Janet Pantry Art Journal

Bottle and Clementine WIP 2

2012-01-24T00:17:00.000Z

I managed to get a few hours work done on this yesterday, mainly on the bottle but a little on the background too. I've not touched that clementine, in fact it has been covered over, most of the time, with a piece of paper to protect it from pencil dust. On the glass, I used the pencils fairly loosely, in fact more or less as I would use pastels. Holding a pencil half way down the shaft and using quick sketchy strokes helps me to resist the temptation to get into too much detail. I'm also not fussy about sharpening the points too often ~ I only really need a sharp point when I want to draw a fine line.

A word about drawing glass

I've heard lots of people say that they can't draw glass, or they are afraid to tackle it. I find that a bit puzzling. When I 'draw glass' I don't really see it as 'drawing glass'! After all, an object made of glass, especially clear glass, is merely reflecting the environment around it so what you are drawing are those reflections. And reflections, to me, are just blocks, or shapes, of different colours. All you need to keep in mind is the outline form of the glass object and you don't even have to draw that, just remain aware of it. Someone once said it's wise to draw just what you see and not what you think you see. I think that's really good advice and particularly appropriate when setting out to draw something made of glass.

Ok, so let's see if I can put some of my wise words into practice on this one! Now that I've covered the paper with pencil colour, it's time to look at the whole thing, refine things and make adjustments. I need to check those ellipses to see that they make sense and that the objects sit convincingly on the table. I also need to refine those large shadows on the bottle to ensure they 'read' correctly colourwise against the background, they are rather too grey at the moment. Oh and the clementine needs some work too! And then, of course, there's the background to finish.... and lots of edges need softening .....

Still Life, Bottle and Clementine WIP 1

2012-01-21T23:42:00.000Z

10" x 8" Derwent Artists Pencils on 'Elephant' Colourfix sanded paper

I finally got going on a new drawing, from my own photo ~ put the flags out! My still life drawings usually consist of one object, or a variation on one object, (lol) but I pushed the boat out with this one and dared to put two different things together. I had an idea to draw some glass with something organic so I went to my local greengrocer to choose some fruit or veg that might look good with one of my glass bottles. I came out with three plums, a bag of clementines, a lemon, two conference pears and an extremely small bunch of black grapes.

Before buying said fruit I examined each piece very closely, you know, with an 'artist's eye' for shape and colour ~ would those grapes dangle nicely next to a bottle? Is the lemon an interesting shape and an attractive shade of yellow? Might those pears lean just the right way and sit on a surface attractively? I'm not sure that examining the produce quite that closely was the usual kind of behaviour the greengrocer expected from her customers, and who can blame her?! She did ask me if I needed help with a rather concerned expression. Maybe I should have gone to Sainsbury's instead ... no-one would have noticed!

Anyway, I spent a couple of days arranging different bits of fruit with my chosen glass bottle, different positions, different lighting, backgrounds and so on. After seriously questioning my sanity a few times and asking myself why I don't just draw a feather or a leaf or something, I finally settled on this little arrangement. I'm using pencils from my brand new set of 120 Derwent Artists pencils ~ joy of joys! Once I've decided on the composition I then choose a palette of pencils I'm likely to need. I might add to this as I go along, but generally I do stick to my originally chosen palette. Here's a pic of the pencils I'm using on this drawing just to give you an idea.

The little red pencil there in the front is Deep Vermilion. I've hardly used it but, unfortunately, it must be damaged because it breaks every time I sharpen it ~ unusual to have a damaged Derwent pencil, hmm.

I love the range of colours in this set and I've kind of plunged in, using them for the first time on this drawing, so it's a bit experimental. As you can see, I've started with the clementine and covered most of the background. I've worked quite a lot on that clementine ~ got a bit carried away ~ which is not ideal. I usually work up the whole composition to the same level as I proceed so that I can check how each element relates to the others at every stage. It just makes for a more coherent piece of work, in my humble opinion. I'll complete the clementine, though, once the bottle has been rendered.

I'm rendering the background with loose, cross-hatched, broad strokes and then using a soft brush over it. The aim is to achieve a smooth mix of subtle colours, darker shades on the right side as there is natural light coming through from the left. I've just started the bottle and you can see those white guide lines which show me roughly where there are main colour changes. I'll erase those dotted lines as I begin to apply colours to the glass. I use fewer of those white guide lines these days as I'm learning to judge shape and colour changes by eye now much more and simply drawing in colour from the start.

