Lemons Redone!

This is what greeted me this morning in my inbox:



It's a black and white values version of the lemons. Well, you say, it all looks gray. Well, yes, yes it does - and that is why it stinks! Thankfully, Belinda Lindhardt is friend enough to email me this and let me know (in a very kind and gracious way.) I might have started with values, in my graphite version, but when I translated to color I got so caught up in the colors that I forgot values. Truly embarrassing, but hopefully embarrassing enough to prevent me from doing it again.

So, here are the lemons redone, in black and white and color.




So, thank you Belinda! I might be able to line up pencils according to value, but I can still leave my brain in the pencil box!

This demonstrates two of the points Katherine made the other day in her post on evaluation, having people who will point out your mistakes and looking at the values. (She talks about values, not necessarily the "make it black and white" trick, but that is a well-known way to check the values.)

Perhaps I need a checklist when I start a new piece....hmm, that's another post. Have a good weekend.

Lemons Done!

Here are the lemons completed. There are a few things in here that really ought to be fixed, but this was more of an exercise in CP than about making something perfect. I am reasonably happy with how the color blending went. I used drafting film and colored on the back, something that made a major impact on the lemons. The cloth came out better than I expected - I think it shows that I was more intrigued by the cloth than the lemons - oops.

Plugging away with these new mediums...

Web-Wise Wednesday 8/29/2007

As I'm still adjusting to my new role as kindergarten teacher to my son, I haven't had much time to dig up nuggets for you. Here's a few quick tips on how I interface with the web.

Pick What Works For You
There is a ton of information out there - much of it repetitive. So to avoid being crushed by it all (i.e. using all your art time surfing the web), you need to decide how you best gather information and let the other options alone. For me, I know WetCanvas! is full of info, but every time I get into a forum, I spend hours reading and come away with very little that I remember sufficiently to use. WC is a good resource for many, and I'm not knocking it, but it just doesn't work for me.

To Read Bookmark
When I find an article on the web that looks interesting, I put it under my "to read" bookmark. That way I don't lose it and I don't spend the time immediately that was supposed to be used for art just because I found something. (I often scan through my Google Reader to get myself out of mommy mode and into art mode. But the danger is that I get sidetracked.) Later, when I've got a few minutes to surf the web, I've got a ready list of things that I know that I am at least a little interested in.

I've carried the lemons into a small CP work, above you see where I've gotten so far.

A Bit of a Dilemna

On some random whim I found a beautiful picture on WetCanvas! A glass stand with lemons and a plaid cloth behind (by vklum, her blog is called Thinking out LOUD). It's a lovely photo and one, I thought I should try in CPs. So, I decided to have another go with the CPs and a black and white reference. Above is the value study I've been working on (btw, the glass isn't really warped up on the right :-).

To be honest, I'm considering scrapping it at this point. The value study is essentially done, I can wing the unfinished part. I'm not sure if I'm being wise with my time or wimping out. I'm thinking that I've gone too big with this and if I am really going to carry it into CPs, I better shrink it. Depending on how easy or hard that is, I may or may not continue with this.

It's been enjoyable and I've now got more respect for those who concentrate on still lifes and textures. Somehow the lemons are failing to keep my interest. We'll see.

Secrets from the Playbook 8/27/2007

Another installment in my series on how to accomplish more with less (time, energy, or money)...

Grocery Tip: Use a master grocery list
At first this tip sounds over the top, but in a moment of weakness I tried it and it has revolutionized my meal planning times. The idea is to make a list of every single thing you buy at the grocery store. Just sit down and go at it for 15 minutes, everything you can think of in 15 minutes (just scribble it down, you can nice it up later). Then, the next time you shop, add anything that you forgot. Anytime you're in the kitchen and you think of something, add it to the list. After a week or so has passed, type up your list. I recommend doing it in the order of how you proceed through the store (little boys can't be in the store too long, it has to be quick for us).

Then print off or photocopy several copies. Then, whenever you have to make a grocery list and plan meals, all you have to do is grab a sheet and check things off. This is much faster than writing it all down every week. It also helps when you are, say making cookies, and use up the last of the chocolate chips. You can just grab a pencil and tick off the chocolate chips and you'll never be without.

