Gin & Tonic | Digital Illustration

A Gin & Tonic is such a classic cocktail. It's an easy drink to whip up for guests with only a few ingredients needed. If you want to make it fancy, nowadays, there are so many different ways to jazz one up with different flavored gins. For me though, a classic gin & tonic cocktail, marks the beginning of Summer.

When I was in my early twenties, I remember my Dad mixing up pitchers of G&Ts. My Dad, cousin Joe and I would kick back and catch some rays on my parent’s patio while enjoying the warm Summer sun. Ahhhhhh! Those were the days! Happy Almost Summertime!

Just in case you’re wondering about the berry twig on the bottom of the glass, it's a juniper berry branch which is part of the process in making gin. :)

Art Prints are now available in my Etsy shop!

Gin & Tonic Digital Illustration by artist, Cheryl Oz

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

Cardinal Original Fine Art Acrylic Gouache Wood Slab Painting

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I’m excited to show you my newest, and maybe my new favorite wood slab painting. Hello, Mr. Cardinal! So many people have very strong feelings about cardinals and why they like them. It seems like whenever someone tells you they like them, there’s always a story that comes with it. I love that!

I live in Michigan and I’m not a winter loving gal. It’s not that I can’t appreciate a sparkly snowfall, it’s more about the lack of sunshine for me. If we had more sunny days, I know I could embrace winter just a bit more. I love how they stand out against the sea of snow and gray days. To me, they are the sunshine even when we haven’t seen it in awhile.

Thanks for stopping by! Cheryl :)


Wood: Maple • Size: 14" L x 6 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! This painting is SOLD!
I do accept commissions, please inquire if you’re interested.

Cardinal Original Fine Art Acrylic Gouache Wood Slab Painting by Cheryl Oz

Cardinal Original Fine Art Acrylic Gouache Wood Slab Painting by Cheryl Oz

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!