I've gone on enough for one post so I'll get back to the drawing board and get cracking on that glass bottle. Ta ta for now!

A New Year, first post

2012-01-12T14:18:00.001Z

Just to say a very Happy New Year to my readers, albeit rather belatedly! I've not yet begun any new pieces of art but the arty cogs in my brain are slowly coming to life and the pencils will be in action again shortly.

Since Christmas I've been indulging in other pursuits, like reading the new Charles Dickens biography by Claire Tomalin ('tis very good!). This year marks the 200th anniversary of Dickens' birth and I've been watching all the BBC progs about the man and his work - great stuff. I'm all Dickensed out now! I've also been researching more family history which, as I've mentioned before, is highly addictive. I've been focused on my mother's father's ancestors who originated from Liverpool, going right back to the 17th Century. I know next to nothing about Liverpool, or indeed Lancashire, having never been there but I'm learning fast - it's fascinating! Maybe I'll start a family history blog where I can ramble on about my ancestry ... hmmm. Anyway, on to other things.

L.S. Lowry is one of my favourite painters and so to receive a calendar for Christmas featuring some of his paintings was an unexpected treat.

And ... a couple of kitty pics, of course!

This is Pants who is temporarily staying with us while eldest daughter is 'doing up' her new home. She is a little madam, Pants that is! Pants has a brother called Socks but he prefers to stay at a neighbour's house for the time being. Pants loves to sit on top of the fridge where she can keep any eye all those other resident moggies!

And ... here's Minnie actually lying in Bobby's box, which, as you may remember, seemed like a physical impossibility. Where there's a will ...

... there's a way!

Rumour has it that there may actually be some new artwork soon to be posted to this blog ....

'Tis the season .....

2011-12-20T00:28:00.002Z

"I wonder why I'm stood standing here when I should be dangling from a tree by now ..?"

"Good Grief, now she's made me pose with some baubles just to show everyone how small I am ~ how humiliating!"

"You've got problems, she makes me sit right at the top of the tree just because I've got a halo and a silly gold-beaded dress. People keep telling her I don't look like a proper fairy but she drags me out every year and perches me up there. It's really uncomfortable actually."

"Personally, I think she's flipped ... Christmas does that to humans, it's really sad. And, of course, she has messed up on a couple of drawings lately ... that wouldn't help either, would it? Anyway, while she's faffing around with the rest of those gaudy baubles, shall we go down the pub?"

"Yea, good idea, that'll teach her! Maybe we should wish that person who reads her blog a Merry Christmas before we go."

"What do you mean "that person"? There might be more than one. Unlikely, I know, but some people like to read stuff like this."

"Really?? ... hehe, they must be as crazy as she is then!"

Flat tyre in London and ... not sure about the Cyclamen!

2011-12-08T17:37:00.003Z

As I was saying on Saturday, driving in London is not for the faint-hearted! Three hapless females from the Home Counties in a little Fiat 500 crawling down the Euston Road and heading for the Foundling Museum in Hunter Street, Bloomsbury. Karen, my sister, was driving and yes, we had the sat nav on but the woman's dulcet tones were directing us to keep turning right when Karen's instincts were telling her we needed to head left. We duly obeyed the 'voice of wisdom' (sat nav) until, after circling that area three times and ending up on the same congested road, we decided she was just having a laugh and switched her off!

The air in the car started to turn blue with phrases such as "I don't recognise this &**$%^** ing road at all!" and "why do all these **$%^£** ing tourist buses want to come down this road?!" But ranting is futile in these situations and we ended up laughing about it. On the third circular detour Karen pointed towards the left, in a eureka moment, and yelled "that's the road we need over there!" As I was sitting in the front passenger seat, I turned, smiled and waved sweetly at the driver of the black cab to my left (like he had any choice but to give way!) whilst Karen quickly pulled across two lanes, shot round a corner, 'Italian Job' style, and drove triumphantly into Hunter Street. This is probably the 'bread and butter' experience of all seasoned London road users, I know ~ you have to be forthright and fearless! But we are greenhorns from 'out of town', what do we know!

We pulled up outside the Museum and were pleased to find a free parking space there ~ imagine that? Unfortunately, though, Karen had flattened the front left tyre having clipped the kerb rather sharply. The air turned blue again for a while after which we decided there was no way we were going to conform to that 'helpless females can't change a tyre' stereotype. After all, we had a full tyre changing kit in the car boot complete with an idiot's guide. How difficult could it be?