Sometimes when I'm grumpy and can't quite bring myself to plan the meals for the week. I just grab the list and tick off the usual items that are running low and hope for inspiration later. :-)

Sanity Tip: Use your whine time!
Do you have certain times of the day when you whine? I do. They tend to be when I have to start making dinner, or I'm washing up dinner. I stand there chopping or scrubbing and start thinking "I hate this...why is this always on me...imagine if I only had to clean up after myself...I am so tired...my feet hurt..." You get the picture. I now have two strategies for combating this in myself. One, when I'm really lazy, I call up a friend - chances are she's in her kitchen thinking similar things (but you have to make sure the two of you don't just whine together and you have to be prepared for a crick in your neck.) Two, I think about my blog. I don't really have time to run a regular blog - I've never even budgeted time for it. (And I budget everything, believe me.) But, I use those times in the kitchen to think about new posts, ways to make it better, changes I want to make, etc. If I can't think of anything blog-related, I think of my next art piece, or my next master's project, or my next goal to accomplish on my list, etc. In other words, I stop the whining and think about things that cheer me up. The flip side of this, of course, is that when I have three minutes later in the evening, I can write a blog post that's already composed in my head.

The point being, you are wasting precious time and energy whining that you don't have enough time or energy to do what you really want to do.

A Little Exercise

Having spent a few days painting, with little success, I was discouraged. So, I decided to return to familiar territory. This is from a picture in the local paper. There were several Tuskegee Airmen assembled here in Ft. Worth for the renaming of a street in their honor at the FW Naval Air Station. This fellow was just on the edge of the crowd. It wasn't a very good picture which meant that I had to make up parts of it.

I don't think I was entirely successful with the made-up parts, but on the whole, it was a good little exercise for me to wind down with for the night. Have a good weekend!

Grab Your Shovel: My Front Garden

So I had to try the front garden again. Yesterday I showed you the CP version. Today I show you the acrylic version. Again, I worked from a black and white image.

This certainly isn't a land-breaking piece. But, I do think it shows improvement. I think the improvement comes from focusing on values, rather than colors. I'm encouraged by this. Thoughts, ideas, what to do next all seemed to flow when I wasn't worrying about getting the colors "right". I was just trying to build up and nuance the values.

Acrylics might end up being fun after all!

Web-Wise Wednesday 8/22/2007

Blogging Link of the Week: Good Blog Writing Style
This article is good for a quick scan - to see if you are aiming for the right things in blogging. Of course, each blog is a personal thing and is written in the author's own way, but there is something to be said for understanding your audience.

Art Link of the Week: Wendy Prior on Values
I've been struggling with seeing the values of a color for a while now. Everyone writes that it is obvious, but for lesser minds like mine, well, it just isn't. Wendy has written a great post about teaching yourself to see the value of a color. I've been really excited to try her method out since I first read the post.

Above you see part of my front garden, which I did using Wendy's method. You can see that Wendy helped me to get a good mix of correct and interesting colors. The actual application of the CPs leaves quite a bit to be desired, but getting the colors right is a step in the right direction. Now if I can just stop coloring my drawing and actually draw with color, then we'd be on the right track!

I'm really excited about trying to work this way...I've been focusing on colors for awhile, with little improvement. But, I think if I change my focus to values, I'll be able to to put more form into the things I'm drawing. There is a danger that I will go all wonky with the colors, but sometimes we just have to throw caution to the wind. :-)

As this is my front garden, it's part of the "Gardens in Art" series. Sadly, I'm not getting much research done this month, but today is my first day of working with my son at home, so time on the computer is taking a back seat.

Value Your Pencils

Above is my effort to order my colored pencils according to value. Below you can see how I fared..mostly alright, with a few errors.

Why would I do such a thing? Find out tomorrow in the next installment of WWW (Web-Wise Wednesday).

On a personal note, I dropped my eldest off this morning for his first day of school. We both did well, no one cried. I think his biggest disappointment will be when he can't read by the end of the day!

Secrets from the Playbook 8/20/2007

Another installment in my series on how to accomplish more with less (time, energy, or money)...

Strategy of the Week: One Place for Things
This strategy is just about simplifying and being careful to not over organize yourself! Below is a few ways in which I have employed this strategy in my life.

Tip #1 of the Week: Have one calendar for everything.
Write it all done in one place, don't split it up - too easy to mess up. Then you only have to look in one place. Find what works best for you. This is the best choice for me. The week's appointments on one page and a sheet to list my to-dos on the other - I can plan out the week this way.

Tip #2 of the Week: Use the pillowcase to hold the set of sheets.
Instead of looking through the whole linen closet to find a matching set of sheets. Just store a complete set in one of the pillowcases - this also helps if you don't want to take the time to fold the sheets perfectly :-).

Tip #3 of the Week: Sort your utensils as you load them in the dishwasher.
At first, it takes a while to get yourself in this mode. But it sure does cut down the time it takes to unload the dishwasher. And once you've been doing it for a while, it becomes automatic and you don't even think about it.

And yes, I am going to work on that logo. It was my first foray into PS Elements. Bear with my learning curve.

