DRAWING OF KESTREL IN INK

Hubby's favorite bird is the Kestrel.  I love the markings that are so distinctive on this tiny hawk, and the large dark eyes.  I used a variety of pens to draw this piece, and have got an urge to paint this beautiful face on a large canvas.  I was able to see some Kestral young at the animal rescue place last month, but I need to find a way to really study the grown bird.  They love to sit on electrical wires hovering over the cotton fields in our area, but they are hard to see close up.  I will have to look for an aviary somewhere nearby...possibly Memphis.  I wonder if the iris is visible, or their eye is all black...it is details like that, that give credibility to my art.  I don't want to get any details wrong!  So much pressure!

FIELD SPARROW INK SKETCH

You know you are becoming a 'real' artist when you feel the need to pack more art supplies than clothes for a short vacation!  Hubby and I took off for a few days at the casino (we're not much on gambling, but the paddleboat rides down the Mississippi River are great, and the hotel was $29 a night in the hopes that we would gamble away our life savings!!!) anyway...I spent more time making sure that I had the right art pens, and a few watercolors than deciding what to bring to wear.  This is a field sparrow.  He perched outside my window several times in the hopes of catching a bug.  I relocated him to a bit of field grass to put him into perspective, and slightly changed his leg positions for some interest and movement.  I think his beak is slightly too big, but none of us are perfect...  Maybe he inherited his nose from his mum!

LEAF JOURNAL DRAWINGS 2

Returning again to the leaf journal, I did a combination of things for the elm leaf.  I did a rubbing, watercolored it, and added line work to bring out all of its interesting features.  I think that it is the most interesting of all of the leaves, and I remember working on it at the picnic table in front of the cabin, enjoying the cool breeze and a cup of hot tea!

The pin oak was fun, as I simply lay the leaf onto the paper and used a toothbrush to flick several colors of paint across it, making it a stencil.  The painting got rather out of hand, as all of us were enjoying the process to the point of flinging the paint on each other...rather a bonding moment! 

The dogwood leaves were painted with thickened watercolor, and then pressed onto the paper.  It is a real challenge getting just the right amount of paint, so that it highlighted the veins and outlines of the leaves.  You can paint your interpretation of a leaf in a painting, but the real thing is amazing to see!

And finally, the post oak.  We scrounged a can of spray paint from the owner of the cabins, and chose leaves with a lot of chewed out holes and character for this stencil option.  The real challenge? getting the leaf to stay in one place when we directed the spray at it!  I am so pleased that I kept this old journal.  Memories came flooding back, of good times and wonderful women.  The experience has helped to make me the artist I am today.

LEAF JOURNAL DRAWINGS

 I was cleaning out in my studio this week, and ran across some old leaf journal projects that I did on a women's retreat several years ago.  Looking at them brought back some wonderful memories.  We were trying to connect with nature, and find a place for ourselves in this world.  Leaves seemed to be the perfect solution, as it was fall in the Ozarks when we got together.  We stayed in a cabin by a lake, and listened to the wind in the trees, the loons on the lake, and the geese heading south.  For the top leaf, a sweet gum, I simply drew the leaf, trying to get to know it a bit.

 The second leaf, a sycamore, was an experiment in getting the feel of the leaf.  I did a rubbing of the leaf using good old Missouri dirt as my medium.  I used my fingers and a stick to work the dirt into the thin vellum paper.  I was able to feel each vein, and get to really know how it grew to such a large size.

This shingle oak leaf was covered in funny growths and distortions, making me think of the end of it's life.  I used watercolor to render it, and used a toothbrush to spray a bit of the mottling onto the leaf and background.  I am amazed at what character comes out with each leaf on this earth!

BOTANICAL ARTS CLASS RECAP: THANK YOU!

MO CONSERVATION ED. CENTER

The Botanicals Art Class went beautifully.  I had some really enthusiastic students who were excited to get indoor and outdoor drawing of various wildflowers.  Some of the students were so motivated that they tried out drawing some of the more intricate flowers, like horse mint and passionflowers.  As usual, I learned something from the teaching experience.  By having to explain how to 'see' what you are drawing, I learned how to see all over again!  I was amazed at the variety of styles in drawing, as well.  You would think that if you were all drawing the same thing, it would come out the same.  Nope!  One of the students only saw the outlines, and nothing inside that.  One of the students saw the flower in a Victorian style, with heavy shadows and contrast.  One of the students was technically perfect in every detail.  The diversity was delightful and reminded me that each of us is different in how we see the world...our worlds.  Each persons' universe is unique.  What an exciting experience this was for me!  Thank you, thank you, for the chance to learn once again!

