The Lone Guanaco

Painting number 10 in my calendar series! Only 2 more left!
I thought I would represent South America with this one, seeing as I've done North America/Europe way too much! (But hey, gotta love those familiar animals.) This was fun, especially the water. The grassy/rocky hills gave me some trouble though. I am pleased with the composition overall. Not sure what I'm gonna do for the next 2 paintings! I've got a mouse in a meadow sketched out...

Plane of Heaven

 

My face huuurts. And I feel sick from the pain meds. Yet somehow I managed to knock this painting out! I did use a little GIMP to do some corrections and add some highlights. The reflections were hard to do as the shapes were quite vague, but I atleast got the impression across I think. So, why an otter? Well, I hadn't done any aquatic animals yet, or my night scene! Only 3 more paintings to go! This has been an awesome project. Maybe I'll do another one next year. Maybe. Gonna go with a different theme next time though! 

Excuse me now while I try and settle my stomach... ugh... 

Prelude to fall(semester, that is)

I am officially done with physics! I don't think I'm gonna get anything higher than a B but I am so unbelievable relieved to be done with summer school. It really drains you. I have 2 short weeks before fall semester, but I plan on taking full advantage of this tiny break.
This morning I painted an autumny-inspired bear for my calendar project! What perfect timing, eh? Here is a WIP shot (I only took one, d'oh!):

And the final product:

So let me just tally up my calendar project thusfar:

1. Barn Owl & forest (complete!)
2. Crow & forest (complete!)
3. Foxes & wintery forest (complete!)
4. Bison & Badlands (complete!)
5. Rhino & Thunderstorm (complete!)
6. Snow leopard & mountains (Complete!)
7. Hare & Desert(complete!)
8.  Black Bear in Autumn (complete!)
9. ?
10. ?
11. ?
12. ?

I know I hadn't really intended on drawing a bear but it just kinda happened so I went with it! I'm still not sure about the other 4 paintings... I've realized it really boils down to good references! We shall see. 

Strange Mood, Strange Oasis

I didn't notice until just a second ago, but this painting seems to fit my mood perfectly at the moment. Its titled Strange Oasis, and so it is painting number 7 in my calendar series. Right now, I reeeeeally reeeeally wish I had a scanner big enough to scan these all in, it is no fun trying to take pictures because some parts always get cropped off and the colors and lighting all have to be adjusted with gimp, which is difficult.
So I started and finished this up this morning. I guess this is my way of trying to relax. I don't know if I've succeeded. I feel really mellow. I need a vacation.

Patience

Painting number 6! A snow leopard. I enjoyed this one, although it didn't quite come out the way I envisioned, but when do they ever do? :P So now I know big cats can be fun to paint!
I don't have much else to share, except that I'm sleep deprived. -_-'

Bad munster, bad!

Old

Re-painted rhino

I'm horrible, instead of studying today I became obsessed with 'fixing' my first rhino painting, and I have wasted a whole afternoon on it... Well, I do like the second one better at least. Except for the grass... ugh. I need masking fluid. I had a bad experience with it but I think its worth another try.
I need to wind down, I was waaaay too obsessive about this. Munster out!

Roaring Lights

Presenting painting #5 of my calendar series. The rhino was harder to shade than I had anticipated, but the background went well until I used some shitty white acrylic paint that needs to be tossed because it is clumpy as hell. Ah well, trial & error, that's the way of life! So, here's the running tally on my project so far:

1. Barn Owl & forest (complete!)
2. Crow & forest (complete!)
3. Foxes & wintery forest (complete!)
4. Bison & Badlands (complete!)
5. Rhino & Thunderstorm (complete!)
6. Hare & Desert

Now, I can't guarantee that I'll finish 12 paintings in time, so I might have to reuse a couple pre-calendar watercolors that I made, however, the concepts for the rest of them are as follows: 

• Pangolin? Clouded leopard? Snow Leopard? Guanaco? Tapir? Panda? Bat? Kudu? Rat?(depends on if I find a decent ref + setting) I definitely want to do a night-time/starry scene, but now sure with which animal yet.

Well, I shall keep on with this project, but I must say things aren't going too well for me on the physics front. Let's just say I need to re-evaluate my study habits or I'll get stuck in the same rut as last term.

Badlands and the end of Physics 1!

