Dragons' Teeth Design Studios

10/14/2024

Just gonna leave this here:

Donna K. published a post on Ko-fi

10/07/2024

09/27/2024

MODEL SEARCH FOR ANIMAL PORTRAIT SUBJECTS
Never say never!
This is "Sandy," one of my pastel portraits, trained by my late husband Dr. Tom Kazo for a family. Tom was my best salesman, so when he crossed the rainbow bridge to be with the thousands of dogs he loved over his busy life, my business dropped dramatically.
I sold my first dog portrait when I was 20 for $50 which was a lot of money when minimum wage was $1.60/hr., and was getting $450 when I retired about nine years ago. But I'd lost the spark, I'd breathed in a lot of pastel dust, plus, pain in my hands meant holding a tiny bit of pastel stick was not fun.
After decades of capturing every detail in pastels, I moved into acrylics, a loose, exciting and wet adventure, still ongoing.
But! I missed the LOVE. The love between human and animal companion was so empowering and fueled my spirit. Helping someone surprise their significant other with an animal portrait was the best way to be sneaky, especially at Christmas!
So. Much. Love. Which the world needs now, as the old song says.
A couple of years ago I discovered a digital painting program for my iPad called Procreate. Steep learning curve but it's a blast!
GREAT NEWS! I now believe I'm (almost) capable of painting digital portraits that will greatly resemble my pastel ones. Then I will be offering my portrait services again, something I never thought I'd do. Yep: never say never!!
But I need models!
This is where YOU come in, my friends:
Post on my FB Page, "Donna McVicar Kazo" not more than FOUR GOOD PHOTOS of your animal companion (or use the Message app if that doesn't work). NO PHOTO DUMPS, PLEASE. Curate your photos!
I will choose SOME of them (can't commit to a number yet!) to portray as digital paintings.
It's important to note that my style of animal portraiture is usually more classic and formal, as with Sandy here. A 3/4 view tends to show off the features the best. But with cats, usually a full-frontal view seems to be the way to go.
My Model Search includes dogs, cats, horses, birds, guinea pigs, even fish and reptiles!
If I choose your pet, when the painting is done you will receive, FREE, a low-res JPEG image. You can share it on social media but it's not big enough of a file to print out. YOU HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO PURCHASE (sorry for the yelling) the high-resolution file suitable for printing as a giclee (that means a super-great inkjet reproduction). The file will be in a size you can proudly frame and hang will be only $150. You will receive a digital download, NOT a physical product, you can bring or email to many printers, as I no longer handle this aspect of the biz. I can recommend an excellent company to do all of this part. Your painting can be printed on either paper or canvas; the finished size depends on the size of your pet, but let's say around 9" x 12" just for starters.
I'll post photos of the work-in-progress for all to enjoy!
LET ME SEE YOUR PETS!!!

09/05/2024

Please welcome my new line of blank notebooks, created with a little nudge to help you remember the best things that drift through your mind every day! I'm so happy to have found a good way to use the amazing photos I took almost ten years ago of a skyfull of Altocumulus undulatus clouds, to use on the covers of my lined notebooks. Only $6.50, a convenient 6" x 9" for you to keep handy.

09/02/2024

Friends, hope you saw my previous post about my cloud photos. This is the second notebook I've published using one of them as its cover. The quality of the paper is very good, based on my own experience. My journal writing practice goes back 25 years, and it's a valuable tool for my creativity. But this 6" x 9" notebook is for YOU to keep handy to make note of your daydreams. Sure, you can jot them down in a dollar store notebook but something as precious as your daydreams deserves a beautiful container!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFWQJT21

09/02/2024

Dear Friends, I have exciting news! Well, it was almost ten years ago that Christie called me on her way home from work to go outside and look at the sky. I grabbed my camera and was thrilled by what I saw: clouds which had been formed by winds aloft into long rows, almost like furrows in a plowed field. Later I learned these are called altocumulus undulatus. So for all these years, I wondered how best to share these photos.
Now, thanks to Amazon KDP, I have been doing it!
I've begun to create blank, lined notebooks to sell on-demand from Amazon, and my cloudscapes make perfect covers!
Your dreams deserve to be remembered, and now you have a beautiful notebook published by a small business for that purpose.
So here's its link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFWBGHQ2

08/06/2024

You can likely tell why this subset of my Dimensional Abstracts is called "Botanical Rhythms." Obviously my textural patterns here were influenced by the patterns of flowers such as chrysanthemums. This beauty is a true example of why I named my website "Watching Paint Flow." After painting the surface yellow, watery glazes of crimson pigment were poured and dabbed and manipulated into the crevices, wiped off the high points, until I was satisfied with the results. No brushes were used. My goal was to emulate nature's way of flowing liquids over my specially blended acrylic medium.
For a limited time, you can purchase my 12" x 12" Dimensional Abstracts, including this one, for a wholesale price of $150, regularly $375. The sale price does not include the free shipping and framing of the regular price. This Summer Studio Sale is not mentioned on my website; you'll have to DM me here to buy or to answer questions.
www.watchingpaintflow.com

08/02/2024

Something cool for your timeline today: one of my deeply textured Dimensional Abstracts, its wonderful spiral surface given a faux finish treatment to suggest age, wear, perhaps moss and fungi. Like all my Dimensional Abstract acrylics, it doesn't just hang there; no, as the light moves across the room, the shadows change intriguingly. For a limited time, my Summer Studio Sale reduces the price of this unique work of art by 60%, from $375 to $150 (this low price does not include the free framing and shipping of the original price.)

08/01/2024

Who doesn't love paintings of flowers? Certainly they have been one of my favorite subjects over the years. What they taught me informed this very abstract Dimensional Abstract Wavelength Rhythm acrylic painting, one of my favorites from my experimental series. And now this one-of-a-kind beauty is offered to you at 60% off as my Summer Studio Sale continues.
In a world where an "image" can be printed on any surface, I sought to create artwork that cannot be duplicated. Even better, a person with vision difficulties can run their fingertips over the surface and enjoy its rich textures.
Was $375, which included framing and shipping; now $150, but those are not included in this special offer. Message me here on FB.
http://watchingpaintflow.com/index.php/2016dawr044br/

08/01/2024

Just a little happy video to remind you that my beautiful and deeply textured Dimensional Abstracts are currently 60% off for a limited time. Each 12" x 12" painting is unique and may be hung from any direction for your enjoyment. Unlike typical flat images, as the sun crosses your room, a Dimensional Abstract changes just as a landscape does, shadows and highlights and colors aglow.

My website is watchingpaintflow dot com

As my talented musician friend Scott Crain supplied me with a 3 minute and 3 second acoustic guitar track, I decided to make a second video to match it! This...

12/31/2023

Goal for 2024: Make people feel magical.