A mistake and how I fixed it

This is an 8x10 painting on watercolor paper. I started it the way I do most of my watercolor paintings - a pencil sketch and then working quickly to color in the painting, letting it dry between layers.

But the orange paint of the cat got away from me, I wet the paper more than usual and his ear got smudged. Orange paint made a big lump on his head.

So I finished the rest of the painting and then did the background with dioxazine purple acrylic paint. That's a very dark color and it looks almost black.

I like the way it came out. It has a bit of an Eastern European look to it, with the dark background and bright colors.

It's difficult to scan paintings with acrylic. The type of acrylic paint I use is glossy, and it looks great in real life but it picks up glare in scans and photos.

I'm happy I was able to save this painting! I may do some more with this technique.

New painting!

11x14 on canvas Psycho Kitty painting. This one is sold, it was part of an auction to support a cat shelter.

Spiral Sky Cactus

I'm on a roll here. Like the last one, this is an 8x10 watercolor and ink with metallic acrylic accents. I was experimenting with watercolor washes. I used some salt to give a crystallized effect in the sky but I didn't like it so mostly painted over it.

I ordered some new watercolors and will be experimenting with blocking - where you block out an area which is already painted so it doesn't absorb more paint. When I was painting this one, I wished I had some of that to paint over the cactus so I could have done more of a wash effect in the sky. I had wanted it to be in dawn colors and I had gotten an effect I liked but because I was constrained painting around the cactus it got messed up and I just went ahead and did a lot of purple spirals.

A lot of times when I mess things up I paint spiral patterns over it! But don't tell anyone.

Sleepy Stars Kitty

This is an 8x10 watercolor and ink with acrylic accents on watercolor paper. The stars are metallic silver acrylic. It's going to be sold as a fundraiser for a cat shelter.

Pink Roses painting

Pink Roses painting, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Another new painting! I'm doing a group of spring themed paintings right now. I was inspired by two things, I got a new bed comforter that has pink roses and light green leaves on it, and also there's pink roses blooming right outside my studio windows!

Spring Snake Cactus

Spring Snake Cactus, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I've been busy with work lately but I have found some time to do painting. I'm doing a batch of paintings in spring colors. This is the first one. It's 9x12 Acrylic on Canvas.

From the Past to the Future

This is a painting I did while living in San Franciso sometime in the early 90s. It's watercolor and ink. I'm going to do a new version of this painting.

Rose Cat

Rose Cat, originally uploaded by Melsky.

New painting! This is 8x10 inches, watercolor and ink on watercolor paper.

For Sale in Abstract Floral and Cat Art by Melsky

I'm pretty busy at work but finding a small amount of time to paint. I'm going to take some time off this weekend, maybe take a 4 day weekend.

Raw Roses

This is the raw scan of the roses painting. I left the border up! I'm working on another modification of this image. I'd like to make a set of greeting cards with my floral paintings and another with my cat paintings, another with desert paintings and a some holiday cards too. I'm looking at the best online places to order cards. Then I will sell them on Etsy. I think it might be nice to do a series of thank you cards too.

Yesterday I spent all day painting ! Six hours. I was painting a house though, one of the rental properties we manage. I like painting houses though, and the money is good. I like to see how much better the places look after they are painted.

The way I got started painting houses is that I am a rental agent for a property management company. I would go to places that were newly painted and there would be paint on the floor, in the carpet, they would get paint on the woodwork. Switch plates and light covers would be either taken off and they wouldn't bother to put them back on, or they would be covered with paint blocking the outlet holes! The paint jobs don't have to be fancy or perfect, we are dealing with places on a very low budget usually. But it doesn't take much more effort to do a decent job, wiping up paint spills, using drop cloths etc.

Having a good paint job also helps me as a rental agent, it just makes the place look better.

Yesterday was a lovely spring day. Not to say that we probably wont get another snowstorm or too but it's nice to be out. Anymore snow we get will be heavy wet spring snow that pretty much disappears quickly.

Bright Roses

Bright Roses, originally uploaded by Melsky.

New painting! This is acrylic and digital. I painted with acrylic on paper, scanned it, and then added highlights and changed the background.

I think I will try doing this more often. I want to try the technique with watercolors too.

I have a very nice Wacom tablet - where you can use a pen to draw in paint programs on the computer. I tried doing some paintings just on the computer but I found it very hard and they didn't look so good! But I am finding I enjoy modifying paintings I do offline.

When I paint with acrylics, the black I use to outline comes out with reflections on it when I scan it. I actually went through this one and colored all lines flat black. I deepened the colors and changed the background color to orange instead of yellow. I also added highlights. I'll have to put the original up for comparison.

I like painting with watercolors, mostly because they fit in with my busy schedule! That is, it's easy to start and stop watercolors, you don't need to worry about the paint drying on the brush and you only need a watercolor palette, water and brushes. Also, it's not that big of a deal if you get paint on your skin or clothes, it washes out.

I don't like the washed out colors though! But if I do watercolors and modify them I can get whatever colors I want.

Big Kitty City

Big Kitty City , originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is my painting for the Pawcasso benefit tomorrow night! It's 16x20 on canvas. It's going to be auctioned off to benefit SANS - Spay and Neuter Syracuse which provides low cost spay and neuter services.

Garden Cat

Garden Cat, originally uploaded by Melsky.

8x10 on Canvas - finished! Will be auctioned off at the PAWCASSO fundraiser to benefit SANS, who provide low cost spay/neuter services.

Painting in Progress

Painting in Progress, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I'm working on another painting! This one is acrylic on canvas. It's the first acrylic painting I have done in a very long time.

Another newer painting

Flowers in a Vase, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I finished this one a few weeks ago.

I still have not started my new painting. Having a busy weekend workwise and then also dealing with a furnace that stopped working when we are having temperatures in the single digits.

The Cat's World

The Cat's World, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I'm painting again!

I'm going to re-activate this blog. For the last 15 months I have been employed in real estate as a rental agent. Where I am really, really, really busy! I've also become a contractor. I have two painting jobs right now! But they are painting walls, and I'm not doing the painting.

I also get paid to take photos of properties, write descriptions of them, and put the data onto our web page. I do enjoy that.

It's been hard to do paintings. A lot of the time when I come home I am tired and stressed out.

However I am determined to start painting again.

This is my most recent painting.

Soon I will start selling them again too.