"The Un-Mad Hatter"

Thomas Frejek is one of my favorite photographers on flickr. He has an amazing eye for interesting images and is blessed with all the photographic skills necessary for capturing them.

Some time back I asked him for permission to create an image from one of his photos of the character, "Tarrant Hightop," otherwise known as the "Mad Hatter" from "Alice in Wonderland," that he had posted at the link below. He graciously agreed to my request, and here we go...

This is my unfinished, and finished, rendition of that photo. It is also my largest acrylic to date, at 30" x 40".

I have been told the background should be completed first, but after messing with it and messing with it, the character took over my head and off I went with him.

In completing the painting I decided to add a touch of yellow to the background which turned it a kind of lime green that really pushed that orange hair off the canvas! The eyes had to be blue and though in photos his eyes look a bit "off," in real life they are spot on!

acrylic on canvas panel

Here's the link to Frejek's image.

"Only Worry is the Tide Going to Reach my Chair"

Went down to the beach here in Lincoln City, Oregon, just after sun up this morning to catch the low-low tide. After visiting here for close to 40 years in the same beach house, I've never seen the tide low enough to get out to the big rocks that line the beach here.

As I watched, Zac Brown's lyrics, "only worry in the world is the tide going to reach my chair," came floating through my head so I went back to the house, grabbed my chair and my sketching equipment. What a joy to sit quietly and sketch, the "only worry is the tide going to reach my chair."

Of course, to match the lyrics I had to add the sun. The problem with that is that early in the morning here on west coast that means the sun is to our backs when looking west....oh well.

"Majestic Coastal Sentries"

Like starched sentries, perched high on the hill, while overlooking the Pacific Ocean with ever steady and windowed eyes, they keep watch on the weather, all approaching whalers, cargo ships, pirates, cruise liners, invaders, and other bad guys.

Cuddled below them, on the sandy beach, we feel safe knowing they are there to protect and defend.

But really, they are mostly, and simply, rather majestic.