Where I've Been and Will Be

Big stuff is happening around the Welty home this month. School starts! So, my professor husband will get very busy. And for the rest of us, school also starts. My eldest is 5 and heads off to school next week. Tricky business this, he will go to school two days a week and spend the other three at home with me. Not even just "with me", but actually with me teaching him. We've enrolled him in a private school that attempts to give the best of both the private school domain and the homeschool domain. So, professionals choose the cirriculum, teach it, test the students, etc. Then the parents are involved in reviewing the lessons, doing homework, and teaching through exercises.

It will be great for us, but well, I have to get myself, our home, and my three children in gear for it. While I am teaching James on his three days at home (they suggest setting aside 3 or 4 hours), my other two sons (3 and 2) must be kept from malicious mischief. Hence, I am going to have them running on a half-hour rotation through toys and crafts - lest they get bored and look for matches :-). In short, I've got my hands full getting all this together so, I may be a little less frequent of a poster over the next few weeks. And, sadly, I'm not going to get to do much research for the "Gardens in Art" series this month. Bear with me!

Once we're in a rhythm I should be back full-steam. I get very grumpy when my art or blog are neglected, so I don't expect it to be too long. Have a good weekend!

Grab Your Shovel: The Morey Mansion

Sketch for 'Gardens in Art' series
approx 4inx6in in moleskine
The Morey Mansion, Redlands, CA

Doing the Huntington last week made me think of my own roots in California. I grew up in a small, picturesque town called Redlands. Redlands is filled with beautiful buildings, the Morey Mansion is one of the nicest. I grew up down the orange-grove-lined street from the Morey. We were friendly with the owners when it was a private residence - so I've been to a barbeque there. (However, I hasten to add, it was painted white and in need of some repairs then.) Now, it is a gorgeous B&B, I hope the owners can make it work.

Anyway, I am tempted to refine this a bit more and make it my project for the Gardens In Art series. As it's midway through the month, I ought to have a little review.

Here's what I'm learning:

• Gardens rather scare me as a subject. Macro flowers seem easier somehow, less to capture - I suppose. Although, it didn't feel easy when we were doing flowers!
  
• A few garden elements with a bit of fancy architecture in the background rather excites me a subject. (It also reminds me that I must get my nose in that perspective book I bought recently!)
  
• The excitement mentioned above derives from me loosening up and just going for a Sargent sketchiness. To be relieved of achieving a likeness or fear of doing something grotesque to the human figure is very freeing.
• I'm not doing as much art history research this month - direct consequence of things heating up around the home. More on that tomorrow.
  

Web-Wise Wednesday 8/15/2007

Sketch for 'Gardens in Art' series
approx 4inx6in in moleskine
More info on the location tomorrow!

Blog Site of the Week: CopyRight Explained
This is one of those "pointer" articles. It gives summaries and then links to places to find out more about copyright. Copyright isn't one of those topics that fascinates everyone, well in fact, it probably fascinates no one. But, it is an important thing to be aware of, so plan to digest this article in small chunks if you don't know what you need to about copyright. (That's what I'm doing, slowly but surely.)

Late Addition Blog Link: Making a Mark: How do I find things to blog about?
Katherine wrote a stellar post yesterday. I'm beginning to think that we share a brain (of course, she got the better half, but I like her, so I'll forgive her :-). Seriously, she has written some great stuff about finding inspiration, the mindset of a blogger, how to organize yourself, etc - in her usual clear as crystal manner. Check it out.

Art Site of the Week: National Museum of American Illustration
I ran into this site during my Parrish/Rockwell month in July. I'm interested in illustrators generally, but actually I think there is something for everyone. In one site it combines several artistic styles (granted they are all illustrators, but each one has distinctive work) and subject matters. Generally, the subjects involve people, but in various time periods, activities, etc. I think what I most like is the clear impression that talent and ability come in many forms and styles. Any one of these is good, and all for different reasons.

Soaking it in

Dear readers, I apologize for missing my Friday post. Instead of posting I was staring at brushstrokes...brushstrokes from the likes of Van Gogh, Cezanne, Picasso. My husband treated me to a visit to our local Kimbell Museum. Their current exhibit is "The Mirror and the Mask - Portraiture in the Age of Picasso". For someone like me, who can never get enough portraits, it is like a dream come true. (The fact that some friends kept the boys for the night made it even more incredibly unreal and wonderful!)

The website doesn't show much, but it is a great exhibit. There was an interesting range of work...impressionist, cubist, way-funked-out modern, rather nicer modern and some realist. The exhibit talked about both artists using the mirror literally and that portraits are as much about the artist as the sitter. The exhibit also talked about how many artists fell in love with African tribal masks and how that influenced many pieces and they also mentioned that historically portraits were about how the sitter wanted to be perceived, their mask of choice.