It would have been a doddle but for two things. It transpired that 1) none of us had the physical strength to shift those long bolts on the wheel, even with the wrench provided. And 2) the triangular mark on the car body, indicating where the jack should be placed, was just not visible to the naked eye. One of us would have to lie flat on the ground to get closer to where it was supposed to be. Well, mum wasn't keen ... she's 77 years old and has arthritic knees. It was down to one of her daughters. Karen and I looked at each other ... no chance!

Hmmm ... you guessed it! We had to stoop to calling over an unsuspecting, strapping young man to help us out. Weren't we grateful when a cheerful chappie, who happened to work at the museum, promptly came across and fitted the new temporary wheel. Bless him! He would not take any money for his trouble even though we insisted, but we did explain all to the Museum staff when we finally got inside.

The return journey on that new tyre was a little hairy ... ever tried driving up the MI, when it's clear, at 50 mph (max allowed on a temporary tyre)? Other drivers just don't get why you're driving so slowly! We got home safely though, and Karen sent our knight in shining armour a thank you card and box of Cadbury's Heroes ~ very appropriate!

Shame I didn't take pics of our little escapade but here's a photo of mum and Karen standing by a statue of Thomas Coram, founder of the Foundling Museum ~ another hero!

Enough of my ramblings ... what about my art? I started a drawing of Cyclamen, a crop from some photos I took of these flowers.

9" x 12" Various coloured pencils on Sennelier La Carte Pastel card.

I wanted to attempt this on 'Leaf Green Dark' Colourfix paper but my supply of that colour has run out so I thought I'd try it on La Carte, a good quality sanded paper. It's not as rough as Colourfix but I just can't seem to get the results I want on it. I've stopped and started so many times, trying different colour combinations, different pencils, but this drawing is not flowing well at all. I don't usually have this problem and I'm not sure what is happening.

The reference photos I'm using are not great but I usually get around that by being 'creative', using my own instincts. I have the plant itself in front of me, too, for reference. These colours are not working well together, to my mind. Maybe it's because this is a cool colour scheme and I much prefer warmer colours. I'm not quite at the 'giving in' stage with it yet ..... but almost ..... we'll see.

Trip to the Foundling Museum, London

2011-12-03T17:53:00.002Z

I LOVE London. Every so often my sister, mum and I take a trip down to London, some 30 miles away, to trek around old haunts, especially the City where we used to live many moons ago. We decided this time to go to the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury and Karen, my sister, volunteered to drive as we didn't want to spend a small fortune going by train. Karen is also fearless and pretty familiar with the area ~ you have to be both those things to contemplate driving in London. Personally, I'd choose to use the tube and buses every time.

The Foundling Museum was built near the site of the old Foundling Hospital, a charity founded by Thomas Coram in 1741 to provide a home for abandoned and/or destitute children. The Museum is utterly fascinating, tracing the history of the Hospital with paintings, audio recordings and artifacts. Particularly poignant was the display of small tokens, a lock of hair, a tiny bracelet, a coin, for example, which were left by mothers who had to take their children there, due to their own desperate circumstances. The tokens could identify the child should the mother become able to return to collect him/her in better times.

I loved this museum because it combined my interests in both social history and art. The original 18th Century interiors house works of art by some well-known British artists such as William Hogarth (a founding governor of the Hospital), Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. Paintings and sculptures were donated to the Hospital, often by the artists themselves, to support Britain's first home for abandoned children.

"The Pinch of Poverty" by Thomas Benjamin Kennington, 1891. This particular painting caught my eye as I was going up the grand staircase to the next floor. It tells a story, rather sad but very 'real' none-the-less ... and is more arresting than commissioned portraits of well-heeled patrons, I think.

Anyway, we had a great day out despite the mishap that happened when we arrived at the museum. I'll talk about the flat tyre debacle in the next post. I'm also starting a new drawing of winter cyclamen from my own photo (wahaaay!). To be continued .....

Pretty Flamingo Finished

2011-12-02T01:24:00.001Z

Well, I've cut to the chase on this one and finished it. I got too engrossed to stop and upload the interim stages! I spent rather longer on the background than I normally do, fussing about with the water. I took a few liberties with the water which I think is ok ~ not much point in slavishly copying the photo since the camera distorts the colours and tones in the actual scene anyway. I did try and represent the bird accurately though, those feathers were a challenge. Not sure if I'll be doing another bird for a while ... but it's good practice!

