Anatomy for artists

Skull Study I
Graphite 8 x 10 Canson sketch pad
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I was a little taken aback recently by hearing a person who was drawing a figure say that they didn't know where the ribs were on the body. This was echoed by another couple of people around the room and I was inwardly gasping in amazement. I guess I figure that everyone who sets out to draw the human form in whatever format, from full figure to portrait, knows at least some basic anatomy. I guess I was wrong.

Anatomy was absorbed by me early on in my art life through studying the figure, attending life classes and having bone structure and muscle explained to me in sculpture classes. Then I got into anatomy in full detail when I trained as a chartered herbalist. For the best part of a year, I studied and memorized parts of the human body, how they performed, how they broke down. Muscles, bones and organs became a way of life in a depth I never would have imagined and I found it fascinating. Yeah, I was the geek who fell asleep with the heavy copy of Gray's Anatomy (no, not the television series) on my nose. Now Gray's Anatomy is also available online, even though I have to say that I prefer a real book in my hands, especially one so full of detail and description.

So to hear people who were drawing the figure say they weren't at least vaguely familiar with what I would call school grade anatomy was surprising to me. This put me on a quest to remedy that, at least for my drawing class participants. I want to find a skeleton or at the very least, a skull for them to draw. There are lots of images and I have anatomy books full of bones, but its not the same as the real thing. But its not as easy or as economical as you would imagine to come up with some bones on this island or even in Canada for that matter.

I've browsed all over the place and found a few suppliers where prices range from the thousands for real human skulls or skeletons, down to very reasonable prices for realistic looking copies, suitable for educational use. Just finding the right price and one who will ship to Canada on my terms is the challenge.

So if anyone has a skeleton in their closet, and want to find a home for it, let me know. It will be put to good artistic use.

Meanwhile, there are a number of artist anatomy sites online that are great for reference material and learning resources.

Fine Art SK
Frank Frazetta
The Anatomy Lesson
The Anatomists
Basic Anatomy for the Artist

Anatomy for Artists: The Human Form Revealed: The Shoulder

Pink curves and lines

I've never drawn birds much - hardly at all in fact, but I find myself drawing them off and on for the last couple of weeks. Not detailed images but contour drawings, in the hopes that one will inspire me sufficiently to continue one with it.

I loved the shape of this flamingo, all curves and smooth lines. This may be 'the one'. This is a sketch is put together at lunch time on computer paper and a horrible office pencil. Note to self: Put a decent mechanical pencil in your bag!

Most waterfowl have long graceful necks - and usually nasty dispositions. Perhaps its all the sifting around in the bottom of the lake that does it. However, as I've never been in really close proximity to a flamingo, except in a nature park, I can't really comment on what their personalities are like. They are beautifully shaped and coloured birds and I hope to capture this one on paper.

The medium will likely be coloured pencil and perhaps drafting film. I haven't used film a lot, but it really is lovely to work with and I want to give my new hellishlyexpensiveduty/brokeragefeedtodeath Derwent Coloursofts a good trial run. They are beautifully soft and go on very smoothly. Note to Canadians: Never use FedEx for delivery from the USA to Canada if at all possible. They are no quicker at getting items across the border and their 'brokerage fee' is outrageous. It negated any savings I was anticipating in buying my full set of Derwents from Blicks. Plus duty on top,which I don't mind paying. A fee to put something in a truck and warehouse it, yes I do object. $13 in duty and taxes, $28 in brokerage fees. Hmph. I paid almost as much in fees as I paid for the entire order. Life on an island. Some days...

Tatiana

“When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity. The distinction between crime and justice is no greater.”

George Bernard Shaw

This lovely animal was in the news not too long ago involving tragic death at a zoo in San Francisco. The tiger was being a tiger. The humans being humans. Neither had a pretty outcome and both completely unnecessary.

I have views about the concept of zoos. While they do allow intimate views of animals that would never ordinarily be observed, they also house animals in a confined, often hostile environment, especially large animals, such a tigers who have much larger territories than a penned enclosure.
Mental and physical problems arise in the animals and they often react, both as a wild animals should and as stressed wild animals should. However, humans always conclude this behaviour as out of character for the animal.

I'm always on the side of the animal.

Radio

Radio Man
Charcoal on newsprint
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I saw the reference for this sketch in the Weekend Drawing Event at WetCanvas and the 1950's feel of it appealed.

I'm a radio fan. Not music stations which, in most cases, irritate me. At least the 'popular' ones. The radio I listen to has more voices, conversations, questions, news and interviews than music. When music reaches across the airwaves, it is related to the person being interviewed or connected somehow to the situation. It isn't strident and doesn't disrupt my world.

However, it isn't what my clock radio is set to wake me with. That is one of the 'popular' stations which is loud and annoying and guaranteed to get me out of bed just to shut it off!

I continue my radio world late into the night as television holds no interest for me, except for a couple of programs a week. Late night enters a new realm with radio. There international interviews and interesting forays into others lives transport me and make me think. Without radio, I would never have known about the artist models strike in Italy the other day, along with an interview with an Italian art model. What did they do when they went on strike? What else? They kept their clothes on.

