One caramel done

This one is done, I think. Mostly. Maybe a tweak left, we'll see.

4 x 4 (weensy tiny, yes) - Polychromos on Stonehenge.

To review, its an espresso* caramel (*edit- no, its a ginger caramel) in a waxed paper sort of wrapper.

It was fun to build up the colors. They're really very dull, but of course I see a rainbow in there. The more you look, the more you see. I'm finding that I have an architectural, or kind of deconstructivist (is that a word?) approach to my work, breaking things down into shapes and analyzing each one, then building the whole from those littler parts. Maybe that's true for all colored pencil artists, or most, anyway.

Also, with the color, it depends on the time of day, and whether I'm using natural light or studio lights. I see it one way in natural light, then turn on my lamps and WHOA! will you look at that, there's a whole lot more color in there. So I do both.

I also always print out a grayscale version of my photo reference for values, and refer to that as well as my color photos. I tend to work 'light' and have to push to build things up to be dark enough.

Don't have much to blog about, really. Doing a couple of illustration assignments, so my days are full. The weather is unseasonably cool for August - in the 80's, when its usually 110. So I'm extremely grateful for that, and am not as cranky as I usually am this time of year!

American Artist has another cover competition coming up - the deadline is August 31st. I was hoping to enter, but not sure I'll make it. You can look at some of the recent entries online. Go look.

This is my newest studio-mate. My neighbor kitty, who comes and stays longer and longer, just a bit, every day. At least she still goes home at night, but she's here first thing in the morning for breakfast. And comes back later for supper. How can I resist?