Shopping Spree

So I still have not started a new piece yet! I have one all drawn up and ready for my colored pencils but as you saw in my "twitter box" I had a birthday party on Saturday to go to and today I went shopping ALLLLL day with my artist friend Luann (her link is in my sidebar) in Brattelboro Vermont. I swear it did have something to do with art though.

We scoped out the galleries there and shopped at the many thrift/antique stores. I came home with so many still-life goodies as you can see in the photo! I got a bunch of milk glass vases, white pottery, more green glass that will go in my ocean inspired still-lifes (one with a very legible "pain Killer" label on it), a gorgeous newish mercury glass pedastal.... it was a good day. Just don't tell my husband or bookkeeper (like I have one) about the great shirt I got at Boomerang (my new favorite clothes store)... hey I resisted the peekaboo wedge slingbacks with the little cherries on it - so I had to get the shirt!

I am suitably tired, have let the kids watch a video to put them asleep and will start my new drawing in the morning - at this point I can't wait and will be dreaming about the smell of pencil shavings and complementary colors.

Self-promotion

Chocolate Speed Painting Video by EclecticAsylumArt on You Tube

This is the most amazing display of self-promotion I have seen an artist do.

He makes "speed painting" videos and puts them on You Tube. Not just any speed painting videos though - he uses things like Ketchup to make portraits or in this case Chocolate Syrup. He puts it all to music and even promotes the band playing. Its fun, he gets lots and lots of plays because people like me find it fun and link to it or mark it as a favorite on You Tube. Then you look for more videos by him - I mean what else can he use to make a portrait besides chocolate and ketchup? So you click on the link for his website (off of YouTube) and where does it go? Ebay auctions for him to do a portrait for you. I am tempted to buy one myself. This man is a genius....

here's some more videos by him:

with Vegemite and Toast - This one displays a really good use of the graph technique for drawing and using 3 values for a study: value 3 is the vegemite, 2 is the toast, and one he scratches out the toast surface to get the highlights. I love the music on this one!

with ketchup and what looks like barbecue sauce - It also includes a special celebrity appearance so it is worth watching.

& the link to his ebay auctions

& NOW LOOK AT THIS - if you make a good You Tube people like me put it on their blogs and you get even more promotion. As I said - genius.

All Washed Up

I'm not totally satisfied with the composition on this one, but I am happy with the overall feeling of it and the textures. I like how the back of the table line, which usually would be too harsh the way it is depicted, reminds me of the horizontal lines at the beach between sand and water and water and sky. The other thing I think works well is the subtle reflections on the tabletop which mimick the light reflecting off of water washed up on a shore.

& who doesn't like to be reminded of their memories at the beach? There's not too many memories that you remember from childhood but I can remember every time we went to the ocean. Well I was from Chicagoland, extremely far from any ocean. I was probably 8 when I saw an ocean for the first time in Cape Cod. I actually was a bit terrified at how big the waves were - they were much differnet from the ones I knew from Lake Michigan! :)

All Washed Up - WIP

For a change of pace I'm doing a beach inspired still-life with soft greens and muted sunlight. I haven't gotten very far yet. This will be another 6" x 18" so the photo is just a small piece of the entire thing. Its a terrible photo too - I just couldn't get it not to blur.

Some objects lend themselves so well to the sanded surface and the grainy look you get with it, but what fascinates me is how you can give an impression of a smooth or shiny surface even though the actual surface of the drawing is dry and rough.

Wine-O Framed

& here it is framed. I use this frame for all my 6 x 18's - I bought a whole bunch of them from pictureframes.com and I just love them. All the artists in my town use the same frame in gold, but it just didn't look right on mine so I got the black one. They are from the plein aire collection.

Its another sweltering day in NH. Yesterday we opted to go to the pool at my friend's condo and today we're braving it here. We have two little window air conditioners chugging away which helps greatly, but as our house is a raised ranch (meaning everything is on the second floor) and we have way too many south and west facing windows that just pour the sunlight in, we have to keep the house dark and hope the heat forgets about us!

I have all the new objects I bought on ebay and elsewhere set out to do a beach inspired still-life. I just need to coax the kids outside to the water slide and I can get started trying to find a good composition. Setting up still-lifes in my home without a studio requires moving furniture, namely the sofa, around to get at the window light, so I'd rather not have them inside as it gets messy quick!

& a bonus couple of shots of my littlest one munching on what was supposed to be a still-life!