Dandelion Series - Stage 3

Dandelion Series - Stage 3

colored pencil on Ampersand pastel board

6 x 6"

Here's the third of my Dandelion series and I'm having fun with them. (You artists out there know what I'm talking about when you're having fun with a project.) Loooove this Ampersand pastel board. Great stuff. Would like to do most of my new work on it. After I get through my next few projects on my "to do" list, I'd like to experiment with the board a bit and try mixing the colored pencils with some other media: pastel, watercolor, watercolor pencils, ink. I'm just going to play and see what I can come up with. I'll let you know.

In the mean time, check out the "Color On!" blog by Cindy Haase. She has some incredible work on pastel board with underpaintings done with pastel pencils, Neocolor II and Inktense. She graciously shares her work in progress and tips on "how to".

Now here's my new toy:

What fun! Plus, I'm also becoming a little greener, leaving a smaller carbon footprint at 100 mpg! I'm using this baby to run errands around my suburban hood (and terrorizing the neighbors as well). Now, I'm just looking for a gang to join....

Dandelion Series - Stage 2

Dandelion Series: Stage 2

colored pencil on Ampersand pastel board

6 x 6"

This is the second of four in my dandelion series. And, yes, when I took this photograph, there was actually an ant on the flower.

For those of you who work with colored pencils and have never used it before, I encourage you to try the pastel board as a support. Here's some of what it offers:

1. Lots of layering.
2. Solvent use.
3. Dry brush burnishing.
4. No worrys of bending or tearing.
5. Acid-free and non-yellowing.
6. Great for mixed media techniques.
7. Framing without glass.

Here are some of my favorite artists who do wonderful work on pastel board:

Kathrine Tyrrell: http://makingamark.blogspot.com/2006/12/ampersand-pastelbord.html

Nicole Caulfield: http://www.nicolecaulfieldfineart.blogspot.com/

Ranjini: http://www.vividpencils.com/stilllife_page2.htm

Maggie Stiefvater: http://greywarenart.blogspot.com/search?q=pastel+board

"Where can I get these great Ampersand pastel boards?", you ask. Here's a link to the Ampersand web-site with the "where to buy" information: http://www.ampersandart.com/

If you do try it, I would love to hear your thoughts about it and see your work. Ooh, and if you find some new as-yet-untried technique, please share!

A Series of Weeds

Dandelion Series: Stage 1

colored pencil on Ampersand pastel board

6 x 6"

This is the first of my dandelion series. I have three more on the table. They show the life of a dandelion from infancy, youth, middle and old age.

I know, I know, they're weeds. But I don't care. Here's why I like them:

• I've always thought they were beautiful. Just simple, bright and promise summer is on the way.
• They're the first bouquet most kids give their moms. And as a mom, the most cherished bouquet you'll ever get.
• These babies are survivors, too. Who can't identify or root for the underdog? No matter how much they're dug, pulled, sprayed, or stomped, they come back.
• The metamorphosis they go through will never cease to amaze me. I still pick the fluffy ones and make wishes. (You can blame me for the sprouts in your yard.)

Those are my reasons for paying homage to them in this series. Hope you like.

On the Cover!

Short North Visitors Guide

My recent colored pencil drawing, "Short North Arches", was chosen as the cover art for the official Short North Visitors Guide. (The Short North is a beautiful urban renewal area in Columbus, Ohio, full of galleries, restaurants, pubs and some unique and one-of-a-kind shopping.)

Five years ago, I used to day dream about being an artist (in my mind and others), showing my work somewhere and most especially in the Short North. Well, those daydreams and others have come true (not without some scary, jump-into-the-void moments, though).

This guide had an initial printing of 60,000 copies which are distributed to our local Convention Center, local hotels, local shops, and the airport! Some little exposure for me, huh? What's even better, though, are the kudos I am getting from my peers and friends in the Short North. (That's the real cherry here.)

Now, gotta go and daydream some more......

Blogging - Another Reason To

"Swan Song"

coloredd pencil on Ampersand Pastel Board

8 x 10"

Here is another in a what I hope to be a series of dandelion drawings. I have always loved them; yes, I am aware they are weeds and we all chase them out of our yards. But every little girl (and not a few little boys) know the first bouquet of beautiful flowers they ever held, received or gave were probably these little yellow gems. And as you can tell, I have quite a fondness for the aging process these flowers go through as well.

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When I started reading blogs, my original intent was to peek in on other colored pencil artists to see what they were doing - sort of a voyeuristic venture on my part. However, I soon learned that many of these wonderful people were not only putting their work on-line for others to view, but they were sharing real knowledge! Useful stuff; stuff I could use right away and not have to stumble upon on my own. Which techniques work, which pencils don't, which books are worth buying and why, how to save money on framing....the list goes on.

