& the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon

& the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon

well that's the title anyway. :-)

This was a lot of fun... albeit time consuming for such a small piece. There is so much going on in that little square. I almost think it doesn't work, its so busy... but hopefully I managed to pull it together by lumping values together (sort of like Hopper did) and simplifying where needed. I think you can see what I mean more in the .jpg below where I used the cutout function in Photoshop Elements to lump the major value shapes in the piece. I used the shadow down the center of the cloth as a dark shape leading the eye up and framing around the coffee cup... which actually mimics that long black shape in Hopper's Chop Suey picture on the table.

One of the most fun things about this was getting to know Hopper's painting better. He used objects, color shapes etc pointing this way and that all over the picture, which I tried to mimic in my drawing. Other things I mimicked was the writing on the cup with the sign in the painting, and the resting areas of the white of the table. I'm sure there's more - and you can let me know!

I had to change the Hopper painting a little. The Chop Suey painting has two focal points - the women in front and the couple in the back... well when you add my focal point of the coffee cup and spoon - that's just way too many focal points... so I decided to fade in the couple in the back of the Hopper painting instead of having them stand out... the same thing for the big yellow square next to the girls on the right... I just made it stand out a little less to keep the focus on the girls.

& I just got back from getting a nifty matt cut around the corner at Creative Encounters so when it is at the Silent Auction (during the CPSA Convention) it will look nice and tidy. They helped me pick a matt and showed me this green core black matt... which seemed to work. It didn't occur to me until I got back from the studio how the green core really made the green lines on the cup and saucer really work!


Wednesday is the last day of school for the kids which means my studio will stay mostly empty for a while. If anyone want to see/reach me just email me and I can come in. As far as blog posts go... they will be fewer and farther in between probably for the summer and may include more sketches (from our trip to Maui we are taking in July), but don't worry I'll be back in full force in the fall for sure... and will be here. If you haven't subscribed or "followed" me yet nows the time to signup so you won't miss when I start posting more again.

I love coffee... and I love Hopper...

Sorry I haven't been around... first I had a funk and couldn't get motivated... and then my laptop went kerplunk... I am having difficulty taking photos etc without my laptop since this old computer of mine has so many broken ports.

Anyway you don't want to hear about that!

\I finished my Pesto... and don't like it much. Maybe part of the funk? Its just too static. Funny though, someone stopped in about me doing a website for him and out of alllll the pictures in my studio that is the one he commented on liking. Lesson learned... I'm going ot not look at it for a while and see if I like it better later.

Right now I am working on a 7.5 x 7.5" little still-life for the silent auction at the CPSA convention in Atlanta. I decided to do something funky and off kilter, after not liking the pesto so lined up. I took a Hopper picture and made a still-life around it - something I've done a couple of times before and really enjoy doing. Its kind of my version of Karin Jurick's gallery pieces. This will be a busy little piece with so much going on - so its taking me a while. Look at the Hopper though - this piece by Hopper is busy as well... but look at that large black shape that connects the background, people etc. Its genius! My piece btw is on UART 400 paper - using coloursofts and Luminance... which I use in my classes all the time.

All the proceeds from the silent auction benefits the National CPSA and all pieces involved will be posted on their website in the near future. I'll let you know when they are.

Back to work for me! The kids only have 5 days of school left - I better get busy before I have to be home (or at the beach) with them!

Ann Kullberg's new book!

Ann Kullberg has a great new book out called "Colored Pencil Secrets for Success" published by Northlight. It is a cool concept in itself. On her emagazine, Ann critiques somebody's work every month and is great at it (something I am working on myself!) so this book is kind of a continuation of that. She takes several drawings submitted to her and crits them. I really believe this is a great way to learn about art instead of following a bunch of rules - its like seeing art in action.

The surprising bit though is that Ann asked to have my work included in the "Still-Life Secrets Showcase" and said the nicest things about my work as well as printed it there for all to see. I have to admit I had trouble opening the book because I know that Pastelbord DOES NOT print well - the grain shows up so loud in printing - but when I got past that and read what Ann wrote about my work, I am very, very proud. :-)

here's a bit of what she wrote:

"Nicole Caulfield is a New Hampshire artist and a rapidly rising star in the colored pencil world. She is best known for her work on sanded surfaces, which give her images a distinct painterly look, but she is constantly experimenting with new supports."

&

"I have been a huge fan of Nicole's from the first time I laid eyes on her work. She seems to have unerring drafting skills and always handles aspects like concept, composition, color and shape with ease, grace and beauty."

Thanks so much Ann! You are an inspiration to me and including me in your book was a great honor! :-)

You all can purchase a book through Ann's site.

The winners of my hole-y giveaway - I finally sent them yesterday except to the person who hasn't given me their address yet! :-) Send it to me and I'll get the cherries out to you.

How to drop 5-10 years

I haven't finished Pesto yet. I had to frame some things up, deliver to the gallery and get ready for Art Walk in downtown Keene. I am sharing a window with another artist so I just have my piece Zen displayed at Earth Treasures. (Who were so helpful - thank you!). I'll be out there on Friday from 5-8 (give or take a few minutes) to chat and there again on the 10th during the school tours for the kids giving a demonstration.

Now to get to the title of this post - anti-aging. If you or your model have a few wrinkles that you don't want to show, here's how to lessen the look of those wrinkles.

I have this really oooold model I was taking pictures of today... okay its me and I was taking a picture of me in my new glasses to send to my sister back home. I took the first pic in the mirror next to my front door that had side lighting. Side lighting - although I love side lighting for dramatic effects - also makes wrinkles stand out. :-( If you think about it it makes sense - the light is coming from the side and creating a shadow where that wrinkle or crevice is. Sigh... This isn't even harsh light - the light was diffused through the window... so if it were even harsher more intense light, the wrinkles would have been worse.

