In The HEAT Of The Moment

It was a whirlwind weekend!.............Full of parties and friends and family, fun and exhausting. I want to do it again!

  I had no plan on doing what I did this morning, it just kinda happened. I usually go off on a tangent such as this whenever I get into a corner of my studio I don't often visit. Like under the bed.

  I need a flat file cabinet. To keep all my art paper in. Its basically a chest of narrow drawers that keep paper and finished artwork safe. They are expensive! but I found one that is affordable and it's just a matter of going and getting one. At some point I will, but right now, all my paper is in a wooden box my hubby made me years ago, not the best way to keep paper. It lives under the bed in my studio. smaller scraps of paper just sit on the top and that is what I spent my morning taking care of.

  Lots of the loose papers were scrunched from their cross-country trip from California. I gathered up odd sized pieces and cut them all down to 3 1/2 X 2 1/2 inches with my trusty paper cutter, turning them into ATC sized cards to use for small works of art. An ATC, for those of you who don't know, stands for artist trading card. Artists create small works on these cards to trade with other artists. It's a great way to share art among creatives. I ended up with quite a large stack........................

  The good thing is now, whenever I feel like creating a small drawing or painting, the paper is sized and ready to go. I just need to choose a color. A real time saver.

  Also, this weekend, in the HEAT of the moment, I went shopping for a mahl stick. A mahl stick is just that.....a stick with a cushioned ball on one end, not much to it. It is used to steady the artists hand while painting or drawing and to keep the artists hand from touching the surface of the paper or canvas. It prevents smearing the artwork with ones hand. I use a piece of transparent glassine under my hand while I work but with some pencils, especially hybrid pencils that are a combination of carbon and graphite, the black residue from this soft lead still drifts all over the paper as I move my hand along and dirties the drawing. All that does is make more work for me as now I would have more touching-up to do.

  Okay, it's a stick,with a cushioned ball on one end like I mentioned above. Well......I shopped for one and I came to a very quick decision that they are way more expensive than I thought they would be for what they are, (did I mention that they are just a stick?), So I decided to make one myself.

  I went to Home Depot, bought a 3/4 dowel for a buck .99, cut out some felt, stuffed it with plain old cotton stuffing, tied it tightly to the dowel and viola! I have a mahl stick for 1.99! I already had the stuffing and the felt lying around. I have already used it and it works perfect. And, I have enough dowel left over to make another so that's two mahl sticks for 1.99! Can't beat that. Here it is hanging on my drafting table.........

 
  I would much rather save my money for more important things like paint and pencils and paper. So yeah, I'm proud of myself.

  I do believe I am in the mood to create a pastel this morning. Yes, I still have some work to do on the Tree Hugger drawing and I do plan on working on her some more too but when the mood strikes, in the HEAT of the moment, I have to take advantage of it. I will be back soon with more art progress, Y'all have a great Monday!

That's life

It's been a busy few days over here my way. Some good, some not so good stuff but all in all, isn't that what life is? You celebrate and appreciate the good stuff and you hold on tight and ride out the bad. Life goes on.

  I have tried for the past two days to get a blog post up here but again, life got in the way. sorry for the delay.

 Working in my studio, creating,  helps immensely when I'm jumping life's hurdles. This morning it is so hot in my studio, I decided to work on a stress free mini sketch. This little baby cottontail is colored pencil on 2 1/2 X 3 1/2 inch black Artagan paper. I only used four colored pencils, worked for me. It's just too warm up here to break out the big guns and start something large. This size format is called an ATC or artist trading card and they are fun and relaxing to do. The perfect project after a hectic week.

  Tonight, to get out of my incredibly hot studio, I am going to the Hutto Farmers Market and Chalk walk. Maybe pick up some fresh veggies and fruits and of course gaze at all the chalk art.

  I'm still working on "The Tree Hugger"it has a few more hours to go before I finish it. I will work on her some more today as well. First, I have to call a roofer out to get an estimate. Just another one of life's interruptions that I am dealing with as well this week. Next week will be better.

  I will be back for sure in a couple days with more news from my studio. For now, I'm going to go try to cool off. It may be a losing battle but I'm going to make the attempt. catch y'all later.