BOTANICAL DRAWING OUTDOORS

BOTANICAL DRAWING INDOOR IDENTIFICATION

OLD MAN WITH DOG: CONTOUR LINE DRAWING

I am still trying to break out of my rut with a few more contour line drawings.  Most of them don't come out too good, but I rather liked this one.  It really showed the loving devotion of owner to dog, and dog to owner without becoming too bogged down in detail. 

PIGGY PULLTOY: NEW PAINTING IDEA

I am so excited!  I found the cutest old pull toy at the flea market this week.  Cookie Pig is going to be perfect for a still life oil painting...I love the antique children's toys the best, as they always invoke a nostalgia, a happy feeling for most people.  The colors are bright and cheerful, and I can add other fun things in with it, a tall toy or maybe a jump rope...any suggestions, anyone?  What else do you think I should add to the painting?  I want to add something alive, as well.  Like the old Masters' Dutch paintings that added butterflies and bugs, I would like to add creatures as well.  Maybe a tiny chipmonk?  Or a bumblebee? 

ROCKABILLY FESTIVAL ART SHOW OPPORTUNITY

Just a quick thanks to the folks in Selmer, TN who gave hubby and I an opportunity to put some artwork in to the new Lattha Building through Arts in McNairy for the Rockabilly Festival.  It was a last minute entry opportunity, and we are thankful for the efforts made to get hold of us.  Hubby put in a hand carved gun stock, and I added a tufted titmouse drawing.  There are opportunities all around us, if we are just open to them!

TATTERED BUTTERFLY DRAWING IN INKS

This rather tattered butterfly, distorted by life and heavy winds, was difficult to render.  I am always saddened by the shortness of life for some of the most beautiful of God's creatures.  I used two different types of ink on this drawing, a fine tip Sharpee to render the fur, and ink brushes to get some strong, dark shades. Nature is not always kind to it's population, and I am thinking that destruction of the more fragile in it's world is inevitable. I am going to call this drawing "Ethan's Butterfly" in honor of my grandson, who was in this world much too short of a time, and who was one of God's most beautiful of creatures.

GRAPES OF INSIGNIFICANCE: DRAWING IN INK

This drawing is an insignificant little piece, but a major experiment in my drawing process.  Just a few grapes left in the fridge, I wanted to draw the value, not the line.  I dug out my ink brushes and started too dark (I was out of the lighter grey ink) and tried to look at values and contrast in the grapes.  It is so easy to just draw the outline of something, forgetting that the most important part of a rendering is the light and darknesses.  It won't leap off the page, make an impression, become something more than an object, if it doesn't have contrast.  If all the values are the same, it kind of fades into the background, becomes a part of the wall. Or maybe I am just spouting nonsense....who knows?

BOTANICAL DRAWING CLASS JUNE 14,2012

I will be teaching a Botanical Art class, June 14, 2012  at the Missouri Conservation Education Center in Cape Girardeau, MO.  The class will include a brief history of botanical art, what uses it can have, and on location drawing instruction.  We will discuss applications for nature art journals, garden journals and identification purposes.  I am really looking forward to the opportunity to share my love of drawing and nature!

GUITAR PLAYER: CONTOUR LINE DRAWINGS

I haven't been happy with my work lately, whether it is the chaos surrounding me, or the fact that the work hasn't felt fresh and new.  Whatever the problem, I always go back to the basics when I am not happy, and for me, that is contour line drawing.  It goes back to the essence of the subject.  You are drawing on impressions and emotion rather than drawing what you 'see'.  I drew these two blind contour line pieces last night, and looking at them today, I feel a bit more excitement to be an artist.  They are filled with movement and interest.  I saw a contour line drawing at the Rockabilly Festival this week in Selmer, TN.  It left an image in my head that excited my imagination.  The artist did a large contour image...16x20, of a man's face whose beard was twisted and turned into a bunch of grapes.  The image was drawn in black ink, and then the grape beard was colored like stained glass in purples.  Altogether a fun piece, and worth exploring.  What do you, as artists or craftsmen, do when you are feeling stale and unfullfilled?  The creative process is a tricky one.  It always needs to be worked on and re-invented!

