cheryloz

Flamingos : Client Project for Papyrus

Last January, I worked on some watercolor flamingos for Papyrus on a gift wrap project. The scope of the work was to have me create just a couple of full flamingo bird illustrations, and then some bird parts so that the Art Director could create multiple birds in different poses for the gift wrap. It was such a fun, colorful project to brighten up my workspace in the midst of winter here in Michigan! I can’t wait to see the gift wrap in person when my artist samples arrive.

in progress on my studio table…. (artwork by Michigan artist, Cheryl Oz)

in progress on my studio table…. (artwork by Michigan artist, Cheryl Oz)

Watercolor illustration by Michigan artist, Cheryl Oz

Watercolor illustration by Michigan artist, Cheryl Oz

Watercolor illustration by Michigan artist, Cheryl Oz

Watercolor illustration by Michigan artist, Cheryl Oz

Watercolor illustration by Michigan artist, Cheryl Oz

Watercolor illustration by Michigan artist, Cheryl Oz

Watercolor illustration by Michigan artist, Cheryl Oz

Watercolor illustration by Michigan artist, Cheryl Oz

“Pineapple Tropic Party Roll Wrap” — Photo compliments of Papyrus

“Pineapple Tropic Party Roll Wrap” — Photo compliments of Papyrus

“Pineapple Tropic Party Roll Wrap” — Photo compliments of Papyrus

“Pineapple Tropic Party Roll Wrap” — Photo compliments of Papyrus

Even on the darkest of days, always look for the Sun!

I started drawing this digital illustration a few days ago. I was inspired by my friend Jenni, who is working on illustrations for a children’s book. Her latest endeavor has been working on the #100dayproject keeping all of her illustrations based around the idea if she lived in a castle. Cute, right!?!
 
The little girl in the illustration was not originally going to be me, but as I drew her, she felt more and more like me. That’s why I ended up putting a pup in her arms too. She’s just like my sweet pup who is always by my side.

When I worked on the darker background the previous day, I really liked it, but then the next day when I opened up the file, I was thinking to myself, “geez, this is so gloomy!” If this girl is supposed to be me, I don’t like gloomy days. I mean we all have them, whether they are in the literal sense or not. The idea of having the Sun peeking out behind a gloomy day with beautiful blue skies felt just right to me. The words came to me shortly thereafter.
 
Please inquire if you would like an art print of this illustration.

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Digital illustration created by Michigan artist, Cheryl Oz. 

Warm Butternut Squash Chickpea Salad

In keeping with my new style, I created this digital illustration “Warm Butternut Squash Chickpea Salad” by Smitten Kitchen. The recipe is actually for a salad without the greens, but I love adding mixed greens and putting the squash/chickpea mixture on top. The tahini dressing is creamy, and addictive. I could literally eat this dressing with a spoon. I don’t, but I could. I may lick the spoon though after I drizzle all of that creamy goodness over my salad. It’s very hearty, filling salad that will keep you satisfied until your next meal. I make this salad so often that I usually buy a larger squash and cut it up in cubes and freeze it for a later date.

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New loose style

As an artist, I like to experiment with new things from time to time. Even after all of these years of being an artist, I still love trying new techniques, mediums, and taking classes. I think it’s important to continue the learning and growing process. Some folks think illustrators and artists, should have one unique style. I disagree with that, but I also understand that point of view, having been an Art Director in my past life. I’ll get into this more at a later date.

I’ve been wanting to create a new loose style for awhile now. It’s still a work in progress, because I’m still playing with figuring out which digital brushes and textures feel right to me. Here’s what I’ve already learned about working on a loose style. It’s not as easy as it looks, and it’s not necessarily a lot faster. It is a little faster, but still takes an artful eye, skill and effort. My style has always been to work detailed and more realistic, so this is a nice departure from that. Right now I’m focusing on using Procreate for a digital version of this style, but sometimes I will work in watercolor, maybe sometimes, a mix of colored pencils and watercolor or gouache, basically I’ll decide what I feel for the day when I’m working in this style. I’m really enjoying the process and this journey right now.

For my subjects, I’m going to focus on food, because I love to cook. I’ll be focusing on my favorite recipes to start. The first one I chose is by Bon Appetit, “No-Fail Roast Chicken with Lemon and Garlic.” We love having a roasted chicken for dinner because for one, it’s a delicious dinner, but, also to me the best part is that we always have a lot of chicken for leftovers for the week. There’s so many things to do with leftover chicken.

