Sunset #6

Sunset #6

ACEO - 2 1/2 x 3 1/2"

colored pencil on paper

Click HERE to Bid

This is my favorite of the ACEO Sunset Series to date.  I'm not sure why but it could be the colors, the composition, the subject or maybe all three combined.  

Once I had a family member ask me how they would know when art is good.  My response:  when you like it.

Final Look

"My Neighbor's Fence"

14 x 20"

Colored pencil on paper

I completed this piece about a year ago to enter into a show but it didn't make the cut.  So, being the sensitive artist that I am, I put it aside because rejection is never easy.  

But recently I dug this up to take another look and was quite pleased with it and myself.  So I thought I'd share the final work with all of you and let you, my readers, be the judge.  Yep, give me your honest opinion.  

Once, I had someone describe being an artist as similar to standing naked on a busy street corner.  You expose yourself and your work and need to be ready to take the response you receive.  Not always easy, but something we are driven to do.  Ahh, for thicker skin, no?

Second ACEO in the Sunset Series

Sunset 2
ACEO
Colored Pencil on Bristol archival paper
SOLD

You can bid on this small, 2 1/2 x 3 1/2" ACEO colored pencil drawing here.  I plan on doing about 12-15 of these guys.

A New Name

"My Neighbor's Fence"

colored pencil

14 x 20"

Still at it. Getting prepared and competing in the Art at the Arnold sidelined my progress a bit. But I have been working steadily on this drawing all week.

One of the great benefits of blogging is that you receive feedback from your readers. One reader, much more savvy than I, let me know that my original title "Poison Ivy" would not be a good idea as the ivy I am drawing is something else entirely. And since I have no idea what it is (I am not a gardener), I have changed the title to "My Neighbor's Fence". I am rather pleased with it, too, because it's such a great metaphor for having good neighbors (which we do).

So, thank you, readers for keeping me in line and for your feedback. I really appreciate it!

Continued Progress - Poison Ivy

Whew. This represents about 4-5 hours worth of work. The fiddly bits on the right side with all the water spots and mold are a real challenge. One I am enjoying, though.

Poison Ivy - More Progress

More work on the "poison ivy" piece.

I wanted to share how I am rendering the fence with all of the mold and character. Instead of using browns I have chosen to use chartreuse and various light green colors along with lavender and purples while throwing in some pinks and peaches for good measure.

The colors are mixing beautifully and giving me the effect I had hoped for. Check out my color mixing blog here if you are interested at all in learning more about mixing colored pencils. Remember, they are translucent and layer very well for color mixing.

"Poison Ivy"

14 x 22"

colored pencil on Stonehenge

More Work In Progress - colored pencil

Boy, this one is slow going. To try to render the moldy wood realistically is a challenge. But, overall I think it's beginning to come together.

I haven't decided yet on a title. So, I'm just calling it poison ivy right now.

I am working exclusively in colored pencil for this one on Stonehenge paper. Rather large: 14 x 22".

Backlit Roses WIP - 2

More of my current colored pencil project. This one is very grainy and not burnished at all. Am rather liking it this way. We'll see what I come up with as it progresses.

Roses - WIP

My next work in progress: 9 x 6 1/2" colored pencil drawing on Stonehenge. Got to thank my brother, Brian, once again for a fantastic reference photo.

I am really enjoying this one and can't wait to work on it. Maybe it's the complimentary orange/yellow/blue/purple colors.

Not sure yet of its title. I'll keep you posted.

Shadowplay WIP - Almost Finished

This piece is almost finished. Just a few more tweaks and touches should bring it around.

April Virtual Sketch Date

Rhododendron

watercolor and colored pencil

on Arches 140 hot pressed paper

I thoroughly enjoyed working on this month's Virtual Sketch Date drawing of a rhododendron from a reference photo provided by Jeanette Jobson. After getting the composition I wanted from cropping, I realized that what appealed to me about the image was that it reminded me of a stained glass window. While wanting to retain that, my goal was also to keep the flower as the focal point and not let the background overwhelm it.

