Chalkboards are an excellent place for an artist to share his or her talent with others. Illustrations help make learning fun and memorable!

Basketball Donkey

This donkey was sketched in ink.  Ink sketches cleanly and doesn't smudge.  If you're already pretty sure about the dimensions of what you're going to draw, ink can be a quick way to jot it down.  Even small errors such as overshot lines can now be easily removed by several types of computer software, including Windows Paint.

Palomino

Five Gaited Marching Horse

I think they call this the "run walk." I would urge those who train gaited horses to maintain compassion and to put animal safety above winning prizes. These gentle horses have done nothing to deserve what some folks do to them to make them pick their feet up still higher than they already do.

Half Finished Mare

I began to shade. The neckline running through the mane is still visible, and wouldn't be once the mane had been shaded in. Yet something in this unfinished look made me pause. I may finish it, may not. If I do I will wait a few days or weeks and begin with a fresh mindset--better a good drawing half done than a drawing ruined by overworking it or by finishing when the inspiration's not there. I almost do like her as she is, and if I lighten that neckline with an eraser she may pass for a pinto.

A Sketchy Terrier

This terrier was sketched in soft pencil on watercolor board. The scanner, however, couldn't pick up enough contrast to make a decent view of it. It couldn't, that is, until I found an option in the photo editing software called "charcoal" that made the pencil hues darker. Now it looks more like ink than pencil, but I like what the software did with it.

Found Art: Telephone Scribbles

The Kindly Dragon

This puzzled dragon is holding a baby chick and wondering what it has found.

Self Stick Dragon Note

Sometimes when inspiration occurs the only thing handy is a self stick note. This dragon is wearing a piece of armor for the face similar to that of a medieval horse.

Dancing Rabbits

This is from a few years ago when I was enamored with a newly discovered story told in dance. I did all the main characters as rabbits.

Grey Fox

Another cardboard masterpiece. The sketching is very rough, but you get almost an impressionist image when you leave off and don't finish it out.

Blue Eyed Bunny

This was sketched in pencil, colored in oil color pencil, then retraced in pencil. The page I drew it on was just a piece of leftover cardboard. Cardboard doesn't archive very well--it deteriorates--but when you scan and save the image on your computer that alleviates the problem and allows you to turn a piece of scrap into an art medium. What I really like is that white shows up well against the brown without contrasting too much as it might with a black background. The greater contrast would be good for some effects like lightning, pirate flags, fireworks, etc. For bunnies I prefer a more serene look.

Literary Canine

Two Sketches

An attentive dog waits for her master. Based on my own dog, who was rescued from a puppy mill by a shelter.
Battle Angel. I am not yet adept at humans, but I found a way to hide his face and it turned out better than I expected.

Robin Hood Horse

Pensive Wolf

Skyward Song

Potbellied Pig

Potbellied pigs make good pets. Be ready to move fast if one gets mad at you, though. They'll gladly eat leftovers from your kitchen along with their daily portion of vitamin enriched feed, and they talk to you in little grunts and whuffs.

Hunting Dog

Sharpie permanent ink and Walnut Hollow oil color pencil.

Zorro Horse

Pink Dragon

Pillow Fight

From a series I did depicting horses and other animals doing things that humans do.

Sunset House

Blue Dragon

This one got a bid within an hour of listing. I have done several dragons, but not as representatives of evil. I believe our myths of flying creatures with horns and fire are based on real live dinosaurs. Think, for instance, of the large "flying" lizards that glide through the air on skin flaps resembling wings. Imagine a world before the flood of Noah that was warmer and more conducive to life--the lizards that grow continuously might have reached tremendous size in that age. Now picture yourself standing outdoors--you look up, and zooming over your head is this fantastic animal. You describe it to all your friends, and before long the story grows (as legends do) to include details that are larger than life, but still begun on a grain of truth.

Pencil + Paint

I scan in a pencil sketch...

...open with Windows Paint, and make some changes.

Christmas House

Aurora Blue Wolf

Dwarf Hamster

Rose

Lilacs in Blue

My All Time Favorite ACEO

Rabbits on the Dance Floor

Paint on Foil

I wrapped a piece of foil over a cardboard rectangle, painted on the foil with watercolor, then framed when dry.

This one was a bit more complicated, as you can see the glass of the frame is painted with the raindrops and lightning, while the ark and the background are on the opposite side, creating a more dimensional effect.

Wood Burnings

Ivy vines...

...blackberry canes...

(more detail on the blackberry)

...and roses!

These were extemely fun to do indoors on cold winter days. I start by sketching very lightly on top of the wood with a pencil. I keep a trivet or hot pad handy to lay the woodburning pen on when it's warming up or cooling off, and I never leave the table unless I unplug it first.

Wolfsong