As a watercolor instructor at Bellevue College I get to start a new half sheet painting every quarter in order to explain the process of developing a painting from a drawing or photo.  I need to pick compositions that require some masking and texture to demonstrate, then, after that, its up to me to finish my paintings as my class time and attention is focused on coaching each student’s process.  Teaching has spurred me back into painting realistically from photo references, which I did early in my own training as a watercolor painter before stylizing my art for a career in the illustration market.  I’m trying varied subject matter that will help me coach my students through working on their own chosen images, which have included beloved pets. I’m starting to discover what subjects I enjoy spending lots of time with through painting.

Some of my student’s work from recent classes is posted on this blog.

Once again the Watercolor for Illustration students in my class at Bellevue College came up with some very accomplished paintings, many for their first try at watercolor.  They worked on half sheets of Arches 140# cold press paper (15″ x 22″) enlarging compositions from a photo or photo collage and practiced a variety of watercolor techniques to create finished paintings. Many were not quite finished by the end of the course.  I’ll post those later if they are sent to me.  Here are the paintings that were finished, or close enough, to see the skill and challenges they brought to their chosen image using this difficult medium.  I’m so inspired by them!

Reflected Mountain watercolor by Antony Marquez

Fallen Leaf watercolor by Ashba Zulfiqar

Above the Methow watercolor by Melissa Firuz

South of the Border watercolor by Kalen Lily Wong-unfinished

With the higher demand for vector illustration these days I’ve been recreating some of my favorite traditionally drawn images as vector art.  This gives me a chance to update the line work to my current stroke styling, opening it up.  Below is the original art for a packaging design for Caravali Coffee’s Irish Creme flavor.   I credit that assignment with the birth of my current style.   With creative freedom, I had 13 flavors to illustrate, creating a new direction and a new portfolio to present to a wider market.  The strong line and vivid color has found many uses in print and web as seen on this web site.  My styling lends itself well to vector, don’t you think?   But, I still welcome any opportunity to paint!  Let’s paint the town GREEN!

Illustration for laser surgery article

My line art image of a hand and face was used by Joan Barrow at Connecticut Magazine to enhance a Health story about the advances in laser surgery.  Not only are lasers useful for vital surgical procedures but also for making our slightest flaws disappear without damage to surrounding tissue.  A magic tool for health and beauty!  Here’s how the art looks on the page in the current February 2012 issue!  Sorry, I don’t have a link to the whole story which is hard to read here….

"Talking to Addison" by Jenny Colgen-Warner Books

Have a LOVE-ly day to all my online friends and family.  This image was a book jacket illustration I did for a comic novel about a young London woman with a crush on her flat mate.  He was online ALL the time making it almost  impossible to get his attention.

Cross Knee Sumi - Brush & Ink on Rives BFK tan paper

This month I’ll have some unframed sumi paintings available at the Madison Art Collective including 4 half sheet figure paintings on Rives BFK tan paper.    I’ll also have some animal sumi paintings including horses, birds, fish and a crab.

Running Horse - Sumi on rice paper

There’s a reception Saturday Feb 4 from 2-5:00 pm at 2703 E Madison Street in Seattle for the featured oil painter, Jeanne Edwards, and the jewelry designer, Heather Kraft.  Come by if you can or anytime you are near the Madison Valley neighborhood.  Two of my close artist friends also have stunning work on display…. Pat Clayton with her oil landscapes, and Ellen Rutledge with her unique etchings with chine colle & collage

Are you looking for ways to spread cheer for the holidays?  Check out my new portfolio of published seasonal cards on this web site…

www.sandyhaight.com/portfolios/greeting-cards

When you  click on a thumbnail to enlarge the image, you’ll see the caption written inside that card.  Some sentiments are heartfelt, some whimsical with others written by poet Gary Wood.

The designs here are published as 5” x 7” cards with deluxe envelopes by Emery Burton Fine Cards.

Ho Ho Ho!

Sandy Claus

Martha Geoghegan’s Mexican cat:

Nadia Erdolan’s doorway painting:

Two paintings by Lee Ready:

Monica Sanchez’s children’s book art:

Jingwen Yu’s Mardi Gras mystery:

I was asked by Elizabeth Myhr, product development and program manager for Amanda DuBois, to develop the icon portion of a logo for their new product. The program consist of a series of cloud-based, expert videos that help women negotiate divorce through an empowering life transition as they move into the next stages of their lives. I worked with my friend and designer Mitch Albala, who chose the lettering and colors.  Of the many ideas we explored, this was my favorite choice, because it lent a sense of hope and renewal to what is otherwise a difficult and sad situation.  I tried symbols of open arms, birds in flight, spirals and stylized letters from the word Divorganize. The circle-spiral symbolizes a wedding band, broken, but also open ended.

Here’s a sample of a DVD case design showing the logo in use and a great picture of Amanda.