Then I started my own blog and I soon discovered more. Not only do these artists share with the rest of us, they encourage, cheer, critique (positively and with my best interest in mind), and understand when there is a problem.

This is the best reason for me to blog. And for those of you who have been in my corner, thank you. You know who you are.

When We're Fragile

Yes, I know, I know: Long time, no see. No excuses. Just an explanation:


First, I have been working, making new art and finishing old pieces that are lingering in my studio. I currently have 6(!) works in progress within view. (I read books the same way - several novels, audio books, short stories at the same time.)


Second, I have been ruminating on some big decisions regarding my work. Here are just some:

• Should I branch out and show some other work NOT done in colored pencil?
• Is it time to switch media to more oil (i.e., more money)?
• Should I stay in my art coop or is it time to move on?
• Should I attempt to show my work at other galleries?
• While wanting to teach colored pencil and drawing classes, how will it negatively eat away at my studio time (which is SO precious).
• What other avenues are available to me as an artist?

Those are just a few things mulling over in my head - constantly. Yes, I could probably do all of the above; but I want to do whatever I choose very, very well. (Oh, the curse of the Virgo perfectionist!) And, how will I do all of these things while juggling many, many other family responsibilities. (Unlike Maggie Stiefvater, whom I admire SO much, I am not the Queen of the World or Super Girl; I know my mortal limitations.)

So you see, I have been pondering some big changes and that brings up number 3.

Third, whenever I am faced with big changes (the biggest for me is leaving the co-op), I can spiral into the abyss of depression. Long family history topped with the fragile ego of a creative spirit is a legacy I have dealt with for all of my adult life. It is a fact of my life, albeit a sometimes shameful one (why do we continue to perpetuate this!), and I know will probably never just disappear. So, once in a while I "go under" and eventually emerge.

So here I am emerging.

This drawing I just completed last night and it suits my current mood perfectly: intact but fragile. Here is "Fragile Hold", colored pencil on 8 x 10 Ampersand pastel board.

New Work - Layering Mylar

"Sun Ripened"

Colored pencil on Dura-lar Mylar layered over watercolor paper

8 x 10"

This piece was done on two layers: The top layer is a colored pencil drawing on Dura-lar Mylar; the second layer is a watercolor pencil painting on hot press watercolor paper.

On the watercolor paper layer, I started layering colors which would be complimentary to the colors which would be used for the front layer of the final image. After some experimenting, I used a magenta for the shadow and various blues and greens for the tomato. After wetting the initial layer, I realized that the magenta color wouldn't give me the dark value I needed so I added an indigo blue. (I used Faber-Castel wc pencils.)

As you can see in the first image, I began layering color on both sides of the surface, where I keep layering color on the reverse side to compliment and deepen the final color on the front. For example, with the tomato, the reds and oranges were kept to the front; the greens, blues and yellows on the reverse.

It's rather hard to see from this image, but when you combine the finished layers, a greater sense of depth is achieved and thus I was able to capture the illusion of translucent layers of flesh of the tomato.

While I am pleased with the color and the effect of the layering process, I am not sure about the composition. It seems that the shadow has become an overwhelming element in the piece and therefore, I am thinking strongly of cropping this baby. However, after all the work I have in it, I'll let it rest for a few days before I take it to the chopping block. And, too, the beauty of being an artist today is you can see your work cropped with a photo program before you ever send it to surgery. I'll keep you posted.

Slightly Slacking

Sketching from Life

Project on Wetcanvas

May 2008, Week 1: Flowers

My solution: lilacs from my yard in my 5 x 7" moleskin sketchbook

It may seem that I have been slacking, and, in Blog-World, I have. But, I have been very, very busy in:

Art world -

• Started and finished a new piece on layered Mylar (I'll show you, I promise), with plans for a few more.
• Got word that "Sticky Situation" was accepted into the July National Exhibition in Southport, North Carolina at Franklin Square Gallery. Beautiful gallery; beautiful part of the country.
• Came up with some new ideas for a new series of work. (You'll see it as it develops).

Home world -

• Son home from Army training! (More on that later, too.)
• Constantly reminding children (especially grown ones) that Sunday is Mother's Day. (I'll let you know if they remember.)

Social world (AKA "Spending-Time-With-Other-Adults" World) -

• Gala fundraising event (had to dress up),
• Focus group for a fair trade organization (didn't have to dress up)
• The Police (Sting is STILL hot!) Concert (just wore my favorite jeans). (Yes, yes, more there, too.)

