Wednesday 22 December 2021

Thursday 16 December 2021

Pink lily

 Acrylics on Masonite, 20 x 15 cm:


This item is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com.

Or see what I get up to all over the rest of the web:

My Bidorbuy store (For original artwork)

Redbubble store 

My books

Instagram

Facebook


Wednesday 15 December 2021

Gaillardias

 Acrylics on Masonite, 25 x 20 cm:


This work is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com.

Or see what I get up to all over the rest of the web:

My Bidorbuy store (For original artwork)

Redbubble store 

My books

Instagram

Facebook


Wednesday 8 December 2021

Yellow daisies

 Acrylics on Masonite, 25 x 20 cm:


This item is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com

Or check out my books, if reading is your thing, my Bidorbuy store, for more paintings for sale, or see what else I get up to on the interwebs. 

Sunday 5 December 2021

Yellow hibiscus

 Acrylics on Masonite, 20 x 15 cm:


This item is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com

Or see other available works on my Bidorbuy store.

If reading is your thing, check out my books

Wednesday 1 December 2021

Poppies in a vase

 Acrylics on Masonite, 20 x 15 cm:


This item is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com

Or check out my other work for sale at my Bidorbuy store.

I also write books, some of which can be read online for free.


Sunday 14 November 2021

Sunflowers

 Acrylics on Masonite, 20 x 15 cm:

SOLD



These items are for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com

Or check out my books, if reading is more to your liking.

Tuesday 9 November 2021

Yellow-billed hornbill

 My latest design for Redbubble:


You can have it printed on, well, almost anything, by visiting my Redbubble store.

Wednesday 3 November 2021

A bit of beetle

 Acrylics on Masonite, 20 x 15 cm:

SOLD

Rather out of my comfort zone to paint vehicles. Which is of course precisely why it's a good exercise. Plus, it was quite a bit of fun.

Or check out my books, if reading is your thing...

Sunday 31 October 2021

Karoo windpump

 Acrylics on pallet wood, 10 x 20 x 2 cm:


Done on a whim, on a piece of scrap pallet wood. It was rather fun doing something off the beaten track, and painting on a surface not exactly designed for it. 


Thursday 28 October 2021

Ceramic, tomato, herbs

 Acrylics on Masonite, 15 x 20 cm:


This work is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com.

Also check out my books, if reading is your thing!

Wednesday 20 October 2021

African iris in a small vase

 Acrylics on Masonite, 15 x 10 cm:

SOLD

Seems like the paint-from-life bug has bit me again. Got this iris from the garden, plonked it into a mini vase, and started painting. 

Or go check out my books, if reading is your thing.

Friday 15 October 2021

Jack Frost and Jack O'Lantern

 My new children's book, Jack Frost and Jack O'Lantern, has been published and is available at Amazon.

Here's the free web version; if you enjoy it, please consider buying a copy or making a donation by clicking the donate button in the panel on the right.














Wednesday 29 September 2021

Plastic sheep and pineapple flavor

 Acrylics on Masonite, 10 x 15 cm:


A companion piece to the previous painting. I'm beginning to get enthusiastic about the idea of putting children's toys into still life paintings.

This work is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com.

Or check out my books or other online activities

Monday 27 September 2021

Sunday 26 September 2021

Matchbox and bottle shards

 Acrylics on Masonite, 10 x 15 cm:


On Instagram, there is a thing going called the Strada Easel Challenge. I think it is organized by a company called Strada, which sells easels? Doesn't matter; it entails drawing or painting something from direct observation every day for a month. I have been faithfully participating, but this is the first one I painted instead of just sketched. The bits of bottle I picked up on one of my morning walks, which goes to show that one person's trash is the artist's treasure.

This work is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com.

Or go check out my books, or see what else I have been up to all over the web. 

Tuesday 7 September 2021

Traffic in the rain

 Acrylics on Masonite, 15 x 20 cm:


This work is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com.

Or check out what else I have been up to, or check out my books. 


Monday 23 August 2021

Karee at the wall

 Acrylics on Masonite, 15 x 10 cm:


I currently live in the suburbs, which are in many ways rather boring from the perspective of visual interest. There are beautiful gardens, but here in South Africa such things are now all hidden behind high walls and electric fencing. What you can see is often blandly pretty rather than really striking. One exception, sometimes: street trees, particularly in older, more established suburbs where the trees have had time to mature a bit and develop character. And thus, I may just get it into my head to do some studies of them...

This work is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com

Or see what else I have been up to. 


Thursday 19 August 2021

Conversation

 Oil on Masonite, 20 x 15 cm:


This work is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com.

Or see what else I have been up to.

Tuesday 17 August 2021

Evacuation

 Oil on Masonite, 20 x 15 cm:


I seldom drag politics or world events into my work, but in this case I made an exception, largely simply because I thought the images of U.S. diplomatic personnel being evacuated from their embassy to be visually striking, rather than because I have any particularly strong opinions about the whole issue. 

This work is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com.

Also check out the rest of my dubious online presence, if you dare.

Saturday 14 August 2021

Three cypresses

 Oil on Masonite, ACEO:

SOLD

Been a while since I painted anything. I have been busy sketching a bit, but nothing spectacular enough to be worth posting here, though some of it made an appearance elsewhere.

A bit of random philosophy. There are two things that an artist might look for. One is subject matter, pretty things that he or other people might like, such as, say, birds, vehicles, people, flowers, etc. The other is more subtle: simply interesting shapes and colors, irrespective of the subject matter. These two things are not incompatible, and often elements of both are present. The best subject paintings usually also have a solid underlying abstract design. 

But I have become more aware of late that these are really two different elements, and that one needs to be aware of it. Am I primarily interested in the subject matter (often the case when I paint animals), or was I mostly struck by the abstract pattern? In the latter case, the subject matter is almost incidental. The above mini-painting falls in this latter category.


Thursday 8 July 2021

Elephant in shallow water

 Acrylics on Masonite, 15 x 20 cm:


I rather enjoy painting very big subject matter in small format. This work is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com

Also check out my Redbubble store for all manner of printable graphics, or my books page, if reading is your thing. 

Tuesday 6 July 2021

Aloes on a rocky hill

 Acrylics on Masonite, 15 x 20 cm:

SOLD

Winters here in the inland parts of South Africa tend to be dry and dusty. But the aloes and coral trees provide an unexpected splash of color.

Also check out my Redbubble store for all manner of printable graphics, or my books page, if reading is your thing.

Thursday 1 July 2021

Thursday 10 June 2021

Introducing Redbubble

 I have set up a little store at Redbubble, which you can visit here. There's a growing collection of designs, which the company will print on a whole variety of things, from t-shirts to coffee mugs to pillows. Go have a look; here's a sampling of some of the designs:







I am having such fun with these things that I'm taking a bit of a break from painting, but probably not for long. Watch this space! 


Wednesday 19 May 2021

Wednesday 12 May 2021

Grandma's chickens

 Oil on Masonite, 15 x 20 cm:


Now and then I feel like doing something in a somewhat expressionist mode...

This work is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com.