They Look So Innocent When They Sleep

“I have always believed that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.”
– Hermann Hesse

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

They Look So Innocent When They Sleep
Quickie  4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Sharpie

This is a 15 minute quickie that I did this morning of Lin’s (Old Rock Chick at WetCanvas’) cat, Dave.  I have painted Dave so many times over the last 5 years.  I didn’t have much time this morning, but I couldn’t pass up his innocence.  🙂

Have a safe and fun Labor Day weekend!

About Hermann Hesse

Hermann Hesse, the Pulitzer Prize–winning German writer, became extremely popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s for his deeply spiritual novels spiked with Eastern philosophy. He is best known for the novels Siddhartha, The Glass Bead Game, and Steppenwolf. He was born in 1877 in Germany and immigrated to Switzerland in 1912. Hesse was exposed to Eastern thought from childhood: His grandfather taught Indian studies, and his mother had been born in India. He won the Noble Prize in Literature in 1946. He died in 1962.

Dessert Anyone?

“There is a criterion by which you can judge whether the thoughts you are thinking and the things you are doing are right for you.
The criterion is:   Have they brought you inner peace?”

—Peace Pilgrim

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Dessert Anyone? 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

This is the last one I painted from Lin’s photos at WetCanvas.  It was actually two different photos for this one painting.  They seem to have the yummiest desserts over in the UK.  I have painted a lot of desserts over the years from WetCanvas’ European artists’ photos.  Fun!

Peace Pilgrim

From 1953 to 1981 a silver haired woman calling herself only “Peace Pilgrim” walked more than 25,000 miles on a personal pilgrimage for peace. She vowed to “remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food.” In the course of her 28 year pilgrimage she touched the hearts, minds, and lives of thousands of individuals all across North America. Her message was both simple and profound. It continues to inspire people all over the world.

“This is the way of peace:  Overcome evil with good, and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.” ….Peace Pilgrim

 

Lovely Old International Tractor

“All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail.”
– Dorothea Brande

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Lovely Old International Tractor – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor and Ink

Lin (Old Rock Chick) from WetCanvas posted a wonderful photo of a International Tractor last weekend.   I had a great time painting it.  Lin took this picture in Abercastle.  I love the instructions on how to get there from the website I just linked to…

How to find Abercastle

• Satnav: SA62 5HJ
• Bus, The Strumble Shuttle from St Davids or Fishguard
• Abercastle is on the All Wales Coast Path

They have such neat names for places on the other side of the pond.  Lin lives in the UK and she loves to travel and explore her surroundings.  I like that because she shares her wonderful photos with her WetCanvas friends.  🙂

About Dorothea Brande

Dorothea Brande wrote the quintessential how-to-write book, Becoming a Writer, which was among the first to address every writer’s core problem: How to sit down and let the words flow. Her book, published in 1934, remains in print today. She was born in 1893 in Chicago. She worked as an editor on the Chicago Tribune and The American Review and married the latter journal’s owner. She also wrote Wake Up and Live, which was adapted into a movie in 1937. She died in 1948.

A Very Tall Birdthday Cake

“Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it when it runs by.”
– Carl Sandburg

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

A Very Tall Birdthday Cake  – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

Tall is the word this week at Illustration Friday.  Who wouldn’t love a very tall Birdthday cake with a rooster on top.  I painted this card for my friend Teresa.  The flowers and the rooster were from two different  reference photos by Lin at WetCanvas.  I had so much fun painting this for my very special friend.

About Carl Sandburg

American poet, songwriter, and journalist Carl Sandburg played an essential role in the Chicago renaissance of the early twentieth century. He won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for poetry and one as a historian. He was born in Illinois in 1878. When he was 19, he hopped a westbound train and lived as a hobo. His poetry is filled with slang and the language of ordinary Americans. His publications include Chicago Poems, Cornhuskers, and the children’s series, Rootabaga Stories. He died in 1967.

 

Saundersfoot Cottage

“I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: Try to please everybody all the time.”
– Herbert Bayard Swope

Isn’t that the truth!

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Saundersfoot Cottage – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Prismacolor Pen

I painted this from a photo by Lin (Old Rock Chick) at WetCanvas.   It’s a cottage that Lin just had to stop and take a photo of to share with her WetCanvas friends.   The pretty, seaside town of Saundersfoot, is one of Pembrokeshire’s finest holiday resorts, in the United Kingdom, where Lin lives.

