A commissioned watercolor portrait of Thao the Cat.
thao, cat portrait
Kukla and Paddy animal portraits
Love doing these animals especially the parrot. I’ve never done a parrot or any bird. But I painted them like I paint the furry animals, close attention to the structure of their heads and to the textures. With Kukla, I used lift the color with semi-dry stiff brush to create the ends of the feathers. It was a great challenge!
To commission a portrait visit my Etsy shop. I offered pet portraits in either oils or watercolors.
Texas Sunset
My sister sent a photo that she took of the beautiful sunset that she could see from her home in southeast Texas. Simply breathtaking. I’m afraid that I didn’t do the sunset scene much justice; I wished I could had been able to paint this in person.
Dabs
A delightful little chihuahua mixed. The little smile is a killer.
I often find the doing a pencil drawing first helps me to get into the “mood”.
Turk
This is Turk. He is a dachshund and just loves the water.
Interested in a portrait of your pet? Commissions can be requested in my Etsy shop, Paintings by Marlene. I can do portraits in either watercolor or oils. I usually take about a month to finish up an oil portrait. Maybe two weeks for watercolor.
Calvin
When I start on a pet portrait in watercolor, I like to begin with a complete pencil drawing. This helps me to see more of the cat’s features and to understand the planes of its face and more importantly the values shifts across the head. Once completed I may use the drawing as a basis for the watercolor. I would xerox and enlarged to fit into the 8 x 10 format for a watercolor pet portrait. And then pencil trace the image onto the watercolor art board. From there it’s all about color.
Interested in a watercolor portrait of your pet. Click here to visit my Etsy shop for samples.
Eucalytus Trees
Urbansketching at the Manetti Shrem Museum
The Sketcher 
Behind the Scene
Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl group met in front of the Manetti Shrem Museum located on the University of California, Davis campus. Students are back and many had shown up to sketch. I was able to captured a young sketcher while chitchatting with another sketcher. While sitting at the entrance way of the museum, I sketched this metal sculpture and the receptionist inside. Later, the receptionist was curious of what I was doing so I showed her the sketch and she loved it enough to take a photo of it.
Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook
Along my walks
There are so many areas where I take my walks. Some of the areas are through the Davis Cemetery, along the bike path near Nuggets Soccer Fields and along the University of Davis, California. The season is changing and so many places to put to paint.
Out of the Shadows, 6×8 inches, oils by Marlene Lee 
Purple Trees along the Bike Path, 6×8 inches, oils by Marlene Lee 
Tree in Cemetery, 10×8 inches, oils by Marlene Lee 
Wandering Path along the UCD Arboretum, 10×8 inches, oils by Marlene Lee
Marlene Lee Art 