Here Comes Santa Claus

I finally got Santa completed. Actually two were completed, exactly alike. I've posted what I think is the best of the two. What I thought was going to be a quick little portrait turned into much more and I learned a few things along the way not the least of which is how to store my acrylic paint and preserve it after it's been squeezed from the tube. I can't believe I didn't come up with this idea sooner! I'm using a disposable plastic container with lid as my palette which is capable of keeping the paint usable up to 3-4 days. When it's dried out all I have to do is use a plastic palette knife to scrape it away and voila!...I have a nice clean palette for the next project.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

To all my visitors...thank you for visiting my blog and special thanks to those who took the time to leave comments and feedback. It means a great deal to me. The image above is the last Christmas card I painted which, as predicted, I finished just in time for the holidays.

Crabby Cat Christmas

With some text added

I wasn't planning on printing any Xmas cards this year because I didn't want to spend the money at the printers just before the holidays. Maybe next year...huh? Last night I was fooling around with Elements and decided to try printing out 'Snowflake Flies'. I haven't had much luck with my home printer lately so I never expected the cards to turn out but they actually did!

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This gave me the impetuous to try another Xmas card idea I had floating around in my head. Pressed for time, I drew out my sketch and outlined it with a micron pen. Then I scanned and enlarged it. Today I printed out the sketch directly onto #140 HP w/c paper and added color with Prismacolor pencils and watercolor. I will probably add some text and will post the image again when it has been added. For the rest of the day I will be printing out the new cards and getting them ready to take to the gallery. I hope it isn't too late. Nothing like cutting it close.