On my Easel

Here is my latest piece. This is a male brown pelican during mating season. They turn a brilliant shade of blue. I worked from a photograph taken by one of my students in Florida. The piece is approximately 5x10 and is done in pastels.

PRESENTING........

Gingerfred Astaire and The Sugarplum Fairy!!!!

Town and Country Decorative Painters held their annual basket luncheon on Sunday. This year the theme was Parade of the Gingerbread Men. The centerpieces were 10-inch tall gingerbread man cutouts. I created Gingerfred and Sugarplum. I wanted to do something a little different.

Chambersburg Arts Council Show

I got a letter yesterday telling me that one of the pieces I submitted was juried into the annual Miniature Show sponsored by the Arts Council in Chambersburg, PA. I have been honored to have at least one piece selected for the show every year for the last several years. I am especially pleased with this piece. "Lily" is a graphite rendering of my friends' cat. The show runs from the beginning of November through the end of the year at the Arts Council offices in downtown Chambersburg.

Lily
graphite on paper, 3.5x3.5

Something new on my easel

I just got started on a new project. I am only as far as the rough sketch and I haven't even made any final decisions about what medium I will use. He may be colored pencil, perhaps charcoal or graphite, or maybe even pastel. This is a basket vendor from Colonial Williamsburg. Our CWF interpretor is carrying at least 30 baskets of all different sizes and shapes. While it had to be a challenge for him to walk through town, it will be a huge challenge to render him and his wares. The origianl photograph shows wonderful shadow patterns. Watch for progress. This will be a project for the long winter months ahead.

Signs of Fall

This little guy is rendered using Derwent Graphitint pencils. These are graphite pencils with a hint of color. They have a pretty smooth laydown like graphite and they are nicely blendable. The 24 colors are all earth tones and are pretty subtle. I used about 5 different pencils in this piece, all various shades of brown plus black. These pencils can be used dry like regular graphite pencils, but they are also water soluble. In this piece, the squirrel is done using traditional graphite pencil techniques. The leaves were dampened after they were colored. The water brightens the color of the pencils a bit. For the background, I made a powder of two of the pencils (in two separate containers) by grinding them in a fine mesh tea strainer. Then I applied the powder with a stiff brush.

Another ribbon in my collection!

I picked up my work from the Cranberry Festival Art Show today and found a ribbon attached to my little portrait of Gus. Gus took 3rd place in the Adult Division. I am very pleased. The portrait is approximately 2.5x3.5 inches and is rendered in colored pencil on Stonhenge paper. Gus is now on his way to the Annual Miniature Show in Chambersburg, PA.

On the road, again!

After staying home for a whole three days, I headed out again on Friday to take a seminar with Sandy Scales sponsored by Town and Country Decorative Painters. Sandy teaches projects designed by Maureen McNaughton. I took two of the three days of classes and came away with two lovely projects. I will never be an enthusiastic stroke work painter, but I am certainly glad I took the classes and I did learn a thing or two. So here are my projects. The violets are painted on a wooden tray. It needs to have the handles attached to finish it off. The Autumn bouquet is painted on a metal tray/plate with a filigree edge. I painted the lacy edge with DecoArt Traditions Gold using a very light touch so that it mostly just hit the high points of the design.