Re-tagged

The naughty, wonderful Rose of Rose's Art Lines has tagged me to reveal 5 more strange and wonderful things about myself. Not one to be a party pooper, I decided to dig deep and find the requisite five uncommon things that few know about me.

1. When I was a small child, in the fall and winter, I used to find mice in the old house we lived in. I would catch them and put them in my little metal school lunch tin (those people of a 'certain age' will remember those) and feed them birdseed and bread crusts. They were my 'pets'. Til my mother found out. I still have a fondness for the little creatures, I just don't want them over-running my house. There's enough in the barn.

2. I have had 2.5 children. I lost a baby at 20 weeks of pregnancy and he/she would be 26 now if all had gone as planned.

3. As a teenager I was horse mad and used to muck out stables and exercise the wilder horses to earn the privilege of riding the horse of my choice. My favourite horse, Ted, an ex racer, had badly injured his leg and he was going to be put down. I begged and pleaded them not too, promising to care for him til the stable finally relented. Every day I would walk to the stable and take Ted to a pond, standing with him in the cool water, to take down the swelling in his leg. After about 3 or 4 months of this, his leg improved enough for him to be ridden again. He couldn't run as fast as previously but he could still move pretty fast.

4. I owned an MGB GT in the UK and before I sold the car, I first sold the license plate for 450 pounds to a collector in Sussex through an agency in London. The plate number was AAA 660 which I guess had some significance to the buyer. I was just happy to have the money!

5. I adore cheese, most any kind. If left to my own devices, I would probably live on cheese and crackers or toast forever.

I know most of my blogging friends have been overtagged, but I would like to invite a few of my newer blogging friends to participate and share a little about themselves in 5 facts and pass on the idea to more of their friends. If anyone doesn't want to participate, that's fine too.

Cindy Haase of Color On! has done some amazing work with rocks.
Jan Gibson - Pets to Posies I have known from another art forum and she also introduced me to colourfix paper. She does beautiful animal portraits.
Gina Cuff - Dogberry Hill Studio is another Newfoundland artist who does amazing work in art and jewellery.
Terry Banderas - Terry's Ink and Watercolour. Terry creates beautiful, strong pieces full of colour and light.

The learning curve

To be naked is to be deprived of our clothes, and the word implies some of the embarrassment most of us feel in that condition. The word 'nude,' on the other hand, carries, in educated usage, no uncomfortable overtone. The vague image it projects into the mind is not of a huddled and defenseless body, but of a balanced, prosperous, and confident body: the body re-formed.

- Kenneth Clark, The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form

My marathon life class was last night and we had a very energetic model. I always find it a little amusing how male models nearly always use poles and ropes in creating poses to show movement, while female models, for the most part tend to adopt more natural poses. I found an interesting article Reviewing the Nude, Art Journal, Spring, 1999 by Leslie Bostrom, Marlene Malik that examines the role of models.

As usual, we started off with one minute poses....I'm beginning to hate those. Well not, not beginning. I've always hated one minute poses. It takes me more time to detach my paper from the easel than it does to do the one minute sketch. While they are useful as warm ups, too many one, two or three minute poses become tedious to me and I want to get on with the 'meat' of the class - longer poses. In this class we don't have anything longer than 20 minutes. Perhaps it was my mood or the huge chunk of compressed charcoal I was encouraged to draw with, but I struggled with these sketches and didn't do any of them much justice I'm afraid.

I've been reviewing the process of how I draw in my head and believe that I am well stuck in a detail rut where I love precise, small scale drawings full of control and realism. In twenty minutes I can only begin to scratch the surface in terms of my comfort level in getting down realistic lines and shapes. Shading is a whole different story in a short time frame. I'm just starting to develop the shapes and BAM, the time is gone. I'm usually the one whining 'awwww geeeeezzz!' when the instructor says the pose is finished.

That gap of 20 plus years since life class is showing me that the re-learning curve is steeper than I thought it would be.

Do you remember when....

Cake tasted so new that you had to explore with all your senses?

And one hand just wasn't good enough? You had to use both hands - and it took concentration.

Ok, so you got a little messy...but it WAS good, wasn't it?

So good in fact, that you just had to lick the plate clean...

My grand daughter's first birthday. I think she enjoyed the cake, don't you?

One year

Today is my grand daughter's first birthday. It doesn't seem a year since the world changed and brought her into my life. From the tiny newborn that I visited in Calgary in February to the now crawling, nearly walking girl she's become, it makes me realize how quickly time goes by and how swiftly children grow and change.

The sketch I did above when she was less than a month old to the image below of her shows the changes so clearly. I will try a portrait of her as soon as I can to capture her first year and preserve it for the future. Yes, it can be done in photographs, but for my own selfish reasons, I like to explore every curve of her face and sear it into my memory as only a drawing can do.

I can't be with them for celebrations, but I'm there in my heart.

Happy Birthday!

Art resources

Oil Study - Self Portrait
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Living in Newfoundland has its benefits and drawbacks. One of the drawbacks seems to be the lack of readily available information on sources of art supplies, art clubs, and general visual art network information.

To try to bridge that gap I have created a Squidoo lens on Art Resources for Newfoundland and Labrador. Its a work in progress and will be expanded as I find information and add to what was currently available to me.

