flowers

Sunrise Tree for Twitter Art Exhibit 2023

Posted on by Yelena Shabrova
Good Morning – black ink and colored pencil, 7″ x 5″

Sent my 7″ x 5″ contribution off to Canada today. It is colored pencil and black ink on mixed media paper. It will benefit Urban Native Youth Association. UNYA has a philanthropic goal of $6 million to build the Native Youth Centre. Every contribution they receive will help them create a community of caring in support of Indigenous youth.

If you are in Vancouver, BC, or close enough to make a trip, here are the dates for the live TAE show at The Pipe Shop:

Opening Reception: June 24, 1-8 pm PDT
Exhibition Continues: June 25, 11 am-6 pm PDT

Please head to TAE’s RSVP page if you plan to attend either day.

Online Sale will be held Jun 26 – Jul 24, 2023, at https://www.twitterartexhibit.org/.

And no, I am not a sunrise person, so my knowledge of that time of the day is mostly theoretical. I was planning a sunset, but the drawing had its own idea, and I went with that. Arguments usually do not lead to a good result.

This year’s beneficiary of the Twitter Art Exhibit is Urban Native Youth Association.

We strive to empower Indigenous youth to make positive changes in their lives by offering a wide range of services, resources, and opportunities.


In everything we do here at UNYA, we take into account an understanding of trauma, aim to accept youth without judgment, and respect youth as experts in their own lives.

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Magnolias for Twitter Art Exhibit 2021

Posted on by Yelena Shabrova
Drawing of blossoming star magnolias. Flowers were done in white gel ink pen, branches and young leaves were done in black felt tip pen. Colored pencil was used for add pink to flowers, various greens to leaves, and earthy colors to branches. Background is a warm, slightly green shade of gray with visible small fiber parts in it.
Magnolia Melody ~ colored pencil and ink on toned gray paper, 12 x 16 cm

Got a word yesterday that my 12 x 16 cm drawing made it to the 10th Twitter Art Exhibit that this year is helping Horry County Disabilities & Special Needs.

The show was going to be held in Myrtle Beach, SC but is now in limbo due to the COVID-19 outbreak. I do hope that there still be an option to buy the cards online like in previous years, no matter what the fate of the live show. Then we still do good and all is as well as it can be.

Every volunteer who helped with the show is very much appreciated, as are many artists who sent in their little creations.

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Updated July 13th, 2021

My card for the Twitter Art Exhibit 2021 has been sold! The live one-day show happened later than originally placed, it happened the Cheltenham Racecourse and was a big success. There are still cards available at https://www.twitterartexhibit.org/shop. 100% of proceeds from TAE21 Postcards goes to The Leukaemia and Intensive Chemotherapy Fund – LINC. (http://www.lincfund.org/) 

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Nameless rose – work in progress

Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

This is my first experience with Polychromos, and I probably would not splurge on them if lovely people from the Campbell Artists’ Guild haven’t sent me a very generous Blick gift card for looking after their website. It’s too early to see where these pencils stand in comparison to other brands I’ve tried.

Updated June 24th, 2019

Current state of things with the rose.

I like working with Polychromos so far except for one thing. There are tiny particles in some leads that make scratching sounds and make it feel like paper is being actually scratched. There are no scratches though, I’ve checked for that. I know it’s not the paper because I drew on this Canson Bristol before without this effect. So far it’s been more of an annoyance than anything else, and it’s not ok for $4+ pencils do that.

The rose is still unnamed. I thought I would come up with a title by now, but no. Not even anything to use as a starter.

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Golden Lilies for the Twitter Art Exhibit

Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

Updated 6/6/17: My Golden Lilies are now coming back to their new (hopefully happy) US home because somebody saw them online and in their words, could not resist. Funny how art travels sometimes 🙂

Yelena Shabrova ~ Golden Lilies ~ gel pens on colored paper, 6.3 x 4.7 in (12 x 16 cm)
Golden Lilies ~ gel pens on colored paper, 6.3 x 4.7 in (12 x 16 cm)

An experiment with gel pens. It will be a part of the Twitter Art Exhibit that this year supports Molly Olly’s Wishes. Mailed it to UK today and hope it will get there safely.

This is my first semi-serious drawing in gel pens. I did sketches before, but they were line works, never pointillism. Turns out it’s more enjoyable to stipple, I just need to get a better grasp of color and opacity changes as gel inks dry and remembering how different pens interact when placed on top of each other.

