Horse and Rats painting

I had actually started this painting years ago and decided to add rats to it to jazz it up, plus the stable door has been reworked to look a little fancier. Sometimes paintings just need to sit until the right inspiration hits.

I call this 'Three Pals' and it is listed on eBay.

It looks like it going to be a nice weather week in NJ so it will be nice to work without shivering.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Mid January Hello!

I've been meaning to post here for weeks now and have decided that today is the day! It's been a tad chilly here in NJ but with January almost over and February so short, March is just about here! And that is when it starts to get a bit more temperate out and I start looking for the crocus.

My brother, SIL and niece went to Africa to visit my nephew in the Peace Corps and had a nice time. I will probably do a few ACEOs with rats in Africa.

NFAC starts tomorrow and I thinks it's Mask/Masquerade this month, but I will double check. For now I will post my lastest ACEOs that are still up on eBay, you can click the pics to go to the auction.

The first two pictures feature Randy and Rosa, celebrating their 2 year anniversary and Randy bringing Rosa a stuffed rat and balloon, He sure is a big spender this year! The little lady with the heart shaped jelly donut (given to her by a secret admirer) is Little Missy, the clumsy skater as shown in the last picture. She just doesn't want to accept that she is not adept at ice skating.

Oh well, off to work, thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year!

My new year's rat is all ready for 2010 to begin, with a cigar and a martini. I also have my 'The Rats of Summer' book ready for sale, one on eBay that I will sign, and also through Blurb. Click on pictures above to go to the eBay auction.

My brother, sis-in-law and niece are leaving today to go visit my nephew in Africa. Can't wait to hear about their adventures.

It is snowing here today and it is quite a surprise, I think there will be a few inches. I don't wanna shovel because I woke up today with a pain in my back and a sore throat and I hope they both go away so I can start the New Year feeling better.

Hope you have a fun and safe New Year!!!!

A work in progress

I don't usually take pictures of my ACEOs as a work in progress (WIP), since I don't have very good lighting at my shop and scan them in at home. But one fairly recent day I decided to give it a shot and now you can see how my ratties in 'Waiting at the Bar' came to be.

I started with a sketch of a bunch of rats waiting at and around the bar, and when I liked the placement of the gang I started to color them in. The last thing I add is their whiskers.

       

I work different all the time, sometimes I will draw a rat and then have no idea what I want him to do and will put it aside until inspiration hits. And other times I have a definitive idea and it all goes together nicely.

I hope you enjoyed this look into how one of my ACEOs progressed from a sketch to a finished piece of art.

Have a great day!

This, That and NFAC

NFAC ends tonight and the top two pictures are my entry this month for the theme 'Halloween'. The bottom two are my last two for Halloween this year. I had bought a pack of Colorfix paper in various colors and really like this shade. I guess my color correction needs a bit of work since the bottom two should have the same color background, but the overall tone is good.

I have updated my Zazzle shop with a few more items today, if you have any requests for items you'd like to see, let me know and I will add them. They are having a contest for designing a recipe binder, so I have been working on that too.

A few weeks back we mailed a package to my nephew in Mali and he received it already, I wasn't expecting it to get there for another few weeks! He is doing well I am happy to report.

It's rainy and chilly in NJ today, not a good combo, although a bit better than hot, humid and rainy.

Wow, look at the time, I better get cracking!

Have a nice day!

More Halloween ACEOs

My two newest ACEOs available on eBay, a rattie walking through the fog and another dressed as a devil, both looking forward to trick or treating. For the devil ACEO I used Murano paper and so far I like it.

It sure is getting cold in NJ. I'm not ready for this yet!

Well, I am going to go read my book for a bit while I have breakfast, then head off to work.

Hope you have a productive day!

Halloween Rats and TV complaints

I am starting on my Halloween ratties, one is happy with his pumpkin basket and the other just loves his turkey costume. I will have fun the next couple of weeks deciding how to dress them.

I am so not ready for the new shows to be starting. I am peeved that they took 'Without a Trace' off the air so I am boycotting Tuesday TV. NCIS is ok but why did they make another one in LA when they could have kept 'Without a Trace'? And then sticking another new show in it's 10:00 slot, I don't care if Mr Big is in it or not, I won't watch.

They always seem to get rid of the shows I like so I try not to get too attached. First they get me hooked on 'Vanished' and 'The Nine', they just pull them off the air with no ending show of what happened. And I really liked Everwood, and that was pulled too even though it had better ratings than some garbage they kept on. Arrghh. The good news is I won't be a slave to the TV this season.

