Hidden Falls

"Hidden Falls" - 18" x 30 - Watercolor.

So I finally updated my website:
www.michaeldavidsorensen.com

I also managed to finally get my Facebook art page up here .

The Explorers

The Explorers 22"x30" Watercolor

I've been updating my art website. You can see a bunch of new originals that I put on my website here.

Fall Colors

Fall Color 15"x22" Watercolor.

Upcoming Painting Demonstration and Show:

Vancouver, WA - November 20, 2010. 11am to 5pm at Heritage Gallery. heritagefineart.com/
16020 SE Mill Plain Blvd, Vancouver, WA. 360-576-7558.
I will be doing a painting demonstration and chatting with people all day. Stop by and say hi.

Show Off

I've been having fun trying some T-Shirt style art lately. With T-Shirt art you are limited to only a few colors and you cannot mix those colors unless you use half-tones (the process that newspapers use by putting little dots of different colors next to each other to simulate a mixed color). You also have to really simplify a design in order for it to work on a shirt. As I tend to be overly detailed it has been fun trying to simplify my designs and compositions.

"Show Off" is one of my first tries at the art of T-Shirt design. I plan to submit this (and the other designs I come up with) to Threadless.com. It is a T-Shirt printing company that allows anyone to compete with their designs to have them printed. Their is also a good online community of other artists who will critique your designs. Here is the link to my Threadless page: Here

A Rag Top Bug in Wine Country

15 x 20 inches - Watercolor and watercolor crayon on 300lb. Arches watercolor paper.

A 23 Window VW Bus at Rest

15" x 20" Watercolor (In progress)

When driving through rural America I notice that the coolest cars (and vans in this case) are always parked out in a field behind a barn or under a tree and have obviously been there a while. After driving a vehicle for upwards of 20 or 30 years any car needs a certain amount of attention and maintenance. Most guys just don't have the heart to get rid of a classic if they don't have the time or inclination to do the required work to make it run and look like a true classic should. And so out to the back field, behind the barn or under the tree the once beautiful piece of art on wheels goes to take up residence for the next decade or two until its owner gets around to giving the beloved automobile the attention it deserves.

Every now and again some other guy will catch a glimpse of this once glorious ride in its current state of neglect, sitting under a tree, and long to have it for his own. Sure it is now rather dirty, somewhat rusty and over-grown by weeds. Three of the windows have been broken by young boys practicing their fastball with rocks and the sheet metal under the battery has rusted through to the point that the battery is now sitting on the ground, yet this guy still sees the potential of restoring this car to its original form. The current owner, however, still dreams of one day restoring it himself and turns down any offer of selling it. And so the classic remains under the tree for the next decade, an unattainable prize of rusting metal of rotting seat cushions to all passerbys.

Watching the Surf and Seagulls

"Pacific Tides" 28" x 40" - Watercolor.

I did and painting demonstration at Champagne Cove in La Conner, Washington last weekend and as always had a great time (it was 65 degrees and sunny on Saturday so it was pretty hard not to have a great time). Pacific Tides is the largest watercolor I've completed so far and the original (it is unpublished so there are no prints) is now on display at Champagne Cove.

I also go to do some camping while I was up in La Conner. Camping this time of year is the best because not only did I get a camp spot at Deception Pass on a Saturday night without reservations (Which I've heard is Washington state's busiest campground), but I also got the state park campground near Gig Harbor almost completely to myself. That campground has to be about the creepiest campground I've been to. I always get there way late at night night when it's dark and foggy, it's always deserted, it's way out in the boonies, is situated in the midst of a dense rain forest with towering trees and thick underbrush and invariably all sorts of wild creatures decide to start howling/growling/hooting/barking loudly in the middle of the night. (it's the kind of place that you would expect to see Bigfoot) This time some owls decided to get in a brawl directly above my tent at about 1am and did some hooting at the top of their lungs (they can be pretty loud). Overall I thoroughly enjoy the creepy camping experience. :-)