Stepping Out Of The Comfort Zone

It's Friday!!!............and I hope y'all had a productive and rewarding week, I know I did.

  First off, I bought a new office chair. For the last four years, I have sat on a metal folding chair in my studio, not fun, not to mention, painful. Now I know, office chairs are not that exciting but I have to share this one with y'all because......

                                         It Is Bright Neon, Snot Green!!!

  See, I'm an artist and should know colors but, the only way I can describe it is snot. Yes, I did pick the color and I had several colors to choose from. This was my choice. I have no idea what possessed me.

  When my hubby came home from work yesterday, he came upstairs to my studio to announce his arrival home to me and all he could say when he walked into my studio was, and I quote, "Whoa", the chair stopped him dead in his tracks.

  The good things about this chair are #1. it's really comfy and #2, I swear it glows in the dark. Most nights, I don't leave my studio till between 1:00 and 2:00 am. I turn off all the lights and then try to maneuver  my way out of the studio in pitch blackness. No kidding, this chair is like a beacon in the night!. It led me to the door of my studio and I didn't even run into the wall like I usually do. Regardless of the color, which I suppose I will get used to eventually, (I just have to shield my eyes when I first walk into the studio),  It's a keeper. Sadie doesn't seem to mind the color but, then again, she's a dog Shhhh, don't tell her that, she doesn't see colors. That's probably to her benefit in this case.

  Now to get off the subject of office chairs.............As far as having a productive week, I sure did. I had a very fun commission come in. I got the opportunity to create two drawings, both caricature illustrations.

  Basically, I'm not a caricature artist. I am a realist/impressionistic artist. This is where the stepping out of my comfort zone comes into play. It's not that I can't create a caricature, it's just not my fort`e.
But I gotta say, without trying to sound to full of myself, that I do take pride in the fact that I know the materials I work with, inside and out as I have done this "artist" thing for so many years and I LOVE to try new things. I love to learn new things.

  Since it was a commercial commission involving a product that is coming out on the market, I am under a "gag" order so I can't go into too much detail about this particular commission and I can't show y'all the work I did but, I was able to help solve a problem that these people had and save them money. These people that commissioned me are not artists. They don't know how this art thing really works. It was my job to collaborate with them and suggest the best way of going about getting the results they needed.  I had to get inside their heads and figure out just what was wanted. They originally wanted simple, black and white images. Later they came to me and wanted to possibly make them three color images.

  I informed them that doing three colors would significantly up the cost of production for them and I said that I would work on it and come up with a solution that would keep those costs down but still give them the results they wanted. And..........I did and they loved it! It's kinda like a dance between the artist, in this case, me,  and them, lots of going back and forth, tons of little changes, compromises.....and lots of phone calls!

  They also wanted these illustrations ASAP but didn't give me an actual deadline so I had to figure out what that meant. Do you need these in the next 15 minutes or the next 15 days? So, I did them in two days. That was actually fast for me. That included coming up with the conception, then to the thumbnail sketches and all the way to the finished pieces. I have to say, I really enjoyed it.

  And another commission just came in yesterday so I have that one to look forward to as well. I won't get around to starting this one till probably the end of next week as I had to order materials for it so in the meantime, I can work on the bunch of personal work of my own I have going including starting work on this one today..........

  I will post my progress on this one soon. And a reminder that July first is coming up quickly and that means the start of the Williamson County Animal Fund Raiser. A portion of the proceeds from every pet portrait I get commissioned for in the month of July will go to the shelter to help all the furbabies waiting for homes. Space is limited. I am only one, little artist so get your requests in early.

 That's all for now.............Have a great weekend!

I'm Always Up For A Challenge!

Holy Moly.............It's HOT!...............I hope y'all are staying cool wherever you are. We are hitting the 100's here today. It's a perfect day to hunker down in my studio and get some art on!

  I was challenged. Yep. And of course, being me, I can't turn down a challenge when one is presented. I have been given the challenge to draw Rob Zombie. I confess that I had heard the name but, didn't have a clue as to who he is.

