End of Day series – how it was created

“End of Day” is a short series of three 6″ x 6″ drawings on clear gessoed wood created for the 6x6x6 Community Art Show at the Alberta Street Gallery. As it often happens, small format lends itself nicely to experiments, and the main thing I wanted to find out here was how well multiple layers of colored pencil on a primed wooden panel would accept ink.

The answer is: not really well if it is a felt tip pen, better if the tip is a soft brush, but an actual brush dipped into India ink is the easiest way. Really, should’ve used a brush or at least a brush pen from the beginning, but I wanted to exhaust all available pen options first. And no, this is not an exaggeration: I went through dozens of different pen brands before one finally sort of worked.

It may be that I didn’t sand the clear gesso enough and that made the texture get in the way of pens. I am going to try the same combination of colored pencils and black pen on clear wood to be sure.

“Improbable Dreams of a Tree” goes to the HIP 2B Square show

Yelena Shabrova ~ Improbable Dreams of a Tree ~ colored pencil on primed wood panel, 12" x 12"
Improbable Dreams of a Tree ~ colored pencil on primed wood panel, 12″ x 12″

Delivered my latest drawing to the Sequoia Gallery today. It is for the HIP 2B Square show that benefits this nice and cozy cooperative gallery and its artist studios. The show opens on April 2nd with a reception and award announcements and runs through May 3.

Sequoia Gallery is located at 136 SE 3rd Avenue, Hillsboro, OR 97123. Hours: Tuesday – Saturday from 10 am – 5 pm.

The gallery provided an option of a 12″ x 12″ Blick canvas or primed and cradled wood panel, and I chose the panel.

After the fiasco with an Ampersand panel it was interesting to try something different. To my delight, the texture of the gessoed wooden surface was strong but pretty even and was almost as easy to work with as good textured paper. I will do more with it, just maybe without cradles. Not a big fan of working edges of those things.

Updated on April 4, 2019

Artist trading card exchange at CAG – fall 2014

As usual, the ATC exchange at CAG today was a lot of fun. Here are my contributions to the event:

Yelena Shabrova ~ rocks in the mist - ATC ~ colored pencil, 2.5" x 3.5"
rocks in the mist – ATC ~ colored pencil, 2.5″ x 3.5″

Yelena Shabrova ~ last leaves - ATC ~ colored pencil, 2.5" x 3.5"
last leaves – ATC ~ colored pencil, 2.5″ x 3.5″

Yelena Shabrova ~ marsh after sunset - ATC ~ colored pencil, 3.5" x 2.5"
marsh after sunset – ATC ~ colored pencil, 3.5″ x 2.5″

Yelena Shabrova ~ sunset - ATC ~ colored pencil, 3.5" x 2.5"
sunset – ATC ~ colored pencil, 3.5″ x 2.5″

I love how the fall edition of the ATC exchange happens around my Birthday. This year it’s on a day before, so I got four early Birthday gifts:

Dianne Daly ~ Persimmons in the Snow ~ watercolor
Dianne Daly ~ Persimmons in the Snow ~ watercolor

Dianne Daly ~ Persimmon ~ watercolor
Dianne Daly ~ Persimmon ~ watercolor

Gudrun Baumeister ~ Teachers Apple ~ watercolor
Gudrun Baumeister ~ Teachers Apple ~ watercolor

Karen Franzenburg ~ oil pastel
Karen Franzenburg ~ oil pastel

A sketch a day: striped sunset

Yelena Shabrova ~ A sketch a day: striped sunset  ~ ink and Koh-I-Noor oil chalks, 6" x 4"
A sketch a day: striped sunset ~ ink and Koh-I-Noor oil chalks, 6″ x 4″

I had a different look and feel in mind when I started this sketch, and to add to that I grabbed some odd oil chalks (not even sure what that might be, it feels like something between a wax based colored pencil and an oil pastel stick) instead of normal pastels for coloring. The result is a complete accident.

River of Light

This is another piece in the “small landscapes” series that was started long time ago, survived a two year interruption, and is finally getting done. It’s always difficult to pick the pencils again when you almost don’t remember what you had in mind in the beginning. But as a nice exception to the rule, this little drawing was finished relatively easily. It was almost all about playing with colors and almost no struggling through the process.

The first piece in the series was Open Space, and if all goes well there will be three more.

The original ($140.00), greeting cards, and prints are available in my Pastel Pencil online gallery.