There are so many elements to art, from the concept and creation, down to marketing and selling and it often draws a blank in this province as people just don't know where to turn or how to access information.

I did a very loose - and muddy - study for a self portrait in oils to get a feel for it. Some parts are ok, there is a lot of room for improvement and I know better now the palette I need to use to achieve the skin tones for this dark lighting. I'll start the portrait itself as soon as I can get some time to myself. I've got a 16 x 20 piece of gallery canvas that was on sale and is just the right size for a portrait. Oils are still something that I'm re-learning. There are some happy accidents and a lot of unhappy ones in the process.

Art and stress

This sketch was done early this morning and sort of summed up both sides of my stress today, even at that early hour. An impending blizzard, a ton of work ahead, early morning calls to make to cancel appointments, all washed down with coffee to kick start the day.

Add a red stress ball in the shape of a heart and a bottle of Maalox and you've got my day in a nutshell.

However, the process of putting this little still life down on paper becomes stress relief in its own right. Studies have proven that drawing is therapeutic and a stress reliever. Sketching or drawing makes you concentrate on something else and you can become involved enough in it to reach 'the zone' or an almost meditative state. Just having art as an interest ensures that you spend time on it or thinking of it, letting your mind drift away from other problems.

So despite the blizzard making me shut down the office at lunchtime, I took work home and got a lot done, and now will start drawing....my relaxation therapy.

Ice, snow and art

Frosty garden spike
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I've had a snow day today due to another winter storm. When I was a kid snow days were a delight and filled with the prospect of playing in new snow til you were frozen, then coming inside to warm up on homemade cookies and hot chocolate. The adult version isn't quite the same, but perhaps its what we choose. As an adult, I feel guilty over missing meetings even if it is out of my control. I still work at home with the resources that I have and never seem to fully relax until the official 'closing time' is here.

I am tired of winter with what seems to be storm after storm (another is due on Friday), so I needed a touch of summer. I looked over photos that I had taken in warmer weather, full of sun and fresh fruit and flowers. As long as I don't look out the window, I can almost pretend its summer - at least for a few moments.

But there are some benefits to ice and snow, as you'll find if you're in Chicago in February. For the entire month, Millennium Park will host the Museum of Modern Ice. Canadian artist Gordon Halloran is installing his signature ice paintings - Paintings Below Zero -both in the Chase Promenade and also within the ice skating rink itself.

Situated behind Millennium Park’s famous Cloud Gate sculpture, Halloran will create his largest and most spectacular installation to date, a monumental and colorful ice wall measuring 95 feet long and nearly 12 feet tall.

Halloran first developed his idea of painting on ice in the early ’90s. It came out of his boyhood experience flooding backyard ice rinks for pickup hockey games with his brothers. “I would stand out in the moonlight and look at the reflection of the light on the smooth surface. I was obsessed with the illumination. I’ve always loved the way ice freezes, moves and forms.”

Other cities and countries take advantage of frigid temperatures and turn them into artistic and tourism related events. Quebec has a most wonderful Ice Hotel created each year that I must make the trek to see and actually stay in simply out of curiosity's sake. Or try Sweden's Ice Bar in Stockholm. Entry includes a parka,, gloves and a shot of Absolut vodka served in your very own ice glass.

Of course there is always Winterlude in Ottawa each February for the winter afficianados. Skating on Rideau Canal, ice sculptures, snow sculptures, music, people - its an experience.

Life class

Six minutes

For the first time in over 20 years I attended a life class last night. I was a little anxious as I felt so out of practice using a large floor easel and huge sheets of newsprint. I spent two hours in hard labour, going from very quick one minute poses up to twenty minute poses and felt exhausted at the end of the session. Partially from standing and partially from concentrating hard for two hours - 15 pages of newsprint used, some both sides!

This class will continue each Monday night until June 30th and I'm quite looking forward to attending them and getting back into practice once more. However, next week, I'll tackle some crops of the longer poses and see if I can do a portrait. I also grabbed the wrong charcoal on my way out the door in the morning (I can't get home before classes so I take my gear with me to work). I ended up with hard charcoal and I prefer the medium to soft for those nice smooth lines that it produces.

Here are some of the results, ranging from one minute to twenty minutes sketches. Photos are horrible unfortunately, due to bad night lighting. I feel that I did better with the shorter poses and overworked the longer poses in some ways. I blame it on hard charcoal, fatigue and lack of practice! Next week I'll have a plan.

One minute

Two minutes

Three minutes

Twenty minutes

Nine

Nine
Watercolour 3 x 5
Moleskine watercolour notebook
copyright Jeanette Jobson

There are nine people I know who have birthdays in January. I think its a plot to make me bankrupt or increase the profits of the greeting card manufacturers. Either way I've partially solved the problem with my nine-in-one birthday cake. Low fat, low calorie, eat as many as you like and there will always be more cake! And.....best of all - its free!

Happy Birthday to all my Capricorn and Aquarian friends. May your year be everything you wish it to be.

Now blow out your little inferno and make a wish!

Lessons learned

Another snow day gave me a little time after teaching to add some more details to this baby drawing. I'm not pleased with it as the features are skewed so it will be abandoned to the 'experiment' drawer and I will have learned to step back from my drawing to review it from time to time. The drawing is salvageable, but I don't think I'll pursue it. It started more as a doodle then grew.

