Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Float Trip

"Float Trip"
colored pencil
10" x 15"

Here's the drawing that I mentioned in my March 2nd post. It's finally finished and I'm glad. This started out fun enough, but I have to admit that I got a little stir crazy working on the background of ripples, reflections, and distortions. I think that on my next "typical" still life I'll enjoy the boredom of drawing the flat toned background that I usually have.

I've been invited to participate in the Winthorp Rockefeller Institute's "Arts in the Air: Bountiful Arkansas" art show. The theme of this year's exhibit is "Garden and Agricultural Art". The show is in July. I've got to get busy - I'll need five drawings/paintings by then featuring scrumptious Arkansas produce. I'm thinking strawberries and cantaloupe right now...

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Some Itsy-Bitsy Stuff

"Ten Little Piggies"
colored pencil
1 1/4" x 2"

I recently made the acquantance of Lynn Ponto-Peterson, a great wildlife and miniature artist. She encouraged me to try my hand at some miniature work. Above is a colored pencil drawing that I did of my daughter's toes. Besides just being small in size, a miniature painting or drawing is usually required to be at least 1/6 scale of the object being portrayed. I had first done "Ten Little Piggies" in oil as an ACEO (2 1/5" x 3 1/2"). That seemed small, but not small enough to reduce my daughter's petite toes down to 1/6 scale, so I did this smaller version in colored pencil.

Below is my attempt at a miniature in oil. I had used this same reference photo of mine for a large colored pencil drawing (20" x 28") about a year and a half ago. (The colored pencil version can be seen on my website.) I really liked how the small version in oil turned out. I'm planning on getting a few more of these done soon and try my luck at a miniature show. I'll get back with you on how that turns out.

"Trimmed in Red"
oil on panel
3" x 4"

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Finally Spring

"Happiness"
colored pencil
9" x 12"

I got sidetracked from the colored pencil drawing that I was working on. Daffodils finally began blooming in my yard two weeks ago. I set up this little still life, including a glass "Bluebird of Happiness" that I purchased last year from Terra Studios. (Terra Studios has been making these little birds since 1975! http://www.terrastudios.com/ ) I usually don't have so many different colors going on in one still life, but I loved how the little striped kitchen towel repeats all of the colors from the bird, flowers, and nectarines.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Newest Work

"Red Pears at Play"
colored pencil
16" x 20"

Here's my newest large colored pencil drawing. I've been doing a lot of painting in the last two months and so slowed down some on the drawing. I kind of drug my feet getting this one finished up - I think that I was intimidated by that red striped cloth although it turned out not to be too bad. I came up with the name "Red Pears at Play" after my oldest daughter stuck her head in the studio door one night and exclaimed - "Oh, it looks like the pears are having so much fun."

I'm working on a very different sort of colored pencil drawing right now. It's a scene of two leaves floating downstream. It's been a challenge - all of the abstracted ripples and reflections. I can only work for about an hour at a time on it and then I start feeling like I need a straight jacket. I hope to finish it later this week and will post when its done. Guess that makes this a teaser post!