Another Harry Potter themed painting. I started reading the illustrated books to the girls and Quirinus Quirrell and his dark deeds in the Forbidden Forest made an impression on us.

"Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something so pure and defenseless to save yourself, you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."
—Centaur Firenze, HP Philosopher’s Stone

And now for something different…
I've done a few of these "paint day" events with the girls but not yet with another adult. This time I got the pleasure to join my friend Ulrike to make our own Harry Potter variation of this tree painting. We set up in her dining room while the kids played and were able to do our thing virtually uninterrupted. It was great!

Make way, make way...

Date night means shenanigans with paint brushes. The artist, Wayne Thiebaud, had a way of layering paint that produced some spectacular effects in his paintings of desserts.

I made some effort of that with Hei Hei and though it’s not a match for Thiebaud I still love the little guy.

I was kicking around these little canvases for years. Made perfect little gifts.

"You must have seen one of the spirits of the forest, and that means you're a very lucky girl. You can only see the spirits if they want you to."
-My Neighbor Totoro

I want to add Forest Spirits to every woodland painting I do now.

“What I want is for the humans and the forest to live in peace.”
- Ashitaka, Princess Mononoke

My favorite painting so far. I love the colors. The photo makes it look black, but the darkest color is a deep purple.

"I also believe that you met the King of the Forest, Mei, and meeting him is a sign of good luck. But there’s no guarantee that you’ll see him all the time.”
– Tatsuo Kusakabe, My Neighbor Totoro

"I wear a stetson now. Stetsons are cool."

I can no longer look at those cowboy silhouettes and not see the Doctor standing there.

The loops and circles of Gallifreyan text reminded me of peacock feathers.

Clara: But how is it doing that? How is that possible? It’s an oil painting. In 3D.
The Doctor: Time Lord art. Bigger on the inside. A slice of real time… frozen.

The original painting was a stack of stones in a zen garden-like setting. Had to use the worst small brush in the world. I'm bringing my own brushes from now on.

“You will be assimilated.”
The Pandorica Opens – Cybermen

Latest painting. Not bad given how dark the room was. I had to fix the birds a bit at home because the lighting was so poor that I felt like I was painting in the dark. They are still crappy little birds, but whateva', overall the painting did what I wanted it to do. At first glance it is a rather sweet winter scene with birds and snow. That is, until you notice the sinister smiles of the snowmen.

“Maybe it’s snow that fell before. Maybe it’s snow that remembers how to make snowmen.” – The Doctor