Pretty Flamingo WIP 1

2011-11-29T16:23:00.001Z

7" x 5" Coloured Pencil on 'Elephant' Colourfix paper

This drawing is based on an original photo by Michael Klinkermallie posted on the Paint My Photo website

N.B. Sorry folks, I hadn't realised that the photos I've linked to on some of my previous drawings cannot be seen by people who haven't signed up to the Paint My Photo website. I'd really like viewers to see the photos I'm drawing from so I'll do it like this now! I'll also revise those previous posts so you can see those photos too.

Back to topic. Well, I'm still faffing around with still life set-ups so that is on the 'back burner' for now. So .... hmmm, here is something completely different! I was struck by the elegance of this bird, the way it's just standing there, and the feathery detail that the photographer managed to capture ... kudos to him. Apparently, flamingos tend to stand on one leg whilst sleeping ~ hence the pose you see here. As you can see in my drawing, I've taken out the other bird from the image and, of course, I'll not be drawing the other bird's reflection. I am also simplifying the water but will be putting in some of those nice ripples around the bird's leg.

I'm using Caran d'Ache Supracolor pencils, with the addition of Greyed Lavender and Pink Rose Prismacolor pencils. I'm also using a Lyra Rembrandt White pencil on the very lightest bits because it has a very fine, hard and reliable, point ... and because I have no Supracolour Whites left! I'm not smoothing out any colour, just using a small soft brush carefully and also some Blu Tack judiciously here and there.

This beginning stage is always the slowest and most exacting because to get the initial shapes and tones in correctly is key, I think, to the success of the finished drawing. Those feathers are a challenge! I'll finish putting in the background, roughly, and then start refining it all.

Still Life Musings

2011-11-25T00:05:00.002Z

These past few days I've been pondering on what I'll be drawing next. If you're a reader of this blog before I had my rather long break, or my 'sabbatical' as I like to call it (sounds better!), you may remember a rather traumatic post about my pc crashing out last year. I didn't have sufficient data back-up and ultimately lost almost all of my own photo references which were to form the basis of future drawings.

I'm in the process of re-building my reference bank, taking new photos of all and sundry, but especially playing around with new still-life set ups. It's been a little frustrating because I'm very pernickety, the lighting has to be 'right', the subject matter has to be 'right', the set up, and so on. Setting up still-lifes of your own takes a lot of time, skill and imagination if they are to be the basis for successful artwork, I think.

Many still-life artists, those who work from their own set-ups, will share their painting process on their blogs but not many of them describe how they came to choose their initial set-up, their thought processes about what objects to include and so on. I think that the setting-up process itself is as important, time-consuming and skillful, as the production of the artwork created from it. I know there are certain artistic conventions when it comes to colour, composition, positioning of objects which are understood by those 'in the know', trained professionals and the like. I'd just like to see personal set-up choices being described more often, I think they deserve a mention.

So what prompted me to raise this? Whilst browsing around art blogs, I came across some still-life artwork which really made me sit up and drool! Some readers may already be familiar with Abbey Ryan's work, especially in the US, but she's new to me! She paints directly from life, usually quite small pieces and pretty quickly too. What I love about her work is its simplicity, bold realism and ..... well everything really! Obviously personal taste comes into this and it's not everybody's cup of tea but, for me, she has a very modern take on what is essentially traditional, classic still-life painting. Truly beautiful work. There are videos of Abbey on her site painting 'live' but I'd love to know more about how she sets up her 'objects', decides on composition, lighting and so on. Aren't I demanding? And cheeky! As if the artwork's not enough, hehe. Maybe I'll ask her.

Here are a couple of kitty pics to keep you going until I endeavour to begin another piece of artwork of my own ...

Here's Minnie daring to sit in Bobby's box! She sat like that staring at me spookily for a good ten minutes. Very unnerving. There was no way she was going to fit into that box lying down like Bobby, now was she?

And here she is again, in her favourite place this time ...

Forget-me-nots nearly finished

2011-11-18T16:07:00.000Z

Flippin' heck I've gone all painterly! Well some would say I've been that way for quite some time ... might as well go the whole hog and start oil painting. On second thoughts, maybe not, I like pencil points, a clean environment and control over my medium too much!

So here is where I'm at with this. I continued with the background very loosely with the same pencils as before. I dithered about how much to define those buds at the bottom. If they are too well defined they could end up being a bit of a distraction from the main flower focus. The jury's still out on that. I've kept the pencils sharp and used them very lightly, just mixing the different hues on the paper. I keep layering to a minimum and don't like to obliterate the paper ... that would feel like I was working against the paper rather than with it, if you see what I mean.

