pastel pencil, 4″ x 6″
Memories of Utah (pen and ink, 9″ x 12″) – in progress
Updates: March 14, 2010 | June 3, 2010 | September 5, 2010 | December 20, 2010 | January 10, 2011
One thing that I kind of miss from the times when kids were small is packing them into the car along with everything else and going places. About 10 years ago we did an especially long trip through Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Wisconsin, and the fondest memory for me were incredible rock formations that we never saw before. This piece is about Utah. It is not any particular place there, just something that makes me think of it. I am going to plant something below the towering cliff; not sure what it is going to be yet, and that slope at the right decided to be steeper than I wanted, leaving too little space for a tree… We’ll see.
Update June 3, 2010
SVOS and preparations to it kept me busy through the most of April and May, but I am now back to a somewhat normal drawing schedule. “Memories of Utah” are moving forward finally. I started to define rock formations. They will probably change somewhat as I make more progress with the cliff. Good thing this is not a depiction of any actual place and I am free to experiment and reshape rocks as I see fit 🙂
Update September 5, 2010
Finished almost all dark areas which are the most time consuming. The rest should go easier, provided I won’t catch a rock-reshaping bug again. I really need to refrain from doing that before I ruin the piece.
December 20, 2010
Ok, it’s been a while since the last update, but the rocks are almost done now. All that’s left is the ground below and the furs. There are going to be furs growing behind the slope. Shaping them is going to be as much fun as building the rocks. No, seriously, I have tons of reference photos for both, and not a single one looks like what I want, so for the most part this piece is coming from imagination that suggests dozens of different versions for every detail. That probably explains why it takes forever to finish it.
January 10, 2011
And it’s finally done. A few things I learned while working on this one:
- the same pitch black India ink will look paler if dispersed from a Rapidograph pen with a thicker point; size 7 produces the palest shade of black
- just because the paper is called Bristol, it does not mean that it will take kindly to puddles of ink that a hick point produces; the one I used, Bienfang smooth surface drawing Bristol, buckled slightly its surface became sensitive to applying more ink when I wanted to make the areas of flat black darker
- Rapidograph size 000 (0.25mm) is still my best friend, no matter the size of the artwork
I think that if I ever venture into the world of abstractions, and I really want to, rock formations are likely to be an intermediate step for me.
January 2 , 2011 sketch
I am on an ongoing search for a travel-friendly substitute for a Rapidograph pen. Not that anything bad ever happened to me, but every time I read a horror story about a Rapidograph exploding during the flight or staring to leak dues to a change of temperature in the car, I start to think that carrying one around is not a good idea. The problem is that each and every alternative is not black enough.
My latest find is a Tombow ABT one with a tip shaped like a brush. This, indeed, is very convenient, but the problem remains – it’s dark gray at best and requires more than one layer if I want black. So the quest for a truly dark pen that is not a Rapidograph continues.
Artists party 2010 at the KALEID Gallery
Yesterday KALEID celebrated the 4th year of it’s very temporary existence on the 4th Street in San Jose. I think we had fewer people than last year, but the party was very nice nonetheless. I didn’t see most of the artists since last December, and talking to them again was a real pleasure. Funny how we forget names but remember each others’ faces 🙂
Since we came early, I could take a good look at the Rockin’ Stockings art show. Each artist’s works were hung together, and stockings with artist names were painted on the wall under them. Very cute 🙂
Also, found an artist I don’t think I saw before: Megan M. Eckman of Studio M.M.E.. She has wonderful pen and ink illustrations in KALEID. There was another artist whose work looks like illustrations, all with unusual perspectives, but there was no name anywhere on the display. I know that there was an article about her (or him?) some time ago in the Phantom Galleries blog, but of course now I can’t find it. Why, oh why do artists make it difficult to locate their name?
The best part of the evening was of course the gift exchange. All gifts were unwrapped on the spot, so that we all could see what it was and who created each piece.
I finally ventured into the land of collages with my gift, but since I could not find about half of the paper I knew I had, the result was not exactly what I originally planned. Not sure if the original idea would survive anyway since paper was not tearing predictably and there was no telling up front how a particular type of paper would take colored pencil.
It was fun working on the collage anyway, and Keith Bunnell seemed to be happy with it. Keith is a Raku artist whose beautifully shaped and glazed mug I picked earlier that evening from under the Christmas tree.
Gift exchange is a random process, and Cherry even shuffled the gifts to make sure no one could tell which gift was brought by which artist. Keith and me were the only two who picked each others’ creations.
Flashes of memories – torn paper collage, 5″ x 7″
Raku mug by Keith Bunnell. You can’t tell it from the photo, but the mug is just as beautiful inside with random spots of black and dark earthy colors.
KALEID’s Rockin’ Stockings Show & Sale, 12/3/2010 till 12/30/2010
6 of my small originals are a part of the Rockin’ Stockings Show & Sale at the KALEID gallery. All of them are matted, framed, and carry special pricing for the gift giving season:
The show opens on the First Friday, December 3rd, 7pm-9pm and continues through December 30th.
All art can be taken home at the point of sale.
