Multitasking

I've made a small update on the portrait of Kiora, but have been sidetracked doing other things today. At least this photo gives a better image and truer colours in daylight.

Its been a snowy day here with a pretty large dump of the white stuff on the ground. For a change, it didn't turn to rain, which it often does. At least now there's time to clear it away and avoid an early morning rush to do so. With a 250 foot driveway and a turning circle, it takes a bit of time to do, even with the plow on the tractor, especially when its 10 inches deep!

I've spent today trying to make some inroads into my sketchbook project and now have just 4 pages left to go then I can pop it in the mail to join the others that will tour around some of the USA galleries and museums. I had a look at the Sketchbook Project website and the quality of some of the sketchbooks is amazing. Mine seems quite modest in comparison.

As promised to Dermott, I did include a sketch of him in the book. What a tongue that dog has!

I also made a start on the February portrait for our Portrait Study group. Its a challenging one, but great fun to do. Once I finish my grand daughter's portrait, I have another one in the wings and will continue to work on that as well as the portrait study piece.

Multitasking seems the norm for me in all areas of life. Why should art be any different?

Portrait update

Kiora
9 x 12 coloured pencil

I've done a little more work on the portrait of my grand daughter. I wish now that I used a darker paper to provide some additional contrast. This paper is sand coloured and matches too closely her pale skin and hair.

But no going back now. I have another portrait in the pipeline that I must transfer today sometime. With a snowstorm brewing for tomorrow, I'll get some chores done today then cocoon in my studio tomorrow and draw.

I also wanted to fit in some more painting and had bought a handful of 6 x 12 gallery canvasses. I love these long thin canvasses and love even more the fact that I don't have to get them framed. You can see what I produced at Watermarks.

Recession Strategy # 1: Save money whenever possible.

Restart

I redrew the portrait of my grand daughter today and transferred it to another piece of colourfix. I then made a start on adding some layers of colour to the image. She at least looks her age now.

Children's portraits can be tricky if you're not careful. Features are placed slightly differently than in adult portraits and measurements are crucial to get a good likeness. (about time I took my own advice isn't it?)

I have another portrait that I've just started a line drawing for. In my plans for this year, I have decided to do several free portraits in return for a little more exposure from the recipients. All I'm asking is that the individual hang the portrait prominently either in the home or work area. Somewhere where it will get some traffic. I don't mind doing portraits gratis, in fact I quite enjoy portraits and the extra practice is always useful to me.

Two

UPDATE I so disliked the drawing that I did last night that I redrew a master line portrait at lunchtime and will transfer it to colourfix tonight. This one much better represents the child. My original drawing made her look too old. Amazing what a bit of measuring can do!
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My grand daughter was two yesterday, so what better time to draw a portrait of her but now? Time does move very quickly, and I recall so vividly when she was born, such a tiny thing, then her 1st birthday devouring cake for the first time. Now two, ready for a party with all the trimmings.

I am doing this piece on colourfix paper and using Derwent Coloursoft pencils. The paper colour isn't purple, its more a soft brownish red, but I have to make do with a scanner tonight as the batteries in my camera need charging.

Primulas

Primula sketch
8 x 10 watercolour pencils and wash

I don't enjoy drawing flowers. I know that I can, but for some reason, I just don't like them. Perhaps its the difficult level - all those nooks and crannies of leaves. All the colours, shading and complexity of petals.

At the weekend the supermarket had these little pots of primulas for sale, vainly trying to pretend it was spring in the -10 temperatures. I loved the colours and brightness of them so bought one, bundled it up like a baby to take it from the store to the car and home then let it try to inspire me. I dared it to.

And of course it sat there on the dining room table, watching me as I had coffee or ate supper, waving its pretty head and crinkled leaves til I finally succumbed. This is the resulting sketch. Horrible light as always and fuzzy photo resulting.

Did I mention that I hate drawing flowers?

Beach pebbles

Beach pebbles
7 x 10 watercolour

There is something so appealing to me about beach stones. The endless colours and shapes, the smoothness of one in your hand or pocket, the sheen of the sea on a wet pebble or the matt surface of one dried by the sun.

I can't come away from the seashore without pockets of them and that that has gone a step further to turning some into jewelry, so they can come with me wherever I go.

I hope to have some of these in my Etsy shop over the next few days. I need a block of time to devote to doing this and this week may be a bit busy. But if anyone's set their heart on them, just email me and let me know and I'll help you out.

Suffering for art

Candy apple

8 x 10 graphite

I have an idea in my head of something that I want to draw and am working on the process, with some obstacles cropping up.

I want to create a drawing/painting of candy apples. You know, those bright red shelled, cavity producing things of fairs and fall. Its not so much the apple and candy part I want, its just some images of them that I want to capture in the right light so I can use them to draw from.

So I set out to find some. Of course there are none available. Even the ingredients for them seemed difficult to find. I can find the things to create the brittle shell, and the apples, now I need to find sticks to insert into them. And then the time to make them. This will have to be next weekend now, otherwise I won't be around during daylight hours and unable to photograph them and they will have softened or melted by then.

