Monday, April 26, 2010

Good news, bad news


Twix Mini, © Paula Pertile

Well, you wake up Monday morning, and you just never know.

First, the good news. I'm extremely pleased and honored to learn my Twix Mini colored pencil piece has been juried into the upcoming CPSA 18th International Exhibition. The level of talent in these shows is way off the chart, so to be accepted in is a big deal. My head isn't fitting through the door very well at the moment.

And of course life has a way of evening things out. I had an email from a long-time client telling me his magazine (who I do work for every month) has been sold, and that effective immediately, he and his entire staff are without jobs. And that I should stop work on the current assignment, since he won't be able to pay me for it. Geez. Good thing I had a cold this weekend and spent most of it in bed rather than working, like I'd planned. But seriously, what a blow. My heart goes out to all those people who got up and went to work today, only to learn they're out of a job. I hope they all land on their feet somehow.

Me, I'm planning more in my series of 'floating food' colored pencil pieces; am working on some children's book pieces; and am working on a new book dummy. I also need to work on my website, mailing lists, promo pieces, etc. etc. etc., the never-ending 'to do' list.

Right now I'm going to go pinch myself a few more times and make sure I'm really awake. And then start thinking about getting my Twix piece properly framed and all. And I may gloat a bit more.

Have a lovely week ~




Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Not From Around Here - WIP finished


"Not From Around Here" © Paula Pertile

I finished the tomatoes, as you can see. I had fun with this, and will be developing this whole idea more in future pieces. "This idea" being things floating, weight, levitation, that sort of thing. Not sure where I'm going with it exactly, but it will be fun to explore.

Its done with Polychromos and a wee bit of Prisma red, on Stonehenge paper. 11 x 17 inches.

I love that weird muted tint of pinkish mauve against the big heirloom tomato. I wasn't sure what I was going to do there. I knew I wanted something sort of grey or purple, but didn't decide on the value or exact hue until I had the tomatoes all done. Thankfully, the values work without color - I was concerned that it would be too close to the tomato value, and not read well.


And so now its onto something else. I need to finish up the kitties from a couple of posts back, and work on a book project.

See ya!

Monday, April 19, 2010

New WIP

© Paula Pertile


Here's what I'm working on. Its an heirloom tomato. Have you seen these? They're pretty wild looking. And they taste heavenly. This lovely specimen is not red, like the tomatoes you're probably used to. They're all some variety of yellows, greens and oranges, with a touch of red here and there, and they're each truly unique. Nature is amAZing.

I'm using Polychromos on Stonehenge. This needs more orange and an over all bumping up, but its getting there. The faint "polka dots" you see on the page are grape tomatoes. And that lovely grey bar along the bottom is from my scanner, which I didn't bother to crop off.

This piece is actually vertical, and 11 x 17. I've cut off the bottom half. The whole idea for this is something a little new for me, but finally something I can say is truly "me". I took about a hundred reference shots of these tomatoes, all posed in traditional ways, stacked up, with interesting lighting, in a paper bag, etc. etc. etc. Then slept on it, and had a moment of clarity when I realized that none of those was what I wanted to do.

I had a whole conversation with myself about why I'm afraid sometimes to do what I really want to with my art. Do you 'go there'? Its often tempting to do what you think people are expecting to see, or what will be well-received, or in more blunt terms, "what will sell". And in the end, what's the point of that? The point of making art like this is self expression, saying what you want to say, "not dying with your music still in you" to quote Joseph Campbell (at least I think it was him ... its likely he was quoting some ancient sage when he said that, my Philosophy 101 is rusty).

So anyway, now, I'm doing what I want to do, and am having a blast!

~~~~

Cool art -

© Vince Valdes, and /or The SF Chronicle

This is a property for sale in San Francisco. And this, specifically, is a mural gracing the stairway. How fabulous is this? I would love to know who the artist is.
(OK, you may not want this in your stairway, but framed and on a wall, yes? Well, I would.)

Back to work on my tomatoes. Hope you all have a lovely day.


Monday, April 05, 2010

Quiet

© Renata Liwska

I had a nice browse through the bookstore this weekend, and found this absolutely charming book. I like "quiet" things anyway, and the art on the cover was irresistible so I had to pick it up. The art throughout the book is witty and wonderfully executed. I love Miss Liwska's style - drawings, which are colored digitally. You can see more of her work on her website.

We had a yucky storm this weekend. I saw my neighbor's kids out trying to have an Easter egg hunt in the rain. When I was a kid it rained one Easter and the folks just hid them in the house. They always claimed there was one egg that was never found, but I think that's a bit of lore, because it would have smelled up the place pretty good at some point, don't you think?

Anyway. Its Monday, and back to work for me. See ya!