  Turns out that Rob Zombie is an actor, producer, director and composer among other thing. Y'all might know him from the 2003 movie "House Of 1000 Corpses, (yikes, scary stuff), of which he directed. So I was able to get the initial sketch done yesterday......................

  He's quite a character. And I thought I might do him the most justice by rendering him in charcoal. I haven't done a charcoal piece in a long time now and I'm really looking forward to this one. Which brings me to another question I was asked recently.

  "Do you work in color?, do you paint?"  The answer is yes, I do work in color and I also paint, at an easel, on canvas. I specialize in the drawing arts such as graphite, colored pencil, pastel, charcoal and pen and ink. Drawing to me, is just so basic. I feel it is the basis to all visual art. it's simplistic yes, but at the same time even in that simplicity, it is all that is needed to convey the image, to tell the story.

  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to paint. Painting is very cathartic to me, relaxing, whereas drawing is, I suppose for me, more intense and more precise and just maybe a little bit more intimidating. I like to step out of my comfort zone from time to time and challenge myself. I like to take on very detailed drawings.  Not that a beautiful painting is less work, that's not the case, I just approach it and see it differently.

  I actually just bought a bunch of new tubes of paint. And I have a stack of canvases sitting in my studio just waiting to be covered in color. And I will get to them, eventually.

  Right now, even Rob Zombie has to be put onto the "back burner" for awhile as I do have an urgent commission that needs my immediate attention. It's a commercial art piece which unfortunately, I am not at liberty to divulge. A lot of commercial work requires a non-disclosure agreement with the artist, usually due to copyright or patent issues, as in this case. I can't even show the work. bummer.

  But I am still available for commissions. And of course all systems are "go" for next month and the Williamson County Animal Shelter campaign. For those who don't know, I will be donating 20% of the proceeds from every pet portrait I get commissioned to do to this shelter. So for all of you who are still on the fence about purchasing a portrait, next month would be the perfect time. You get to help out a great cause and get a portrait of your furbaby too!

  Yes, I am still working on this piece as well, along with a few others as I seem to be in a very strong work mode right now.  I don't want to keep posting it online, every time I work on it as I don't want to bore my audience with too much repetition.

     Off to work I go. Have a great and productive week Ill see y'all on Facebook.

I'm An Open Book

Good morning out there! It's a beautiful, sunny day here in Texas. My chickens are squawking outside my window and my chocolate is melted and I'm in my studio ready to write a post about pencils..........It's glorious!!!



  Someone asked me what pencils I am using to create this drawing.....................Hopefully  I won't bore anyone with my rather lengthy response.

  I love to share tips and techniques. I don't mind divulging all my methods so feel free to ask away!  So here is the answer to that question. First, I'd like to say that there are a ton of different artist pencils on the market, the ones I am about to mention are the ones I personally chose to work with, other artists might have other opinions on what works best for them. It's a personal preference thing. The tools don't make the artist but with that said, I DO try to buy good quality supplies.

  I'm picky. I am a pencil snob. There, I said it, or rather, I wrote it.  See, the first step in accepting that you have a problem is, admitting to it. I feel better already!

  I own lots of pencils but my go-to's are my lead holders. Lead holders are kinda sorta like mechanical pencils with a few inherent  differences. The main difference is the lead diameter. The lead is thicker than a typical mechanical pencil lead by quite a bit. Some of my lead holders, my most widely used ones, Have a 2mm lead which is about the size of an ordinary wood pencil. Just like an ordinary wood pencil, 2mm leads come in a variety of pencil grades ranging from 5H to 4B. For those who don't know, pencils come in grades from hard, and the lightest, being your H"s..... to B's being the softest and also darkest of the leads. You can see the difference in the photo below. The pencil on top is a GraphGear 500 mechanical with .09 lead which as far as I know, is the largest diameter mechanical lead available. The pencil on the bottom is a Staedtler 925-25-20 automatic lead holder with 4B, 2mm sized lead. For drawing purposes, I do prefer the larger lead size but I do also use my mechanical pencils.

