Spring’s Calling Card

Spring’s Calling Card

Purchase information to follow once it’s varnished

This is my entry for the Virtual Sketch Date this month. Thanks to Stacy Rowan for the reference photo and doing the admin work this time.

As I don’t do many bird paintings or drawings (maybe one or two so far), I decided to just experiment. I took branches from one side of the photo, put them under the bird on the other side, and flipped the whole thing horizontally.

I put in a wash of bright red as the ground as I knew I wanted to have flecks of red showing through the gray background. My original background was too cool, so I added in some yellow ochre…then splashed in some white to break up all the warmness…then decided it was done!

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.

January VSD: A Peeling

A Peeling
6 in x 7.5 in
colored pencils on toned and flecked paper

Above is my entry for the January Virtual Sketch Date. Thanks to Jeanette Jobson for the reference and for doing the administration work this month.

I did my first attempt in acrylic. I was not thrilled with it. But then I saw Jeanette's inspired entry and I just had to have another go.

This was done on some orange handmade paper, you can see little flecks and irregularities. The paper surface is not smooth, normally not my choice for colored pencils, but actually I think it really helped with all the tremendous texture on that fruit.

Another Stab at the Dec VSD

My preferred crop

More Accurate Crop - it's on aquabord, there is no slicing it down in reality

This afternoon as I was thinking about it being VSD weekend and suddenly an idea flashed across my mind...why not do a close crop and go for some sort of antique (sepia) photo look?

I got the kids carted off to bed and then just had fun playing around with acrylics on aquabord. I just love the beautiful browns that Winsor Violet and Cad Yellow made - that was the tall building - then I decided to scrub it in and do another just violet wash. The smaller building was a alizarin crimson and permanent green neutral, scrubbed, and with a final alizarin crimson wash.

The sky had a pale ultramarine blue wash, which I covered with a watery cad orange. The snow on the ground is a cad orange wash.

I wasn't too happy with the background trees (that's why I prefer the smaller crop), but all in all it was a more satisfying attempt then my first sketch. I really enjoyed playing with washes, scrubbing out paint, and making it about the process more than the end product.

Autumn - the VSD

"Autumn"
6in x 6in
acrylic on gessoed masonite

This is my entry for November's virtual sketch date.

I had two goes with this one. First, I began a detailed graphite piece - all those lovely cast shadows...those had immediately attracted my eye when I first saw the photo. It wasn't going that well though...

So, I began again with this acrylic piece. It was all magic the second time around. As the sky went in, I remembered I wanted more blue towards the top. I did the trees and kept stopping and leaning back and just asking my eye what was wrong (how could I make it look more 3D?) I took a risk and added in more branches in the back and leaves...

I don't always slow down enough to let my mind and eye tell my hand what to do...it's so nice when it happens!

Virtual Sketch Date - September

oil on gessoed board, 8 in x 10 in

Above is my entry for this month's Virtual Sketch Date.

Thanks to Sharon for the reference. It's a beautiful reference, but honestly, in the end I had to abandon it.

I sketched this four times in the sketchbook. Then I started to do a CP work on vellum. As that progressed I remembered why I decided that I needed to find a new main medium. After my five false starts, I decided to put the reference away. I came up with another sketch (in CPs :D) from my memory - a simplified version. I decided to paint from the simplified sketch in oils.

At a few points during painting I consulted the reference, but each time it just made things worse. In the end, I just went from the simplified sketch and gut instinct.

I thoroughly enjoyed the painting, even if the false starts were frustrating. Can't wait to see the other entries!

And as for the oil painting...well, this was my first piece on gessoed board and I love it! Canvas will just never feel right again! :D

Virutal Sketch Date: August Submission

Ornamental Cabbage 5 in x 7 in, graphite on Stonehenge paper

Here is my entry for the August sketch date.

It's been a busy week, so I didn't have much time for this, but I did enjoy the couple of hours I had for it.

Thanks to Sherrie for the reference! And thanks to everyone for participating, I just love these!

