4″ x 6″, colored pencil *SOLD*
Another tiny canvas
3.5″ x 2.5″, colored pencil on canvas
I really like working that tiny. The stretched canvas make it easy to draw anywhere, without any support. A canvas and a few pencils fit into my smallest purse, and apparently a grip of a shopping cart is good enough to rest the canvas on when you stand in a long line (Costco has no equivalents of a “3 is a crowd” rule, and sometimes it can be a long wait). Drawing to the rescue.
Graduations show, 4/1/2010 till 6/30/2010
“Out of the Dark” will be on display at the Cupertino Library. The heme of the show is “Graduations.” It has been created in cooperation with the Fine Arts League of Cupertino and sponsored by the Cupertino Library Foundation.
Dates: April 1, 2010 – June 20, 2010.
Hours: Mon. – Thurs. 01:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Fri. – Sun. 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Address: 10800 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, California, 95014-3254
Experiment with colored pencils on canvas
Following up on my initial idea of trying colored pencils on a canvas, I bought a pack of 5 2.5″ x 3.5″ primed canvases in Aaron Brothers and started with the first canvas the same day. It’s a remarkable thing for me; usually it takes days, if not weeks, to progress from an idea to something material. Here is the result:
It’s doable! And I like the effect that the rough support gives to the drawing. It reminds me of heavy cold pressed watercolor paper. Just like with that paper, canvas is lead hungry. It gobbles up serious amounts of colored pencil in no time at all, and I had to sharpen pencils more often than with most types of paper. On a positive side, a canvas leaves more room for mixing colors. A few things that I didn’t like I was able to scratch off with a fingernail and cover with new layers. No ill effects of doing so; the canvas does not seem to wear out at all.
I still need to get a better grasp of the whole thing, but when i am through this pack of canvases I think I will move to a bigger size. My first ides that never came to fruition was to wrap cold pressed watercolor paper around the stretcher. I even bought the small stretcher, and that was it. Wetting the paper, stretching it, drying it, seeing if drawing on that was plausible, and dealing with a possible fail was too much trouble. I wonder why I didn’t think of the canvas back then.
Speaking of the packs: not a single one in the store had 5 more or less rectangular canvases. A common case was 2-3 arbitrary quadrangles per pack that just look bad, so ordering online is not an option. I do want to continue with these tiny drawings.
March 5, 2010 sketch
4″ x 6″, ink *SOLD*
This is a quick study for a horse head that will be done in pastel pencil. I like the shape of the head in the reference photo, but it lacks contrast terribly. And the horse is milky-gray which does not help 🙂 The sketch is my attempt to place the darks where I believe they should be.
January 20, 2010 sketch
4″ x 6″, colored pencil.
This is a rendering of one of my bokeh photos. I think colored pencils lend themselves nicely to this job.
“From the Heart” show with FALC, 2/1/2010 till 2/28/2010
Fortitude is a part of the 2010 From the Heart show at the Main Street Cafe and Books in Los Altos from February 1 till February 28.
The show features wonderful works of 36 members of the Fine Arts League of Cupertino.
Main Street Cafe and Books is located at 134 Main St., Los Altos, CA 94022 and is open Mon-Sat. 6:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sun. 7:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.:
Outburst – in progress
This one started out relatively smoothly until I realized that the background was anything but what I wanted it to be. Several attempts to solve the problem were unsuccessful, and for about a month I used every excuse to work on something else instead in hopes that the solution materializes in my head on its own. Before that happened, help came in the form of a demo by a very talented watercolorist, Terri Hill who gave a demo at FALC earlier this week. Just watching her do her magic got me out of the fog. The background is far from being finished, but at least we are moving again:
I am not sure how I ended up with the painterly background. It certainly was not a conscious decision, but I like the look:
Almost there:
Updated January 17, 2010
And I am going to call it done, nothing else to add to it:
January 6, 2010 sketch
4″ x 6″, pastel pencil, China marker *SOLD*
Today’s small discovery: China marker works way better as a highlight preserver than white charcoal or pastel (I made trunks and branches with it). Also, some Dervent pastel pencils of earthy variety act more like colored pencils then pastel. Since this sketch was done mainly by blending colors with a dry brush, the second discovery was not pleasant. Moral: test on scrap paper first (yeah, fresh idea, I know).
January 5, 2010 sketch
6″ x 4″, charcoal *SOLD*
I wanted to see how Prismacolor charcoal pencils will play with the mysterious cardstock that I got at Michaels long time ago. I say”mysterious” because the package is long gone, and I have no idea what the brand is. It turned out better than I expected – apparently, the paper is quite durable and allows for many layers of blending and crosshatching.
Krismas Party at KALEID Gallery
It was Cherri’s and Brian’s idea to gather KALEID artists, their friend and families together and help everyone put names to faces. That really worked out great while I was there, but now I look back and realize that in many cases all I remember is faces. Oh well, hopefully all I will need next time I walk by someone’s display there is to see the name and my memory supply the face.
It was so much nicer to walk around without hurry and take time to see who is doing what. When I come to make changes to my display there is never enough time for that.
The best part of the party was the gift exchange between artists. Every artist was asked to bring a wrapped artwork made for the occasion, and everyone got a tag with a number as they arrive and put their gifts under the Christmas tree. Then Cherri called the numbers one by one, and artists came to the tree and picked whatever they wanted. Note to self: come earlier next year. There will be more choices.
This was my gift, and it was picked by a horse person, Jessica Beerli:
Way cool. I had my doubts about making another horse – after all, not everyone would appreciate a gift like that. But since I was not in the mood for anything else, a horse it was. We had a nice chat with Jessica about almost everything after the gift exchange. I really like her portraits that she now has in the gallery.
And this is the gift I got:
Linda Ritter of Visual Confections made these pretty little ornaments. I should have the Christmas tree up tomorrow, and all three of them go right on it!
Graphite Pencil Drawing Tutorial: Female Eye
Graphite Pencil Drawing Tutorial: Female Eye
A step by step with large images. Yes, it’s photo realism that I am not crazy about, but there is something about that gaze that makes me want to take another look and then yet another one. I wonder: if the whole face was there, would the effect be lost?
Colored Pencil: The Only 4 Tips You Really Need
Colored Pencil: The Only 4 Tips You Really Need
All four tips are what works wonderfully for me: work slow, keep your pencils sharp (and may I add, if you don’t need sharp use Prismacolor art sticks), layer colors, work on colored paper. And the author is a Prismacolor person too 🙂
Colored Pencil: techniques & tutorial
It’s a very simple tutorial, but the final image is charming: Colored Pencil: techniques & tutorial
Reception and awards ceremony at the Fall Fest Art Show 2009
This Friday, September 18th, Fall Fest Art Show’s reception and award ceremony were held, and my Fortitude received Honorable Mention:
Something fascinating happened during the reception: Nava Attia-Benoit’s painting just happened to look like a gentleman who walked in. Not only the face, but the hat and shirt looked about the same! He was asking for the artist who did the portrait and was finally introduced to Nava who never met him before. What a surprise for both of them!
Congratulations to winners Kim Newell, Karen Mumford, Jim Burns, Nina Uppaluru, Nava Attia-Benoit, Nancy Near, Jane Kwant, Janki Chokshi, John Perez, Belinda Lima, Slava Shabrov, Grace Seidman, Yao-Pi Hsu, and others.
Many thanks to everyone who organized this show and helped to make it a success.
