Great Dane

graphite on paper

ACEO II

My second ACEO card (Artist Cards, Editions & Originals). The one rule is that an ACEO must be 2-1/2" x 3-1/2". The card can be any media, including collage. This card was created with a Sharpie marker & Derwent watersoluble pencils.

You can see more ACEO's here

Al & Dutchie

This is a drawing of my friend Alice with her sweet dog Dutchie who passed away. Alice is much prettier than I've drawn her (Dutchie too!).

Bellator

My second attempt at creating an ACEO. The original photo for this image was made by Linda Shantz, equine artist. This is Prismacolor & the image was taken into Photoshop Elements and changed to black & white for greater contrast. You can view this work and other responses to the photo at Virtual Party which is hosted by Kimberly Santini and Linda Shantz.

Bellator

This is my first attempt at doing an ACEO (Artist Cards Editions & Originals), which must be sized as 3-1/2" x 2-1/2". The image is for Virtual Party, an equine site that sets up challenges for artists. The original photo is by equine artist Linda Shantz. I wasn't too happy with this image, so I didn't send it. (Prismacolor on paper)

Day Two of Plein-Air

Yesterday, I worked on a larger canvas (14" x 11") & found that a little larger canvas works better for me, probably even larger would be better. Day two of Plein-Air oil painting went much better--at least I felt a little more comfortable once I got into the painting. The day was beautiful and the animals seemed happy to have us around, especially the little lamb that kept running around between us bleating for it's mommy. We realized that it wasn't lost from its mother; it just really liked being out among people and grazing on the other side of the fence. When I stated that I was concerned about my color, Peter said don't worry, it's not a legal document. That made sense--the color police aren't going be checking my painting against the acutual scene, so I need to be a little more confident & paint what I see--not what others see.

day one of plein-air painting

This image is from day one of my plein-air painting class with Peter Jones at La Tech University. This very small, 5" x 7", painting on canvas board was meant to be one of two or three quick studies. It turned out to be one frustrating, humbling experience trying to capture the light and colors of an overcast day. Peter says every stroke should count and each stroke should mean something, representing a specific part of the landscape. He also said that we shouldn't try to paint every little twig and leaf. At first, I spent a great deal of time "fussing" with too much detail. I finally settled down enough to simplify the values and shapes (that's a grazing sheep by the way). We'll see what this Thursday brings. Thank goodness Peter is patient and encouraging.

from the Linda Hardy workshop

This is a Prismacolor drawing that I almost completed (background & foreground are still in need of completing). It was an absolutely excellent workshop. Linda Hardy is a great teacher who gave us all many tips on the use of Prismacolor. Her favorite tip was "keep your pencil sharpened"! This 9"x7" drawing was developed to this point (no pun intended) after approximately 10-12 hours of intense drawing. Prismacolor is a slow, layering process but one that is very satisfying once completed. Linda Hardy has another workshop in Prismacolor coming up in early June 2010 in Texarkana. She'll demonstrate her technique of blending Prismacolor with a brush.

from the Bonnie Auten workshop

This is an image completed at the Bonnie Auten workshop in Plano, TX this past weekend. Great workshop. Bonnie is a wonderful instructor, and I learned a lot. The media is Caran d'Ache Neocolor soluble crayons combined with Derwit colored pencils on UArt paper.