Bb is Bigger and Better

But before we get to that, BB is also for back breaking. I have an excellent studio set up which allows me to sit or stand when I work, but this month of colored pencil is killing me. My back is still, I know I am bending my neck too far forward, but no matter how I position myself to start, as I begin to concentrate, I am soon in one or another achy position. How DO artists work in small detail without turning themselves into pretzels? I'd really like to know.


Meanwhile, the work is coming along. This is the completion of yesterday's colored pencil on sand paper abstract. The photo is not quite right, but in person, ...

8x10. Bigger, better? Beautiful?

Aa is for Abstract Art

Today's art was inspired by yesterday's Roller Coaster and a question on a Colored Pencil artists page I follow. "Does anyone do abstracts in colored pencil?" I do - and this proves yet again that I am far more comfortable working in abstract - playing with color and shapes - than I am trying to make something that looks exactly like something.

Anyway, this is part of a larger piece  - on black sand paper. The colors and rich texture make this a pleasure to work on.

Z is for Zoom

The idea for this came from a student- lets draw a roller coaster. So we did.                                      Mine is made with Prismacolor penils on sandpaper - the cheap stuff from Home Depot. Though it eats colors like crazy the colors  ZOOM off the page. This piece will be in my upcoming sale at Multnomah Arts Center 

Y is for Yellow again

These holiday flowers were too lovely to ignore. So today, this photo said - YES - share sunshine and keep it fresh. But first, experiment with a few filters to make me even lovelier.

Now the flowers are talking to me ...

WX is for What neXt

Its been a busy and delicious few days - lots to be thankful for this year - but little time for art.

This piece started in Art Rage on my phone and moved into Photoshop for a (photo) finish.

Its just something so that I will not feel guilty about not posting anything, and the colors are nice.

V for Vermillion

And very little time. I am teaching Art of Fashion today - with a focus on using to express feelings and style. I drew this lovely dress colored in a lively green. Her accessories are complementary colors - including vermillion - a warm deep red.

Happy Thanksgiving one and all. I need to go cook before I teach.

U is for Unexpected

I found this city scene drawing among a pile of unfinished work. It called out for color pencil. I kept it light and layered color with sunset and atmospheric perspective in mind. Then, to experiment with possible background colors I opened it with Photoshop. Just a few contrast and brightness tweaks and some on screen paint touch-ups brought me to this totally unexpected result. I am amazed with the things that can happen with colored pencils.

T is for Tickle

Today's piece is a practice - trying to use color pencil with delicacy to create layers of color. As I worked I kept thinking I was tickling the paper to create transitions from one color to the next and get the results I wanted.

Though the photo does not capture this particularly well, I love the depth of colors that were achieved.  Easy and fun and very relaxing.

S is for Something Sunny

I needed something cheery today. I've drawn this image several times.  I love the shapes, the colors and the memory of the great weekend visit to Denver and the Botanical Gardens there to brighten my day.

R for Rolling Surf

I had time today to get to the color pencil experiment I've been thinking about, I found some black Artigan paper. I wanted to explore the pencils on the smooth black surface.

I began with color sticks and was able to create some of the energy of the water. Layering white over yellow and pale cerulean blue created strong bright lights. In spite of the background color I had to lay down several blue layers to get the darks light enough to balance the darks

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Q is for Quibble

Conversation in Color Pencil class yesterday turned to the question of What is Art. Must it be done completely by hand. Where do photos and digital tools fit into the equation?

This image is part of a photo I took, I edited, I cropped and I worked with the create the feeling of the Color Pencil drawings I am currently working on. It is easier to do (for me) than drawing every stroke by hand, but the results are exactly what I envision - and it is a fine model of the work I will do today - with pencils in hand. so ...

P is for Pretty

And the power of Photoshop.

Its been a busy week making art, teaching art, planning art and prepping for a sale. So, today, I need time to play. This image is a pink rose which I decided needed a better background. Several filters later I arrived at this.

This image reminds me of a portrait - no longer pink, but so pretty.

O is for One More

The last butterfly was drawn on dark green paper. This one is on bright pink. It was interesting to see the different effects created by the background color as well as the different color choices I needed o make in order to get this image to pop. In both, I really like the rich texture I achieved, and a certain luminous quality.

We tried this in my senior class with wonderful result - easy to work with materials, simple design = fun and success for all. Also, a little lesson in symmetry.

Irene M

N is for New (and Unexpected)

Caran D'ache Neocolor Watersoluble Crayons (or French crayons as they are known by my kid students) are some of my favorite and most used teaching materials.

They are as easy to use as crayons, vibrant enough to be seen by even some of my vision challenged seniors, and when water is added, create beautiful deep colors that enhance any image..