My husband's favorite piece was a cubist one, a man and his books...he liked the statement it was making about the man and his books and felt it was a good use of cubism...it was saying more than just a portrait of a man in front of a bookshelf.

I liked Cezanne's Man in a Blue Smock. I liked the intensity and depth of the paint in the face versus the sketchy, thinly painted background. Fortunately it is part of the Kimbell's collection, so I'll see it again!

I'll have some artwork to show you tomorrow!

Secrets from the Playbook - 8/13/2007

First, thank you to everyone who has commented over the weekend! Your comments are very encouraging! It's been a busy weekend for me...going to a portraiture exhibit of all things...more on that tomorrow.

Today is the first installment in a new series for Mondays on Rose's Art Lines. Essentially, I've been researching efficiency, household, and life management for the last several years and thought I'd try and pass on a few things. I'm sure that none of these ideas are original with me. I've read every book I could find, searched the web dozens of times, talked with people, etc. One resource that jumps to mind is FLYLady.net. I don't go for everything there, and there is a ton, but it has been a big help to many people.

Strategy of the week: Get the house to clean itself. I have a large home, full of boys, and yet I do not have a cleaning day. My house gets cleaned on auto-pilot. I still do the work, but I never actually think about doing it or set aside time for it (and so it feels like I don't clean.) The auto-pilot system works through routines and short bursts of effort. All the important jobs have a spot in the week...the same spot every week. This means I don't have to remember to do them. Every Monday morning and Thursday morning, I do clothes laundry. Tuesdays I do sheets. Wednesdays are towels...etc. When I'm doing the towels on Tuesdays, it's a perfect day to sweep the bathroom floors (because the rugs are in the wash). And once you've given jobs the same spot for a few weeks, you just do them...you don't ask yourself if you want to do them, you just do them to forget about them.

Then, all the other jobs just get slotted in. So, today I had ten minutes extra before nap time...the boys and I vacuumed downstairs (done for the week! :-) In the evenings, I generally do a two minute clean up of clutter spots. When I'm in the bathroom, I might give the sink a wipe down, or the toilet a scrub. The key to this is to stop thinking you have to find an hour to clean your bathroom when you see the floor has too much hair on it. Just find two minutes to grab the broom and sweep. You'll either take care of the rest when it's time (it's one of your routines) or you'll do it when it gets bad enough to bother you and you'll take two minutes.

Tip of the Week: For a job you really hate, time yourself. For me, I hate unloading the dishwasher. I used to procrastinate and whine about doing that job all the time. Well, one day, I timed myself, I went slowly, and it took 3 minutes. Right there I learned that I was letting a 3 minute job upset me, make me less productive, and color my view of my life. Now, when I am tempted to whine about it, I know 3 minutes and it's over.

Grab Your Shovel: Huntington Conservatory

For the continuing gardens in art series, here's a sketch from the Huntington Conservatory. The Huntington is an amazing place: it's a library, an art museum, and it has beautiful gardens. If you are ever in Southern CA, you ought to check it out. Just a warning, there's more to see in each of the areas than you can really see in a day - but it is good fun.

The sketch above is taken from the website, which sadly doesn't have a great set of photos its fourteen different gardens - although there are some nice macro flower photos in each of it's garden sites. It is also worth a poke around the art collection, lots to see there. The library section has photos of its treasured pieces.

Web-Wise Wednesday #1

Today is the launch of a new feature here at Rose's Art Lines. I'm calling it Web-Wise Wednesdays. Essentially the idea is give you a link or two that I find useful on the Web. The links will center around art and blogging.

Blogging Link of the Week: ProBlogger

• What it is: a blog about how to blog well
• Typical Topics: improving your writing, making money from your blog, improving your rankings, increasing traffic, etc.
• My favorite Aspect:the "cheerleading" part. It's upbeat and not scared to encourage you to work hard on your blog.
• Evidence of Its Usefulness: Wed-wise Wednesdays was born out of reading his posts and encouraging trying new things.
• What's Going on There Now: He currently is doing a "31 Days to a Better Blog" project, here. Even as a lurker, it is encouraging and informative.

If you are finding blogging a chore or wish your blog had more zip, check ProBlogger out.