In my last spending spree in the USA I stocked up on all the art goodies that I can't obtain in Canada. One of those things is Bristol 500 plate paper. I haven't been able to access this smooth surfaced paper in Canada. I can get Bristol smooth or vellum - the 300 series, but not the 400 or 500. I tucked it away in my cupboard and it slipped my mind til I rediscovered it when putting the unfinished baby to rest.

its about time that I started a new portrait in earnest. My grand daughter will be a year old in a week and I'd like to create a portrait of her to celebrate. (Provided my daughter comes up with a more recent photo to work from...hint, hint...) This plate finish Bristol should be the perfect surface to do a baby portrait. Plate (Hot Press) is unsurpassed for fine pen and pencil work, allowing flat and even washes.

A lot of my time is spent creating drawing lessons, but finally I have got enough under my belt to start to recycle some of them so it means less prep time for when I do teach. My time teaching goes fairly quickly, depending on what we're doing and I always learn something new from the kids.

Genuine Progress Index

My head has been filled all day with health information and statistics having attended a number of sessions at a conference held by the Wellness Coalition, of which I am a member of the steering committee, injury prevention committee and member at large.

The guest speaker today was Dr Ronald Coleman. Dr. Colman is founder and Executive Director of GPIAtlantic, a non-profit research group that is constructing an index of wellbeing and sustainable development for Nova Scotia as a pilot project for Canada. Dr. Colman previously taught for 20 years at the university level and was a researcher and speech-writer at the United Nations.

The Statement of Principles of GPIAtlantic are:

The Genuine Progress Index is based on the fundamental understanding that social, economic and environmental realities are inextricably linked. Although we conventionally measure prosperity by material gain, the GPI recognizes that true long-term prosperity and wellbeing are ultimately dependent on the protection and strengthening of our social and environmental assets. If these deteriorate, we are not living "sustainably" and we leave a poorer world to our children.

The Genuine Progress Index also recognizes that any index of progress is value-based and must answer the question "progress towards what?" The use of the Gross Domestic Product as a measure of progress is also value based, and assumes that "more" is always "better." By contrast, the GPI adopts a set of broader consensus values in which "less" may sometimes be "better," as in the case of crime, pollution and sickness.

As I listened to him speak, the GPI concept transferred over to the artistic side and, while his presentation was based on health, it could easily be applied to art as well. And, of course, I had to sketch Dr. Coleman as he spoke....

Life

My drawing class was cancelled tonight so I got a chance to do a little sketch of a baby that I may push further. The eyes and gaze caught my attention so I'll try to build on that and see if I can capture that soft clear skin as well.

At long last, I've lucked into a life class that will run on Monday nights. I missed the first one as I had to work late, but hope that I can make it to the others. Its been a long, long time since I've attended life classes and I'm looking forward to getting back into it again.

Its in the mail

Ground cherries
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Or will be in the next day or so.

Tonight I'm finally getting my PIF (Pay It Forward) pieces ready for the mail. Back in November I participated in a PIF by offering pieces of my art to the first three people who responded to me. And now, after holidays and commissions are gone, I can concentrate on getting those pieces out to individuals.

Those receiving art will be:

Shirley - Shiri Me!
Rose - Rose's Art Lines
Connie - ArtFair Calendar

and because of a technicality, a fourth person. One of the individuals sent her response to me on a different post so I couldn't refuse Paulette as the official # 3.

Paulette - Becoming a Renaissance Woman

I hope everyone enjoys the art that I send and that your own PIF ventures are satisfying. I know I have enjoyed the process. I may institute something similar on my birthday in March.

I grew these Ground Cherries last summer. They're unique little plants which are also known as Cape Gooseberries, seem to be almost a weed is some parts of the country. The small fruit is golden when ripe and is encased in a papery skin. The taste has a hint of pineapple to it, sweet and very pleasant. These were my irresistable plants as I seemed to eat them constantly and always searched for the fruit when I was in the garden or greenhouse.

This is an unripe and ripened version. I love how the gold of the fruit shows as a shadow of colour through the creamy paper skin.

Watercolour pencils

I bought a couple of Derwent Aquatone pencils in my continuing quest for the best drawing experience. Aquatone pencils are solid sticks of colour that can be sharpened like a pencil. They don't have a wood casing, but simply paper. It lays down well as dry media, but isn't eraseable. It behaves very similarly to other watercolour pencils, but I found that the washes are smoother and more like traditional watercolour. Watercolour pencils can be a bit grainy at times and difficult to manipulate into a smooth wash.

I chose burnt umber to do these sketches of a kitten (no Tripod doesn't have a new friend) and a study of an Embden goose. Seeing as these sketches were done at 5am, they are at least recognizable as animals. The kitten reference was foreshortened, giving it that wide eyed, slightly bemused expression.

My electric sharpener won't take the thicker Derwent pencils, and my hand sharpener wasn't cooperating (or was it the early hour?) so I couldn't get a decent point to the pencils and found that a little clumsy when trying to draw with the Aquatone. I think they're better for filling in with colour, however in small spaces you do need that sharp point, so its work experiementing the sharpeners to get one that works well with these pencils.