SUMI PAINTING PRACTICE: BIRDS AND BEES

I always love getting to visit my mother for a few days.  She is also an artist, and is interested mainly in Chinese Landscape and Sumi painting, as well as watercolor media.  She studied under an artist by the name of Mi Shoo, who was a personal friend of Georgia O'Keefe back in the day...and who imparted a lot of wisdom to his students!  One of the things I continue to regard as great advice..."if you can paint a rock, you can paint anything else on this earth". 

As my mother is getting ready to teach a class on Sumi Painting this fall, with the Nature Arts program that she volunteers for...she and I started in painting bees and cattails, as well as birds and bamboo.  I am anxious to continue practicing with her over the next few months, as I am learning a great deal about simplifying my compositions and detail work!  I hope to be helping with her class, and getting more exposure to this wonderful, classic art.

RADISH SKETCH IN INK

Don't you just love the Farmer's Market season?!!!  Freshly grown veggies are my favorite thing to draw (and eat).  I love the way nature gives each radish a unique way to grow.  I am sure there are artists out there who say the same thing about people and portraits, but I find that vegetation is so much easier to please than humans..I just bought a book on fruit and vegetable portraits, and I look forward to getting in there and really studying the author's interpretation of it!  Are any of you out there doing some veggie drawings?  Let me know and I will try to put some on the blog!

WILDLIFE REFERENCE PHOTOS: WHERE DO YOU GO?

Where do you go to take photos of wildlife (besides sitting in a blind for hours on end)?  I have been to dozens of zoos, have discovered people with exotic pets, and there are exotic animal parks in every state.  I was excited to visit this wildlife rescue farm, who take care of injured and orphaned creatures in Missouri, and eventually return them back into the wild.

These are by no means domesticated creatures...they are recovering from broken wings, poor treatment, and abandonment.  I was able to photograph them from fairly close up without disturbing them too much, though this owl was really upset by the crowd of people visiting, and making loud clacking noises!

The wonderful couple who have been caring for these creatures for over 50 years, get no payment and very little help for the expenses of food and medical supplies.  If you would like to contribute to them, just contact them through the info on the business card at the top of the page.

Some of the creatures will never be able to return to the wild.  This owl had contracted West Nile Virus, and it affected its' brain...most of the time it was confused, and very docile.  Not a good sign, as most captured creatures are aggressive.  The owners of the refuge were such loving and interesting people, and artists as well! 

MISSOURI CONSERVATION ART SHOW: ROSE ALTOM

I was so excited to set up my work for the Missouri Conservation Education Department art show this week!  I hung 45 pieces, almost a year's worth of work for the show.  They will be up for the entire month of June, in Cape Girardeau, MO, if any of you are interested to go see them in person.  I can't tell you how wonderful the entire staff and volunteers are there, and how much they welcomed and encouraged me.  I was nervous, to say the least, as I usually do just one show a year, and not on this scale.  I am looking forward to going up later in the month for the 'Meet the Artist' and demonstrations.  Thanks to all my friends and family who have been so supportive.  I have learned so much from this process!

THOUSAND LAKES HERON: WATERCOLOR OF MINNESOTA

THOUSAND LAKES HERON

 

I tried to show the lushness of the forests in Minnesota with this watercolor.  I used a lot of thalo, blues and greens, to get an almost unnaturally deep color that can get really overwhelming if you have ever been there.  The woods are thick, (I am sure Big Foot, Sasquatch and Yeti all gather there for family reunions) interspersed with big lakes, little lakes, and medium sized lakes.  It is truly an amazing state!  Years ago, we met family up at a cabin in the depths of the Minnesota woods to go fishing.  What amazed me most was the boldness of the bald eagles and great blue herons.  They weren't bothered by the noisy groups of people.  They posed, preened, and went about their business without a bit of self-consciousness.  I could learn a thing or two from them...

HERON: DETAIL 1

HERON: DETAIL 2

PEACE IN THE FOREST: WATERCOLOR DEER

Peace in the Forest

I don't do a lot of watercolors...I find the complete loss of control terrifying, if you must know!  I wanted a special feeling for this particular subject, however, so I braved the medium and it came out rather nice, I think.  I find that my soul seems to come to rest when I am out in nature, and I really needed that feeling of serenity this week.  Painting something in nature calms me, makes me feel more connected to the world, and a bit less lonely.  This painting was done from a photo that I took while visiting the upper northwest of the U.S.  Parts of the countryside are lush and green, and filled with pines and deer. I wouldn't mind living up that way...I was born under a  wandering star!!!