I am hesitant to name my favorite shows for fear they will pull them off the air too. (Yeah, like the network execs hang on my every word, haha)

Oh well, maybe I will have some rats protesting about my TV shows. In the meantime I will go back to my book, 'The Neighbor' by Lisa Gardner, which is excellent. Can't wait to see how it ends.

Have a great evening.

Summer's almost over and I designed a shoe

Hard to believe that summer is almost over. It wasn't too awful, just a few days of way too much heat and humidity. And if it weren't for the humidity in NJ the heat wouldn't be all that bad.

I've been adding things to my Zazzle shop. I even designed a pair of Keds Shoes using my ACEO called 'Rattie Reunion' and I think it turned out cute. It has to be approved before it will show up in my shop but here is a sneak preview. I would love to know how these places can print up all these items one at a time. It's amazing.



I am one of those who doesn't like the rushing of the seasons but am guilty of it with my Halloween items in Zazzle. It's just that I usually don't start gearing up until it's too late, so I thought I would get a jump on it this year and see how that works out.

Well, I'm off, thanks for stopping by!

CafePress and Zazzle

I have been looking at CafePress and Zazzle for a while now and have finally tried them. You can visit them via the links below. I will be adding to them in the coming weeks.
KMCoriginals on CafePress or KMCoriginals Zazzle store.

My newest eBay ratties are enjoying the beach. One is drying off after a good swim and the other is eating dinner hoping a later start will help him to miss some traffic on the way home.



I have finished my Lee Child book, Gone Tomorrow, if you'd like a good read check it out. I am on such a Jack Reacher binge. (He's the character in the book). I have two more to read then I will be all caught up with his adventures.

Have a great day!

The Beach and the Niger River

I've done a few more ACEOs over the last few days. All of them at the beach, well, the rats are at the beach, not me. Hard to believe it's August already.



My latest rats are playing frisbee, wiping out while surfing and running from a wave or surfing the wave, depending on who you believe. haha

It's gloomy in NJ today, but that's ok, I got my weed wacking done yesterday, well, as done as I could before I ran out of cord.

My nephew is continuing to do well in Mali. I don't think I could hack it but he is just going with the flow, even swam in the Niger river. He is one of the lucky ones who hasn't gotten sick so I am glad of that. A few more weeks of training and he will be off on his 2 year assignment.

Rats at the Beach

Rats can be very active in the summer, they like going to the beach and surfing, sitting in hot tubs having a beer or just sitting and reading gossip magazines.



It is very hot in NJ today, hot and humid, a deadly combination. I am doing my best to stay cool.

Well, I'd best get back to work, hope you have a nice day.

Stay cool.

February already

I can't believe it's February already and spring is just around the corner. I always look forward to seeing the crocus bloom, then I know that spring is really close by. I used to like winter but lately not so much, I think because it's so expensive to stay warm.

I try to keep my little rats happy in the winter, they go skating, skiing, shovel snow, play piano and hang out in bars. They have more fun than I do. haha

Yesterday started the ACEO Theme Week (on eBay, search ACEO TW) which is Mardi Gras this month.

Not ones to let a little snow get them down, these rats know to head to the local bar for some good conversation, booze and a cigarette or two.
And why waste a freezing day indoors when you can glide around on ice skates on a frozen lake?
I hope you all are enjoying the last month or so of winter. However in a few months I will be complaining about the humidity which I can't tolerate at all.

More ACEO Art and Inspirational Photographers

This week I was drawing an ACEO (an ACEO is art that is 2.5"x3.5") and started with two rats. As I tried to decide what to make them doing, I just came up blank. My solution was to add a bunch of rats and call it a Rattie Reunion. It's done on a nice toothy paper called Art Spectrum Colourfix Coated Pastel Paper. I've used it before and really like it. I think the Rats at the Reunion like it too, they all look pretty happy to me.





I've also done a rat training a raven.

To keep my ratties looking as life like as I can I use as my inspiration photos by KristyR929, who I found on Flickr, and who gets some of the most acrobatic shots of rats I've ever seen (and who also has a website) and more recently I've used a few from the Rhinelander Rat Rescue a non profit Rat Rescue in WI that fosters and finds homes for cute little rats.

The Ravens I use are from a nice guy in Canada, Paul Lantz. He has lots of gorgeous pictures and the shots he gets never cease to amaze me.

I have gotten permission from the above photographers to use their photos as reference. As with any photo, before using them in your art, on your website, in print, etc., please contact the photographer and see if it's OK and what their terms are.

And, of course, a lot of the ref pictures I use are my very own, any cat pictured in my art is from one of my very own pictures, as are some of the rats and mice (or I just make them up if I want them doing some really wacky things). Here is a picture of my cute long haired cat Fluffy, (yeah I know, real original name), getting a massage from two of her rat buddies.