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Forgotten flowers

Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

Yelena Shabrova ~ Forgotten Flowers ~ colored pencil, 3" x 5"
Forgotten Flowers ~ colored pencil, 3″ x 5″

It seems that the impending move to Oregon only leaves me time for quick sketches. My poor horse stays practically untouched since I defined main features of his face, several other serious drawings are also stuck at whatever stages they were when the decision was made.

Sorting out and getting rid of stuff (and now packing) is the exact opposite of fun, but sometimes nice discoveries happen. As I go through shelves of books I find all sorts of things in them: bookmarks made by kids, old postcards, images from copiers, and as of recently, dried flowers.

I am not even sure what kinds of flowers those are. They were very discolored, and as soon as I tied to remove them from a book promptly fell apart…

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Corinthian House Art Show 2014

Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

Corinthian House in Campbell has a new exhibit now, and several of may artworks are a part of it:

Yelena Shabrova ~ Plum Blossoms in Los Gatos Creek Park ~ Prismacolor colored pencil on Bristol paper, 16" x 20"
Plum Blossoms in Los Gatos Creek Park ~ Prismacolor colored pencil on Bristol paper, 16″ x 20″

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

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″

Corinthian house is located at 250 Budd Avenue, Campbell CA 95008.

The exhibit is open from 9:00am to 4:00pm, Monday through Friday till January 18, 2015.

The reception will be held on Sunday, December 7, 2014, 2 – 3:30 pm.

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Overlooked Beauty

Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

Yelena-Shabrova ~ Overlooked-Beauty ~ colored pencil on wood panel, 4" x 4"
Overlooked-Beauty ~ colored pencil on wood panel, 4″ x 4″ ~ $45.00

Lady’s smock (cuckoo flowers) are tiny and very unassuming when we walk past them or over them. Their beautiful purple, lilac, and whitish colors is about all that can be easily appreciated when they form a patch. I love shooting and drawing little things like these and then look closely at the shapes, lines, and colors that make them up and draw it all bigger than in real life.

This was my first attempt to use colored pencils on wood and do a three-dimensional piece. While it was an interesting experience spreading a drawing over more than one plane I think I will stick to my usual two dimensions. But I do want to continue experimenting with drawing on wood. It adds a unique glow that shines through pencilwork and makes it look quite different. I like that.

As it turned out, I need to be careful placing strokes over wood; the same color will look differently as wooden textures change over the board, as strokes are laid along the fibers, across them, or at an angle. And forget about scanning the finished piece. A lot of fine color details get lost along with the wonderful glowing effect of the wood.

The original is available in my Colored Pencil online gallery for $45.00

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Artist trading card exchange at CAG

Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

Yesterday at the meeting in the Campbell Artists’ Guild we had an artist trading card exchange. This is what I brought, they are my experiments with metal pens and markers combined with colored pencils:

artist trading card

artist trading card

artist trading card

And this is what I got in return:

Gudrun Baumeister - Sunset in the North Sea - watercolor 3.5" x 2.5"
Gudrun Baumeister – Sunset in the North Sea – watercolor 3.5″ x 2.5″

Barb Overholt - Golden Open acrylics, 3.5" x 2.5"
Barb Overholt – Golden Open acrylics, 3.5″ x 2.5″

Anne Olander - Zion National Park - acrylic, 3.5" x 2.5"
Anne Olander – Zion National Park – acrylic, 3.5″ x 2.5″

Pretty wonderful extra gifts for my Birthday! 🙂

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A growing… something

Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

A growing... something - digital art

I haven’t visited Harmony for a long time, not even sure why. It’s a great place to get unstuck (and I am stuck thoroughly with an abstract piece right now), to unwind after a stressful day, and to doodle away no matter what your circumstances are.

Harmony is perfectly capable of helping you make realistic art, but that I could do on my own, right? So for the most part me and Harmony create strange things like this one.

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“From the Heart” exhibit with FALC, 2/1/2009 till 2/28/2009

Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

Two artworks on display at Main Street Cafe as a part of the group exhibit “From the Heart” organized by Fine Art League of Cupertino: Plum Blossoms in Los Gatos Creek Park and a new one, Mom & Son.

The exhibit is from February 1 till February 28, 2009.

Reception: Thursday, February 12, 6-7:30pm

Address: 134 Main Street, Los Altos, CA 94022

Hours: Monday – Saturday: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday: 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Yelena Shabrova ~ Plum Blossoms in Los Gatos Creek Park ~ Prismacolor colored pencil on Bristol paper, 16" x 20"
Plum Blossoms in Los Gatos Creek Park ~ Prismacolor colored pencil on Bristol paper, 16″ x 20″

Mom & Son - charcoal on colored paper, 20" x 16"
Mom & Son – charcoal on colored paper, 20″ x 16″

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