Newborn (foal head in colored pencil, 11″ x 14″)

Updated: September 12, 2014

Newborn won the Best Realism Award at the Fall Festival Art Show

Updated: August 29, 2014

And it’s done! I don’t think there is anything to add to it, but if I were to do this piece all over again I would approach it completely differently. It was a nice detour from fully realistic colors and a few purely technique-related things I usually use.

Yelena Shabrova ~ Newborn ~ Derwent colored pencil on Bienfang watercolor paper, 11" x 14", horse portrait
Newborn ~ Derwent colored pencil on Bienfang watercolor paper, 11″ x 14″

The original ($980.00), greeting cards, and prints are available in my online shop as a part of the “Colored Pencil” collection.

Updated: June 2, 2014

He looks more like a living creature now and almost ready for darks to be added. The white stripe will need some gentle work first.

Yelena Shabrova ~ Newborn, drawing of a foal head in progress ~ Derwent colored pencils on Bienfang watercolor paper, 11" x 14"

Updated: April 21, 2014

Well, it’s been a while since I started this portrait, several different small projects got in the way, but finally I am back to the little foal.

In the end, he won’t be nearly as colorful as right now (or at least I hope for that), but it will be interesting to see what bright violet and yellows will be able to add to regular coat colors.

Yelena Shabrova - Newborn, drawing of a foal head in progress - Derwent colored pencils on Bienfang watercolor paper, 11" x 14"

Original post: Jan 18, 2014

I think it’s been a terrible while since I drew a horse that fits on piece of paper bigger that 4″ x 6″. Time to change that, so here’s the beginning of a very young foal’s head. Because for some reason I chose rough Bienfang watercolor paper, it may take a while to build up colors in this one. And it’s not just rough, it’s somewhat slippery too. But we will see. So far it was mostly working on the background to get a better feel of the paper that is new to me before adding much detail to the foal.

Newborn, drawing in progress - Derwent colored pencils on Bienfang watercolor paper, 11" x 14"

“Truckee River” earned the 1st place at the Campbell Artists’ Guild 16th Annual Art Show

“Truckee River” earned the 1st place at the Campbell Artists’ Guild 16th Annual Art Show in the Drawing category.

Yelena Shabrova ~ Truckee River ~ colored pencil on colored paper, 9" x 6"
Truckee River ~ colored pencil on colored paper, 9″ x 6″

“This is a little gem. I like the composition very much, focusing as it does on a small pocket of water off the Truckee River. The colors are delicate and exquisite showing good variation and are very convincing.” ~ Jeff Bramschreiber, juror

We had a wonderful reception today, thank you everybody who made it to the Rose Shenson Gallery.

The show will stay open till August 31 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, 12 pm – 4 pm at the Triton Museum of Art, 1505 Warburton Ave, Santa Clara, California. Stop by if you are in the area, there is a lot of wonderful art to see.

Silicon Valley Fall Fest Art Show 2010 – reception and awards ceremony

Outburst - colored pencil on paper, 6
Outburst

colored pencil
6″ x 9″

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
Reception at the Silicon Valley Fall Fest Art Show on Sept 24

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:

Yelena Shabrova ~ Fortitude ~ Prismacolor colored pencil on drawing paper, 9" x 6"
Fortitude ~ Prismacolor colored pencil on drawing paper, , 9″ x 6″

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.