Rhonda world - (Where I live in a quiet, well-organized house, with a highly paid and competent staff who tend to my every need. Right....)

• New camera! New computer! (My argument that these are tools for my trade really worked!)
• Training! I have made the commitment to run the Columbus Half Marathon in October. Yes, it's hard on the body; great for the mind. Keeps me sane and very good for my disposition.

BUT one the biggest excuses I have for not blogging recently is that I, too, was flagged as a spammer (as if!) and put on hold for a couple of days. (NOT good for my disposition.) Looks like the folks at Blogger are working out some of the bugs on this matter, as I didn't have to be down as long as some other blogging art friends. Whew. Still, mighty annoying. I barely have time for all the stuff I do now - how the hell would I find time to spam? Let alone learn how to? Jeesh. (Has this happened to anyone else in the last week or so? Anyone know WHY this happens? Is there a rampant sabateur out there lurking and ready to flag wee art bloggers?)

Oh, maybe I just needed to take a week or so off from posting. Sometimes time off from something, even something you enjoy, can refresh and clear the cobwebs from the attic, so to speak. Then again maybe pushing away from the keyboard gave me some time to just go do stuff so I can come back to tell you all about it. Mmmm.

Art for Orphans

"The Fisherman"

ACEO Original Colored Pencil Drawing

2.5 x 3.5"

50% of Sale donated to the Bolivian Orphanage Fund

If interested in purchasing, please contact me.

This image is from one taken in Bolivia, where we passed this lake at least twice on some of our journeys. On this particular day, the fishermen (there were many), the sky (which is SO blue), the mountains, and the water all just combined for a strong sense of calm in one extraordinary view.

While I'm sure many of these Bolivian man were fishing to feed their families, it seemed that they were also enjoying themselves. One can only hope.

Big News!

Welll......................

Now, I can tell all of you because she has posted it to her site (until then, I kept thinking I had been dreaming!), but I have been invited to teach a colored pencil workshop with Ann Kullberg and Gemma Gylling on a Mexican Riviera cruise this fall!

When I returned from Bolivia, and had to wade through all 500 e-mails (350 of which were in my junk box), there was a message from Ann Kullberg asking me if I wanted to teach with her on a cruise..... Mmmmm..... Let me think about that..... for half a second! I am a blonde, but not stupid (most days). What an opportunity! Of course I said yes!

Ann has asked me to teach students how to use colored pencils to draw on three layers of Mylar (I use Duralar) to create the illusion of depth in a drawing. She had seen my use of this technique with my marble drawings, one of which, Blue Lucidity, was accepted in the CPSA Explore This!4 show in 2007.

Ann Kullberg, who is noted for her portrait drawing ability, will be teaching students how to paint smooth, glowing skin tones, beautiful expressive eyes, and realistic looking hair. Gemma Gylling, whose animal portraits are fantastic, will be teaching techniques on drawing believable, touchable fur and (this you need in any pet portrait) how to really get the expressiveness of the eyes in your pet portraits.

Needless to say, I am honored and thrilled to be included in the company of such wonderful artists. Yes, I'll be teaching, but I plan on doing a bit of learning from these gals while I'm there, too. No matter how long you've been an artist (or writer, doctor, teacher, dog groomer), I believe you can always learn something new at every opportunity. These ladies, I'm sure, have a lot of knowledge which I plan on soaking up while I'm soaking up sun and fun on this trip!

And for those of you who set goals for yourselves, I have to share, too, that my one "reach big" goal for 2008 was to be invited to teach at a workshop. Scary, huh?

Shadow Play - Some Color Theory

Here is my latest contribution in the "Sketching from Life" project on Wetcanvas. The subject was cutlery or utensils, so I decided to use this juicer-thingy partly because I just thought it would be fun to draw but more so because it was white. I set this little tool right on top of a white table and went to work. I haven't done a white on white drawing for a long time; but after enjoying this one so much, I'll probably do a few more and sooner.

I thought I'd share what I do while drawing with colored pencils to create shadows and to keep them as a glowing, lively part of the picture: I rarely use black or grey -- almost never for shadows.

In most of my drawings, I shy away from using greys and black and if so, only in the last phases of the drawing. For my taste, I prefer achieve a believable shadow by layering various complimentary colors to tonally achieve a grey, but becuase it is mixed with the eye, it becomes much more vibrant and believable. When I first discovered this, mostly from studying the Impressionist painters, it was an "ah-ha" moment and I saw a breakthrough in much of my own work.

Here are a couple of examples of where I might have chosen to use grey, but instead used various colors and their complements to create a more lively grey.

