February VSD Entries

Lake Louise, Canada

colored pencil on card,

8in x 4in

Above you see my entry for the February VSD. This was my third go around (becoming a bit of a habit for me when doing the VSD!)

Below you see my two “studies”.

acrylic on gessobord, 5 in x 7 in When I was painting this I grew so disgusted that it wasn’t matching what was in my head I just stopped – a fairly unusual occurrence for me. Looking at it now, it’s not as bad as I feared, it’s just in an ugly stage, needs some work – not sure if I dare to pick it up again or not!

markers on card, 4 in x 8 in After I abandoned the painting I left the project for a few days. When I picked it up again and looked at the reference photo I suddenly saw a vision of the thing in pen and ink. I decided I wasn’t up to the detail that I saw in my head, so I picked up my markers for value studies and just had a scribble. It was satisfying enough that it lead me to see the reference in all blue – which is what you see above in the CP version.

Needing to Unplug

Pineapple Sage...another sketch in the flower book.

Hey Gang, I'm going to take a blogging/online break. I'm taking a week for sure, perhaps two if I need it.

Thanks for your understanding. I hope to come back revived, refreshed, and ready for adventure!

Bragging

Rose by Steve Chipman

As many of you know, I'm in a portrait group this year. We decided to begin painting ourselves. As all of this was my fault, I went first. In a very generous and gentlemanly gesture, Steve Chipman sent me his portrait of me, you see it above.

I have to say, it is absolutely stunning. Steve is a tremendous portraitist. I'd recommend him to anyone who is interested in commissioning a portrait. You can see how good it looks online, but I must say that it looks even better in real life. It shall soon be hanging up in the studio!

Cheers Steve!

How I got $140 shoes for $4 out of pocket

another page in the flower book

Times are tough all over.

So we have to celebrate when we get a deal, don't we? Background: I have some health issues that require special shoes. So, when I need a pair of shoes I am used to paying close to $100. When I saw that the shoes I wear were now at $140, my heart just sank. I decided to dig a bit more...

Endless.com had them on clearance for $75 or $54...ok, the ugly ones were $54, but I decided we could do ugly for 21 bucks. Then, I realized that amazon and endless are connected...so I could use the amazon gift certificates I had gotten recently to pay for the shoes...BOOM...down to $4. Lovely! It does mean that I will have to wait for a book I have been hoping to get, but I'm sure I can find something else to read in the meantime...

Moral of the story...be a thorough shopper.

Wish I Had Something Clever to Say

...but I don't so...this is more in the flower book...

Books Can Be Like An Old Friend

Here is a tulip a sketched in the flower book.

I have mentioned that I've done pen and ink for a long time. I've always loved pen and ink work. I remember buying a book when I was in high school, maybe even junior high. I worked through the book, read all the words, copied most of the drawings. I learned alot, even if I couldn't have put what I learned into words back then.

Then, after college and a few years of working as a software engineer I decided to do some art in my spare time. I bought Rendering in Pen and Ink by Arthur Guptill. It is a fabulous tome on the subject. I worked through it as well. Dutifully, I did the exercises...practiced making all the different lines that he suggests...spent several hours doing those practice "moves"...whiled away the hours staring at the illustrations in the book. I still turn to that book now and again, always feeling refreshed for having done so.

You know, that's why I love books...some of them become old friends.

As a side note, I understand that Guptill also wrote a companion volume to the pen and ink one above. As I was searching on Amazon I found this one, is that perhaps a reprint of the companion volume which has long been out of print? Does anyone know?

Sketching

Here's another from my sketching session the other night. It was one of those great times where things just flowed and I had done three small sketches in less than an hour. It made me think I ought to try for more of those in my life. My evenings are not always conducive to pulling out the paints...but who can complain about pulling out a pen and opening a sketchbook?

Reflections on Edges

Here's another page in the flower book.

This is a little different style than yesterday. (Here I outlined everything first, then shaded to emphasize form.) I actually did this one first. I like this drawing, but it did make me want to try doing one without outlining all the edges first.

I was a little nervous how I would handle drawing without edges everywhere...I tried to tell myself to build slowly, move around, and wait for my eye to see it first, then put the pen down where my eye saw it. By the end, my pen was flying without my mind pausing first...

I suppose it is a little confusing to be talking about a drawing that isn't in this post...forgive me gang. I'm just in a thinking/reflecting phase...my hope is that a little indulgence here will lead me to a leap forward in my artwork! :D One can always hope...

More in the Flower Book

Here's a sketch I made tonight in the pocket moley flower book.

I was still thinking about edges (lost, found, hard, soft) here...because I am more familiar with pen and ink work it was easier for me to think about the edges than with painting. That means you'll be seeing more pen and ink in the near future...

Thinking

Thinking lots about edges, looseness, detail, form, value, color temperature, unity, etc...this is last night's effort at teasing out the image in my mind. It was based on this study.

More Sketches for the Flower Book

Two more sketches done in the flower sketchbook. It's so fun to just let yourself go and sketch!

That Writing Goal...

Back in the goal-setting frenzy I mentioned that I had a secret project. Today, it is revealed: I am a staff writer on Empty Easel. You can read the first in a series on free art education today.

Lily and New Project

The above sketch is the first in my new black pocket cahier moleskine. I was rather inspired by Jeanette and Jeanne's participation in The Sketchbook Project. I thought hard about joining in, but decided that I didn't have time - which turned out to be true, I never would have finished it.

But, I still like the idea. I am thinking of filling this with flower sketches...

Quick Study

Here's a study I did the other night...