"Kira in the Bathtub," watercolor and gouache.

I did not paint this to embarrass my daughter when she's older (although that will inevitably happen). I did paint it because I had taken a picture of her lying on her back in the bath about a year ago that interested me. The way her hair floated about in the water, the way the water glistened on her face above the surface...I rendered a part of the original photograph only, and made it monochromatic, and added bubbles as an afterthought.

"Goodbye," watercolor.

This is a commission (finally) done for an online friend. Her instructions were "I'd like something for my father, who likes mermaids." A lot of my paintings are inspired by Alphonse Mucha in some way, but this one's distinct outlining, framing, and corner embellishments are definitely courtesy of Mr. Art Nouveau!

"Fairy Tale," watercolor, gouache, and ink.

A couple of years ago I captured the interest of a growing company. Their proposed product was a fantasy role-playing game based on elements from classic fairy tales. They asked me to do a few sketches, and this was one of them. The product and company disappeared, but I felt this particular sketch was pretty, so I finished it in color.

"Ocean Encounter," watercolor, gouache, and pencil.

More of my fascination with octopi. For a long time I wondered what to put next to the somewhat scientific illustration of an octopus species from New Zealand. Then this mermaid happened by.....

"Bettas," watercolor, colored pencil.

I've always been fascinated by bettas/siamese fighting fish and their long veined tails. This painting could be perceived as the calm before the storm, since two bettas in the same tank would eventually fight until the death. Hey, at least they'd go down looking fabulous!

"Spring 1," watercolor, gouache, and pencil.

Yes, I have two Springs! This one matches the others in the Seasons series below a lot better in terms of size and coloration, but is a little more complicated. I fought with it for a year before finally completing it this month. There are lots of elements in here that work for me.....the green fire coming from her hands, the cloud Ki-Rin, all the celtic-inspired swirls. I've been told that her hair reminded them of 60's psychedelia. (No psychotropic drugs were harmed in the creation of this picture, by the way.)

"Elanor," watercolor, mixed.

This is a very small painting depicting a delicate flower described in Lord of the Rings. I included the roots below the surface to show its growth.

"Spring 2," watercolor, mixed.

If Spring were alive she'd be a mischievious, flower-obsessed young thing waiting for Winter to move along so she could tweak the branches and seeds into life.

"Big Red," watercolor and colored pencil.

Some of you might have already seen Big Red. He's been in the Animal Arts Gallery in San Mateo. VERY large - he's 44" tall (almost four feet.) He's also the second incarnation of an octopus that hung in the Los Altos Library for a time. Yes, I do love the octopus......from the first time I ever saw the fella at the Monterey Bay Aquarium showing off his really long tentacles and shifting colors.....I felt like yes, the octopus was somehow mine, my totem animal.

"Departure," watercolor and gouache. SOLD

A dear friend of mine and fellow fantasy artist Denise Satter passed away at around Christmas of 2002. I missed her very much and in order to cope with my sadness, I painted this picture for her. It's Denise at death's gateway with her cat Priscilla over her shoulder. Her soul, the dove, is ready to leave but she is still tethered to this earth (the green dragon) by a golden chain.

"Shy," watercolor and gouache.

I love octopi. I love mermaids. Why not combine the two?

I attempted to make it look as if a diver has just startled the creature underwater. She's about to make her escape.

"Sam," watercolor and gouache.

This is a continuation of my Fellowship series, (its taking me awhile to do all nine companions, but it's my eventual intention to paint 'em all!) see "Frodo and the Ring" and "Legolas" below.

Based off a screen shot from The Two Towers, the sketched version of this was signed by Sean Astin, with compliments.

"Legolas," watercolor and gouache.

I developed the 8 x 10 sketch into this 20 x 24 painting. About the batik-effect background -- basically, I soaked watercolor paper for 30 minutes and crushed it with my hands while pouring a jar of watered-down green paint over it. This technique shows through the midtones and the background of the transparent brown watercolor. The lightest tones were rendered last in semi-opaque, thinned "Dr. Martin's" white gouache.

"Frodo and the Ring," watercolor and gouache. SOLD

For technical notes on this technique, see "Legolas" above.

The end result is, a solid form to the face and the ring, but a faded spirit-world look to the remainder. I hope to convey a sense for what the Ring is doing to Frodo's soul just by wearing it. I used this "batik" technique for the first time on "Galadriel's Test" below.

"Summer," watercolor, gouache, and pencil.

If Summer were alive she'd shine so you could hardly look at her. The sunflowers and golden hills are baked by her bright rays. She rides off to the right, for Summer passes us up far too quickly sometimes, especially when we're children.