I did have to explain to my dear hubby that there are no brown roofs in Betheville and we will never run out of pink paint.  😀

About Herbert Bayard Swope

Herbert Bayard Swope, the colorful, hard-driving American journalist who became famous as a war correspondent and editor of The New York World, was the first writer to win a Pulitzer Prize for reporting. He was born in St. Louis in 1882. He coined the phrase “cold war” as a speechwriter for statesman Bernard Baruch. In his leisure time, he was a brilliant gambler at the track, at cards, and at stocks, and threw lavish parties. He died in 1958.

Doctor’s Building at McAlester Regional Hospital

“No great deed, private or public, has ever been undertaken in a bliss of certainty.”
– Leon Wieseltier

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Doctor’s Building at McAlester Regional Hospital – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor

I was in McAlester Monday and had 30 minutes to kill, so I drew this building on a little pad of 4″ x 6″ watercolor paper I had in my bag.  Then I painted it over the last couple mornings before work.  The ink is Prismacolor pen.  I have been using them more than Sharpie because I have more control and I have 5 sizes ranging from .01 to .08.  They are awesome!  🙂

About Leon Wieseltier

Leon Wieseltier, the sharp-tongued literary editor of The New Republic, has used his role to deliver brilliant, scathing put-downs of intellectual fads and pretense. He was born in Brooklyn in 1952. He studied Jewish history and philosophy at Columbia, Oxford, and Harvard’s Society of Fellows. He won the National Jewish Book Award for the memoir Kaddish, about his year of mourning after his father’s death.

 

Split Rock Lighthouse

“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”
– Robin Williams

Yeah!!

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Split Rock Lighthouse – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

The reference  photo was from Surob at WetCanvas.  It’s the Split Rock Lighthouse on the shores of Lake Superior in Minnesota.   I know it’s hard to believe…. but I had so much fun painting this!    It really was kinda this color, too.  🙂

About Robin Williams

In 2005, Robin Williams, the Oscar-winning American actor known for his wild improvisations and amazing mimicry, was voted by fellow comedians and comedy insiders as one of the top 50 comedy acts ever. He was born in 1951 in Chicago, and he first garnered attention as a stand-up comic in San Francisco. A guest role as the alien Mork on the TV series Happy Days was so popular it led to his own show, Mork and Mindy. He has starred in many successful films, including Mrs. Doubtfire and Good Will Hunting. He has three children.

 

Chocolate Lab on a White Couch – HA!

“The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”
– Anna Quindlen

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Chocolate Lab on a White Couch – HA! – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor & Ink

Surely you knew that probably wouldn’t happen.  In the photo from Surob at WetCanvas, he was on a brown couch draped with a white sheet.   Not for me, you see.  I really struggled with “to ink or not to ink” since I was painting on that cheap watercolor paper.  I finally settled on a little ink…  for now.  🙂

About Anna Quindlen

Anna Quindlen was only the third woman to become an Op-Ed writer for the New York Times. She was born in 1952 near Philadelphia. As a columnist, she blended the personal with the political, drawing parallels between the two. She left the Times to write fiction. Her novel, One True Thing, became a film starring Meryl Streep. She is the first writer with books on the fiction, nonfiction, and self-help New York Times bestseller lists. She lives with her husband and children in New York.

Green Eyed Cat

“Happiness is different from pleasure. Happiness has something to do with struggling and enduring and accomplishing.”
– George Sheehan

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Green Eyed Cat – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

Happiness also has to do with things that just feel silly for no reason…. like this cat.  🙂

I painted it from a photo by Surob at WetCanvas.  I think the cat’s name is pumpkin.  I like all the white I left in it for a change of pace.

About George Sheehan

American doctor George Sheehan changed course midway through his life. He was born in Brooklyn in 1918 to a cardiologist father and grew up to follow in his footsteps. At age 45, bored with his life, he began reading philosophy and took up running. Within five years he ran a 4:47 mile, the fastest ever clocked by a 50 year old. He started a weekly column and became medical editor for Runner’s World. He wrote eight books. Bill Clinton dubbed him the philosopher-king of running. He died in 1993.

 

Cute Little Boy

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
– Andy Warhol

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Cute Little Boy – 2″ x 7″ Watercolor & Ink

I think this would make a cute bookmark.  It’s Susan’s (Surob at WetCanvas) grandson admiring a train.  I had a great time doing this and I normally don’t paint people.  Well, of course you know that.  I usually use my magic powers to remove all the people from reference photos before I paint them.  🙂

About Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol, the American pop artist, is probably best known for his silk screens of Campbell Soup and Marilyn Monroe. He was born as Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh in 1928. His style borrowed from comic books and advertising; he wanted to remove the separation between commercial and fine art. His studio, the Factory, became a hub for the New York art scene. He was also a prolific filmmaker. He was shot three times in the chest in 1968 and narrowly escaped death. He died in 1987.