Cliff Swallow Study on Ebay

  

















  I haven't put any miniature paintings up on Ebay for awhile so I thought this little guy would be a good place to get started again.

Here is the link to him on Ebay.

4x5 Cliff Swallow Study (SOLD)

My way of saying thanks.

"Waiting for You"

   I wanted to find away to say thank you to everyone from OWH's bloghop for all their wonderful comments. So, I am going to post my very first ever Digi stamp design. I know this one is nothing like the eagle, but I wanted give you something that expressed the ideas of summer, home, friendship, the feeling of being missed and Americana all rolled into one simple design. Enjoy.

(This Digi Stamp design "Waiting for You" is free for you to use under the usual Angel company rules; the design is intended for your personal use and not to be redistributed in anyway. Including copying, lending, duplicating, reselling or sharing or reproduction in any way with out express written consent from me Eric Dull. You can make and sell individually handmade and hand colored cards and projects using the above design. But please try to keep my copyright with the image when possible.)

A funny thing happened at the rubber stamp store.......

  Besides 6'3" 300lb. me wondering ,ok lumbering, around a Stamping and Scrapbooking store. ( Stamplistic in Amherst, Ohio )


   So anyway, here is the story. We had just helped Stamplistic move form their previous location to a new one, just thirty feet away form the old one. A newer and bigger space. Thursday was their first day open after the move and we decided to go see how it looked. So, while the Mrs. was looking at scrapbooking stuff I was looking at flower stamps in the stamp section ( I know very Manly right? ) While checking out the rubber flora I spotted a brochure that had a card with a eagle stamped on it on the cover.

   Now, when you design and illustrate things for various companies you never know when something you worked on might turn up. A sign here, a salesman waving a flyer at you there, the back of the guys shirt ahead of you in line for the bathroom at the county fair. Etc. Regardless of where you see some of your work being used it is still cool. Because usually after you finish something you rarely ever see it again.

   Imagine my surprise when I realized that the eagle on this card was one that I had done for Stacy Rich of Stacy Stamps ,TEN years ago and it was one of the first illustrations I had drawn for Stacy. Who by the way was standing about ten feet away from me at the time waiting on a customer. Stacy works part time at Stamplistic teaching classes and selling cool stuff, when she is not running her stamp business. (or pimping me out to customers to draw a cruise ship template for a high school prom, but that is another story).

   Needless to say the brochure came home with me. After I had read it over I decided to go on line and check out this Operation Write Home thing. It made my day. You see when I am drawing these stamp designs I always wonder what people are going to make with them. Where they are going to end up. What thoughts and feelings they might be used to convey from one person to another. I could not have been prouder of where that little eagle had ended up. Helping people and families thousand of miles part stay in touch with one an other. From places and times that the connection to Home is one of the only things that keeps you going.

   I decided to email OWH to tell them how happy I was to see the eagle stamp was being put to good use. I had no idea who would receive that email, or when, or if I would get a reply. In just a few minutes I had a reply. It was from Sandy Allnock the president of OWH. She told me it was the first card she had made when starting OWH...or, rather, a replica of it since she had sent the original out. She had received a dozen stamped images of that design as a gift from someone. She never actually had the stamp and always wished she could find one so she could make more of these cards.

   Soon Sandy will have a eagle stamp of her very own. And I have great story to share with all of you. By the way the name of that stamp is "Freedom".

   Sandy asked me to participate in her bloghop today by telling you this story. And I gladly accepted. So if you are here for the bloghop here is your next stop, http://www.winkwinkink.com/ .

Sandy's Card

A photo of the original artwork( yep I still have it )

 If you would like to buy a Stacy Stamps eagle stamp go to Stamplistc's website and order one or call them at
440-989-2622.

Life sketches

I have been trying very hard lately to carry my sketch book everywhere I go. Now that it has dried out. Here are a few doodles.

This one is at the cafe in town.

  Sketching birds and animals from life can be difficult. They don't like to stay in one place long. So most of what you end up with are gesture drawing. ( drawings for that are more impressions of shape or movement ).

A few pics form Magee Marsh as promised.

Black Throated Green Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

Cheastnut Sided Warbler

Gold Winged Warbler

Yellow Billed Cuckoo

Warbling Vireo

Baby Great Horned Owl

Black Crowned Night Heron

Back from the birding trip.

   We had a great time birding even though the weather made it...., lets say challenging. Forty mile per hour winds, rain, wind, lightening, tornado warnings, wind, over night temperatures in the thirties. Did I mention the wind?
   I took lots of pictures. Some of which may actually be good enough to share. I had my sketch book along for the trip and had every intention of sketching anything that would stand still long enough. But while my rain coat kept me warm and dry it would seem that leaving ones pocket unzipped lets rain in and gets what ever is inside of that pocket very wet. If you have never tried to draw on soggy paper, don't, it doesn't turn out so well.
  I will get soom pictures up soon.

Mirgatory Bird Day

We will be heading up to Magee Marsh Wildlife area this weekend to check out all the spring migrants that are passing through. Hopefully I will have lots of sketches and photo to share when we get back.