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#15 MY PET PROJECTS – PART 1 Decades ago, I illustrated pet food. All these years later, I find it fascinating how I’ve shifted from illustrating kibbles to creating pet portraits. Another notable difference is that I wasn’t paid for any of them. Every pet portrait was given as a gift to a friend. “Chuckie” 16×20, Mixed Media, 2009 In 2009, I composed my very first dog portrait of “Chuckie.” It…

“Apricot Branch” 8×10 watercolor dyes on hot press, 2023. For this image scan, I did not remove the watercolor paper texture. Although a peach has more color differentiation, I love apricots. I painted a group of apricots in 2022 and shared some of that process on this post: #65 THE FRUITS OF MY LABOR. Every one of my paintings begins with good reference. It’s rare when I find a single photo to…

Recently, I was able to tell a story about how many interesting prophecies there were in my life. Not only were these interesting coincidences within my art, but they also popped up in my creation of music, as well. Perhaps many of them were sad prophecies, but in the end – I am thankful I can view my life’s journey as meaningful and inspiring. The magazine cover for the painting I gave Jason’s…

Last night, I told a short story about my art career. The theme was food – so that was perfect for a food illustrator like me. I even had my make up done professionally beforehand for fun! I loved my ending – how after four decades my art went from being a job, to being a joy!

Inspiration (noun) 1. stimulation to do creative work 2. somebody or something that inspires 3. creativeness 4. good idea 5. divine influence Synonyms: stimulus, spur, motivation, encouragement, muse Everything about the word “inspiration” is beautiful to me. Recently, I had the revelation that in my quest to inspire – I have been inspired! About two months ago, I joined a Facebook watercolor…

This is my newest painting named “Cool Leaves.” I’m still “feeling blue” in a good way with my newest painting. Here is the nectarine leaf that inspired my painting. I was glad I could get a serrated edge on it. The spots on the blue leaf were also beautiful to me. I clearly remember a crisp autumn day when my eyes were drawn to the spectacular nectarine leaves dangling from a tree in my friend’s…

My latest painting “Cool Leaves” was a joy to paint. I explored so many interesting colors that my palette ran out of room!   From the very start of this illustration blog, I have been transparent – and not just with watercolors. I celebrate my honesty, though I realize that sharing invoices, backstories and unusual career shortcuts might be a bit cringe-worthy. An example of one of my earliest…

My finished painting named “Lily Pads and Lotus.” My last few posts were related to drawing mazes. Although I found them intriguing, I did miss working with color. My reference photo. When a good friend on vacation in Georgia sent me a photo of lily pads – well, I thought the photo was a painting. It was so painterly, well composed and quite beautiful. This would be easy for me to work from,…

#70 MY AMAZING JOURNEY, UPDATE

Sometimes fairy tales come true. I wasn’t sure what I was hoping for after I sent my maze to Barbra Streisand’s foundation. Dreaming was fun, but I didn’t want to have high expectations and be disappointed. So at the most, I hoped my maze would actually reach her. Well it did!! When I received a letter from her foundation a few days ago, my heart was pounding with excitement. I didn’t rush to…

#68 MY AMAZING JOURNEY, PART 3

I was amazed how quickly I remembered how to draw mazes after a 40-year break! Since my last post, I’ve explored a few new mazes that I’m excited to share. I thought a self-portrait would be a fun maze for me to tackle. I wanted to include my guitar and after sorting through lots of photos, I found one that looked like it would work. My first step was to isolate it into black and white areas. The…

#68 MY AMAZING JOURNEY, PART 2

I am so fortunate that in my current life I create art at my leisure. This past year, my path encountered a new twist. As if rediscovering the music I loved as a teenager wasn’t enough, I have rediscovered something else that I also loved doing when I was young. I am drawing mazes again! My story can best be told with the many images I’ll be sharing. It all began with reconnecting. The theme of…

#67 CAMELLIAS IN THE RAIN

I was truly able to indulge my fascination with water droplets by painting “Camellias in the Rain.” I had already dealt with patiently masking flower petals on my earlier painting of Camellias. However, now I found myself masking hundreds of tiny water droplets upon both the petals and leaves. Sometimes the droplets were sharply defined, and at other times they were blurry. When I finished my…

#66 AUTUMN LEAVES I FALL FOR – PART 2

#60 AUTUMN LEAVES I FALL FOR – PART 1 Clicking on the painting below opens up a window to my leaf-related stock images on Getty. My second autumn leaf painting is named “Autumn Hope.” It was definitely enjoyable to capture so many colors. I filled my palette with eyedroppers of dye from at least 20 bottles in order to create my painting. Every area that I work on is masked with frisket. Below are…

#65 THE FRUITS OF MY LABOR

For this post, I’m simply sharing recent fruit paintings of mine. These are all available on iStock. My “Pomegranate Tree” painting was significantly more complicated than the other isolated fruit against a white background. For this one, I’m sharing my photo reference, close-ups, and an “in progress look.” Pomegranate Tree 8 x 10 My photo reference One notable change that I made for this scene…

#64 TAKING STOCK OF MY LIFE AND ART – PART 3

I continue to take stock of my life and my art. In the summer of 2020, I began to prolifically create art for my own purposes. Since then, I have added 120 new images to my stock site: Judy Unger iStock. I explain more about this new direction on these posts: #57 TAKING STOCK OF ART AND MY LIFE – PART 1 #61 TAKING STOCK OF ART AND MY LIFE – PART 2 For this post, I am sharing my latest…

#63 INTERVIEW WITH A FOOD ARTIST – PART 2

https://www.dpi.media/article/25251My first DPI interview: #54 INTERVIEW WITH A FOOD ARTIST – PART 1 I am very excited that my second interview with DPI Magazine in Taiwan has been published. I will share the English translation with this post. But first, I would love to share some recent artwork. Judy Unger DPI MAGAZINE INTERVIEW  1. Hello Judy Unger! Since in 2017, we’ve had an email-based…

#62 CAMELLIAS IN BLOOM

My most recent painting, “Camellia Tree” was definitely an exercise in patience. It also became an opportunity for me to explore endless green color variations because I painted a lot of foliage. I took photographs of my overgrown camellia bush for a period of two weeks. When the first flowers bloomed, their vibrancy was exquisite and the center petals were more closed up. Later on, the bush had…