I have written about them often because they are so versatile and so lovely.

The other day, developing an idea for a project, the only thing at hand

to draw on was a piece of construction paper, and my French crayons. I planned to rough out a butterfly sketch - but when I put the crayon to the rough texture of the school grade paper, magic happened. Depth of color, texture, almost painterly in its richness. No water, just layers of color. Easy, unexpected and a whole new way to use an old favorite.

M is for (What a) Mess

I started out with the intention of using color pencil to copy/draw a landscape - or in my case, a seascape. What I got was a trip through a mess to find ... something.

Utilizing a technique I learned in class, I printed the image to size and laid it atop my Strathmore Colored Pencil paper (which I think is a pleasure to draw on.)

Using a sharp pencil I "embossed" my main lines into the paper below. Then I began to layer color- I faced a large blank expanse and a tiny pencil tip. Sigh.

I collect art supplies at garage sales. Recently I acquired colored pencil sticks - with no box and no words on them. I also have some colored Conte crayon. They, and/or something else I can't recognize, all seemed to have ended up in the same little flat cigar tin during a mass studio clean up.  I selected a perfectly matched palette from the box, and started to color. 

Now - my problem is, that I cannot seem to make myself duplicate an image. I've done that - many times in the past, but now I want to be able to use this medium to make the images I want - and build my skills.

Yet, I start with the best intentions and quickly hate the image on my page. Then I discover that some of my sticks are pastels - they went on so nice, and some were hard crayon and a few were soft waxy crayons. But I used them as they came to hand to lay down the under colors. However, the color pencil effect was lost and another - something - was appearing.

This is the second time in two days that a carefully planned, copy from a photo project has turned into doing what I often seem to do when I make art of any kind, create a mysterious place. By now, I was so far away from where I started that I said, what the hell, and started messing around, adding little houses, changing the landscape - finding a place, but staying to the gorgeous color palette and feel of the original photo.

I feel like I've taken a step forward today ... 

K is for Keeping at It

I should not be surprised, but working in colored pencil is slow and painstaking. This week the focus is on landscapes. I started out by trying to copy a picture of a scene. I immediately failed because the image I chose, though beautiful, did not lend itself to color pencil or the paper I chose. However, there were shapes and colors that inspired me - so I took what I liked and left the rest.

I suppose this means that the drawing I created is an abstract image. Of course abstract landscapes are often what appears when I take a line for a walk - or otherwise draw freely - so this was like coming
in the backdoor to a familiar place with suddenly new rules and challenges.

This is still very much in progress - especially because I am trying to build color by blending layers and without adding lines for texture.  Its an interesting process and I will continue to work on this.

Keep on keeping on.

J is for Jasmine (and other beautiful colors)

When I learn something new I like to practice. As I work with colored pencils I am intrigued by the different textures that can be created. I love the way color can be blended together softly and subtly (in direct contrast to my usual brash and bold applications.)

Today's piece is just a line to create shapes on the page so that I could practice applying color with a light touch. I chose a warm, analogous palette, from red to Spanish orange to pink to jasmine to  purple and applied them gently - just rubbing them in. Misty and quiet - and very relaxing to do.

I is for In for the Night

This landscape is in chalk pastel on dark blue Canson MiTiente paper.  

Somehow as I worked, the image turned icy cold. Even the moon became wintry and reflected its chill onto the water.

No one is outside in this dreary wintry scene - except the moon. I am no fan of winter - and this image reflects my feelings.

However, it was fun to let the colors turn cool and the houses grow dark so that everyone is asleep in their cozy beds. I hope ...

H is for Half and Half

Half drawing half digital that is.

I have spent the better part of this afternoon using color pencil to design these flowers - and there are still plenty more of them on the full drawing to go. Color pencil is slow ....too slow for me I think - but they are fun in their own way, and I am discovering interesting things as I build the colors and add in lines. I am especially interested in the transparency that allows one layer to show through another.

The other half of this project is digital - trying out different filters on my IPhone is my reward for patiently futzing around with these flowers when markers or Caran D'ache or anything would be faster. Still I persist.

I cropped these flowers from the bouquet and filtered around til I came to this.  I love the way the colors are working.

G is for Grape Leaf

I'm taking a Color Pencil class at Multnomah Arts Center with the delightful Jane Gallen Lipton.

This week's assignment focused on using color to draw leaves four ways. After class I headed across town to my daughter's home where I saw this leaf hanging from her grape vine.

I photographed it, and dried it flat in my notebook. Then I drew it - striving to build the colors with color pencil  - only a few - building from dark to light, showing the pattern, and keeping the contrast.

I think I succeeded in capturing this leaf.