Aaaah, what to say, what to say? Well, the rest of my 4th of July was disappointing because my dog chewed up my paycheck! But I shall refrain from ranting because it ended up being alright in the end and I was able to get it deposited. But now for the school news: I am finished with part 1 of physics! I don't know my grade yet, I'm on the border line so I have to wait til grades are posted to be sure. I'm ready for physics part 2, hopefully I will be able to pull myself ahead and not be on the borderline. Wish me luck!
Random news: money is tight right now for me and Doom, although I don't have bills to pay we both make an effort to save up for my veterinary school coming up soon/eventually (Doom is very sweet and supportive and I love him for it!) however our savings have diminished because of Doom's bills and other financial issues lately. *sigh* growing up is hard and I definitely appreciate being able to live with my parents... Hopefully Doom can start his new job soon and we can get back on our feet!
Aaaaand finally, I finished another calendar painting, a bison. :) I have a spot in my heart for the midwest, so I enjoyed this painting, although the background is vexing me right now. Not sure If I'll go back a 3rd time and try to fix it, but here it is as of now:

Now I'm gonna act like a "grandma"(as my friends like to say) and go to bed now. I don't care that it's 8pm, I'm tired, dammit!
Also: Yay for my friend Blogadog on her big move to another state all on her own! I'm so proud of her.

Foxes

Painting number 3 of my calendar series, foxes in snow! I was excited to paint it, but really it just reminded me of how much landscapes kick my ass. This wasn't even my first attempt, I had to scrap my first attempt and start over. So this is what I ended up with... I'm not sure how much I like it, those snow-covered boughs were hard! We shall see if it grows on me. Maybe I'll pick a less landscape intensive piece next!

Better late than never!

I realize I never posted the work in progress pics from Mr. Owl! So since they're gathering dust in my phone, here ya go:

Wrapping up the weekend

 So I finished up calendar painting number 2! This one was a lot of fun, but man I got the worst headache after I was done... Those trees seemed simple enough at the start but they were actually a lot of work! But since Blogadog suggested a crow, I did oblige!
My goal for these is to get them done at least by Thanksgiving!

The WIP

The set up!

Here's my set up, I've got an eeny-meeny square table to fit all my paints and brushes and water cups on. But it works! I use my lap top to look at my references, and lately while painting I've been watching some of the TED Talks series on Netflix! I love them, the speakers are great, the topics are awesome! I love that if I get bored of the medicine talks, I can go to the archaeology talks or the biology talks, or the space talks. I love the spirit of science and discovery, and I love that most aren't too long or uninteresting. I guess you can say I'm kind of addicted at the moment, kinda like I was addicted to Cosmos by Carl Sagan a few months ago. I think I enjoy listening to talks/documentaries while painting rather than movies/series because I don't have to watch to know what's happening. So sorry Blogadog, I'll try watching more shows eventually, but its easier to watch documentaries! haha ;)
But anyhoo, back to the calendar: I think I'll start a list and see where I get with it.

1. Barn Owl & Forest (completed)
2. Crow & Misty landscape (completed)
3. Jackrabbit & Desert 
4. Bison & Badlands
5. Rhino & Thunderstorm
6. Blogadog suggested a canid... maybe a Painted dog?
7. I need some wintery ones...
8. ?
9. ?
10. ?
11. ?
12. ?

So yeah, my list isn't all that great right now, but I know I'll get some fun ideas as I go. Feel free to suggest some things! I'm going for diversity of landscapes and animals. 
Well now I'm off to do some Fizziks stuffs. ^~^ 

Doomless weekend

Munster's log: Okay, okay, kinda lost track of this log but that's alright. 
Yesterday I went and took my first physics exam, I was above the average so I can't complain but now I realize just how much studying I need to do. Continuing like I did last week just ain't gonna cut it. After my exam I started the first of my calendar paintings! The barn owl. Before I could finish it though I went to go see Prometheus with Chickadee. It was... well, I liked it, there were some annoying things like I just wanted to know WHY at the end, but I enjoyed watching it. The biologist in the movie was kind of derpy... I mean, if a worm-shaped alien is hissing at you, why would you want to play with it?
Anyhoo, after I got home I CRASHED, weekends tend to be my catch-up-on-sleep time.
But this morning I was able to finish my owl painting!

I'm actually pleased with the background for the most part, and the owl, (though I know the face isn't perfect, who would've guessed owl faces could be so hard to get right?) I had a lot of fun painting this one. I'm not entirely sure what my next painting will be, but I will hopefully get another one finished before this weekend is over.