Peace...detail

CILANTRO: A TASTY SKETCH

My life is starting to get back to normal.  The construction crew is gone from the house, the leak is fixed, new carpet in place.  I finally felt the urge to draw again!  But the only thing left in the fridge was some overripe bananas and a sprig of cilantro, so sprig it is!  This was actually more of a challenge than I first thought.  There is a lot of detail in a tiny bit of greenery, and I was determined to get as much out of it as possible! Next on my list, grocery shopping...

BOTANICALS: SKETCHES OF FLOWERS

I am preparing for the Botanical Drawing class that I will be teaching June 14, 2012.  I wanted to have several examples ready for the students, so I dug out some of these sketches to use.  I do a lot of outdoor sketches for identification later, and I usually add lots of color and detail notes either on the same page or the next one.  I am looking forward to sharing some of my enthusiasm for daily, useful drawing.  So many people never draw after school ends, and they get scared of the paper, nervous that they will make mistakes and are reluctant to even try.  I want to share with them my need to record everyday life in pictures, and show them that you don't have to be perfect to draw, just feel the NEED.  I look forward to this opportunity, and I hope my students enjoy my efforts!

MOREL MUSHROOM IN INK

This is a sketch that is a study for a painting in acrylic that I have started.  The mushroom is spongey and really difficult to render believably!  One of my first dates with hubby was to go mushroom hunting for these yummy morels.  We were in the Trail of Tears State Park in Missouri, and the May Apples were blooming.  The mushrooms are a real challenge to find, hiding near fallen logs, under low trees. We found just enough to chop and saute in butter and garlic.  Yum!  These days, our son takes his son mushroom hunting, and we are delighted to have passed on the enjoyment of a treasure hunt and the fruits of the land. 

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK SKETCH

One of the things that we always did throughout our travels was take the children to as many of the National and State Parks as possible.  My greatest role models in the art world were those artists that painted the wild lands of our great nation in such a way as to inspire the American people to protect them. I wanted my children to see and experience the incredible places, like Yellowstone, Yosemite and Glacier.  This is a sketch in gel ink.  I find that gel ink is difficult to work with because it is so consistent...the flow is the same throughout, and you can't get a lot of variance in it.  My favorite pen to work with is an old ballpoint pen that is running low on ink, and gives a nice skip to the strokes.  I guess I like the occassional 'accidental' line that has some surprises to it!   Yosemite was one of my favorite memories...while we were visiting, we were lucky enough to see a black bear with her twin cubs.  Mama bear was catching trout out of the stream and feeding it to the babies.  What a miracle to experience!

PHOTO APP CREATIVITY: GET GREAT IDEAS FOR YOUR PAINTINGS!

I recently downloaded a camera app to my android phone that has really got me interested in manipulating my reference photos.  Called Pixlr-O-Matic, it has dozens of filters and add-ons that can take a plain photo to another level.  For instance, I took a very basic picture of this iris as a reference for a painting in the future.  Using the filters to deepen the colors, and heighten the lights and darks, it shows me what I might be able to do to change my painting from a 'copy' of a photo to an imaginative, even illusional painting.  I am excited about what I can do with the reference...how I can make the painting sing with more contrast, more color, and even add abstract elements to it for excitement.  There are a lot of free apps on the market for phone photo references that can stimulate your creativity, activate your imagination, and bump you out of the rut you have dug yourself in. (I am talking about my recent slump into inactivity!)  I saw a cartooning app, a retro camera app, and even a distortion app.  I am going to have some fun trying out a few of these!  I would love it if you wanted to share your attempts with me...leave me a note on my comment board, and I might add a few to my blog (with your blog link, of course!) 

CAPITOL HILL, NASHVILLE: SKETCH

I know, I know...I am lousy at architecture!  Maybe that is why I keep trying to do it.  Every building I do is slightly askew, and I am pretty sure there is one more column than what I put in here,  but aren't some buildings so interesting that it is worth trying?  I have lived in some pretty unique homes over the years.  I am thinking about the historic housing on the military base in Cheyenne, Wyoming...I am sure it was haunted!  There were a few doors in the attic that refused to stay closed, although I would latch and bolt them.  The kids and pets refused to go up into that space (so it was perfect for my studio), but I did have to share with the occasional spirit or two!  The stories I could tell about those houses...! Anyway, I drew this old building in Nashville, and wondered who haunted it...

