Wanna Help Me Out? Join In The Fun!

Morning Y'all...................Here is a question that will get those brain cells jump started on a Monday morning...............and it might spark some memories.

  If......You could go back in time, if there was a magical time machine and you could go back in time to your childhood, would you?  Would you want to start all over again, knowing what you know now?

 

  And the second half of my question to you is......Would you do it differently or was your childhood perfect the way it was?

  Think about it. You can share your thoughts on this if you want or, just keep them to yourself. It's your choice. I just thought I'd ask, it's just food for thought.

  Which leads me to this, my new project.

  I have started a new series of art drawings. I haven't created a series in a long time and this idea piqued my interest.  A series is a collection of paintings or in this case drawings, all centered around a specific theme. I am calling this series, "Child's Play" and.....I would like to involve you,  my viewers.

  By now, you have all most likely seen this drawing titled "The Tree Hugger" up on my Facebook feed and here on my blog as well as on Twitter and Instagram.

  "The Tree Hugger" is the first drawing in my new series. At this time, I have no idea how many drawings I will create for this series. It might be ongoing for quite a while.

  Now this is the part that y'all might be able to participate in..........................

  Here is a sketch of the second drawing in the series. It's just the initial sketch and I know it's hard to see but I think this is going to make a great drawing! The reference for this drawing comes from Cynde Sawyer. Thanks Cynde, It's a beautiful photograph!

  So far, this one is untitled. I will be posting updates up on social media as I work on it. Now, here's what all of you can do.................

  Y'all can submit your photos of the children in your life, doing what they do best.....being children, to become original drawings. I will choose, at random, the ones to be added to this series. I will need your permission to post the work in progress photos and the finished drawings up on social media. I will also reserve the copyrights to the work which basically means that I can use said pieces for promotional purposes. You will receive credit for your photo if I use it. Will these drawings be available for you to purchase?.....Of course! Everything I create is available for purchase but, keep in mind that there is no obligation to do so. You will just have the pleasure to see loved ones drawn. Please send clear, crisp, sharp photos only, as I will have to discard any that are out of focus or undecipherable . You do not have to worry about the size. You can send as many as you like. You can email them to me at ......

                                                           Ellenbelshin@ymail.com

  I will choose my favorites from these submissions to become a part of the series. So what do y'all say? are you game?

  Other than that...........I do have a couple commissions to still work on and my hubby, who is a very good artist himself, has also commissioned me. I will be sharing more information on his request here on my blog later.
 
  That's all for now. Please consider joining in on the fun. I can't wait to see the submissions!

Q and A.......And A Supply Discombobulation

  A crazy morning here!............. Moody chickens, snakes, cat escapades and a coffee tragedy, at least it's Friday!

  Good morning.........I needed stuff, what else is new. I did make a large supply haul for paint, not too long ago and thought I had bought everything I needed. Wrong.

  I don't know if I hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before I went on this haul or maybe I didn't have my coffee that day but,  for some reason, I bought the opposite of what I would normally buy.

  When I paint, in acrylic, I use a limited palette of colors. You won't find hundreds of paint tubes and jars in my studio, you will probably only find about 12, maybe 15 at most. The reason is, I take these basic colors and make hundreds more colors by mixing them together myself. By doing that, I get richer and more unique colors than you will find ready made in a tube. Not to mention not having to spend tons of money on various colors of paint. Some tubes and jars of acrylic, especially your Cadmium colors, (oranges, yellows and reds),  can be really pricey.

  Well yesterday, I checked my nifty little Ikea rolling cart where I keep all my acrylic painting supplies and lo and behold, I was missing several of my basic colors but discovered that I had managed to buy a few impulse ones instead, Like this huge tube of turquoise. I could of at least bought the smaller tube but, NO, for some reason I just had to have the industrial sized tube. Keep in mind that you can make your own turquoise using Pthalo blue and yellow.

  So why did I spend money on that gigantor tube of turquoise? honestly I don't know. That's where that lack of sleep theory comes in. Turquoise happens to be my favorite color, I was just discussing that this morning with a couple friends on Facebook, you know who you are,  so possibly I was just needing an instant color fix.



  Yesterday, I had to go on a second, expensive paint haul to get the colors I actually need and should have bought in the first place. Napthol Red, which is a true red unlike Cadmium Red which has orange undertones and Ultramarine Blue which I use to make my gray greens. I also needed Raw Umber which is a much needed color for toning down other colors that I mess up and make too bright.

  And of course, I had to throw a couple of fun, not really needed,  goodies into the cart just for grins and giggles.

  I'm broke .......again.......but at least I can paint!  Now, let's get off of that long, winded tangent and onto the QandA. I was asked a very common yet good question. "When do you know a drawing or painting is finished"?

  Here is my humble opinion. I feel the work is finished when the artist feels satisfied with it. There are times when I could just keep going and going on a piece. I will walk away then come back and walk away and come back again and again. I will also just stare at it, catatonic-ally,  for a couple days sometimes, just trying to find something I either did wrong or left out.

