February

Sorry I've been MIA for so long. Having lung issues again among other things this winter and I haven't felt at all creative. I'm so tired of opening my blog to see the New Years clipart so I'm posting a couple colored pencil portraits I did about 6-7 years ago. I was asked to join a 5 day challenge on Facebook recently so I dug these out of some old files to honor that challenge. The goal was to post 3 pieces of artwork every day for 5 days. Each day another artist had to be named to do same and so on. It caught on and produced a steady stream of fabulous work in the FB newsfeed which is still running! I enjoyed participating and got to discover some talent I may never have otherwise.  

Gizmo the Cat

I couldn't resist...I brought out her inner lion.

If there's anything harder than photographing a black cat it's photographing a pastel or colored pencil piece on a black background. }:( This pencil painting is of Gizmo, my youngest cat who I have tried many times to photograph without success. She's all black and her fur just 'eats' light. She hates the camera and usually scowls when I point it in her direction but I got lucky the other night and managed to snap a halfway decent pose that I felt I could work with. I posted earlier, then took it down because I noticed the perspective was off on the flooring in the background. After correcting the problem I can NOT get another acceptable photo of this piece so I'm posting what I have, warts and all. If I can get an acceptable photo later I will repost.

This is done on black Artagain with Prismacolor colored pencils.

Cardooning

I'm really enjoying using Linda Kemp's method of prepping w/c paper. No tape, no staples...just wet the paper liberally on both sides with a clean brush and water and place on Plexiglass. Voila!

I prepped a small (5"x 8") piece of #140 Fabriano Uno and dropped on some thick juicy Phthalo turquoise, Quin. rose and Cerulean blue. The paint fanned out beautifully into some lovely patterns. I got a nice violet from this palette and added a smidgeon of perm. yellow to make an interesting green. Some Indanthrene blue may have gotten into the mix because I haven't been bothering to clean my palette lately. I've been playing fast and loose with the attitude that whatever happens...happens.

I then let this dry completely and came back to see what I could see in the paint and what I saw were cardoons. A nice little cluster of three...one large in the forefront, one in back and another smaller one to the right and down. I then decided to use colored pencil to further define the shapes.

I've been admiring Vivien Blackburn's recent sketches of cardoons on her blog and we seem to share a love of thistle-like plants. Vivien works plein air and I love her expressive style and bold approach to her subjects. Please check out Vivien's blog on my blog list.