For the "Aviators", I combined lavendars, blues, pale pinks and warm yellows to illustrate the folds in the musician's jacket. This was an outdoor setting and therefore, the change in value range in the shadows was rather subtle; thus the use of mostly pastel or lighter values for my pencil choices.

Here, too, in "Early Autumn Meditation", I chose similar hues, but with more chroma or deeper values. The model was indoors, with natural lighting, but deeper shadows were needed, therefore, I chose pencils with deeper values. Under the chair, I used Indigo Blue and Dark Green (Prismacolor) to intensify and darken that shadow.

All three of these drawings (either from life or the reference photos I shot) were done in natural light, which can make a huge difference when learning to render shadows without greys; you can just see the colors in the shadows much more easily. That is because natural light contains all of the colors in the spectrum.

But eventually, no matter what light is present, with practice and more knowledge of color and color theory, you can apply this technique to any drawing you do. You'll be able to reference an "ok" or even poor photo and create some amazing drawings. (The reference photos I shoot are usually not very good; I just know how to draw them better!)

I can honestly say that my color theory class in art school was one of the hardest classes I have ever taken, and one of the most worthwhile. If you are interested on further study, read, read, read and then look at a lot of drawings and paintings (especially Impressionists such as Monet, Degas, Mary Cassatt, and if you really want to have fun, Seurat) on the internet, in books, museums, abd galleries.

Here are a few places to start:

1. A thread on Wetcanvas discussing Munsell color theory.
2. Fun and interactive site which briefly explains and demonstrates color theory (Iowa State educational site.)
3. Color theory in a nutshell - great for printing and keeping!
4. Color theory - some facts and thoughts on Watercolor.com, simple and easy to read with some excellent examples.
5. Another Wetcanvas site, ArtSchool and loads of info on color.

A Cochabamba Concert

"The Shepardess"

Art for Orphans -

50% of sale will go to benefit the Bolivian Orphanage Project

ACEO Original Colored Pencil Drawing

2.5 x 3.5"

SOLD

Overview: In March, I had a fabulous opportunity to journey to Cochabamba, Bolivia, to work on building an orphanage. While there, I made many new friends: the Americans whom I had travelled with, and many Bolivian people who, because of the great need to raise and shelter the epidemic numbers of abandoned and orphaned children, conceived and began the orphanage project.

In a very short time, I became very enamored of the people, the culture, the land, and the children and came home with the need to do more; hence, "Art for Orphans".

One evening, after working all day at the orphanage site, our new friends and hosts, Felix and Flora, invited us to a "concert" by some local musicians. Needless to say, we were all eager and excited to see and hear any local entertainment - and the real deal, no tourist stuff here.

We were escorted into an open courtyard in a small apartment/home/business place (some confusion on my part here, as it could have been all three). The black "ceiling" in the picture is actually open sky since the weather in Cochabamba is very temperate and lovely (think San Diego-ish).

Before the show, Felix explained the traditional clothing the performers were wearing and what each piece either represented or its purpose. (I believe the small bag is for Coca leaves.) But the colors, oh they are so rich and vibrant and are not adequately reproduced in these photos; but the Bolivian people, even in their daily clothes, do not shy away from color. Also, the men who are wearing fringe on their hats to cover their eyes are traditionally the single men. (I like to think it's so they can peek out at single women without being caught making eye contact - but that's just my idea.)

The performance was wonderful, strange and mesmerizing! They used a collection of flutes (the large items on the table that look like chair legs are actually flutes), pan flutes, drums and stringed instruments. The young woman also sang in a high, quavering and somewhat eerie voice. But it all worked so wonderfully together!

Our translator and leader, Connie, told us that the performers were very excited and nervous to be playing for Americans and that they had been rehearsing for months! That almost made me cry. To be so honored just because of where you were born and to have that fact alone carry such pretige was pretty overwhelming for me. Though I had never taken that fact for granted before, it was enlightening to experience it first hand. It made me realize what a huge responsibility that honor carries with it and that I should always do my best to use it well.

Here are some of the other audience members from that evening's performance. I'm not sure, but I believe they live in the building.

They, too, like the performers were very gracious and greeted us with kisses and then gave us the best seats in the house. But that's just typical Bolivian hospitality.

A Child's Observation

Sketching from Life Prokect on http://www.wetcanvas.com/

Week 3 - Something from your refrigerator

45 minute colored pencil sketch

Recently, my young son was invited to a birthday party for one of his friends - who's father happens to work for Ohio State University and is one of the football coaches. The party was at the training center on campus.

Now, if you've ever been to a military base or Fort Knox, you have some idea of how hard it is to get into the OSU football training facility. Very few people ever get the chance. And around here (in Columbus), its equivalent to a shrine or holy place.