A ROSE IS A ROSE IS A ROSE....

Because I am named 'Rose', my family and loved ones are very consistent about sending me roses for every celebration.  I cannot grow the darn things, so this is usually the only way I see them...with baby's breath, and ribbons.  I was excited to visit a friend recently who actually does grow the darn things (I find them difficult, prone to aphids and their thorns hide and bite unexpectedly...not at ALL like me, I am sure.) I loved drawing the buds and the leaves!  So much fun, and the lines were exciting.  The rose is soft petaled, so I added grey brushwork to give it a touchable look, and I left the abstract leaves and buds for interest.  Hope you like it.  I am planning a small painting with similar features, though I haven't decided what colors yet.  Any suggestions?

WINTER'S LAST HURRAH: ACRYLIC PAINTING

Despite all of the construction and destruction going on in my household, I found a tiny corner to call my own and finished this 4"x4" painting.  While it is not my best effort, I am fairly pleased with the limited palette.  I really loved living up north, and missed the snow this year...we didn't have a single inch here in Tennessee!  I had to fight off my clingy kitty, who was busy having a nervous break down due to all of the workman in the house (not to mention the amazing amount of noise!)  At one point, she actually walked right through my palette and ended up with a very blue behind...washing it off just made it worse, because she now has a BABY blue bottom.  I hope to have the repair work from the leak in the walls fixed by the end of the week, and peace and quiet to create very soon.

LOST MARBLE: PAINTING IN ACRYLIC

I had to lock the kitty in the bedroom for half an hour, but I finally finished the marble painting!  I am pleased with the reflections, and with a suggestion from hubby, I added an extra stripe of yellow to brighten it up.  I can't say I enjoyed starting the painting with a black base...it was really difficult to photograph it afterwards!  It was interesting, however, and I plan on trying some other colors to tint the canvas with.  The kitty was excited to get the marble afterwards...she chased it for hours!

LOSING MY MARBLES!

This week has been so weird, with the plumbing on the fritz and the T.V. broken, that I thought I was going to lose my marbles!  So, with not much to do, I decided to start a new painting with a marble in it.  The 'goal' was to learn more about reflecting and translucent surfaces.  The learning curve has been more mundane...how to keep my kitty from getting to the marble before I get finished!  It was a battle of wills, and the cat won!  Before I can complete this painting, I will have to reposition the marble and get the lighting readjusted, and pretend not to see the new chip in the glass where the cat bounced it off the table...across the kitchen floor...down a flight of stairs...through the tea room...into the laundry room...and under the wash machine!  All of us artists must suffer for our art!

LIFE GETS IN THE WAY OF MASTERPIECES...

Life definitely has a way of intruding on an ideal artist's routine...this week alone, we had a flat tire that developed into needing two 'special order' tires...we had a plumbing problem that looks like it will end up ruining a main wall and all of the carpeting, and the television gave up the ghost!  (I won't mention LAST week's catastrophies). 

When life throw's so many things in your lap, creativity is needed...not for painting or sculpting, but for coming up with solutions.  I read a book once called "A Whack on the Side of the Head"...I think that was the name of it, anyway.  It was about coming up with creative solutions  for businesses, and the workplace.  It discussed thinking outside the box, and coming up with solutions from a variety of angles. 

In my case, I am trying to look at the sudden influx of problems and catastrophies from a positive point of view.  Less T.V. means more time to do constructive things.  Maybe the home owners' insurance will help to pay for new carpeting that is desperately needed...and the new tires will make it safer for me to go see my mother (over 200 miles away) for Mother's Day more safely.

These are just small problems, I know.  They just happened to occur at the same time, so it is a bit overwhelming.  Creative thinking is definitely something I need to keep on developing...in every aspect of my life!

GOURD ART

I discovered sketching with a woodburner last month!  I chopped the top half off of a gourd, and freehand-sketched some feathers around it.  I used a fine wire woodburning attachment to 'draw' the feathers.  It smelled wonderful, like I was burning leaves in the yard!  I definitely recommend a fan for air circulation in the room, as my eyes burned a bit from the smoke.. I painted the inside of the gourd with black acrylic paint.  Then I drilled holes at the top of each feather, and threaded bits of turquoise through, so that the strings would hang down and rattle about.  I still need to find time to use some Johnsons' Paste Wax on it as a light sealer, then it is ready to hold odds and ends of my clutter!