The Drawing Process And I Am Available!

Available for artistic hire that is....Last Friday, I showed the initial sketch of little JJ. This is what I have done so far. I may finish her today, I may not. I never know. I do have a consistant way of working a portrait. A regular process. I begin by drawing in an eye. I don't add details, not yet. Once I have an eye in, yes and it's always the left eye first for some reason, I then start putting in the values. A typical 8X10 portrait usually takes 3 to 4 days to complete. 

   My larger drawings can take a few weeks. I do have some very interesting, much more intricate drawings in the works so I work on my 8X10's in between working on larger, more time consuming projects. I am available for commissions. I can be reached at ellenbelshin@ymail.com for any questions, comments and information on having a portrait done of someone you know, dogs, cats, grandma, anyone! Here is little JJ now.....getting close to the finish line. I will catch y'all later. Make the most of your Monday everyone!

It's Friday....Let's finish out the week with one more drawing!!!

 My new sketch....It's not a great photo, I edited it so y'all could see it, my drawing is very light. Sometimes I can't even see my own work.

   I am going to add a tint to this drawing,    The remainder will be done in graphite. This is a pretty intricate sketch. I don't always fully sketch my subject out. Sometimes not at all. I think it depends on my mood or just how lazy I am at the time. Terrible, I know but I love the sponteneity and freedom of just a blank piece of paper to begin with, I dont always need a "road map" so to speak. I'll be back with more progress later. Yes, I am still working on the hippo as well as a painting on canvas too. Much more to come as well. Follow me, if you'd like so you don't miss anything.

Beards!!!

I have been working on this beard all morning!  Do you have any idea how much hair this man has on his face!! I create beards in small, individual strokes till the beard is completely built up and full. This one is no exception and I will continue to work it. I create beards, mustaches and animal fur in this same way. I need to draw more females so I can take a break from facial hair. Although, I would still have those voluptuous female heads of hair to contend with. In reality though, I do enjoy the process. And I do LOVE a man with a beard. 

Going...Going...Going.....

More progress on my hippo yesterday. It's slow going but I really do enjoy the process. It's very relaxing to me and I can get so caught up in it that the day just flies by! 

   My drawings are created by applying several layers of graphite. I approach my paintings the same way as well. Even in the lightest areas of the drawing, there can be at least three layers. All layers are done ysing a textured stroke......

Which results in skin texture which you can see in this closeup.....

It's a very time consuming process and I don't always add texture to my subjects. Sometimes I blend the graphite in or, I will add simple texture in the darker values simply by using a pencil with no blending. The hippo drawing gets a rest today as I am starting a "surprise" portrait for someone. Have a great and creative Tuesday everyone!

Back To The Drawing Board

Another Monday morning and I'm back in the studio. I have a lot to get to this morning! First on my list, I have got to move this hippo graphite drawing along. It's truly a labor of love. I'm trying out my new pencils on this guy. Then......next.....I have a couple sketches to tackle. I will be back here later to post an update.

Ain't that the truth!

Recycle And Reuse

Today, I decided to reuse an older canvas that had an unfinished painting started on it. I do this a lot. I bet I have canvasses that have a couple layers underneath a finished painting. It works for me! I knew I was never going to finish this particular work so why waste a canvas. 

   I broke out my bottle of gesso and lightly covered the canvas. Some of the previous painting still shows through but that's not an issue. As long as it's obliterated a bit, it won't be a distraction when I go to paint another image over it. And, sometimes, it can act as an underpainting of sorts as well. Now to just decide what to put on it......to be continued..........

Getting Motivated

Day two of this new blog. Trying to get my artsy mojo working. I have two graphite drawings in the works, several sketches floating around in my head and last night,  I had the urge to break out the paint once again. I think I'm going to work up a couple of miniature paintings. I have these two miniatures that I did recently...............

A skull in graphite. This is 1X1.5 inches and..........This one..........

An apple and a

half is smaller at 1X1/2 inch. Colored pencil. 

       I'm itching to do a small portrait on canvas so I think I will start one today. In the meantime, I am also going to be working on this graphite portrait of Mark Shepard The King Of Hell from the CW show Supernatural. My fav show right now.........

So far, I am just laying in the shadow areas. Here's to hoping everyone's hump day is great and creative and I need to get off my computer right now and get to work creating something myself. Talk at y'all later.

FINALLY...............getting my act together and starting a new blog. I have had a blog in the past but sadly abandoned it due to circumstances beyond my control, nothing too serious though. So here I am again. This little blog is going to be devoted to my art and my life, in that order so hopefully, y'all can glean some sort of good information out of me. I hope my art will inspire some of you to try your own hand at creating something beautiful. For now, I haven't uploaded any of my work but feel free to count the pencils you see in the photo at the top of this blog. That should keep you busy for a bit. Also.....Here is one of me being lazy......I'll be back soon with more!