.

Signed edition of 25 prints

from the mixed medium original.

Watercolor over oil pastel

for a sketchy line.

About 6 X 8 inches for an 11 X 14 inch frame. $38.

"FLUTTER BY"

Edition of 50 signed prints

from an original mixed medium painting.

Watercolor letters for a Scooby-Doo sound.

"LOST"

is the word this week on

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY.

Here's my most popular print of a dog.

The owner of the original collage

has a bunch of rescue dogs.

Each print is finished with 23 carat gold

on the halo and dog tag.

Framed. $135 and $220.

11 X 14/ 16 X 20.

"DAY DREAM"

is a little digital drawing

reproduced in an signed, open edition.

Popular, ready to frame and fits in a travel bag.

11 X 14 inch format.

Image size: 4.5 X 5 inches.

This went quickly

for 

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY

'cause I thought about it

last night.

Painter 12.

TULIP

too close.

She's sleeping through afternoons of lightning and thunder.

But all our dogs have been like that.

"RACE YA!"

"RACE YA!"

(Sold)

Acrylic over oil monoprint.

Everybody's going swimming.

Prints available.

"ART SONG"

"ART SONG"

 I used to study singing

and had a blast learning all kinds of things.

My teacher gave me some old, brittle sheet music.

It's here as the floor of the stage. I scanned the music

to a more sturdy, archival paper.

Technique:

Indent rag board with a heavy-handed drawing.

Rub oil pastel over the entire surface.

Watercolor flows into the pencil grooves for a sketchy, "batik" line.

Prints available at the gallery.

"SUSHI BAR"

"SUSHI BAR"

I call fat-cats "sumo kitties."

He can use the fish bowl as a finger bowl now.

I printed 15 of these after drawing the image in Painter.

"DON'T GET UP!"

"DON'T GET UP!"

So, who's getting up?

Oil monoprint  (SOLD) 

on 

all-but-obscured Fortuny fabric scan.

Blocks of acrylic colors surround the 

textural drawing. More white brushwork mimics 

the look of stamped patterns.

Other line work is

transfered type-correction film.

Some color pencil, too.

Watercolor delineates eyes and nose of lazy feline....

A few prints left.

"JEALOUS LITTLE STARS"

"JEALOUS LITTLE STARS"

Oil on linen panel; 11 X 14 inches

'Sulking because they're not the biggest, prettiest or brightest.

This is offered as a paper print with gold ($55.)

and

as a framed giclee print on canvas.

11 X 14 or 16 X 20. ($135. / $220.)

All formats with 23 carat gold.

Here's the sparkle:

"RUNNING ON EMPTY"

"RUNNING ON EMPTY"

Another embellished oil monoprint (SOLD)

on scans of Fortuny fabric.

The sketchy monoprint line surrounds

the Fortuny hand-print.

Letter forms in watercolor describe

what's in the bowl.

There's a little colored pencil in the composition, too.

A few prints are available.

"MES AMIS"

WHILE I'M WAITING

for frames to arrive,

let's look at

"MES AMIS."

The original (sold) is a monoprint

with acrylic and watercolor on scans

of Fortuny fabric.

That design atelier's great patterns

are a joy to see.

The smiling heart and beads are painted

over a Fortuny border design. 

The flower hand-print is on very fine cotton.

This portion of the scan

shows a little of the frayed cotton edge.

I usually employ watercolor or gouache for my letter forms.

The crown's edge and face perimeter show 

the oil monoprint's sketchy line quality. 

"AGAIN"

I place the little black and white dog

in the center of unique collages

made with hand-painted papers from my studio folios.

In no order:

The wave patterns are a monoprint with acrylic paint.

The green border is oil and acrylic on paper.

The grey behind the dog is typo correction film

on acrylic on black Canson paper.

Stamped letters start a thought...

23 carat gold is flourished at his feet.

These are $80. each in rag mats; 11 X 14 inches.

"BIG BIRD"

Acrylic on Arches.

6 X 8 inches.