Family members are my favorite subjects, I’m considering branching out to extended family soon (and don’t say I didn’t warn you since I expect you all to be following this blog much more religiously than I update it 😛 )  Here are 5 Daniels I’ve done recently.

First: Daniel and the Styracosaurus it started out as a study of James Gurney’s picture on page 68 of Dinotopia: The World Beneath, but I took it a little farther than I intended.  The likeness is vague at best and looks different from every angle, but I learned my lesson and won’t be attempting a half inch tall face on a ridiculously bumpy re-used canvas again.  Oh well, he loves it and that’s what matters 🙂

And some sketches, steampunk, stylized, “paleontologist,” and Robin Hood.

You will be pleased to know it’s official!  We have formalized Rebecca’s membership in our family with a 5-month portrait which will take it’s place on our wall as soon as the oils are dry.  There’s no getting rid of her now!

Back in October Daniel would go around the house saying “I love owls, and owls love me.”  I thought it was really cute and decided to paint an owl for him.  I got this far:

Then made the mistake of asking Daniel if he liked it.  He said, “No.  It’s too scary.”  So I never finished it.  Still, I thought it was kind of fun so I decided to post it anyway.  My poor little unfinished owl with no feet 🙂

Here’s a sneak peek of a new project I’m working on that Daniel DOES like (although he has recently decided the dragon ought to be blue):

The photo of Daniel is just a placeholder, I’ll use it as reference to paint him in later, once everything else is right.

Daniel decided to set up an easel for his mommy so he could get some art work done during the day.  He also lets her use his large waffle blocks as make shift studio tables.  What a sweet boy.

Eric’s also really sweet.  He bought me that easel for our anniversary. I love it!  And I love him too.

As the mother of the most adorable baby in the world, I decided to paint a portrait of my little boy.  I’m afraid it’s from a photograph and not from life…try getting a four month old to hold still for 2 minutes let alone 2 hours haha.  Though purists will doubtless be appalled at the confession, I must admit I prefer working from photographs anyway.  So without further ado, here he is!  My little Daniel 🙂