Chrome balls update

I've been dotting away at this pen and ink drawing over the last week and am slowly getting to a point of completion. The technique is quite relaxing to me and I can get lost in it very easily, not noticing how time slips away.

I have to wrap my mind around some marketing for the drawing classes to keep up the flow of participants. The store where I offer the classes doesn't do anything more than generic marketing for the drawing classes, so it becomes a bit of a challenge to work around all the other things there to capture people's attention.

I'm planning a blitz this month and next in the form of bag inserts and brochures as well as displays to hang in prominent areas in the hopes of attracting people to the courses. There are a steady flow of people, but numbers vary from week to week. I'd rather teach on a larger scale, as its just as much work to teach for one as it is for ten people, and economically to my benefit if I have more participants in the classes.

By the time I did a double class today and got home it was 3:30 and had turned cold again, so Flatrock plein air wasn't a reality this weekend, even if my intentions were good. However, I may take some photos on my drive to work in the mornings this week. I love the light in the early morning and there are a number of interesting places to photograph for reference, even if I can't linger too long. There's always next weekend...

Weekend art

I don't know which are worse; week days or weekends. That is in terms of trying to stretch the time of the day into longer hours. I end up with such a long 'to do' list that I end up achieving little purely because the scope of the list is overwhelming at times. Tripod, as usual, tries to help but success is out of his range.

This morning I sketched out the beginnings of a couple of oil paintings, but got no further than that before the realities of day to day functioning took over - i.e., housework, errands, cooking, etc. So now its evening and I'm prepping for some classes tomorrow. I know the subject but find that teaching drawing can be wearing or will be until I get the curriculum to a place where I can revolve it. Its getting there and perhaps in another month it will be fine. The night before a class is always a scurry to ensure the class prep and demo is in place to my satisfaction.

My thoughts of some plein air sketching were dashed by rain before noon, but I may try tomorrow after class if I have any energy left by then.

Winter landscape

This is the view from my bedroom window in the morning. Although I'm not a great fan of winter, I love the pristine look of a new snowfall when everything is coated with white and all that can be seen are new tracks of animals to break the expanse of snow.

Even on a day filled with heavy snow clouds, there are still so many things to inspire art in this landscape. I need to be brave and get out there and take some photos and braver still, wrap up and settle into a snowbank for some sketching or painting.

And I will. The only problem in this province tends to be the wind. There nearly always is a 'breeze' which to most others means windy. So you fight against the cold and keeping paper, hair and scarves out of your eyes while you draw. But I will persevere. I still have my monthly Flatrock landscapes to make a start on and this may be the weekend to begin.

Watch this space!

The Absence

Self Portrait

graphite 8 x 10
copyright Jeanette Jobson

While I was looking through some photo cds tonight, I found this image. It was the first self portrait that I drew after The Absence. The Absence was from art and seems to have happened to a lot of people for varying times from months to years. Mine was years.

When I lived in the UK, I did a lot of drawing even when the children were small, and was heavily involved in the art world and worked on both sides of the easel, as artist and model. I also worked a lot more in oils and watercolours then, something which I have to get involved in again. Sometimes life gets in the way of creativity. With smaller children around and no dedicated space to leave art supplies and active drawings out, it becomes easy to get out of the routine of making art. I still did occasional drawings and sketches, but nothing serious and most of my art supplies were stored away in boxes and baskets, waiting to see the light of day again.

Encouraged by a friend and wanting to fill that creative void, I started drawing again about 3 years ago and now it kind of takes over my life. My first images were hesitant and it took awhile for me to get back into my stride again. There are still mediums I am rediscovering and I always have lots to learn. My only regret is that I let so much time lapse before returning to the craft.

But I am making up for lost time.

Spheres

For me there is something very satisfying about drawing spheres. So when I saw the reference for this image of shiny chrome spheres, I knew I had to draw it. In pen.

Its been awhile since I've used pointillism in ink and while time consuming, it is very soothing and relaxing. I'm using a .25 nib in a Rapidograph pen and black ink. What I have produced so far has taken about 4 hours.

I don't mind drawings taking time to complete. I enjoy the process and the slowness ensures that mistakes aren't made, especially in this medium. However, drawing time is a real stumbling block for beginning art students who want quick results, yet become dissatisfied when they can't achieve what they envision in their heads in a one or two hour time frame.

Liquid centres

Baby and doll
coloured pencil on Canson sketch pad 11 x 14
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I'm feeling virtuous tonight. I've just put in a couple of miles on the treadmill, deprived myself of leftover mince pies, ate salads all day,downed 2 litres of waters during the course of the day and found a liquid graphite pencil at Walmart.

Some things are meant to be. At work this morning it was quiet, peaceful, then punctuated by what sounded like firecrackers going off. Close enough. It was the power bar that the printers and router were plugged into. It decided that it was time to stop and wanted to do so in a dramatic way, with sparks and loud bangs.

After my heart stopped racing, I unplugged the thing, then headed off to find a new powerbar - or two. These things never go alone. So I headed to Walmart and picking up a few more things for the office I passed the pencil aisle. Well, I figured I'd have a quick look while I was there and found liquid graphite mechanical pencils. Are these new only to me? The brand name is Pentech under the trademark Liquiphite and are produced by Jakkspacific in California.