I've never made candy apples before. Caramel apples, yes. They're simple, you just melt caramels and coat. The hard shelled apples are a bit trickier. It involves heat and melting stuff and if you've ever gotten a speck of boiling sugar syrup on your hand you'll know what I mean when I say pain.

Is this what suffering for the sake of art is all about? Frustrated by my inability to get things set up today I created a drawing of a candy apple to satisfy a little bit of my need for instant gratification.

The look

The Look
9 x 12 watercolour

"After scolding one's cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference."- Charlotte Gray

Anyone who's ever owned a cat knows this look. Its that mix of anger, disdain and extreme disappointment in the human race when they have once again failed to anticipate a feline's wishes.

This sketch in watercolour let me try to capture it.

# 3

Clementine # 3

graphite 8 x 10

I don't know why I drew yet another version of this clementine. I guess I'm just testing to see how different mediums look on the same subject. I'm sure I could go on to many other mediums but think I'll stop at these three.

My scanner seems to make horrible scans lately or perhaps its my tweaking ability. I prefer a photo of it, but that need to wait til daylight.

After doing so much painting for the last month, it feels good to go back to drawing again. I love the ability to create finer detail with pencil and the portability that goes with it. This little drawing came to work with me and I worked on it at lunch then finished it off tonight.

Now onto my next project!

Portrait study

Rose
9 x 12 charcoal & white chalk

I am in a portrait study group and have been working slowly at the first portrait, which is of Rose Welty. I've changed aspects of it several times due to not checking my measurements carefully enough. I think its on the right path now but I have more work to do with it. This is the progress so far.

Most of the time I draw freehand, but sometimes when I want to really be sure a piece is correct I use an abbreviated version of a grid so I can gently place the main features then go on from there unaided.

I love using charcoal and white chalk on toned paper. I can manipulate it and control it (doesn't that sound so very sadistic??) Dry media will always be my fall back to comfort.

Ripples

Ripped tide
lino print - watercolour ink

There must be something in the air, as lino prints are springing up everywhere. But why not? Its a lovely indoor winter activity and becomes easily addictive. I've just received a new supply of lino blocks and a set of carving tools as well as a sheaf of paper to print on. And today my book arrived from Amazon: The Printmaking Bible by Ann D'Arcy Hughes. A lot of the information is well over my head at the moment, but it does entice me to experiment with more types of printing besides relief.

Ripped tide II
lino print - watercolour ink & coloured pencil

The initial proof of ripples on water didn't take up as much ink as I wanted or I didn't rub it enough, so I decided to add some colour to it, inspired by Vivien Blackburn's exotic lino print. I used coloured pencil and will continue to experiment with more lino prints and colours.

I like the abstract feel of lino prints and adding colour gives another dimension entirely without the process of reduction or multiple blocks. Hand coloured...

I've seen some portraits done in lino and would really like to try that next. It may take a little planning to work it out, so stay tuned.

More vitamin C

Clementine II
11 x 14 watercolour

I am trying several other versions of the clementine reference that's in this month's Virtual Sketch Date. This is the watercolour version. I love the sunny colours of this fruit, it definitely brightens up a January day. However, technically I'm not entirely happy with it as it needs more white in it for the pith on the fruit. I should have taken the time to add some masking fluid, but I didnt. I may try a little gouache and see if that will be effective, or simply store the thought of better planning for the next piece.

Self analysis is very useful when you don't have an experienced critic at hand. And over time, you learn to spot weak areas and know almost instinctively what needs adjustment, what lines are out of whack and when to simply trash something and start over.

Its useful to draw or paint the same piece over and over and I see something new each time I do. The next piece will be in charcoal or carbon I think. And perhaps large. I'm trying to break out of small pieces and the transition is difficult. There is a comfort level for me in both dry media and in size restriction.

Going to larger pieces provides a new set of challenges in terms of the technical aspect of creating something larger than life on paper so that it is drawn correctly. Just the sheer size can become daunting as well, when I'm so familiar with working on a small size and the time frame that it encompasses. Larger works mean larger blocks of time for completion. I'll need to bridle my need to see completion earlier.

Three heads are better than one

Dora
9 x 12 graphite

Joe
9 x 12 graphite

I did some portrait drawing from life again tonight. The class doesn't seem to be moving in the right direction, so I don't know if I will continue, however, I do enjoy the chance to draw faces any chance I get.

I was the model for one of the 30 minute poses and it felt odd being there again. I used to model a lot for artists years ago and can't remember body parts going numb quite so quickly as they do now!

Susan
9 x 12 graphite

These are approximately 30 minutes each. I was trying to do some simple value maps within a couple of them to see if I could translate them into more refined drawings later, but without the model in front of me, it would be difficult to do.

This last scan is terrible for some reason. A bit of light under the cover perhaps. And I can't be bothered to scan it again right now.

