No Props Required

No Props Required.. okay not a good title, but something I was thinking while I saved the photograph of it. I believe the size is 14 x 22, but as I am down in the Prime Roast  coffee shop around the corner from my studio (for a cappuccino and to bum internet) I can't be sure. 

The full view.

The close-up

The set

Finished Portrait 1 on to 2!

Here it is finished. Below are some close-ups that you can click on to see larger. Now the difficult task of titles! I think its between "Testing Boundaries" and "Hide and Seek." 

& I started this one today... I plan on submitting both to CPSA at the end of the month if this 2nd one turns out ok. 

EDIT: It is Thursday and my little one (the one in the picure actually) has a stomach bug, so 'till Tuesday then...

Strifrieng 2

The "I" is not working very well on my keyboard, so this post was made with some frustration, lol.

Thanks for all the suggestions in my last post. I am going to leave it (probably) with just the string (I think). I got quite a bit done today. I started with correcting her eyes. They were way too small and the shadows of the sockets were just wrong. I still think that one eye needs a bit of enlarging on the top. Let's see... then I started on the hair which really pulled the colors together in my opinion. The dark side of her face is very warm and I love the way the yellows and shared oranges of the hair pulled the colors together. Then I went to the shirt, and part way through the black background.

It might seem like I work one piece at a time, which I do in a way, but I am always adjusting parts I have previously put it.

Anyway here it is until next Tuesday.

the String, Strung? Not sure yet.

I haven'that t photographed the Long and Skinny one yet, but will soon!

In the meantime I started a portrait today that will hopefully be my CPSA (Colored Pencil Society of America) entry.

I wanted to do a portrait in the same mysterious tone as my Zen portrait of my daughter Katie.

Lizzy wanted to be the model this time - so the kids and I had a whole day/night photoshoot - this is one I came up with. I have another one I'm going to do hopefully b4 the deadline too and pick the best one.

This one is CHALLENGING since most of her face is in shadow! Eek! I really do enjoy doing things in shadow though. Whenever I look at paintings in museums/galleries I am always drawn to the ones where the features are mostly in shadow and how subtle all the tones/color/values have to be to create the form of a face.

This is only 2 hours worth of work... so there's lots to fix but you can get the idea.

Her hoodie is white with all these pastels coming in what looks watercolor-y..

I was planning on hanging a carpenters balance weight from the string but now I think I'l tie it to her finger on her lower hand? not sure.

More to come!!!

Long & Skinny

I've had a setback with the framing on my lemon piece. I ordered 3 - 12 x 12 frames from Dick Blick in the Simplon frame like I usually do for standard sizes and all 3 have flaws. Specifically they all have spaces at the joints that show like cracks on the front of the frame. I think I would be better off purchasing the frame I buy for the non-standard sizes from pictureframes.com (Plein Aire). I'll do that soon so I can get it to the gallery.

In the meantime I am working on a new tall and skinny still-life. I did one in this format a while back that used the same handled bowl with a spoon in it. I really liked the blueish tints the bowl lended as well as the strange shadowy space of the small bowl. The angled spoon really helps move you through the tall composition as does the pattern of the holes on the lace. Actually in these tall and thin compositions it is really important to alternate the directions of everything that points this way or that - even the grain of the wood on the table had to be turned the right direction. In the end you sort of zig-zag through the piece like a ball in a pin ball machine. Relaxing right? ;-) I'm hoping to fnish this tomorrow so you can see the whole composition.

I made Linzer heart cookies recently which are an art form in itself... I love making pretty desserts - there is just something so satisfying about hand loved foods to share with your friends. & sometimes beauty just sneaks up on you... like the pattern left over from dusting sugar on my cookies. :-)