I grabbed a package and will give them a test run over the next day or so. A quick try showed that they apply like pen but are erasable. The graphite line is dark and feels a bit greasy to the touch - perhaps the binder that is used for the graphite - but it erases very easily. Online reviews are mixed, so it will be interesting to compare and see how it performs.

At Pencil Things there is a huge selection of pencils of all types for sale, some of which I'd never heard of before like the Chattahoochee pencil.

You can use it to write, draw and mark on most surfaces. You can erase. Yet it's not like any pencil you ever held. The unique composite won't suspend in paint, so you can sketch and paint over the lines. It won't smudge or rub off on on your hands, either. Builders' marks won't smear or wash away. The unique shape and different planes allow you to make lines of varying widths, while the curved back lets you do shading and rubbings.

On the same site, I found another form of liquid graphite pencils under the same brand name - Pentech, called Ultrasharp. These have liquid graphite cartridges enclosed in a wooden casing, so they look like ordinary wood pencils.

In yesterday's post, I had discovered liquid graphite from an Australian company and have found out that it is available in the USA from Jerry's Artarama only it seems. I can't find a Canadian stockist (surprise, surprise...) and haven't heard anything back from my email to Matisse Derivan, the Australian manufacturer.

Perhaps these will satisfy my curiosity for the moment til I can get the real thing.

Liquid pencil

I read about a newish product today (it was available summer 2007) and am intrigued with it and would love to try it. Liquid Pencil. this is produced by an Australian company - Matisse Derivan.

The video above shows Sue Raccanello using the product in a drawing/painting.

Matisse Derivan describes the Liquid Pencil properties:

Derivan Liquid Pencil is an innovative new product that allows you to create authentic graphite pencil effects and pencil sketches using a liquid. It has been formulated to be easily thinned with water or MM9 Acrylic Painting Medium (to maintain permanency) and allow for the softest of colours to be applied with a brush, nib, or other art tools. With a consistency of cream, and a different rheology, artists now have a wider scope for creating sketches.

Derivan Liquid Pencil is available in six graphite shades each with a permanent or rewettable formula.

Due to a precisely balanced formulation another great benefit of the Permanent liquid pencil is that it will “burnish up’ in a similar manner to traditional graphite but it will not smudge.

The rewettable formula will also allow you to remove areas using water – in a similar manner to watercolour techniques, or it is possible to use with a traditional eraser. Another advantage to using Derivan Liquid Pencil is that large areas can be built up and covered quickly and easily.

Each of the shades have a definite graphite colour, however, there are distinct undertones such as blue, yellow red, sepia and neutral in two different strengths to allow a great range of options for artists.

Free samples of the product were being distributed worldwide, but the offer has now ended, as I presume there was high demand, as there often is when samples are provided. I wonder what the success rate of samples are in terms of buyers of the final product. I'm sure that there are lots of 'freebie' seekers with kitchen drawers full of samples that are never used.

You can view the colour chart for the liquid pencil here.

I have emailed Matisse Derivan to ask if there is a Canadian distributer or if I can buy directly from the factory there. According to their website, it seems there are only Australian distributors so far.

If anyone knows any North American distributors of this product, please let me know.

Portrait

Woody
Derwent drawing pencils, 11 x 14 on Canson
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Today I did a sketch of Woody who is 90 years old. He married 10 years ago at the age of 80 and is currently nursing his 88 year old wife who has Alzheimers.

There is such character in an older face and it is such a pleasure to draw an older person. The faces of youth, while lovely to look at, really hold little interest to me in terms of drawing. They present challenges to define smooth skin and that bloom of youth. It is a fleeting moment and gone in a blink of an eye. Just as well you don't realize it at the time.

However, it is replaced with something much more valuable.

I dug out my set of Derwent drawing pencils as I hadn't used them for awhile. They are the perfect pencils, in my opinion, for portraiture. They have such soft earthy colours and lay down so well and quickly on paper, that they are pleasure to use.

Alone

I am alone almost all of the time, but I am rarely lonely... it is those days where I do not paint or write or create something, that I am lonely, when I've generally been too busy with people of unlike mind and interests... (Vicki Easingwood)

Because I like sharing ideas and seeing what other artists are producing I have a list that I share on my blog of other artist's blogs and websites that interest me and which I read regularly.

Blog shelf life seems to be dwindling in some areas lately, so I've been whittling my list and shopping around for new artists to add to the list. If I have taken you off my list, it isn't a personal thing. It is because you haven't posted to your blog regularly i.e., at least two or three times a week. I know we all get blog fatigue from time to time and life also kicks in which makes posting difficult, but I need my fix of art from other sources and if you're on my list, then you're it.

If I've missed a great blog or you are willing to admit that you know me and would like to be added to my blog roll, please leave me a comment.

Its too big a world to be alone in.

Art and stress

The word "mandala" is from the classical Indian language of Sanskrit. Loosely translated to mean "circle," a mandala is far more than a simple shape. It represents wholeness, and can be seen as a model for the organizational structure of life itself--a cosmic diagram that reminds us of our relation to the infinite, the world that extends both beyond and within our bodies and minds.