So yes, it looks more like a painting than a drawing. I'm quite pleased with it as it is but I'll put it away now for a while then possibly tweak it some more if it needs it.

Forget-me-nots WIP 2

2011-11-15T15:10:00.001Z

I've done a fair bit more work on this and it's starting to take shape. That first WIP scan was a bit too dark. I must remember to scan and upload in the daylight so that the drawing is accurately represented. It makes a difference when you compare the screen image to the drawing you see in front of you - duh. This scan is pretty accurate in all respects.

Not being that familiar with these flowers, I did some research ~ I wanted to check out the shapes and colours for different parts of the flowers from the images available on the net. I like to represent flowers as correctly as I can and I'm happy now with what I'm doing here. I also discovered more about these little gems. The name for them seems to have originated from the old French phrase "ne m'oubliez pas" (don't forget me) and "forget-me-nots" was first used in English for these flowers around 1532. In Germany the word is "vergissmichnicht" ~ wonderful! Try saying that without your teeth in! (English speakers that is, hehe). I've been practising saying that word all morning, I love it. Anyway, in Germany in the old days, it was said that wearers of this flower would not be forgotten by their lovers ... so romantic. And ... in the USA, the forget-me-not is the State flower of Alaska. So there you go, it's good to learn something new.

Back to topic then, I've started the background using some of the blues I've used in the flowers plus Dark Green, Emerald Green and Prussian Blue. I was going to cross-hatch the colours, as I did with the Wild Poppy drawing, but decided to draw rough blocks of colour with muted edges instead. The important thing here is that the main flowers do not 'fight' with the background for attention. I could have drawn a simpler muted dark background and let the flowers pop out from that. However, I want to show these flowers within the context that they usually grow, that is, alongside others the same ... or at least give a hint of that. As I continue putting in the background, I will see more clearly how to make the central flowers stand forward from that background. I'm loving the Caran d'Ache and Polychromos pencils on this paper. To be continued ...

Forget-me-nots WIP 1

2011-11-13T17:20:00.003Z

8" x 8" Caran d'Ache and Faber Castell Pencils on Deep Ultra Colourfix paper

Thank you to Ognjen Karabegovic for use of his original photo.

I started this just yesterday, having cropped and re-orientated the image. The original photo stands as a piece of art in its own right, I think, but I wanted to focus in on a small cluster of these flowers and see what I could do with it ... couldn't resist!

So, here's my offering at the very start of the drawing. Yes, it's dark, isn't it? It will emerge much brighter as I progress, well that's the plan anyway! I've not used this paper colour before, bit of a gamble, but I think it will serve as a good base for the colours in the image and, of course, it will also provide the drama I like so much.

I'm using the Caran d'Ache Supracolor again, they work so well on this paper and sharpen to a lovely fine point. The blues are good but they are all quite cool (greenish) so I'm also using some Faber Castell Polychromos warmer blues, notably Ultramarine, Light Ultramarine and Helioblue-Reddish. I tried out some Prismacolor blues but the first one I used, Powder Blue, promptly broke ... and kept breaking until I blitzed it in the microwave oven for 20 seconds! Well, you know, I shouldn't have to do this to a pencil to get it to perform, should I? I don't have this problem with ANY of the other pencil brands I use. So please, please, Prismacolor makers, before you produce any more fab colours for your range, can you sort out the breakage problem first! It's no good having a million whizzy colours and high lightfast rankings if the pencils keep breaking! I know I'm not the only one to have noticed this.

Ok, whinge over. I'm off to get back to my Forget-me-nots ... Think I'll have dinner first, I'm hungry!

Added later ... Just discovered that forget-me-nots are a symbol of remembrance. How fitting then for today is Remembrance Sunday ... Lest We Forget.

Little Boy Portrait Finished

2011-11-04T00:58:00.001Z

Well he's definitely finished now after much tweaking, mainly on the clothing. I didn't cover the whole paper down to the bottm, partly because I wanted his face to be the principal focus and partly because ... well, I'm just too lazy! Trying to get an accurate scan of it, after adjusting for colour and contrast, drove me nuts. I took it out in the garden to photograph it but that wasn't much better. I kept seeing greens on the computer image that aren't in the finished drawing. Eventually I arrived at this image of it. It's close, but you have to imagine it without those really dark brown shadows to the left and bottom!

