Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Beginnings

I love seeing other people's sketches for things, so thought I'd share some of mine.
These are the very first, first, first, rough, rough, rough idea sketches for a new project.

I love when its almost like you're doing 'automatic drawing' - you know, like automatic writing (not that I've ever done that) where you just let whatever wants to come out, come out.


How to stage things - 
Sometimes you see things in your head one way, then have to fiddle with it a bit to make it better.
Here I first "saw it" as the kitty looking in the cupboard from a 'straight on' back view with him standing on a little wooden stool, then decided a slight angle and a step stool were more interesting.


Here they're doing things to pass the time ~




The main task at hand ~



This is actually the first scene ~


Better not say too much more or I'll give it all away!

These obviously have a long way to go, but getting the first idea and gesture and staging is huge.
After that, the refining and finishing is a lot of work too, but I'm always relived to at least know what I'm going to draw.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Paula Drew This


Did you guess? Thanks to everyone who 'played' over on my Facebook page, and congrats to the winners who guessed it right (yes, there was more than one).

This was a lot of fun to do. I used more Polychromos than Luminance - the Luminance put down the first layers, then the Polys came in and did all the fussy work. Working on cream paper instead of white made sense for this. I don't know why I always automatically default to white or natural paper (maybe because I bought some big pads of it and its just 'there', ready to go.)

Actually, I have a little pad of 5 x 7 Stonehenge which has a handful of colors, and that's where this came from. I also have a pad of 8 x 8 square (which I completely forgot about -  I love when I unearth art supply treasures like that!).

When I first opened this box of crackers and decided what to draw, I then had to fish around to find all the letters. There were lots and lots and lots of 'E's and 'A's and other common letters, but no 'W' or 'D' to be found - until I got down to the bottom of the box. Phew! I had to wonder if someone in the factory actually sits there and counts out how many of each letter go into the box.

I have some ideas for other art I'd like to do with these. If I can keep from eating them before I draw them! Ah, well, there are more where these came from.
I wish they had numbers ...

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Cheesy Scrabble WIP



I found these Cheez-It Scrabble Tile Crackers in the store yesterday and of course HAD to buy them to draw. Right?

They're regular Cheez-Its with letters impressed in them. I love how they're not all perfect, and some are downright funky. (They all taste good though.)

I'm doing a little "Guess What I'm Drawing" thing over on my Facebook page. If you go there and leave a 'guess' as to what this spells out, you will be eligible to win a free print! I will be giving away a free print of this when its done to the first person who guesses correctly. (And yes, this is a thinly veiled ploy to get more people to visit my page - and all new "Likes" are very welcome!) 

I did this "Guess What I'm Drawing" thing with the last piece, the wasabi crackers, and someone guessed it pretty fast.

This one is 5 x 7 on Cream Stonehenge paper, done with Luminance and Polychromos.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

CPSA Awards

CPSA has the 19th Annual International Exhibition award winners up on their site.



Impressive, as always!
Congratulations to all the winners!!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Wasabi Nori Maki

(click to see this bigger)

I'm still here. Just going in about 47 directions is all, and haven't had anything I could post about. I'm excited about some new projects I have in development and am busy working on those.

Meanwhile, I needed to do a little piece just for me. This is part of my "Snack Crackers" series (remember the square cheese and round butter and other ones I did a while back?). These are Japanese wasabi nori maki crackers, or translated, wasabi crackers with seaweed wrapped around them. They pack quite a punch! If you like wasabi (that green stuff they serve with sushi) you will like these. Seaweed is really good for you, you know. Its packed with all kind of vitamins. And the wasabi will clear up your sinuses at the very least. All in all, a nice healthy, tasty snack.

This is 5 x 7 inches on Stonehenge. I used some Luminance along with Polychromos. I've finally warmed up to the Luminance pencils (I wasn't sure about them at first). I haven't received the Soho pencils yet  (from the last post). I ordered some other things with them, which are on backorder, so to get the free shipping deal I have to wait until everything is in stock. You know how that goes. So I'll give them a spin when they get here.

The CPSA convention is this weekend - can't wait to see who won what!

As I write this I'm listening to a blue jay squawk its fool head off at one of my cats out in the yard. Its been dive-bombing them, chasing them up onto the porch and through the cat door. Its a very brave bird, sitting on the porch railing, right there, just begging for one of them to pounce. My Phyllo caught a squawky black bird a couple of years ago who did the same thing. He dropped it on the kitchen floor as if to say "THERE. Took care of that!" So I'm just waiting ...

Back to the drawing board and my pencils. I have some other cool Japanese treats calling.

Monday, July 04, 2011

New brand of colored pencils


There are some new colored pencils in town ~ SoHo Urban Artist Professional Colored Pencils

Here's what Jerry's Artarama's site says about them:

Professional colored pencils developed to meet the demands of artists!
new
In developing their new line of artists' colored pencils, SoHo Urban Artist went directly to artists themselves to find out precisely what is needed in a high quality colored pencil today. Working from near unanimous requests, SoHo created a line of colored pencils that met or exceeded artists' requirements across the board!
Using highly pigmented, vibrant colors, every shade in the 72-color line has superior light resistance for brilliant and lasting works of art. The 3.8mm leads are securely glued into the hexagonal basswood casings, so the pencils sharpen easily and do not break. The smooth, buttery consistency ensures that each stroke glides across the paper, and multiple layers are made possible by the minimal hazing of these superb colors. Each pencil is lacquered seven times to a smooth, satin black finish, and the tips are dipped in corresponding colors for quick recognition. Produced in conjunction with Cretacolor of Austria, one of the world's oldest and most respected pencil manufacturers, SoHo Professional Colored Pencils are truly an artists' color: designed to last and developed with you in mind!


If you go to the page about them at Jerry's, there's a video and a few reviews. I'm confused because the guy in the video says they're wax based, but the reviews compare them to (my beloved) Polychromos, which are oil. So which is it?
The price is right, so I'm tempted. Like I need more colored pencils.
If anyone tries these, please leave a comment and tell me what you think!

**update - I ordered a set, so we shall see.