Backgrounds

I'm working on three drawings at once as well as preparing class outlines for some teaching in the fall. It seems that I work best under some pressure, well a lot of pressure lately if you add everything else to the mix. But for some strange reason it works. Deadlines seem to push people into action. I can meander along, pushing things to the background when suddenly I realize that something is needed within a week or less and I pull all the stops out to finish it. But some things just sit, like this drawing of Biscuit. I've been toying with this for months but never biting the bullet and actually finish it.

The animal part is going fine. The background is what I hate. All those trees and shrubbery give me the horrors. Landscapes are my least favourite thing to do, but I did want something that placed the dog in a setting that he loved. And he loved racing up that lane to the woods to chase bunnies.

I worked and reworked and reworked that background til its now a hazy blur of nothing and I dislike it thoroughly! This weekend I will pore over Mike Sibley's Line to Life book and Diane Wright's Beautiful Landscapes and conquer this *&^% background!

How do I......?

One of the most difficult things I find to explain to people is how to see the variety of values and colour changes in an object. I did this quick demonstration for someone to try to explain, on paper, the different reflections seen in the mug and the use of colour to make green become green without using a lot of green. Its very confusing for beginners and often their brain works on labelling 'green cup' instead of a mix of shapes and colours.

I know that a lot of this comes with experience and many, many drawings. I am often asked how I choose colours for a drawing. That is another difficult question to answer. Some of my colour choices are intuitive, many based on knowledge of the colourwheel, complementary colours, etc. and much comes with experience.

If you didn't know better, you'd think this was a dead cat. But no, its Tripod on one of the hottest days of the years lying, sound asleep in the grass by the trailer. I shoved him back into the shade without waking him, to finish his nap.

The three little piggies are now three medium sized piggies who love attention and having their ears scratched or to be patted. They make satisfied grunting and snorting noises when you do. I refuse to think of their fate as they are such characters.

and haven't they got just the cutest curly tails?

Christmas in August

Tripod's Hat
Coloured pencil 9 x 12
Copyright Jeanette Jobson

Yes, I know Christmas is months away and a horrible thought in many ways, but I am thinking ahead to it in terms of art. This image will be turned into cards this year and made available for sale along with several other images. Christmas also becomes a busy time when artists are supposed to become magicians and people want commissions done virtually overnight to use as gifts. I will be gently suggesting to people that now is the time to book a commission or even have it completed to avoid being disappointed.

This is another step in the plan I have to market my art and move my career as an artist into higher gear. Time is the challenge for me, but I am determined to make time and reach the goals I have set for myself.

Another of those goals will be reached when I teach some art courses this fall and I look forward to expanding that side of my artistic career.

”What distinguishes a great artist from a weak one is first their sensibility and tenderness; second, their imagination, and third, their industry.” -- John Ruskin.

Why do we draw?

Why do we draw? What makes us put pencil to paper and make marks that resemble the world around us? What makes us crave to learn how to better represent ourselves artistically and to seek out the company of like minded people?

I'm doing some exercises in fur in a class and find myself wondering these things as I do them. I already know how to draw fur, so why do I want to do this class? Will I find a secret, special way to draw that will be my eureka moment or do I simply need to reaffirm that I am doing something correctly and do have the capacity to learn nuances of technique or style that improve my ability to draw?

Humans have been making marks on stone walls, trees and forest floors for thousands of years. Was it decorative then or did it serve another purpose? Why do you draw?

Peter Pan

Full of fresh air
graphite 9 x 12
copyright 2007 Jeanette Jobson

Today is my eldest daughter's birthday - her 31st birthday. And when she stopped by the store to get a bottle of wine tonight, she got carded, much to her delight. There seems to be a bit of a Peter Pan syndrome when it comes with aging in the family which is both good and bad, depending on what age you are. Its great when you're older and don't look your age, but harder when you're trying to get into clubs or bars, even when you're legal age and no one believes you.

Today they went on boat tour out of Bay Bulls to see whales and wild bird colonies. It must have been exhausting as this sketch is the result of the afternoon's adventure. The stub from the tour I had to include when I scanned the sketch just to remind me of the day.