After uploading that pic on my computer - in an act of true sistership and vanity - I went upstairs to the bathroom mirror where there is more indirect diffuse lighting. The light is more frontal or evenly distributed in the bathroom so the wrinkles don't throw as large of a shadow. Oila - I'm younger!

The light still comes from the side but is slightly more in front of the face than the other photo. The light is also diffused through a shade on the window which helps. Experiment on yourself in different lighting situations and moving the light source to the side and slowly bringing it around to the front of your face. To get a shadow still on the side of the face put the light in front of the face and then slightly turn your head so the light goes slightly off center.

Of course if you wanted more dramatic light like the first pic, you can just paint or draw the wrinkles with less contrast than seen on the model. I always go down a couple of value steps so the wrinkle color is closer in value to the skin color. & I NEVER draw all the wrinkle lines! :-O Since I have the power to leave some out - why not?!

Pesto! wip

As I've mentioned before I am culinarily deficient. Yes spellcheck doesn't like that word - but it seems appropriate. I do, however, grow basil outside every year so I can make a couple of big batches of pesto sauce. mmmmmmmm..... Its one of the few things that I think is worth all the watering and caring for that gardening entails, let alone the making of the sauce. I have a mini food processor that is dedicated just to Pesto. :-)

This is small... I usually work life-size but I printed out the reference at about 8 x 12" and really liked the way it looked at that size. The clincher was when I found a piece of scrap Pastelbord just that size in my stacks. In this recession you can't waste any cut offs! :-) You can see the ragged edge where I scored and snapped off the Pastelbord. I could sand that off but it won't be noticeable under the frame edge. Of course this odd sized piece of Pastelbord will need a custom cut frame. Sigh. 

I'm using Polychromos on the Pastelbord so far. I forgot that I even tried Polychromos on Pastelbord and liked it until I found this old post about it.  I like them on the board but I do think it tightens me up since the pencils are harder and keep a sharper point. Of course I only use polychromo for my portrait but they act differently on Fisher 400 paper (the paper I use for my portraits).

Hopefully I will get this finished tomorrow. I have a new portrait to start next! 

framing

I've just spent today making frame orders for my artwork and feeling like I was really unproductive. Measuring artwork and ordering frames is never as much fun as making artwork, but I really need to get my latest still-lifes off to the gallery so I HAD to make a frame order. They are doing me no good sitting here frameless. 

I thought I'd show you all the frames I get. I usually get the "plein aire" frames, which I guess are supposed to be for outdoor landscapes? I just really like how they are very wide and almost like a double frame, but simple in style. The top one is white and is a special order from pictureframes.com. They have all different colors now but I usually buy them in black for my still-lifes and gold for my portraits, but obviously I don't always! You can see the gold frame in the portrait below. the gold is a bit brassy. There is another gold with a crackle that I have bought and really like - the finish is much less brassy and shiny but it is not in my studio at the moment. It was also from pictureframes.com.

I love framing the pieces on paper (my portraits) with museum glass - BUT it is way too expensive, so I usually just order the plexi from pictureframes.com. I hate the glare but that is what you get if you don't want to pay for museum glass. 

You'll also notice that I don't use matting even though they are on paper and under glass. I found that when I frame them with matting it is much more expensive (larger frame and glass to allow for the matting plus the price of the matt). They also look better hung next to my still-lifes on board that I frame without glass. So what do I use so the art doesn't touch the glass? I use spacers... and there are many types. The ones I use are from artright.com and instead of sticking them on the glass like a sticker - they clip over the glass. Admittedly when you are using real glass it is a scary procedure, but with plexi it isn't so bad. They come in loads of sizes to hold the glass further away or closer. 

When I am working in a standard size, which isn't often, I order plein aire frames from Dick Blick.  They are so much cheaper, but only come in standard sizes. You can see the one I ordered from Dick Blick on the still-life with apples. They might be cheaper than at pictureframes.com but they are of lesser quality. They are made from a much softer wood and then painted and can get dents, scratches etc much easier than the others. 

Now hopefully my order will come in soon so I can frame this stuff up and get it out at the galleries where they belong!

3 pieces waiting for frames... Shannon looks like she's a bit tired of waiting...

Giveaway!! & I've gone Etsy on you!

So I had this fabulous idea to take my workshop demonstrations and sell them on Etsy at low prices compared to my regular drawings. So I took them down from the display board in the hallway outside my studio (where I've had them hung), took them home to scan and make an Etsy shop during the holiday weekend, and found BULLET holes in them! Okay not bullet holes, but when scanned in and enlarged it looks like it. It seems that somebody felt the need to poke pushpin holes in my drawings. :-( A couple came away unscathed and I have put those on my new Etsy shop: www.caulfield.etsy.com

As far as the hole-y drawings? The holes aren't actually so noticeable (unless you scan them or hold them up to light) so I've decided to do a giveaway! 

The first 3 people to comment in this thread that they want one will get one of the three little drawings above! Enlarge the photos to see the holes... maybe you don't want one!

& don't forget to check out my Etsy shop!

I'll try and put some things in there from time to time. The prices of the workshop demonstrations will be lower that my normal drawings which are set at my normal gallery prices even in the etsy shop. There may be a discount however for unframed pieces. & you know - you can always go to one of the galleries I'm in and buy over the phone a piece that you've seen on this website. Currently I have work at these galleries:

Monadnock Fine Art Gallery 99 Main St, Keene, NH

Chasen Galleries -
3554 W. CARY ST RICHMOND, VA
2850 SELWYN AV CHARLOTTE, NC

Sharon Arts Juried Gallery in downtown Peterborough, NH