My first art gallery features the paintings I created for Sarah Elvidge’s award winning children’s book Sleepy Time for Mammals. The time I spent painting these pieces was a fulfilling experience and one in which I thank Sarah for inviting me to enter. I’ve shared some thoughts on each of paintings below, reminiscing on what I was learning, feeling and attempting to express through the medium of digital paint with respect for what we were trying to achieve in the book.
Each of the paintings are available for purchase in a variety of sizes and styles.
LINK ONE will take you to Imagekind where the paintings are available as a print and on canvas with various frame options, mattes and sizes. I believe the shipping is more reasonable, but do keep in mind that shipping art is generally expensive.
LINK TWO will take you to Fine Art America where the the paintings are not only available as they are in Imagekind, but also as greeting cards, throw pillows, bags, phone cases and duvets. The shipping is more pricey, but I included it nonetheless because of the other fun product options.
Enjoy the gallery and should you decide to purchase, I thank you in advance. The money raised from the purchases will go towards a project to translate my books into different languages.
The Sleeping Lion
I was so pleased with the way the lion came out, I put him on the front cover of the book. The focus of this painting of the lion, as with all the others, was to achieve the essence of peaceful sleep in wildlife. Painting digitally allows us to work in layers. The Lion consists of 86 layers.
LINK TWO (where you see watermarks, they will not appear on the purchased edition)
The Sleeping Gorilla
Ever since I was a child, I’ve dreamt of having a pet monkey. Let’s be honest, who hasn’t? So you could imagine my joy when I learned I would be painting a gorilla for Sarah. Did you know that every gorilla’s face is different just like ours? It was a delightful experience for me to have this gorilla’s face come to fruition on my digital canvas. This piece was my second choice for the cover art.
The Sleeping Otter
The Sleeping Duck-billed Platypus
Painting this little guy was a treat for me. After much research, I discovered that there were practically no resources which showed the Platypus in its restful habitat, up close and personal. So it was a real adventure to create his environment with no visual reference.
The Sleeping Black Bear
When Sarah Elvidge and I first talked about the creation of the children’s book,, I wanted to do something that was completely different from my comic strip experience of Frodo the Sheltie; to capture the essence of wildlife resting in peace, so much so that the reader would want to reach out to run their hand through their fur. This particular painting of mine reminds me of this goal I had in mind.
The Sleeping Brown Bats
How to paint creatures in a peaceful state when they are often associated with fear and mystery? This was my joyous challenge while creating the dormant brown bats resting in their damp cave. I wanted to capture the form of the brown bat in such a way that would not be frightening for children.
The Sleeping Dolphins
I’ve always been fascinated with dolphins and their relationship with humanity. So when I was offered the opportunity to paint this noble creature for Sarah, I was very delighted. Showing two dolphins resting in the sunset while another is playing in the distance was my way of telling the reader that their is no set time for dolphins to sleep.
Bats in the Moonlight
The Sleeping Manatee
The Sleeping Giraffe
Thank you for viewing my gallery.
I’d love to hear from you. please feel free to leave comments below.
Dog Laughs 
These paintings are just magnificent!! There is such a content, peaceful feeling with everyone one of them!!
Thank you so much for your kind words Debbie. Glad you enjoy them.
Gord the paintings are wonderful. Its great to see you trying new things. My good wishes on further adventures.