Radishes Painting

Hello again.

I have been busy trying new watercolor paintings, actually trying to paint one a day when I can.  It’s great practice, and so much fun! This time I am trying to paint many fruits and vegetables, as I love the beautiful colors and just the beauty of the vegetables and fruits themselves. It  gives me a  kind of connection as I am painting them. It sounds crazy, but I guess other artists and lovers of painting nature, etc. would understand.  I guess thats why I like painting the Amish and children etc.  It’s actually the personal connection and the way you can get so consumed by what you are painting, you don’t even realize the time or anything around you.  You just focus and create, and it’s wonderful!

Anyway, this is one of many new single watercolors I am doing right now, but please check back as I have more lined up and I am so excited! I will also be doing some breeds of dogs soon. ANNNNNDDDD….I am starting a new amish painting that will hopefully end up in the October issue again in Amish Country News.  Fingers crossed and I will let you know when I start this!

Radishes is now on Etsy if you are interested.  Thanks again and please check back! Bye for now!

Radishes

Radish Print With Text

Framed Print (for example)

Amish Watercolor Finally Started (whew!)

Here is a glimpse of the amish watercolor I am working on right now….with several other projects, of course.  Sometimes I am so excited with all the new ideas I have in my head, I don’t know which one to start off with.  Now I am in the middle of too many! I can’t seem to win.

Anyway, the reason this painting has held me up some, is because I can’t seem to find the perfect reference of a baby calf’s behind!  Sounds funny, doesn’t it. I have tons of books and so many pic s on the internet, but I really wanted a picture of a baby calf walking away with part of his head to the side (so you could see it was a calf)…but do you think I could find one! This is driving me crazy!  I’m sure I could improvise, even a little bit, but I can’t seem to find what I am looking for.  So I just started to paint the girl…at least it’s a start.  I want it to look like the little amish girl is walking alongside this calf in a field.  Just a quiet, serene picture. Hopefully finished soon… and if I can’t find a calf…who knows what I can substitute. Let’s just say…I want to find a calf!  I will post as soon as I have more, or am finished.  Take care and talk soon

The Amish girl started

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An Amish Watercolor Finished!

Hello!  I finally finished my watercolor of the Amish girl. I am so sorry it took so long, but I was actually afraid to paint this picture, as I know that once watercolor goes on paper, you can’t really correct it.  What you see is basically what you get. I am not used to that at all!  I also am not used to all the layering it takes to get vibrancy in a painting, as when you use pastel, it’s usually vibrant on your first stroke!

Anyway, I was very cautious and did make a few mistakes that I did correct in my own way, but I’ll just leave it at that. I also wasn’t planning on a whole background scene for the girl either.  I was just going to add light colors around her and leave it, but that didn’t happen…as you can see! But I really wanted the focus on her face and I think I achieved that anyway!

Phew!!! Am I glad it’s over…until the next one…”gulp”.

Hope you like it.  Cheryl

Gunther and Fluff-A New ABC Series

Hello all!

Let me start off by saying that I know my artwork is usually realistic, portraits and more serious, inspirational quotes with pretty illustrations and I will  always continue to do those kinds of paintings. But every once in awhile, I just have to show my fun, quirky childlike side.

I love coming up with cute characters that do cute things.  I always have. Since my high school years, I had always thought I wanted to work for a greeting card company and just create new ideas and characters like Hollie Hobbie and others like that. Needless to say, it really never worked out.  But anyway….besides all that….

I just wanted to introduce these two little guys I am considering (working on) making into an ABC series for children’s decor. The characters in this series, so far, are a silly goose named Gunther, and his faithful dog companion, named Fluff.  Together, they will be illustrating each letter in the alphabet with their cute, little antics.

Gunther is like a child, getting into mischief and doing goofy things, and every once in awhile, he may be spotted with his teddybear, Oscar. While Fluff is the more cute, little guy that watches everything from the sidelines, and sometimes getting caught up in Gunther’s silly shenanigans. I feel it will be a different way for the kids to learn their ABC’s. If anything, they will remember the illustrations.