Announcements

This post is about a few new things with me and with the Virtual Sketch Date.

Me:
This is a busy time of year for me...I have several DIY projects going on, in an attempt to have things together before the start of school and the start of...well...I won't reveal that just yet. But, rest assured, I have some very exciting things in the works for my art, I'll be letting you know soon.

I will try and get a few sketches posted, but I may be a little scarce...there are benches to paint, bookshelves to assemble, a chair to purchase, table tops to restore, and maybe even some decorating to be done in the kitchen...good fun of a different sort!

Three news items on the Sketch Date:

One:
I've added subscription buttons to the sidebar on VSD, so you can now subscribe to find out what's happening over there.

Two:
The VSD reference for August will be posted on August 22nd. The actual sketch date is on the 30th, a week later.

Three:
To simplify things, we are going to continue the trend of having the sketch date during the last week of the month. So the sketch date will generally be on the last Saturday of the month, the reference will come out about a week before.

July 2008 Virtual Sketch Date

This post includes my entry for the virtual sketch date this month.

First, thanks to Jeanette for administering it this time and Leslie for providing the reference.

I had planned to just do my usual graphite drawing for this, but I struggled with several different value studies and couldn't really get one I loved. So, I decided that this was a sketch and just went unplanned into colored pencils. I had good fun with this. I loved using purple and orange on the fruit and green and blue on the leaves - my favorite combinations.

It was fun to do a "sketchy" CP piece that wasn't aiming for a polished look.

Virtual Sketch Date 3 - In the Shadows

In the Shadows
5 in x 7 in graphite on Claybord

Above you see my effort for the Virtual Sketch Date. This post reviews some experimenting I did on this piece.

Cropping Experiments
First, I cropped the photo down to the flower in the shadows of the original reference. Secondly, I cloned a few petals of the original focal point and put them on the right side of my focal point, just for better composition. Originally, I planned to do this on a dull yellow tinted paper with red and violet for midtones and darks (and possibly white ink for highlights). In the end I didn't think the paper would hold the ink well so I moved onto a different experiment. Also, I played around quite a bit, in the end this was "reference option 6" - it was good fun to try out several ideas. That was one of my goals with the VSDs, being forced to use a particular photo I then have to be creative to make it a reference that speaks to me.

Broadside Pencil Painting
Having read so much about broadside pencil painting recently, I just had to try it out. Watson used to recommend Cameo paper, a clay-coated paper to make this technique really work. Cameo is no longer made, but I thought I might try out the Ampersand Claybord to see how it would work. I also shaped my pencil into a bevel tip, as Watson recommends.

Here's what I found:

• Claybord is smooth...smooth and lovely.
• Using a pencil broadside on such a smooth surface really did feel like I was using a brush to push pigment onto a canvas. It really did feel more like painting than an annoying hard-to-use pencil technique.
• Watson cautioned that it would take the artist a while to master this technique. That is clearly true. It is difficult to be consistent with how you hold and "brush" with the pencil. And, of course, once you use the point at the wrong angle you create an inconsistent line and mess up your bevel point. (As I worked left to right, I think you can tell in the photo above that I was more patient on the left than the right.)

And I take from that:

• With practice, I do think that I could get this consistent enough to create the smooth tones found in good examples of this technique.
• I'd really like to try colored pencil on Claybord, both in a traditional manner and in a broadside manner - indeed it would be interesting to compare the results.
  

Virtual Sketch Date!

Today is the day for posting the reference of the virtual sketch date. I decided to go ahead and put live the blog I created for administering the sketch date.

So, please go visit Virtual Sketch Date and leave a comment if you are interested in participating.

Virtual Sketch Date #3 in June

Hope that everyone enjoyed the virtual sketch date last week and the results on Sunday. Sounds like most people and a few new ones are keen to do it again - that's fabulous as I really have fun!

As we are gathering more and more people, we need to handle it a bit differently, just to give the most time to drawing and gawking!

