St. Patricks Day Workshop!

St. Patricks Day Workshop!





Despite the "Wintry Mix" forecast for tomorrow, I will be having a "Skyscape" workshop tomorrow Sat. March 17th at Artworks 30 Washington St, in Keene, NH 1-4. Call the Moving Company for more information 357-2100. You can sign up at the time of the workshop or call ahead of time. You don't NEED any supplies but i would suggest bringing a battery powered or plug-in pencil sharpener and a sampling of "sky" colored colored pencils to work with. Paper can be purchased from me tomorrow. We're going to try out some non-toxic solvent to melt our colored pencils and swish around the pigments with brushes... fun fun fun!

Oh and we were talking about solvents in my last post. I found one that sounds just like Zest-It that is made in PA. If anyone has tried it, let us know how you like it! It's called Citrus Solvent: http://www.realmilkpaint.com/citrus.html



No new artwork today. I'm having a bit of a slump this week not feeling very motivated to work on a new piece. I did that one little "Painted Cup" this week and that's it. I don't know what it is, but when I finish a piece that is large for me, I need a bit of a break afterwards. Plus I've had a bunch of no-fun stuff to do this week I did the taxes, sent in the paperwork and slides to 3 juried shows, and I assembled and sent in my resume for a full-time art teaching job.

Solvents for Colored Pencil

Zest-It Pencil Blend
As Rhonda pointed out the information on what solvent I use with my colored pencils was on the old... deleted blog of mine so instead of just answering Rhonda I decided to just show you all. I have been experimenting with Zest-It Solvent Pencil Blend. It is not sold in the United States but I hear that a similar solvent is available from a Canadian company. The Zest-It is from England and can be purchased on the web at several retailers. I bought mine at http://www.zest-it.com/

Another option is oderless mineral spirits. Alyona Nickelsen, an amazing colored pencil artist, uses Gamsol Oderless Mineral Spirits made by Gamblin. Although it doesn't have an odor it still is toxic though so be careful when using it. It is avaiable at Dick Blick and probably locally if you check around.

I plan on showing some in progress shots of the solvent when its wet - with more or less solvent so you can get an idea of how it works. Soon, I promise.

the Painted Cup

the Painted Cup
8"x 10"

colored pencil & solvent

This solvent stuff with colored pencil is just way too much fun. I'm still experimenteing to see what it can do. This time I wanted more of a painterly effect than with the wine one. Basically that just means I didn't intentionally blend... of course this was looking really nice and painterly and I fussed a bit too much and lost some of the look I had. I plan on making a companion piece soon.

Framing Without Glass

If anyone followed my (old) blog from about this time last year, you would know that I started working my colored pencil pieces on board, varnishing them and framing without glass. I was sick of the cost of framing with glass, matting and a larger frame to hold that matting added so much. Plus I had enough broken glass or scratched plexi... have you ever had to replace a piece of plexi for a piece... ouch that hurts! Then there is glare... I want to be able to see a piece from any angle - thank you very much!

As soon as I started this my work sold faster. Really. I don't know what it is, but artwork under glass sells for less and is harder to sell.

So I experimented with gessoboards that I primed with pastel marble dust primer... until I realized that Ampersand made a prefinished board for pastel artists - pastelbord. I'm hooked! I just love the stuff.

Now why am I writing about this again?! Well in this months Artists Magazine they have a column called "Artist's Toolbox" and there is an instructional video by Birgit O'Connor about framing watercolors without glass & guess what she is using?! Yep Ampersand products! http://www.birgitoconnor.com/birgitcart2.html

If anyone has viewed this video please let me know! I would love to learn how she does it and see how similar it is to what I'm doing. I've had loads of people ask me my process for sealing and protecting the colored pencil on the board so it would be nice to see if she does similar things. hmmm maybe I should just fork out the cash and buy it myself.

Colored Pencil Sky Workshop

I haven't started a new piece yet. I am itching to but have had family obligations... today is the day my girls have dance classes at different times in the day so I reserve it for errands.

I wanted to post a reminder about the workshop I have coming up this Saturday March 17th. We will be doing skies in colored pencil. I am even going to break out the solvent and have everyone try really "painting" with their colored pencil! The workshop is from 1-4 pm at Artworks in Keene, NH. Artworks is affiliated with the Moving Company Dance Center and that's who you contact to sign up: (603) 357-2100.

Workshop: Painting the Sky in colored pencil1-4 pm Saturday, March 17Artworks in Keene, NH$25Learn how to create realistic skies with colored pencil on board. Students will be able to buy a board at the workshop and colored pencils will be supplied. Bring your own pencils for more of a variety and a battery operated/electric sharpener if you have one. Artworks Studios in Keene 30 Washington St.