Anyway enough talk…here are two illustrations so far. One is finished and just needs the text, and the other is in the middle of being painted. When I have 4 done, I will start selling them on my Etsy store.Then I will just go through the whole alphabet!  So here goes…

Gunther and Fluff for the illustration for “C is for Car”

The unfinished painting for “R is for Rainbow”

 

“Wash Day” An Amish Watercolor Painting Completed

Hello!  I’m so sorry this took so long to complete.  This was quite new to me to try watercolor like this, and I was so ready to throw it away and start all over again!  Part of me knows my paintings have a certain look to them, but I always want to achieve that really “realistic” look to my paintings, but in my eyes, they never seem to ever look fantastically shaded and so realistic you feel you are looking at a photograph. I guess that does not matter, I paint the way I paint, and as long as I am expressing my love for the subject my way and the best I know how, that should be enough.  I guess I would just take a photograph and not paint if I wanted it to look that realistic!

But anyway, this is the finished piece and I hope you like it. I like that it’s very colorful and just love the cat! I guess I will keep it! :)))

It is also selling on Etsy now if you are interested here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/266241796/wash-day-amish-print-of-watercolor?ref=shop_home_active_1

Patchwork Elephant on Etsy

I just finished this little guy the other day.  I have been trying to think of cute, little ideas for children’s rooms like abc prints and animals.  This is one of those ideas. Patchwork animals!

I really just started doing them so I really don’t know how people will take to them, but it’s fun and I love painting them.  This is the 3rd one as I have a bear and giraffe on my Etsy Shop as well.  Hope you like him.  You can find him here at my shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/265410067/patchwork-elephant-with-balloon-print-of?ref=shop_home_active_22

Enjoy!

Patchwork Elephant

 

How To Make an Old Design New Again…

Hello and I know it’s been awhile.  I’m still trying to finish some pastel paintings that are sitting by my desk, but I have been busy getting ready for my daughter’s graduation party, painting the inside of the house, etc etc… but I will get to them this week, I promise.

I just thought I would post this to show you how I have been taking some old designs that I have on hand (from years back) and making them into something more colorful and new.

This design here with the country girl on the swing was a cute design from the ’70’s.  It was made to have just 3 colors, because way back then, color was very expensive at the printers for a big run.(Yes…we took everything to the printers!) So for interest sake, I drew the designs out on ivory stock with black ink, colored them in with red marker and it gave the designs this interesting vintage-look.

Here is a picture of one of the older designs, and the other picture shows how I changed the look to make it more marketable today, colors and all.  Of course, I will also offer the old designs as well, as there are still people who prefer vintage to new, but this is just for example. The new design was done in watercolors and ink on watercolor paper. This is currently on Etsy at http://www.CherylMcNultyArt.Etsy.com. Hope you like the change!

Old Design from the’70’s

Newer Updated Watercolor Version

Magic Of The Night Pastel Drawing

This picture was just a whimsical piece I needed to add to my portfolio.  I love snowmen, and love to draw them at odd angles for interest.  This was perfect.  For days I had the drawing half done, with the snowman just looking off into blank paper.  I couldn’t figure out what to put as the background, so I left the drawing half done and off to the side until this idea came to me.  It’s just a cute random Christmas drawing.  It was fun to just not be so picky and have fun with this.  Like I was back in grade school with my blank manila paper and crayons.  Love it!

Hope you like it.

Magic Of The Night

Jolly Joe, The Ice Cream Man Drawing

Awhile back, I had posted a story about the ice cream man from my past.  I had written the story for a children’s writing class and when I did this, memories came flooding back to me.  It made me want to search Jolly Joe and see if I could find out who he was and his past or something.  I could find nothing on the man.

I wanted to be able to give this story to him or his family to let them know that he was indeed a special man and many people remembered him (just look at my post on him). I recently painted this picture of what I could remember how the truck looked with the bell and asked a local paper if they would put this in the paper with hope of finding someone that knew him, hopefully even a family member.  It should be in the Warwick Beacon soon.  Hopefully this brings me to someone…anyone that knew him.

But for now, here is the picture of Jolly Joe. Enjoy!

Jolly Joe The Ice Cream Man

 

I had put it in a format for submitting t children’s book publishers, but had no illustrations to go with it.

New Pastel Drawing “Angel Kiss”

Here is the newest addition to my ever-changing portfolio.  This is a picture that was inspired from an old picture taken of my daughter when she was little kissing little sister Kelsey on the head.  Every time I looked at the picture, all I could picture was an angel kissing baby Jesus, and I finally drew it.  Hope you like it!

The Original Photo

The Painting “Angel Kiss”