"Autumn," watercolor, gouache, and pencil. SOLD

The first of the seasonal series. This spirit of autumn is all about the color shift of the leaves, the wind stripping the trees bare, and the turning of the year towards night.

"Winter," watercolor, gouache, and pencil.

Here's my interpretation of winter: The icy calm of deep snowdrifts. The snowflakes were the most fun: I did a little research and found some actual microphotographs of snowflakes to use as reference.

"Galadriel's Test," watercolor and pastel.

For those of you who have read The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, you know that scene where Galadriel meets Frodo and is tempted by the power of the Ring for a moment - well this is it. I meant this to show from Frodo's POV the beautiful and yet otherworldly, somewhat scary Galadriel. The star in the night symbolizes that she bears one of the elven rings of power.

"The White Rider," watercolor and acrylic. SOLD

After re-reading The Lord of the Rings I was inspired to portray the otherworldly, almost godlike character of Gandalf, the wizard - riding his horse Shadowfax at impossible speeds across the plains. The swirling shape above his head represents the Eye of Sauron, watching...

"Color Music," watercolor and gouache.

The opportunity to provide a custom-painted CD cover excited me from the beginning, and I went crazy with the colors and musical instruments. To the left is the original scan of the painting, which stands alone as a fine art piece. Below is the commercial application.

"Metropolis Music Media Sampler ," CD cover for Metropolis Music. Promotional.

The front (insert fold) and back sides of the cover.This was the first time I did a CD layout from beginning to end using Photoshop. The image is darkened from the original scan, this was purposeful so that the white letters would stand out more clearly.

CD cover for the single "Natural," by David Sprinkle
watercolor and colored pencil. SOLD

The song is a slinky slow pop tune about a girl with an almost,shall we say, animal magnetism. The painting was used as a wraparound CD cover for this promotional single.

"Winter Sleep," watercolor.

Sometimes when I look at an elderly tree in the coldest time of the year I know that by spring, the new leaves will come.

"The First Spring," watercolor and gouache.

I was going for a magical mood, at the beginning of time, when anything could happen, and frequently, did. The paper was first soaked with alternate washes of Permanent Rose, Cobalt Blue, and Quinacridone Gold to create a very bright, transparent effect. The "spirit of nature" was added later with gouache and color washes.

"Buddha's Gate," watercolor and acrylic.

Some photorealism and traditional watercolor treatments here, but, with acrylic overlays for a metaphysical twist.

"Ancient Passage," watercolor.

I've been more interested in fossil forms and their mineral-stained imprints. Wet-on-plexiglass technique, followed by pressing saran wrap into the paint and letting it dry, created these various textures.

"Exocean Gold I," watercolor, gouache and gold pigment powder.

Pure mood created by intense watercolor washes, with dry details added later. Gold veins run through a fossil vein deep inside the earth....

"Exocean Strata," watercolor and gouache.

Fossilized shells seem to dance even though they are buried deep under layers of mud. Wet watercolor on plexiglass technique.

"Exocean Nautilus," watercolor and gouache.

Memories of a nautilus and various ocean creatures float serenely on a "fossilized" background. Watercolor wet-on-wet technique is taken a step further when applied to both sides of the paper using a sheet of plexiglass.

"Elephant God," acrylic.

This elephant was inspired by the art of India. Gods (Krishna, usually) are represented as being bright blue all over, like the blue of the heavens. For the background I added the colors of Africa. (This is an African elephant)

Note: There are metallic golds and silvers in the background which do not show up on a photograph.

"Five Fishes," watercolor and acrylic.

Okay, so I started painting a colorful view of tidepools from above. The coral blooms looked great, but the overall composition was boring me. So, a new painting.....by applying transparent acrylic glazes I added a cat's face. Through the eyes you can see the old painting somewhat. This one's also a game....see if you can spot the fish...there are five, I promise!

"DeepSea Dance," watercolor and acrylic.

This piece measures 30" by 40" (quite large!) The process involved painting a purely earth-toned and yellow image on illustration board. After that dried, a pthalo blue and gloss medium mixture was glazed onto the entire piece. To fine-tune, more blue glazes were added to the darker areas.

"River Prince," watercolor and acrylic. SOLD

Evolved from an "Exocean" shell series painting, this earth-toned watercolor took on an underwater feeling with many thin glazes of acrylic blues and white.

"Dance of the Kelp People," watercolor.

The Kelp People...how to explain these creatures?...there are Fairies in the forests, perhaps there is an Underwater Kelp Forest world of Faery as well.

"Shell Dream," watercolor and acrylic.

This started as another one of my shell series of abstracts but evolved into the woman's profile. I love the resulting emotion of red and purple acrylic glazes. (In person, this painting is very bright).