Derwent Coloursoft Tin

Okay so now for the big news. I've been waiting a long time to tell you all about this. Last year  Derwent   commissioned me to make a drawing that "may or may not" be used on their new Coloursoft tin. They wanted fruit on fabric - that's all I was really told.

 The big news is they decided to use it for the tin. I don't think the tin is out yet but a picture of it is on the Derwent website on the Coloursoft product page and it was spotted in a UK artist magazine ad (I'm not sure which one). It's interesting to see the actual artwork and how they cropped it and changed it up a bit to work on the tin. I think they did a fabulous job and I can't wait to see the tin in person!

Just for the other colored pencil nerds... I did the drawing with all Coloursofts on Fisher 400 paper.

Back to Autumn and portrait commission finished

Remember I said that the autumn still-life was put on hold? Well there was a little misunderstanding in the initial instructions which is a little humorous. I was told it should have some gourds, a jack-o-lantern in a white pitcher, a pumpkin, some chinese lanterns and maybe flowers. Well I did think the jack-o-lantern in a vase was a little odd... and soon found out it was supposed to be chinese lanterns in a pitcher! Too funny. I do like some of the compositions I came up with with a pumpkin in the pitcher though!

Anyway, the client lent me her majolica pitcher for the chinese lanterns and here is where I'm at. Actually I got a little further than this today but didn't take another photo.

& I have some good newsand some bad news... I am going to be able to work on this tomorrow and tentatively finish it... the bad news - I have the time towork on it tomorrow because my six year old has the flu and I can't go to work because I will be home with her. So I brought home my supplies and while she's vegging on the couch, I'll hopefully have this finished.

Below is my portrait tromp l'oeil comission. Its finished except for the okay from the client. Enjoy!

What I worked on during the open studio...

I like to work on portraits for demonstrations... because there is something magical about watching a face slowly appear from a piece of paper. So I did this portrait of my friend Maggie's son Will. She said I captured his smile well - so I am really happy. Getting the expression right is very important to me when doing a portrait. Its not getting it to look like "a smile" or "a scowl" etc that is important... its about getting an expression that the sitter would make. If you give them a smile they just don't make - then to the person's friends and family it won't look like them. You won't have a good likeness.

To be able to get the expression right, I rely very heavily on not just the features but how those features connect. If the corners of the mouth are up a little, for instance, the cheeks will be raised, as well as the lower eye lids.

On another note - I picked up copy of James Gurney's new book "Imaginative Realism" recently. I am a big fan of Dinotopia and his amazing blog where he shares loads of painting/illustration information. When I saw a listing for his book in an art magazine - I wanted it because I thought it could be helpful for teaching my kids at school for when they want to draw imaginary things... but boy is it a great book. First of all - it is eye candy.... which is a must have for art books in my opinion. If there aren't loads of good artwork to see in it, I don't want it. Next he puts it to the reader plain and simple - you have no doubt after looking at it that you will have to work hard to make a realistic imaginary thing... not only use creativity. You will need to do research, use models and perhaps even make models for imaginary creatures, etc. There is also just plain old good advice for painters in there too about composition, lighting etc.

I found the pages on what he calls "the windmill principle" really interesting. Actually you can read it on his blog... http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/04/windmill-principle.html

as well as flagging the head http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/05/flagging-head.html

Chocolate and wine

I don't usually post food on here... but since I spent HOURS making these for my daughter's class  Valentine's Day party tomorrow, I thought they deserved to be posted. They are chocolate ganache brownie sandwiches, obviously shaped like hearts and with some frosting in between the sandwiched brownies & no there are no extras!

Below is the drawing I worked on after Shannon. Its 6 x 18" on green pastelbord - a color I don't usually use, but my friend Gary Ruuska said it was his favorite color, so I gave it a go. It was great really - much better than the grey and without the speckle problems with the tan. 

Just a couple adjustments to go, then varnish, frame and delivery tomorrow!