Here are the steps:

1. We are calling for a volunteer to provide a reference (first come, first served.) Please comment on this post if you'd like to volunteer.
   
2. I will post the image on my blog on Friday June 13th.
   
3. Participants will have to comment on that post to be on the list (this cuts down on tracking through everyone's posts and finding who said they wanted to participate and maintaining a list.)
   
4. Participants should then post their entry on their blog sometime on Saturday June 21st.
   
5. I will then do a post on Sunday the 22nd with links to everyone's entry.

I'm in half a mind to create another blog to handle the reference image posts and list of links post. I think the sketches should remain on artists blogs. So, if this above steps work well for everyone this month (and people are still interested next month), I may set up a separate blog for the sketch dates.

Virtual Sketch Date #2: 3 Three-Legged Cats

This post is for our virtual sketch date held once a month. This month the image was supplied by Jeanette Jobson, her cat Tripod (a striking photo.)

Above you see my entry.

I feared when I first asked Jeanette to do this that she would supply a Tripod image (he is a favorite subject for Jeanette.) Now I am supremely glad that she did. I now know that I can at least create something resembling a cat. I also know that fur is annoying to draw and it won't become my favorite subject!


Here is Teresa in NC's entry:

She said, "It was a challenge. I used a grid to draw the initial image and tried really hard to look at it in terms of value patterns and not as a cat, or an ear, or a nose, etc. That seemed to make it much easier. It was a good learning experience. I probably would not have tackled this image if I had not made a commitment to sketch."

Here's a little practice one I did in PS Elements, sort of Tripod at the disco or something:

All in all, this was a fun sketch date. It's good to be challenged to try new things.

The group has expanded this time to include ten artists. Katherine has a listing of everyone on her round-up this week.

Anyone up for June?

Virtual Sketch Date #2 - coming soon

We'll soon be doing another virtual sketch date. I have gathered a list of participants, if I missed anyone out, please let me know. If anyone else is tempted to join in, likewise let me know.

When Jeanette gets back into town and gathers herself, she'll send out the reference.

Participants:
Jeanette, Rose, Jeanne Grant, Stacy Rowan, and Teresa.

Above is some sage from my front garden.

Virtual Sketch Date: Apple and Branches

Apple and Branches
9in x 12in, graphite on Canson Heavyweight drawing paper
copyright Rose Welty

This was a week for sketch dates! Earlier in the week, you saw the sketch date with my sons. Today you can see the virtual sketch date I had in Newfoundland - or actually, I had in Texas with my Newfoundland guest (as it was my photo :-).

A couple of weeks ago Jeanette Jobson and I decided to both draw from the same image, as a sort of fun exercise. Please go check out Jeanette's drawing.

The advantages of this exercise, as I see them, are this:

• it's a bit of a mark-making exercise. As we are working from the same image, the focus is more on what we put down on the paper.
• it's a bit of a style exercise. We both tend towards realism, but hopefully each of our sketches says a bit about us. (One of the reasons I asked Jeanette if she wanted to do this was because she has such a lovely delicate touch - one I wish I had, I tend to go heavy-handed with everything.)
  
• it's all just good fun! I immediately started getting dissatisfied with my sketch, but just tried to enjoy the process and not depend on the outcome. This is also where it really helped to have a partner, I wouldn't have finished without my commitment to Jeanette.
  

Things I learned or want to try:

• I don't like the paper (Canson heavyweight/medium texture drawing paper) that I did this on, too textured.
• I struggled at first handling the graphite, I've done so much CP work recently. I suppose there is a cost with switching around in mediums.
  
• For this exercise, it was fun to do something simple, that required a bit of imagination. (The values in the photo were all midrange, so I had to be creative - which meant, of course, that I "jumped the light", but it is fun to see how much you can get away with.)
• I'm very tempted to try and draw from "bad" photos, just to work in the creative angle. I think it would be good practice.

Jeanette, are you interested in doing this again? Is anyone else interested in doing a similar thing?