Art Link of the Week: EmptyEasel

• What it is: art resource site
  
• Typical Topics: tutorials, material reviews, spotlights on artists, business advice, website reviews
• My Favorite Aspect: advice and reviews - he saves me alot of time and effort, because he knows alot more than I do.
• Evidence of Its Usefulness: Imagekind - he made me put getting some artwork onto Imagekind a definite "to-do" instead of a "it-would-be-nice-to-do". I was also able to share his stuff with someone more in a position to use it now. Even the great Katherine Tyrrell was influenced by his reviews.)
• What's Going on There Now: He's updating the site and adding great new features. He's doing some artist reviews until he finishes the updates.

If you wish that you had someone to help show you the ropes around the online art business world, check EmptyEasel out.

Upping the Ante

Yesterday I decided to up the ante on my painting explorations. I needed a few more colors for the exercises I've been working through in Betty Edwards' book Color. So I decided to move above the bottom-of-the-barrel student grade acrylics. I got a couple of mid-range paints and one rather nicer tube. Anyway, there is a huge difference and I think I might need to start saving the pennies for some more paint! :-)

Here's my completed color wheel. Basic stuff, but good for me - a bit like carrots or bananas.

Do you hear voices?

Well, I do now apparently! As I was working on this I kept hearing all of the masters that I've studied this year...

• As I began, Whistler kept telling me to plan it out, take the time to lay it out.
• O'Keefe just sort of shook her head at my lack of attention to composition.
• When I'd puzzle over a tricky spot Sargent would whisper, "Suggest, precisely."
• Ingres kept reminding me to weight my lines and vary them.
• Waterhouse kept pushing me to work harder on the values.
  

Parrish and Rockwell kept stamping their feet telling me to hurry up and get on to painting. Van Gogh didn't say anything, he doesn't consider my work worthy to comment on :-).

Anyway, I have really learned alot this year and I noticed it with this drawing. If you've ever considered joining one of the Fineline Artists masters projects, or studying up on someone else's work, I can highly recommend it!

I'm not sure if this is done, but it's close. Off to try out some new paints...

Harnessing Horses

Yesterday I was in the mood for doing a figure sketch. This gentleman was taken from this WetCanvas reference library photo. I was intrigued by his level of concentration. He appears to be a little less than comfortable playing out on the street.

Doing this figure proved to be every bit as hard as I thought that it would be. Much like Hale and others have said doing great artwork is "driving all the horses at once." You must get all the little pieces to fit together...so light and shade, values, perspective, anatomy, tone, etc must all be working together. To draw convincingly you must be able to master each of these areas and then in one piece, handle all of them well at the same time. Therein lies the tricky part. I found it hard to remember all the caution points, stay with my idea for how it should look, and keeping checking the reference in the meantime!

Anyway, there is some improvement over my last full-length figure, although I'm driven all the more to practice, practice, practice.

Grab Your Shovel: Cezanne (Gardens #2)

Last night I was looking around for something to sketch just to wind down. I found Cezanne's "View Through the Trees, L'Estaque" in one of my Cezanne books. Here is an oil reproduction of Cezanne's work (sorry, couldn't find a picture of his painting online.)

I don't suppose this is traditionally in the garden category, more of the landscape category. However, I can imagine this being the view from a garden on the coastline on California. Not that I've ever been in one of those multi-million dollar mansions to know, but I suspect it's close. The colors Cezanne uses here are tremendous. He's got oranges, blues, purples, and greens. Even though the oranges are just below center (the buildings), the effect of the picture is cool. I almost hear the cool wind blowing through the trees. I think there are two reasons for that. One, the darkest darks are up in the overhanging green trees, they have a weighty presence - almost as if whatever is seen through them is inconsequential, he was focussed on painting the trees. Two, he uses a consistent angle for his brush strokes in the trees and they are choppy strokes, giving the effect that the leaves are rustling.

Grab Your Shovel!

It's a new month and we've got a new topic! The Fineline Artists are still on their summer break, but the "masters series" goes on. Katherine Tyrrell has chosen to do a series entitled Gardens in Art. Normally, I just focus on one person for this series, but Katherine is such a researcher and so generous with her information, that I'd really like to have more time to spend on her posts! So, I'm jumping in and will look at gardens done by masters.

I started with a Sargent garden, Palace and Gardens, Spain,1912. I fell in love with his work in January, and well, it just seemed a good place to start as I expect a steep learning curve this month. I really like this watercolor of his. To me, it really portrays my experience in places like that (although I've never been to Spain.) I am usually so overwhelmed with formal gardens and ornate architecture, that it all becomes a blur to me - I can see tiny pieces of detail, but I have a hard time getting a full image in my mind.

Having to translate from watercolor to pen and ink, I had a good chance to spend time focusing on values, where he placed the darks and lights, and opportunity to try and convey different textures. He handled this garden and building in a similar manner to other works of his.