After two hours, we returned to the shrine and waited for it to open (we could not get in), and as he emerged he looked very, very tired. I, thinking he'd had an awful experience, was concerned; but no, he had just spent two hours training with the football team, hanging out in their locker room and rec room (read XBox 360 and any video game imaginable), trying on equipment and just hanging out with all the guys! My husband and I (both avid fans) turned around and shook him and said "Please, please tell us more!"

Because we also pressed upon him that he was indeed one of the few chosen to ever get inside, he began to share his experiences. (We were kneeling at his feet by then.) Then he told us that he got to go into Coach Tressel's office. (Gasp, the inner sanctum!) We both whispered "What was it like?"

He said it looked like an office for a god.

We nodded, comforted and satisfied.

Change is Good Occasionally

"Black & White"

ACEO Original Graphite Drawing

2.5 x 3.5"

SOLD

Today's drawing might seem like a bit of a departure, but it's definitely not a new medium for me; graphite was my first love and medium of choice.

I began to move away from using graphite as a fine art medium after art school, I suppose because it wasn't exciting or sexy enough. Color seemed to be very important at the time. It still is, don't get me wrong, but lately whenever I see a well-rendered charcoal or graphite drawing, it just seems to stop me in my tracks.

Here are two samples of what I'm taling about:

Marsha Robinett and her blog The Extraordinary Pencil: http://theextraordinarypencil.blogspot.com/ Marsha's banner reads "Where art allows you to see the color of life through your mind's eye." I look at a LOT of art on the internet and I see loads of really great stuff, but Marsha's drawings stop me and make me lean in every time.

The other day I ran across an artist I never had studies before, Frederick, Lord Leighton (1830 - 1896) http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/lordleightonsdrawings/general/default.asp. He was a painter, of course, but his drawings and studies for his paintings, again, made me stop and look closer.

So, here's what I've decided to do:

- Each week I'll post a graphite drawing or ACEO. (Gotta tell you, I am really getting a lot out of doing these frequent drawings and posts for this blog - it's pushing me to keep learning, growing and trying new things!)

- Each week I'll post a link or other info on some artists who do graphite or charcoal drawings (of course, one's I like!)

I'm really looking forward to digging into this. Who knows, this might lead to blogging about studying some masters of drawing (ala, Greywaren). Couldn't hurt, right?

If you know of any past or present artists who are worthy of us all looking at their work, please let me know.

Art for Orphans - "Young Mother"

"Young Mother"

ACEO Original Colored Pencil Drawing

2.5 x 3.5"

SOLD

50% of the purchase price will be donated to

the K'illallaray Orphanage

Here is a video of some of the children who visited us on a daily basis while we were working on the orphanage. Since we had brought lots of coloring books and crayons with us, we decided to give our new friends a few. They gladly used them but when it came time for us to leave, they thought they had to give everything back! I had to (in my VERY bad Spanish) let them know that I was too old to keep them, and that they were for children only. That convinced them. (No surpise here.) They were happy and so were we.

The next day, being a school day, I saw Gonzolo (the little guy in the yellow shirt) who told me that one of the older boys had taken his book. He looked so sad; and so I promised he'd get a new one. The next day he got the best coloring book/sticker book we had: Diego! His whole face lit up; he was very, very happy and this time, did not refuse our gift.

Unbelievably that adorable little guy is eight years old.

We now have a blog with much more information about the K'illallaray orphanage. There is also an easy donation button. Please check it out: http://boliviaorphanage.blogspot.com/ Then forward it on.

Drawing on Black

"Salt Cellar"

ACEO Original Colored Pencil Drawing

2.5 x 3.5"

To purchase, please send me a message.

The last two ACEO drawings I have posted were both done on black paper which can be tricky to use as a colored pencil support. So, I thought I'd share with you a few things I've learned to create a more successful drawing:

Test your color choices first before you begin your drawing. You will find that many of the colors you normally use on a white or light support can change characteristics on black. Some take on a cooler cast; some can even appear slightly tinged with green; some blues can almost pop off the page and others disappear.

Usually when I work on black, I will do a grisaille underpainting with a very light color (white, grey, cream, beige, etc) to start the drawing, then will add darker hues later. As you can see in my example, several of the colors (especially red!) will almost disappear into the black paper without the lighter color underneath.

Practice a bit, try an easy subject to start with and be willing to learn how your pencils work on a dark or black support. You'll find that you can create some very interesting and dynamic drawings on black.

Remember, too, that whenever you're using a new support, medium, or technique, be willing to jump in and try. Don't fear the disasters; they happen to everyone - you just may not see them!