  Now, here is the other side to that dilemma. I taught art for a long time and one thing I noticed in my students was, some were giving up to soon. Case in point. Drawings and paintings, when unfinished, go through an ugly stage. They really do. I found that some students, when their work got to that ugly stage, became discouraged and would feel that they had failed or they were not good enough artistically. I would attempt to re-assure them that it was not their lack of ability, the work was fine. That was the way it was supposed to look and that it just wasn't finished. They just simply needed to keep working at it. Drawing and painting takes time and patience and perseverance but the results are more than worth the work.

  Here is an example of an ugly phase. See how weird this looks!  Talk about ugly!!!

  But you keep working on it......................and this happens......................................

 

  And finally....this.................................

   
  I probably could have even done more on the above drawing. but to me, it was finished. There will always be more you feel you can do. Each individual  artist will be the best judge to declare an art piece finished. Can you "over work" a piece. yes, I believe you can. You can get carried away trying to make a work better and then before you know it, you've messed it up. Use your best judgement. Walk away from it once in a while, when you come back to it, you will see it with fresh eyes.

  I hope that helped to answer that question. It's time for me to go make some art. Have a great weekend and go finish whatever it is you have started.

Studio Shenanigans

  Monday morning again...........The weekend sure does fly by doesn't it? I can't think of much I accomplished either. It was a very lazy weekend here in Ellen land and my little Treehouse studio.

  And speaking of Ellen land............I thought I would show off how very strange I am by posting a couple pics of the odd ball stuff residing in my studio. I will try to keep this prolix blog post from being too boring but keep in mind, lucky for you, you are here voluntarily.You can leave anytime. The studio door in unlocked. You won't hurt my feelings, trust me, I understand.

  First, this is Jarvis, my very quiet yet faithful, maulstick studio assistant. Yep, I name my inanimate objects. It helps when you spend hours everyday, alone in a 12 foot by 12 foot room to have someone to keep you company.  Hey.........after all, Tom Hanks had a relationship with a soccer ball remember? And no, the walls aren't padded, at least not yet. I'm not seeing white rabbits either.

  I embrace my weirdness, at least I keep telling my self that. I also have a studio audience. They cheer me on, what can I say. And talk about prompt, they show up every day and on time. I couldn't ask for more from an audience.

  And I can't leave out the worlds tiniest, hand blown glass hippo. He's so tiny, you may not even be able to see him. Regardless of his size, he has a huge personality and likes to travel. He has been my sidekick for years now.  Here he is sitting on a quarter, as he likes to keep "on top" of his money. He's very thrifty.

  So there you have it. An over view of some of my studio friends. See Penny, I do have friends! It's an inside, ongoing discussion that I have with a former boss named Penny. You would have to have been there to grasp it.

  And now, for what I am currently working on art wise. I am going to try to finish up a commission within these next two days. I'm almost there, just adding bits and bobs where I see it's necessary. I still have four ATC's that I am working on and.......I need to create more art for a show. Can't have an art show with no art to show, right?

  And since I have finally received my Pan Pastels,  Look how pretty they are!

I will break them in and start working on Captain Spaulding here............I inadvertently called him Tiny but my son corrected me. He is Captain Spaulding, not Tiny. Tiny is another character whom I may also draw soon.

  There, that wasn't so bad was it. I kept this blog post shorter than I thought it would be. Well my audience is getting restless and Jarvis is giving me the "stink eye" so I should go. I'll be back with more psychotic ramblings later this week. Hey, toss me that bottle of Thorazine on your way out the door okay?

Somebody Please Take My Laptop Away!

  Yikes..............And good morning.  It's Amazon PRIME Day. Need I say more.

  I have just been on their website and yes......I spent money. How can you not spend money on Amazon? .... On Prime Day?

  What did I buy?, well, more art supplies of course. One can never have too many art supplies and that darn Amazon makes it way too easy to buy.

  Actually, I was pretty smart about it and did manage to control myself. I bought what I needed and as long as I stay off my computer, my Kindle and my iphone........I should be okay for the rest of the day, (famous last words).

  So lets see,........what have I been up to. For one thing, I am swamped with projects right now. I'm still working on a commission and I am now involved in an ATC swap with some other, very talented artists which I am really excited about.

  An ATC, (artist trading cards),  swap is where artists exchange small, original pieces of artwork, no larger than 3 1/2 X 2 1/2. It's loads of fun and a great way to collect art from other artists. Luckily, I have until Christmas to complete them all so there is really no rush.

  And last evening, I got another sketch done. I'm not gonna say who this is. Some of you horror or science fiction fans, might already know. There!, there is your hint! and it's all I'm gonna give ya! I will say however that he is one creepy character. Again, this is another piece that I was challenged to create. This is just the initial sketch, done in pastel pencil.  I am waiting to get my Amazon order so I can have the necessary supplies I need, to do what I want to do with this. Stay tuned.

  Well........That's about it for now folks. Oh! wait!.....Of course the Williamson County Animal Shelter campaign is still under way. Y'all have till the end of this month to get in your requests for your pet portraits so, zip an email off to me for more info. It's a good cause and for those of you who can't take advantage of it now, I will be doing it again in the future as well.

