Marybeth Heikes

Paintings in Watercolor & Mixed Media

Whimsical Wildlife

Denver Dog

Denver Dog

February 3, 2014

Between serious competition pieces, I enjoy doing some fun little collages. Humorous animals always tickle my fancy. And because pets are so loved, I chose a yellow lab for this design. I also got a chance to utilize my collage paper scraps. I added a piece of map and was surprised that there is actually […] more »

Motley Crew

Motley Crew

January 15, 2014

I have decided to do a cat faces series, and this is the second piece. In this design, I have combined a black-brown, ginger, and black-and-white cat. They all have such unique faces! I’m also finally using some of my earth-colored pigments. These include sepia, umbers, ochres, black, and blues. It has been a fun project […] more »

Goodfellows

Goodfellows

January 6, 2014

I have been working on a series of cat paintings which I started a few years ago. The nice thing is, I have plenty of models available and a large file of reference photos of all the felines we have had over many years. In this particular study, I have combined three separate photos of […] more »

Iridescent Cat

Iridescent Cat

August 15, 2013

This is the second collage I have completed on a canvas one-inch-deep frame. Since I love cats, it is only natural that one fits into my collection of animal canvases! I began first by painting the background a Diarylide Yellow, which is a little orangy. It makes the purple cat “pop” from the surface. I […] more »

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

June 25, 2013

This rooster collage is the first one I have done on canvas and it has been on my mind for a long time. One of the reasons for working with the canvas is to have a piece of artwork that does not require picture framing;  it can be hung immediately and enjoyed.  The square format […] more »

Quinnifer

Quinnifer

January 27, 2013

I’m back to using my Chinese brush technique again! Yesterday’s daily painting was not up to my quality standards, and I wanted a playful and spontaneous result. I began by sketching the cat with my left hand – -forcing myself to draw more loosely. The next step was wetting both sides of the 300 pound paper so that the black […] more »

Siamese

Siamese

September 16, 2012

This portrait is for all cat lovers! I’ve been painting commissions in watercolor of various breeds of cats and dogs, and wanted to do one of the Siamese variety. I believe this one is a sealpoint with the chocolate points. They are loyal and mischievous cats! This was painted on 300# cold press rag paper. […] more »

The Girls

The Girls

March 7, 2012

This painting includes five of our cat family: Saoirse, Fiona, Sadie, Ruby and Aurora. They include a variety of colors — a calico, siamese, white calico, black and a spotted black & white.  I did this as a portrait sample to let people know that photos of different pets can be combined into a single […] more »

Flamingo Fandango

Flamingo Fandango

February 7, 2012

I’m back doing the exotic animals. These birds were designed in 2007 and I’m finally getting around to completing the collage.  I chose it for their colorful pink, long-necked bodies and legs, having some fun with changing some of the colors. They seem to be dancing and fluttering with movement. For the background, I decided […] more »

Old Coot

Old Coot

November 20, 2011

This is one of my many humorous birds in a series, along with the Love Birds, Cockatoo, Bad Hair Day, Flamingo and Ostrich. This old guy is sitting on an orange rock in the middle of a stream. For the accent color, I used a bright red in the feathers and the top of his […] more »