This month, I also decided to work in mixed media with watercolor and colored pencil. Here's my progression:

Step 1 - watercolor wash

Step 2 - First layer of colored pencil. Establishing the dark areas.

Step 3: Second layer of cp. I work all over a drawing at once and build my layers of color. Here I'm still working on layering in the darks and establishing more realistic shapes.

In the final step (above), I've continues to build the color and then began muting some of the background with complimentary color in order to establish foreground and background.

Bolivian Lady Final

Bolivian Lady

colored pencil

14 x 18"

Well, it's finally finished! This piece took a very long time to complete but it was a labor of love being that I just recently returned from Bolivia.

This is one of my submissions to the CPSA International Show in Atlanta this year. Last year I did not get any of my work accepted which was a huge disappointment, but I must admit it encouraged me to work that much harder this year. I really like shows that are difficult to get into, because when you do, you know you have truly achieved something. (And I would be lying if I said I didn't care about achieving that goal this year!)

Good luck to all of you who are entering. Hope to see you in Atlanta.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

January 09 Virtual Sketch Date

"Clemetine"

5 x 7"

pastel and colored pencil on Ampersand pastel board

Spent much of the day watching the innauguration with my young son reminding him that he was seeing history being made.

But I found time to finish this month's VSD (Virtual Sketch Date). As in my past VSD posts, I decided to try something a little different that the way I usually work. This month I did a pastel underpainting and finished with colored pencil on a tan-toned Ampersand pastel board.

Check out the other entries this month; many of them are wonderful. You can see many of the members' drawings on a Flickr page here.

Back from Hiatus

OK, I've taken enough time off from posting. I spent a hectic, fun-filled holiday season with family and friends and didn't do much drawing. After finishing a couple of commissions prior to the holidays, I think I was a little burnt out and needed some time to regroup.

For the next couple of months, I plan on doing some "businessy"-type stuff. You know, rewrite my mission statement, artist statement, list of goals, bio, inventory my work, update mailing lists, etc., etc. All the un-fun things we must do but put off. Well, my time is now.

I still plan to draw and work on some sketching. May even take a class or two. Just need to get my head on straight about direction and organization. I seem to work better overall when my house and head are in order. I like to start the year off that way when I can.

Let me know what you do to keep your art business in order. Any special tips, tricks, time-savers you want to share, I'd love to hear about right now. Leave me a comment or two.

In the mean time, enjoy a few of the commissions I finished before Christmas. These are on 8 x 10" black gessoed canvas and are done with colored pencil.

December Virtual Sketch Date

"Winter Valley"

5 x 7"

colored pencil on pastel board

This month's VSD is a little early due to the holidays but I was able to eke out a little time to do this one and I'm glad I did.

I don't usually do many landscapes and when I saw the reference photo, I balked a bit. But I decided to plunge in and, as I usually do for the VSD, I decided to try to vary my style a bit. This one, I thought, should be rather pastel-like and loosely drawn.

My main inspiration for this style of colored pencil drawing I can directly attribute to a friend and a wonderful artist, Linda Wesner. I had the privilege of pariticipating in a small class and demo Linda gave at one of our local colored pencil guild meetings where she generously demonstrated her style and technique. Take some time and check her work here. She has won many awards and her work has consistently been selected for the CPSA International Exhibitions.

Linda's current body of work is inspired by "vanishing landscapes", rapidly disappearing rural areas due to suburban development. Intriguing, beautiful and contemplative.

Linda has also been a bit of a mentor and always treated me as an equal (as if) and encouraged my work. Thank you, Linda.

Boy, it's great to have artist friends.

Colored Pencil Color Mixing

In putting together a recent colored pencil class, I wanted to teach a bit of color theory and color mixing to my students. It's important, especially with a translucent medium like colored pencil, to work with not only the colors you have in front of you, but to learn to mix them. Unlike painters, we CP artists are rather spoiled in that we have such a wealth of premixed colors to choose from in our collections. However, there are always those instances where we do not have the exact color we need and have to mix (or layer) to achieve what we need.