As and artist and a herbalist, I find holistic approaches to life have a deeper meaning to me than to some others sometimes. Now I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool lobbyist for alternative practices, but I do believe that they have a place in life alongside Western medicine and consistantly debate the use of herbal remedies against Western pharmaceuticals whenever I see my own doctor.

Its a natural progression to look to art for a calming influence and see how its original origins can spill over into the 21st century in the form of mandalas. The creation of a mandala is a class that I will offer later this year for adults. It will be an exploration of self, almost a symbolic self portrait for each individual and to serve as a stress reducer and relaxant.

Representing the universe itself, a mandala is both the microcosm and the macrocosm, and we are all part of its intricate design. The mandala is more than an image seen with our eyes; it is an actual moment in time. It can be can be used as a vehicle to explore art, science, religion and life itself. The mandala contains an encyclopedia of the finite and a road map to infinity.

Carl Jung said that a mandala symbolizes "a safe refuge of inner reconciliation and wholeness." It is "a synthesis of distinctive elements in a unified scheme representing the basic nature of existence." Jung used the mandala for his own personal growth and wrote about his experiences.

It is said by Tibetan Buddhists that a mandala consists of five "excellencies":

The teacher • The message • The audience • The site • The time

An audience or "viewer" is necessary to create a mandala. Where there is no you, there is no mandala. (from: You Are the Eyes of the World, by Longchenpa, translated by Lipman and Peterson).

Have you created a mandala? If so, what was the experience like and how to you and others view the completed mandala? I will be creating my own personal mandala and look forward to the process of drawing and adding colour to it.

Here is a good starting point to learn more about mandalas

The Mandala Project

And a great sample of the relaxation factor in this virtual mandala or labyrinthe.

Online Finger Meditation

Visualizing with words

Peppers (in progress)
Coloured pencil, 9 x 12 Canson paper
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I have to go back to work tomorrow so I'm fitting in some of the things that I still need to do to keep my mind at rest. One of those is a demo for a class, so I've made a start on it over the last 24 hours.

One of the things that I want to achieve this year is to put my lessons and tutorials in written form for possible use as lessons/kits for sale. I'm just not quite sure of the format at this early stage, but I'm making myself start as I mean to go on. I will put the drawing processes down on paper, at least in a basic format for my use, and perhaps expand some.

It really is much easier to just draw than to put the process of drawing into words. The steps in choosing colours, pencil pressure, layering, etc., etc. is monumental at times and sometimes I find myself skipping scans as my hand continues to add colour to the paper without thinking about it. Then I realize what I've done and its too late to turn back then, so I try to make up for it in additional word pictures and hope the reader can understand what I'm trying to say.

I'll do a 'test drive' on some artist volunteers once I have this process in place to see how it reads, if it's understandable and the user can create something pleasing to them using the instructions and images. If there are readers out there who are interested in being testers of this process, please let me know. Once I develop testing criteria and the final draft of the tutorial, I will contact a number of testers to try it out.

2007 Review

Willie May
graphite 11 x 14 Canson
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Last year I studied Alyson Stanfield's searching questions as a review of my year artistically. I'd like to do the same again this year as they covered a broad range of topics and activities on both artistic and personal levels.

* How many works did you create?
I haven't kept count - approximately 15-20 saleable pieces and a number of smaller pieces and sketches

* What trips (local or far away) did you make to nourish your art?
The Rooms locally for art exhibitions, visited art galleries in Laguna Beach and Regina in reality. Online I wander in art galleries and museums daily to fulfill my imagination and curiosity.

* How much money did you make from your art?
About $1,000. Its a meagre amount hardly worthy of putting on paper, but it is clear money and will grow as my efforts to expand it do too.

* What classes (business or creative) did you take?
None

* What did you invest in that will help you to run a more profitable or streamlined business?
A new cell phone. I'm rarely at home these days. I sleep there which makes me wonder why I pay a mortgage sometimes for this permanent bedroom with rooms attached. So the easiest way to reach me is by my cell phone which is with me all the time. Investing in a new one added more bells and whistles to my electronic world and some features I still don't understand, but the little built in camera serves as an instant sketch for me to capture light, a scene, a colour. People still look at me strangely when I photograph piles of fruit or veg or toys in stores.

* Whom did you hire so that you can spend more time on your creative career? (framer, virtual assistant, housekeeper, lawn mower, bookkeeper)
I didn't hire anyone, but ignored some of the above in order to create and market. So my house looks lived in, not a pristine palace, like most people. Houses that are perfectly arranged and look like magazine covers scare me.

* Whom did you meet that has turned out to be a mentor?
Ed Roche

* What books did you read? What magazines?
Beautiful Landscapes; Colored Pencil Solution Book; From Line to Life; Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market 2007
The Artist's Magazine

* What movies did you see that inspired you?
I'm not a movie watcher. I occasionally watch clips on YouTube on drawing or painting demonstrations

* How many names did you add to your mailing list? (Note the exact number so you can evaluate your progress this time next year.)
Twenty people with access to more through art related organizations if I need to get out information.

