Art In the Park, Coloursoft Tins arrived, New School Year, the Hurricane

Well I have been busy, busy, busy so this blog post will just cover everything. I'm sitting here this morning right in tropical storm Irene's path (it has been downgraded) waiting for the electricity to go off so I figured it was now or never for this post. 

That little red pointer is my house and that blue line is the projected "center" path. Considering that the storm is a couple hundred miles wide, I think we will be getting hit. & actually we just got some of the first big gusts. I'm beginning to not like trees. 

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you may have read that my artwork was commissioned to be on the new boxes of Coloursoft pencils. Well I just got some in the mail! They are not in the US stores yet as far as I know (not at mine), but should be soon. I need to send a bunch of little elves in to buy up the old boxes so they can be replaced!  Derwent contacted me to submit a design because of this blog and Facebook - so if you are wondering if you should start an art blog - start one now. :-)

This was the original drawing that I sent to Derwent sitting on an easel. It was done in all Coloursofts (of course) on Fisher 400 paper that Creative Encounters mounted on Gatorboard. 

So this has been a busy couple of weeks - last week was meetings at school and readying the classroom for a new year. I've gotten my room and assignments so much better organized - I hope it will make for a happy year. Then the last couple of days I've been getting ready for the hurricane. 

Tuesday school starts and then Saturday and Sunday next week is the annual Art in the Park fair in Keene at Ashuelot Park. I hope it doesn't flood too bad and the show can go as planned next week. I have loads of artwork to display this year including my 3 new juice still-lifes and my 2 new Harry Potter inspired ones. I have a new tent and finally have enough display walls to fill it. If you have time, come and see me! Its a really great fair with over 80 artists in a beautiful park (that is right next to a Starbucks, win, win). 

Now I better log off. 

Moo Cards

I used to get postcards from Vistaprint and more recently business cards. I like the photo business cards better than postcards because I can carry them with me all the time in my wallet and give them out when a conversation about my art comes up. Although postcards are great, you can't carry them in your purse without them getting dogeared.

I started using Vistaprint because of their "free" deals that are always advertised on the web, but I have become increasingly disgusted with their business practices. If you don't watch every pre-checked box on the multiple offer pages you have to click through to check out, you risk being signed up for a "club" that automatically takes the $50  membership free from your credit card account. 

So after seeing my friend's mini moo cards I decided to try out www.moocards.com. Instead of making their money on seedy business practices, their business seems to be based on good design and quality cardstock. They also allow you to have several images printed in one box of  business cards. So as you can see above I paid for one box, but I made three designs. I just made my designs in photoshop using their template in a layer to make sure the bleed was right, and then uploaded the .jpg. 

I'm really happy with the quality of the cards/cardstock and definitely would recommended them. They may be more expensive than places like Vistaprint, but they seem to be committed to the product rather than the con. They also have a first time customer deal : http://moo.com/share/b8yqqc

If anyone wants one of new business cards - just send me an email at nicolecaulfield@gmail.com and I will pop one in the mail. If you want a specific design from above let me know or I will pick one randomly. 

Apples 4 Ways

Apples 4 Ways

6" x 18" Coloursofts on Pastelbord

What a week... but I managed to get my last juice drawing finished. 

I started the drawing (like the others) with my focal point: the glass of juice. I've often heard the advice of doing the focal point last, but I can't seem to work that way. I like starting with the focal point because it is the star and I want it to have the most contrast and the most detail of the composition. If I do it first I can draw the other elements in a way to support that focal point, possibly with less detail and contrast. So I started with the glass and then I worked my way left to right just so I wouldn't smudge much. You can see how the details of the cloth in the back is the most "unfinished" because it is just there as a supporting element and I didn't want to call attention to it (although I am in this blog post right now, aren't I?). 

& below is them all together. They work pretty well I think! AND as an art teacher I can't help but like the analogous color grouping.  

Lemonade

Lemonade

6" x 18"

Coloursofts on Pastelbord

I decided to play with 

the reflections on the tabletop more with this one. They seemed to go with the more sparkly glass of lemonade. To create the reflective white surface I placed my objects on a  white pastelbord that was still wrapped in its protective plastic wrap coating. The plastic makes a great surface for reflections and with the many colors of Pastelbord there are many colors to choose from.

The other two glasses in this set have grapes on one and apples on the other. I need to make another trip to the grocery store to work on the next one!

Fresh OJ

Fresh OJ

6" x 18"

Coloursofts on Pastelbord

I'm terribly happy with this one.  I am happy with it technique-wise, not because my technique is perfect, but because it does those little things that realists love doing. I love the hidden half of an orange behind the squeezed one on the left... the way it is nestled in a weird dark space that I created. I am also very happy with the hints of glow in the piece (not only Kinkade enjoys capturing light). That is something that if you try to plan for - it doesn't happen. It happens by setting the lighting and objects in such a way that you get pockets of glow as well as being able to draw/paint them to work right. In this picture I managed to get the little fruit glass of juice in just the right light to see that yellow orangey glow in the middle as well as in the flesh of the fruit slices. 

I am also happy with this piece for the mood/image it displays. I have been guilty of looking at contemporary realist artwork and complaining that it is all well done, but "geez what century was it made in!?"  Not only do the techniques harken back to the 19th century but so do the objects, arrangement and lighting. One thing that I have tried to do with my still-lifes is try to make them look up to date. I think this piece really achieves that with its graphic black and white backdrop and boldly lit colourful objects. 

I have 3 more of these fruit glasses that are reminiscent of jelly jars - each with a different fruit on it. I plan on making more of these before school gets back to have ready for Art in the Park in Keene in the beginning of September as well as the upcoming Fall Foliage Art Studio Tour coming right after.