This recipe is delicious. The lemons and garlic become deeply caramelized. Once you slice the chicken to serve, the lemon drizzled over the chicken is amazing. I like to just eat the roasted garlic as we eat the chicken, but if that’s too intense of a garlic flavor for you, then try mashing the garlic in some potatoes. Sometimes I throw in a few potatoes and other veggies, while the chicken is roasting too, and then you have a simple one pan dinner. In the past, I’ve saved some of the garlic and made a delicious, roasted garlic vinaigrette for the week. So many good things come from this recipe!

Digital illustration by Cheryl Oz

Digital illustration by Cheryl Oz

Pileated Woodpeckers Original Fine Art Acrylic Gouache Wood Slab Painting : Wood Slab Series

Good Morning! I finished this painting the other day, and I could hardly wait to post it to show you. I absolutely love the shape of this wood. I decided to do a young Pileated Woodpecker and a female Pileated Woodpecker because I felt like the top area of the wood felt like the baby was peeking out of a tree hole, looking for his Momma. The reds from the woodpeckers heads really pop right off the wood! I love this paint!

My Pileated Woodpeckers original painting was done in Holbein Acryla Gouache on a gorgeous, Maple wood slab. The Pileated Woodpeckers are part of a series of several wood slab paintings that I've been working on for the past few weeks. The wood slab has been hand-selected to ensure the most unique and beautiful outcome for the painting. The paints are a dream to work with: creamy, opaque and so brilliant. The slabs give the paintings a modern, yet rustic appeal, but also suited for any contemporary home for any nature or bird lover.

I do not offer my original paintings that often, so if you're interested in my work, this is a great opportunity to purchase an original piece. No archival prints will ever be made from this painting.

Wood: Maple • Size: 17" L x 5 1/2" W • Sawtooth hanger is attached for easy wall hanging. • Paintings are signed on the front and back.

This painting is available to purchase in my Etsy shop!

Great Blue Heron Original Fine Art Acrylic Gouache Wood Slab Painting : Wood Slab Series

Hi. This is my newest personal project, that I’m really excited about. I posted the Snowy Owl first, because I was exciting about sharing it after I finished it, but this painting the, Great Blue Heron was actually the first of my series. Thank you for taking a look! :)

My Great Blue Heron original painting was done in Holbein Acryla Gouache on a gorgeous, maple wood slab. This was the first painting I did on my wood slabs, and I'm not sure why, but I knew that I would do a Great Blue Heron on this piece of wood long before I started working on it. We see the Great Blues at our family cottage on Drummond Island, MI in the Upper Peninsula. I just love watching them hunt for fish, or watching them soar across the lake with their giant wingspan from the cottage window. The Great Blue Heron is part of a series of several wood slab paintings that I've been working on. The wood slab has been hand-selected to ensure the most unique and beautiful outcome for the painting. The paints are a dream to work with: creamy, opaque and so brilliant. The slabs give the paintings a modern, yet rustic appeal, but also suited for any contemporary home for any nature or bird lover.

I do not offer my original paintings that often, so if you're interested in my work, this is a great opportunity to purchase an original piece. No archival prints will ever be made from this painting.

Wood: Maple • Size: 13" L x 6" W • Sawtooth hanger is attached for easy wall hanging. • Paintings are signed on the front and back.

This painting is available to purchase in my Etsy shop!

Welcome to my new site!

HOORAY! I’m excited to finally launch my new portfolio website! When I finally decided to have my online portfolio, I knew I wanted the design to be simple, clean and lot of white space. I use a lot of white space in my work, so I wanted something that would make the vivid colors in my work, standout and sparkle. It was also important for me to have a site with easy navigation, and to be honest for me to quickly update with new artwork. I’ve had personal websites before, I used to design wedding stationery. I’ll tell you more about that another time. I’ll try to update new work as often as I create it, to keep the material fresh. I’ll also try to announce when I’m having something exciting happening in the studio, events, sales in my Etsy shop too, any other random creative thoughts I might have, and of course new recipes that I may love and like to share. I love to cook as much as I love creating art! I hope you love the site as much as I do, this little puppy is long over-due!

Thank you so much to my husband who puts up with all of my artist craziness! Coincidentally, I’m making my first blog post on our 16th anniversary. YAY! I can’t imagine what my life would have ever been without you. Thank you for all you do and your endless amount of support! I love our journey together. XO XO

Thank you to my friends and family, especially you Mom, (and if Dad were here I know he would be so proud too)!

Last but never least, thank you, thank you to all of the clients who have hired me to do work for them. My customers from brick and mortar shops, the shop owners (Theresa, Melissa, Holly, Nicole and Kat) who carry my work and their employees (Janine!) that work so hard to sell my work, my customers at art fairs and my online Etsy customers too!

You’re all a part of making my artist dreams come true! THANK YOU!