New bear painting

I was recently commissioned to paint a bear sitting in the sand with a misty background, a ‘sister’ painting to “Slumber” (my sleeping bear). In spite of my doubts, it is actually possible to keep painting while your baby turns into a 4 month old, a 5 month old and now a 6 month old… for all other artist moms out there – be encouraged, there’s always a way (even if it means waking up at 4:30 or 5:00 am … it sounds dreadful but once the habit is formed, it’s not so bad… no really, I mean it…. in all truth I’m grateful for some time alone with my coffee and my audiobooks. My only regret is my 8pm bedtime 😉 And naturally – I do choose to sleep in occasionally.

An update on using Holbein Duo Aqua water-miscible oils….. I was apprehensive of changing over, but with pregnancy came my wariness of being exposed to turpentime everyday. And I now LOVE my water-miscible oils. Instead of turps, I use water for cleaning brushes. I thin my paints with Duo Aqua water soluable lindseed oil. Cleanup is easy and without fumes!! The colors are very comparable. I’ve been won over and have no need to fret 🙂

Here is a progress shot of my work so far.