Not only is it important to learn mixing but to learn a bit about color theory and how colors can work in a drawing. My absolute favorite writer/artist is Bet Borgeson whose books not only teach you about the basics of colored pencil but she also teaches the reader about some basic art concepts: form, volume, space, color theory, and composition. I highly recommend investing in at least one of these three books by Ms. Borgeson: "Colored Pencil for the Serious Beginner" (my favorite), "Basic Colored Pencil Technique", and "The Colored Pencil - Key Concepts for Handling the Medium". Ms. Borgeson also has a website which gives you a quick overview on color theory which is both very clear and easy to incorporate into your work.

But to get you started, I will share my color wheel and mixing chart with you. You have freedom to use this for your own personal use; however, please do not use these in a class without my permission (you're an artist, you know the drill.) Because copy paper is not much fun for CP artists, you might want to print the charts out on a piece of 8.5 x 11" drawing paper (cut your own!) Have fun and leave me some feedback if you have questions or suggestions of your own.




My finished CP color wheel. The pencils I used are listed; feel free to use your own colors! Now, color your own wheel!


My CP colored pencil mixing chart; again, use your own colors if you want.

Now here's your own chart. Notice how the intensity of a pure color increases by layering. Learn and have fun!

New WIP - Commissioned Portrait

Thought I'd share a progression of a current commissioned portrait on my table. I started this before the cruise and am now working hard to finish up.

The young woman is the daughter of a high school friend of mine; she has hired me to do portraits of her children at their graduation from high school. (Appropriate, no?) This is her youngest child and, alas, I'll just have to wait until she has grandchildren for the next round.

I am working this on Strathmore Bristol Vellum in colored pencil. It measures12 x 14".

Bon Voyage

"Reclining Nude"

6 x 8"

colored pencil on canvas

I am currently sitting in a hotel room waiting to board the ship for the Colored Pencil Cruise (as I call it). And being one of the instructors, I am a little nervous. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally looking forward to it; the sun, the fun, the time away; but I'm still a little nervous.

Having been an instructor and business owner for over 15 years (owned a Jazzercise franchise), I know that being a wee bit nervous is not necessarily a bad thing. It tends to keep you sharp, alert and aware of every word that comes out of your mouth. I've found it can energize me, the class and the students.

Wish me bon voyage and to break a leg (what do you wish a workshop instructor!?) I'm hoping to blog a bit about my experience and show you some of the things I see and the people I meet.

October Virtual Sketch Date

"3 Pears"

4 1/2 x 6"

Neocolor II and colored pencil

Here is my offering for this month's collaborative sketch date known as VSD (Virtual Sketch Date). Check it out and all the wonderful artists who participate.

This month I decided to exaggerate the reference photo and use a more chromatic pallet using MiTeints red paper, Neocolor II watersoluable crayons and colored pencil to finish the detail.

Self-Aware and a Little How-To

"Self Aware"

6 x 8"

Colored pencil on canvas

This series has received such good accolades and, needless to say, I am thrilled.

Here's the story:

I have always loved figurative drawing/painting, even in art school when, shocked and a little embarrassed, I had to draw my first nude. However, I soon got over it and realized how wonderful it is to capture the human form in all its nuance and detail.

Several years ago, I asked some friends, who happened to be over 40, to pose for me. I realized that a "woman in her prime" is more comfortable in her skin and self-aware of who she is. I wanted to try to capture that in some of my work. Since that first grouping of pieces, I realized that I love doing this and seem to have a knack for making the women who pose for me to feel comfortable and to actually enjoy the process. I believe there is a great deal of trust involved on their part. But, I also think it's because I grew up with two sisters, spent a great deal of time in locker rooms as an athlete, and am comfortable in my own skin as well.

In response to some readers who wanted to know what I'm using for a support, I used a pre-stretched, pre-primed canvas. I applied two layers of black gesso (which has a matte finish and is great for taking colored pencil.) The canvas is not a fine linen; however, in some places I used solvent to "paint" the pencil wax into the canvas. In other areas, I let the canvas texture show through.

I really enjoyed working on the canvas and plan to do several more "colored pencil paintings" this way.

Oh, BTW, I have a rule for the women who pose for me: they have to be over 40. Unless, of course, they're a paying customer.