  Have a great week!

The Duck Days Of Summer

   It's gonna be hot today, 100 degrees here in Texas and no relief in sight for the next week or two. You couple that heat with high humidity and it makes for a very uncomfortable situation. I feel bad for all those people who have to work outside in this heat. It makes me thankful that I have an indoor job, doing something I love to do, making art.

 
  Because my studio is on the second floor, it gets so much hotter than the rest of the house, especially late in the afternoon and into the evenings. The photo above shows my guiding duck. He sits up, on the corner of a shelf next to the door of my studio.

  I keep the lights in the studio out at night, unless I'm working because it just makes the room feel cooler. I'm sure that's just all in my head but for some reason, it seems to work for me. This duck lights up. Not only does he light up but, he also changes colors so he is really visible in the dark.

  You might ask, "Where is she going with this story?", well, I'm getting to that. I am rather short in stature, (good things come in small packages dontcha know.),  and this shelf is rather low so I was constantly hitting my head on the corner of this shelf while trying to leave the studio in the dark. So every night I would mumble a few, not so nice, expletives while exiting the room. So I placed my light up duck on the shelf. Now he reminds me to "Duck", get it? every time I leave the studio.

  Okay, If you suffered through that tortuous story and your still here, please keep reading on.........................

  I have been very busy this week. I have also accomplished quite a bit. I have managed to finish two pieces and I am working on a new sketch. I also have a new commission going. My work usually slows down in the summer. People go away on vacations, kids are out of school but, for some reason, my work has picked up. I'm not complaining mind you, it's great. I want to stay busy so bring on the commissions! I'm good to go!

  I did discover something interesting this week. I kind of unknowingly and unwittingly, involved myself in a little social experiment. It started with me wanting to do a series of portraits. My goal with this series was to draw famous people but, people that were maybe a little less known.

  I see so many drawings of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis among others and I have absolutely no issue with that but, I wanted to create drawings of more obscure famous people. I have made a list and I am working on that currently.

  So, I was challenged by a fan to draw Rob Zombie. Now, I had heard the name but really didn't know who Rob Zombie was. I looked him up and drew him, I can't pass up a challenge! It keeps me on my toes. Yesterday, I posted my finished drawing of him up on my Facebook feed......

  I did get responses to the drawing but I also noticed that I didn't get my usual amount of responses. For instance, When I drew Lucille Ball, the responses were overwhelming. I got tons of comments and "Likes". Now, I'm not bragging but my drawing of Rob Zombie is a decent rendering. I captured him well but, because he is not all that well known, even though he is a celebrity, he didn't garner the attention that my drawing of Lucy did.

  This leads me to think that people admire familiarity. They relate better to my drawings of people who are more widely recognized. So in essence, they are not really "seeing" the drawing for it's artistic accuracy or quality, they are instead, seeing a familiar face. One that perhaps brings back happy memories for the viewer. I'm fine with that. Isn't that what art is supposed to do? bring out feelings? and I am going to continue on with my more obscure portraits of not-so-well-known celebs. Who will I draw next? I don't know, you will have to stick around and probably suffer through more boring "Duck" like stories to find out.

 

 

 

 

Life As Usual

 It's another crazy morning here in the studio. I hope y'all had a great Fourth Of July with lots of food, friends, family and fun. Speaking of food, my grandson thought I might be hungry and decided that I needed a cupcake. He missed my mouth and hit the side of my head instead.  He needs to work on his aim slightly. Here's my boys!

  I have been gone off social media for a few days because I had family here from out of town. I got to see my grandson and my son and my youngest daughter. It's tough to be away from family and it's really hard to see them all leave again and go back to their own lives elsewhere but,  life goes on as usual and it can be filled with plenty of trials and tribulations but, I take joy in the fact that they are happy, healthy and independent adults. I'm very proud of all three of my kids.

  Now it's back to my studio and back to my art. I miss it after a few days. I actually crave getting back to the drafting table. Of course, I have the "bug" to re-arrange everything again. I am constantly tweaking the studio. I never seem to be content with the way I have everything arranged. I always feel that I can make it better, make it more conducive to the way I work in it. So, first things first, I am going to clear the studio out and make some changes.

  As soon as I feel relatively okay with the new studio look, I have a commission to work on and a couple more ATC's to create.

  And speaking of commissions.......I am still accepting pet portrait commissions for the Williamson County Animal Shelter campaign. All this month in fact! A portion of the proceeds will go to the shelter so get your requests in. ANY pet, ANY animal, If it walks, crawls, swims, flies, or anything in between, I will create a portrait of it. Pricing is up on my website at http://www.ellenbelshin.wix.com/pencilsandpaint

  I did mange to get something new too to add to my always expanding repertoire of art supplies. I have been slowly purchasing these as my budget allows. These are Pan Pastels and I am excited to start creating with them. They are highly pigmented, soft pastels in a pan instead of stick or pencil form and are used much like paint. If I get the time today, I might just break into them and give them a go. Look at these colors!.............................I just like looking at them.

  That's all for now folks. I gotta get busy and start moving stuff around. Catch y'all later!