 

  I also own this bad boy............This is a Creatacolor Ecologic wood lead holder made in Austria, that holds a whopping 5.6mm lead. I love this thing! It's great for laying down large areas of graphite at a time but it will still hold a fine point for detail as well. It will also hold different mediums such as charcoal,sanguine and sepia sticks, keeping your fingers nice and clean.

  I am only using three of my lead holders to draw the "Tree Hugger" drawing. One of the things I like best about the lead holders I  have chosen is their weight. I like my lead holders and my mechanical pencils too to be  VERY heavy. For that reason, I always try to buy solid metal lead holders as opposed to plastic. That's where the "me being picky" part, really, comes in to play.

  Heavy weight pencils, the heavier, the better,  give me better balance and control when I'm drawing. I have a light hand when I draw and the weight of the pencil does most of the work for me, especially in the beginning, laying down that first layer of graphite. Now, I wouldn't recommend something this heavy for writing or school work as you would probably get major hand fatigue fast.  Also, if you have a hand or wrist, medical issue, these probably might not be a good idea for you. Being that these are sold as drafting pencils, most people won't be purchasing them for everyday writing, they are pretty much a dedicated, artist pencil. Below is a photo of the one's I am using for this drawing.. Two Staedtler 9225-25-20's and one super heavy, all metal Koh-I-Nor, drop clutch lead holder.

  The drop clutch just means that instead of dispensing the lead, a little at a time, with a touch of the button, like an automatic lead holder, the lead just drops as you press the button and ends up on the floor, broken, if your not careful. Been there, done that. I do like the drop clutches though as you can dispense the lead, any length you want with just one touch. I like to leave my leads really long.

  There you have it. The lowdown on what I like to use. Like I said, I have a lot of other pencils that I use as well. I could be here all day, writing about them but then I wouldn't get anything else done. If anyone else has any questions about my drawing process or, what tools and supplies I use. Please don't hesitate to ask. Catch y'all later!



 

Kicking it Up a Notch and Sharing The Love

It's June, summer is here and the heat is on outside here in beautiful central Texas and in my studio too. I'm feeling motivated.

  I would like to try something I have not done in awhile and is long overdue. I believe that if you have a skill, that can be put to good use to help others, than by all means put that skill to use. Doesn't matter what it is. Can you play an instrument? Can you knit or crochet? whatever your skill, you can help others with it.

  So...............Starting July 1st, For every pet portrait commission I receive, I will donate 20% of all monies earned to the Williamson County Animal Shelter here in Texas. This is a great facility. It is a no-kill shelter and they work really hard to find all their charges a forever home. My grand dog Lilo came from there and there are so many animals taken into this shelter that they are often out of housing space. Still......they manage to help every animal brought in. They even have a program where you can bring a dog home to stay with you for the weekend. It gives that baby a chance to be out of a cage and be a normal dog. They have an excellent foster program as well.You can read more about the shelter here.......Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter

  And................For the month of July, I am dropping the price of my colored pencil drawings to match the price of my graphite drawings.That means you can get an original piece of art, in full color, of your furbaby for the same price, still 20% will be donated to the shelter. All my pricing and policies are up on my website here...................PencilsAndPaint

  If you so chose however, I will still create your piece in graphite. And here's another little bonus. I normally require half of the cost up front but for the month of July, pet portraits only, I can break payments down even further. You can pay for your piece in three payments. I know times are tough for a lot of us and I do try to make owning a genuine piece of art a possibility for everyone.

  This is for pet portraits only. Any pet you want. Your dog, cat, fish, bird, chupacabra, kangaroo or dinosaur. If it barks, scratches, swims, flies, crawls, has two legs or eight. It's eligible.

  Now, since I'm only one artist, the chief, cook and bottle washer, I will have to limit the amount of commissions I receive so I will not be inundated. I also like to strive to get these pieces to my customers in a timely manner so, for now, I will be taking the first six commissions that come in. I may be able to do more but right now I have to play it by ear, so to speak. If this is successful, I will be doing more of these campaigns in the near future. I have done artwork for charities in the past that have worked out extremely well.

  So please consider helping out the Williamson County Shelter and all the homeless pets that so desperately need good, loving homes and in the meantime, give all your own furred, feathered, finned or otherwise, family members, a big hug from me! Thanks so much