Beyond Paradise

I've been distracting myself for the past couple of months with iphoneography. Looking forward to more freedom in moving about the country soon to put my newly acquired skills to work. Meanwhile,...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2020/05/pond-life.html

I love the way the cell camera takes liberty with the scene.

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2020/02/tie-dyed-ducks.html

Taking a foray into cell phone photography. Originally, my plan was to learn how to take better photos for my artwork, but I quickly became enamored with it as an art form all by itself. Here�...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2020/02/ducks.html

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2020/01/beach-grass.html

Out of the blue a few weeks ago, I decided I’m just not interested in watercolor anymore. I started off with oil a thousand years ago but hung it up when the solvents began to bother me. This t...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2020/01/path-to-beach.html

Rough sketch of my son-in-law intently shucking some oysters last summer. I had planned on working this into a larger painting but not sure my photographic source is clear enough so we’ll see. ...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/11/oyster-shucking.html

That’s what my brother calls his little speedster. I’d like to laugh at him for being a middle age guy driving a sports car but, whoops, I have one too! I bought his older model Mazda Miata a...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/11/silver-bullet.html

As usual, time has gotten away from me and it is now Day 26 of the Inktober challenge, with today’s prompt being Dark. This was a super fun one, given the Halloween season.

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/10/in-dark.html

#inktober, Day 9, “Swing,” Bombay ink in sketchbook. Really enjoying painting with ink. The title of this post refers to both the model’s pose and how I felt when I was painting.

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/10/wild-abandon.html

#inktober2019, Day 7, Enchanted, ink with Bombay ink wash

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/10/enchanted.html

#inktober2019, Day 6, Husky, ink with watercolor wash

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/10/whos-good-boy.html

Inktober’s challenge for Day 3 was bait, a topic I’m well familiar with, being the daughter of a fisherman. When we were kids, my brothers and I spent a lot of time in central Oregon at Dad�...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/10/bait.html

Participating in the always fun Inktober challenge (ink drawing daily, or as often as you want to, for the month of October). The source photo for this Day 2 challenge was entitled “Mindless,�...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/10/lift-up.html

I just finished an online mini workshop with Margariet Aasman on Sktchy. I’ve wanted to learn her method for a long time, and it was so worth the wait. Mixed media (ink, watercolor, paste...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-look.html

I wasn’t happy with my drawing so I used it to experiment with ink, liquid charcoal, watercolor, and a permanent ink brush pen. I sprayed fixative between the ink drawing and charcoal layers fi...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/08/hangin-out.html

Ink and wash, 5x7

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/08/parrot.html

ink and wash in my sketchbook

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/07/gorilla-munching.html

ok, maybe the paper is NOT magic. Paint wouldn’t stay in the intended areas, moving into already painted areas for no particular reason. Very puzzling.

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/07/harpies.html

The late, great master watercolorist Irving Shapiro once said “there is no magic paintbrush,” but for me there may be a magic paper. I recently rediscovered watercolor board and am loving the...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/06/rooster.html

I have long felt a special affinity for herons. I had never seen one until about 20 years ago when my marriage was breaking up and they started showing up frequently, both in Hawaii where I lived...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/05/totem.html

A few years ago I spotted this swan being rehabbed in a tiny pool on Sauvie Island. I hope he or she has fully recovered and is splashing in much larger bodies of water now.

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/05/splash.html

It’s Draw a Bird Day! 

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/04/spring.html

I didn’t realize until I finished this colorful cockatoo that I hardly ever paint anything red. It’s really zingy to see on the palette.

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/03/gang-gang-cockatoo_22.html

Yikes, it's been SO long since I've posted anything. Anyway, had fun painting this oystercatcher pulling up his breakfast.

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2019/03/catching-lugworm.html

Spotted these ladies hanging out in the surf on a beach in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the location for this month’s virtual paintout. I was shocked just now to see it has been three months since ...

http://janellnishida.blogspot.com/2018/08/sittin-in-surf.html