KALEID Gallery
88 South Fourth St. (at San Fernando)
Downtown San Jose
www.KALEIDGallery.com
The full list of participating artists:
Murphy Adams
Shannon Amidon
Tere Barbella
Mariana Barnes
Jessica Beerli
Christine Benjamin
Sandra Billingsley
Mike Borja
Lacey Bryant
Keith Bunnell
Tessa Cavazos
Jean Davis
Joe Decker
Emo
Cari Ferraro
Michael Foley
Katie Gutierrez
John Kurtyka
Rene Lorraine
Joshua Marcotte
David Mejia
Woody Miller
Mariya Milovidova
Gianfranco Paolozzi
John Paulson
Al Preciado
Blaise Rosenthal
Valerie Runningwolf
Kurtis Rykovich
San Jose Glass Artist Alliance
Centa Schumacher
Nora Schwaller
Yelena Shabrova
Kate Stewart
Subtotal
Sara Tomasello
Dorothy Whitman
Kathleen Wolf
Jeanne Yee
November 30, 2010 sketch
pastel pencil and ink on marble paper, 4" x 6"
I am not sure where I got this paper from, think it’s Michaels… There is no identifying wraps or labels for my stack, and I almost forgot I even had it, but whatever it is it provides a great background for quick sketches.
Longing for snow
Talked to my Dad on the phone yesterday – they have snow near Moscow already. We have rain, that’s good too, but snow would be so much better. Even a smell of snow would be wonderful. Since I can’t have that, I thought I would finish a snowy miniature that was lying around for way too long.
New art and upcoming holiday show and sale at the KALEID gallery
I made changes to my display at the KALEID gallery.
There are five smaller pieces on display now, three of them are at KALEID for the first time – Outburst, Fortitude, and Scinthia:
You will also see more miniature canvases and small matted original artworks.
The holidays are nearly here! To celebrate them, KALEID will hold a special show and sale that will open First Friday on December 3rd, 2010, 7pm – 10pm, and will be part of the First Fridays art walk.
Please see the KALEID web site for regular hours for the rest of the show and sale.
I am working on several 5″ x 7″ pieces for the show and will post pictures soon.
Trying out Stabilo Carbothello pastel pencils and a new fixative to protect the drawings. So far Stabilo Carbothello have been a pleasure to draw with, they are almost as soft as nu pastel sticks, but not nearly as messy as pastels.
October 20, 2010 sketch
graphite pencil, 4″ x 6″
I need to use this kind of funny looking mane in a more involved portrait of a foal. Not sure yet what it will be, but it deserves to be depicted in full detail.
Also, it pays to check what sort of lead is there in the mechanical pencil BEFORE you start drawing. That saves a lot of effort when you get to the darks. I forgot that soft over hard doesn’t quite work if you are looking for even darks, so had to continue with HB. Still wondering how it got into my pencil in the first place.
Silicon Valley Fall Fest Art Show 2010 – reception and awards ceremony
The juried Fall Fest Art Show 2010 had its opening reception and award ceremony yesterday. This year the show was back to the Quinlan Community Center, Cupertino Room that looks so much nicer and more inviting than a formal Community Hall.
My Outburst won the 3rd place in the Mixed and Dried Media category. The judge, George Rivera, commented on “Outburst: “Wonderful discovery! It drew me in. This piece has quiet poetry that continues to reward you. The positive and negative spaces together make it successful.”
Belinda Lima won the Best of the Show award for her “House Of Shoji.” I love that collage, so glad it received the highest award! Could not find the image anywhere online, or I would post it here. Congratulations to all other artists who won a place or an honorable mention!
Thank you everybody who stopped by, it was a pleasure to spend the evening with you chatting and admiring wonderful artworks by fellow FALC artists.
The show will still be open tomorrow, 10 am till 6 pm, if you didn’t have a chance to see it yet or know someone who may like to see it.
Reception at the Silicon Valley Fall Fest Art Show on Sept 24
September 11, 2010 sketch
charcoal, 6″ x 4″
I rarely miss the ocean and its chilling breezes, but today was certainly the day. Too much driving in a car that resembled a hot oven, too much walking and sitting in the sun for my liking. Lots of art activity is good indeed, I just wish the weather didn’t decide early in the morning to suddenly compensate for a cool summer.
Silicon Valley Fall Fest, 9/25/2010 till 9/26/2010
The Fine Arts League of Cupertino holds the 2010 juried Silicon Valley Fall Fest art show September 25-26. I will have three pieces in the show:
Juror – George Rivera, Curator at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara.
Reception and auction: September 24, 2010, 7 PM to 9 PM
Dates: September 25-26, 2010
Hours: 10 AM to 6 PM
Address: Quinlan Community Center, 10185 N. Stelling Rd, Cupertino, CA 95014 (map)
Rose Shenson Show at the Triton Museum of Art, 9/4/2010 till 10/3/2010
I will be showing 5 pieces as a part of the Campbell Artists’ Guild annual art show at the Rose Shenson Gallery from September 4 till October 3, 2010:
The show is open on Saturday and Sundays, 12 p.m – 4 p.m.
The reception with live music and refreshments is on September 11, 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Rose Shenson gallery is located behind the Triton Museum of Art, 1505 Warburton Ave., Santa Clara, CA 95050.