Does size matter?

No comment
18 x 12 oils

I wanted to experiment with a larger piece to see the impact of it. I've always worked on small canvasses, perhaps feeling safer there. I took the small graphic self portrait that I did for the sketchbook project and translated it onto an 18 x 24 canvas. Of course in my haste to get something on canvas, I didn't paint the background, so the face and hand is currently bare canvas. Once it dries a bit, I'll go back and add paint to that section.

The rest is painted. I started out with just venetian red on the canvas, then wanted colour, so the sweater was added in viridian which I toned down a lot. I'm not sure if I want that in there now or not and if there would be more impact with all white and just the red, like an oversized lino print or whether I should go for a strong graphic feel with colour as the background.

Its quite nice to work on a much larger size, if not a little intimidating. Everytime I walk into the studio, the size of the piece hits me. However, often size does matter...

I have a lot of images on my hard drive and on an external hard drive and on cds. Some of these are well stored with lots of neat directories and files telling me what is in them. A lot more are stuffed away all over the place, leaving me searching forever for a particular piece.

To make one little part of my life easier, I've set up a Flickr account to store some of my pieces, but in particular the Watermarks pieces so that I can view them at a glance and know what areas I've covered and where I want to go.

I've even managed to create a little slideshow of the watery marks I've made so far. I'm always so impressed when something electronic works for me!

Clementine

Clementine
9 x 12 oils

I took a photo of this clementine months ago while it sat on the kitchen counter awaiting its fate. I liked the colours and shapes and knew it was destined for a drawing or painting in the future.

The future came in the form of the Virtual Sketch Date this month. I chose this image and hope people will enjoy drawing or painting it as much as I did.

Fruit series continued

Lemon III - Fruit Series
Oils 5 x 7

I started a series of very simplistic fruit paintings to get myself back into the swing of oils. I don't know if its worked, but I've enjoyed the process and it helps to not have to worry about complex shapes and values in these cropped images. The image unfortunately still has a glare to it as its wet and its at night. Better luck with an image tomorrow I hope.

The other fruits in the series so far can be found here and here.

Also, just a reminder that the January reference for the Virtual Sketch Date is online now. I have provided the image for this month and encourage you to try it in whatever medium you enjoy. The reference can be found on the VSD blog here.

Fog bank

Fog bank
9 x 12 oils

Carl Sandburg (1878 – 1967)

Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

There is a subtle change in the light. You strain to see the separation of sea and sky and realize that there isn't any. The fog bank is resting on the horizon, almost resembling land at times. The mirage of the sea, not the desert.

The foggiest place in the world is the Grand Banks off the island of Newfoundland. Fog is frequent there as the Grand Banks is the meeting place of the cold Labrador Current from the north and the much warmer Gulf Stream from the south. The foggiest land areas in the world are Point Reyes, California, and Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, both with over 200 foggy days a year.

Confetti tide

Confetti Tide
5 x 10 watercolour

I've been studying waves and the ocean's movement in watercolour, trying to figure out how to capture the motion in a freeze frame of the eye. Its a lot harder than imagined. Both in concept and in the medium as well.

This wave breaking on a smooth shore reflected colours of the sky and the shore and the cliffs sourrounding it and reminded me of confetti. There aren't a lot of sandy beaches in Newfoundland but the ones that exist are beautiful and stretch on for what seems like miles, becoming treasured places that people are loathe to share with the world in case they become overcrowded.

Of course here, there isn't the commercialism associated with beaches in other parts of the world. You won't usually find a plethora of buckets and spades and inflatables or t-shirts that you have to pass on your way to the shore. More often than not, you simply come upon the beach almost by accident, announced by a small sign and a few cars.

Drawing from life

I went to what should have been a life drawing class tonight, but the model didn't show, so we took turns drawing each other. Here are the results from three half hour poses. I felt like I was just warming up when it was time to go again.

I love drawing from life and wish I could do it more often. Its so different than using a photographic reference. A couple of the sketches had me itching to paint them instead. Perhaps I'll bring some colour to the next session.

Sunday leftovers

Shannon

9 x 12 watercolour

I've spent today piddling around, finishing up leftover pieces and making starts on other pieces. I was calling this portrait done but have now noticed that the left shoulder needs extending to make the arm look correct. Funny how I don't see these things sometimes til they are online.

I had previously invited people to send me images of people or animals to include in my sketchbook for a project that I'm participating in. Robyn of Have Dogs, Will Travel sent me an image of Snowy, a sweet little dog that may not get as much of a look in in the blogging world possibly because Dermott has power in size. However, Snowy, here's your chance to shine. Your own page in my little sketchbook. Dermott, Snowy can negotiate on my behalf if you'd like to be included as well. It may involve food and sleeping rights next to the heater...


Finally another sketch inspired by lino prints and the strong graphic look they achieve. I wanted to see if I could recreate something similar in coloured pencil using again my most available and cooperative model. Me. Why red? Why not?