* What habits or routines did you put into place?
More efficient planning for classes. I'm a procrastinator by nature and can be writing or drawing demos for my class in the carpark before the class begins. I have to plan a month in advance for course content and need to have those classes planned at least a week before they begin.
Timely review of upcoming exhibition submission information. I seem to either come upon submission information just before or shortly after the closing date. I need a calendar and a plan.

* What habits or routines did you eliminate?
None, I just seemed to add more!

* Where did your name or artwork appear in print? Where did it appear online?
In print on a drawing tutorial, programs for drawing exhibitions, media releases.
Online in WetCanvas, Drawspace, my blog and email signatures.

* How did you improve your website or Web presence?
Continuation of regular blog entries; signature line on emails, forum postings including blog and contact information on a number of art sites

* What new marketing materials did you add or improve on?
Information and marketing sheets for drawing classes
Postcards and business cards printed
A website has been drafted but not yet published. In 2008.

* Where did you speak about your work?
At art demonstrations, drawing classes

* What new materials or techniques did you experiment with?
Oil paints, soft pastels, colourfix paper, ampersand pastel board, Sabretooth and Canal papers

* What organizations did you join?
Art Association of Newfoundland and Labrador
Realist Artists of Newfoundland and Labrador

* What projects did you initiate?
Became a drawing instructor teaching adult and children's classes 3 times a week.
Created a written drawing tutorial.
Creation of a written drawing lesson for online classes.

On a more personal level:

* How did you care for your health and well-being?
Well....things could be better. Health wise I'm fine generally, but drawing has taken over from exercise. Drawing also leads to cups of coffee and biscuits. Back to the treadmill and basic food for a few months so clothes fit well again.

* How did you strengthen your personal relationships?
Concentration on those that are useful and elimination of those which are not. Communication.

* What vacations did you have?
A week in California, a week in Alberta and a week in Saskatchewan.

* What parties did you attend?
I really do hate parties and only go when absolutely necessary. I did go to an art association Christmas potluck and a variety of cocktail/dinner functions during the year.

* What new hobby did you take up?
Rock carving, jewelry created from beach stones

* Where did you volunteer?
Moderator/teacher for Drawspace
Board member for provincial Art Association

I have also exhibited at the following:

Spring Art Show AANL April 2007
Fall Art Exhibition AANL October 2007
Women in Art Exhibition RANL October 2007
Health Care Foundation Art Fundraiser November 2007
City of St. John's Art Procurement Program November 2007
Small Works Exhibition AANL December 2007
Best of Show Award 'The Artist's Cat' RANL April 2007
Make Me Think Gong - Katherine Tyrrell, Making A Mark - December 2007

Writing down accomplishments brings them into sharp focus. The black and white words make me realize where I need to focus for the coming year and helps me understand shortcomings of the previous year that I could have worked harder on.

So, what do I want to achieve in 2008? There are a number of things that I want to do, but first I need to manage my time more effectively to avoid burnout. I work full time, teach 3 times a week, take on commissions and create my own art as well as volunteer on the board of the Art Association. It spreads me a bit thin and becomes stressful sometimes.

1. Time management - I want to continue doing what I ENJOY doing and eliminate the things that cause stress. I need my creative time to be productive.

2. Organization - This goes hand in hand with time management. I have done a lot of writing which is scattered over computers and files in the house and it needs to come together in a couple of different formats. One electronically so I can find it easily and two, in logical written, bound forms for filing and reference.

3. Marketing and promotion - I have made some inroads into this in 2007 but not nearly enough. It is an area that fills me with a fair bit of dread. I hate selling myself and my work. But I know that I have to do it to succeed. Both electronically and in person.

4. Craft Council Membership - I believe that this membership will open more options to me in terms of potential customers and exhibition/promotion options. As well they have a juried process of entry which gives more credibility to my work.

5. Exhibition submissions - I want to try my hand at some juried competitions to see where my work sits in the eyes of others who are not local.

6. Development of prints and cards - The market in this province doesn't bear a lot of high end purchasing power when it comes to luxury items such as original art, so I have to work around that. I will still have originals, but will invest in prints and cards to target new markets. This then ties into #3 - the scary marketing and promotion...

7. Local painting and drawing - I have lived in Flatrock for 8 years and haven't really painted or drawn much that is local. I hope to change that in 2008. I want to create an art piece at least once a month of a local scene. Flatrock isn't the most beautiful town in the world, but I will find areas of interest, cropped images, different mediums and colours to bring it to life.

8. I want to face my drawing fears face on. Flowers and landscapes. Some of that may be tied into # 7.

There are many more things that I want to do, see, experience and try out, but I know from experience that if I cast my net too wide, I'll miss and not get anything. So I'm trimming the list a little, to hopefully do-able, items. I'll review these things again mid-year and see what needs adjusting.

Newfoundland will be the first to see the New Year into North America, having the most easterly point at Cape Spear, so I'll take advantage of this to wish all those westward of me Happy New Year and know that those east of me have already toasted the New Year and are likely tucked up in bed by the time it reaches these shores. As for me, I'll likely be in bed too when it arrives. I've gone past the time when staying up, partying in the next year, was fun. Now its just plain old hard work and bed is a much more desirable choice. Yep, I must be getting old.