This portrait has been a roller coaster ride but I'm glad I saw it through to the end. Although I am not 'over the moon' about it, it taught me to keep going even through the early ugly stages. I have a tendency to give up on a drawing when I don't see it looking promising almost immediately. Of course, some pictures really do turn out cruddy and you wish you hadn't spent so much time on them, but others turn out well and you're glad you did! I am pleased I stuck with this one because even though there are many bits that could be better, aren't there always!, I feel like I'm moving forwards with my portraits ... and that can't be bad.

Little Boy Portrait WIP 3 Getting there!

2011-11-01T23:50:00.000Z

Well I think I've gone through 'the burn' on this one (lol) and it's finally starting to work. Lots of pencil tickling, blending, adjusting, tut-tutting and adjusting again ~ you know how it is! I couldn't understand why his right eye didn't look right, then I realised it needed an upper lid .. hmm. I added some Dark Umber (Prismacolor) to the left background and kind of merged that area with his hair on that side. I see the image here has that scan shadow down the left again, it only shows up like that when I upload it here ~ really annoying.

I'm using the Caran D'Ache Supracolor dry and blending with cotton buds. Pale browns, Yellow Ochres, Pinks, Apricot, Reddish Orange, Cream and White. I'm also using FC Polychromos Light and Medium Flesh, Sky Blue, Raw Umber and some Prismas, including Greyed Lavender, Artichoke and Bronze. The lighter Caran d'Ache colours are much less waxy, as I suspected, and are working well on this paper.

I'm finding this drawing much more exacting to do than previous ones, probably because of the subtle colour changes and details that just have to be 'right' on a portrait. It can so easily go horribly wrong! Not much more to do now. I'll work on his clothing next, especially on that left hand side, but it will be loosely rendered, and then final adjustments ...

Nil Desperandum! The portrait continues ...

2011-10-30T20:25:00.001Z

Worked a fair bit more on this, as you can see. I've just had a tip from Pauline Longley about applying mineral spirit to the base colours and then continuing to work on as usual. Thanks Pauline, I didn't think of that! I'm not a big fan of solvents to be honest as I'm not too bothered about having a smooth finish, however, it may have been useful here in getting a smooth light base to work from. Can't do it on this one now because I've done a lot more work on it.

After a lot of brain-racking about the waxy light pencil problem, I thought maybe a different kind of pencil might help so I dug out a neglected tin of Caran D'Ache Supracolor water-soluble pencils. I figured they are harder and not so waxy as my usual cps. I have a set of 120 so a good colour range and I'm using them dry. Bit of a gamble, they could be really scratchy, but they are going down really well on this paper and they sharpen to a lovely fine point!

You won't believe the number of times I've almost ripped this picture up. I vacillate between thinking "this is utter c**p, why am I wasting my time?" and "oh it's not so bad, I'll keep going and see what happens". Well I've kept going and I'm in positive mode at the moment. The main problem I'm having is trying to get smooth transitions between shades of colour ~ so important for drawing skin. I seemed to manage this ok on my previous portrait (Rachael) but I think this is harder because the paper colour is so dark. I'm doing a lot of colour testing around the edges of this drawing and using up a lot of cotton buds blending too! It's all good learning I suppose. Lots more to do so I'll soldier on, including adjusting his left eye which is too big.

It's anybody's guess whether my next post will be this portrait or a flower image I've got my eye on!

Little Boy Portrait started ...

2011-10-29T16:46:00.001+01:00

About 10" x 8" Coloured pencil on Dark Umber Colourfix sanded paper. Based on a photo by Rosalind Amorin posted on the Paint My Photo site.

My thanks to Rosalind for allowing me to experiment with her photo!

This is a rather ambitious interpretation of the photo and I'm not sure it will work ~ well, you have to push the boat out sometimes, even if it sinks! I want his face to be in the spotlight, as it were, with everything else in the shadows. Well that's the image I have in my head ... whether I can get that down on paper is quite another thing! I've simplified the image by leaving out his hand and the chair because they were a bit distracting. This image of the drawing is pretty accurate but the scan shadow on the left is annoying, can't get rid of it.

So far I've drawn the basic features and blocked in some tonal areas. I'm using a mixture of pencils, mainly FC Polychromos and Prismacolor. I've used Artichoke and Bronze (Prismas) along with dark browns for the shadowy bits. There are also strokes of Pale Vermillion, Cinnamon, Greyed Lavender, Clay Rose in there too along with all the different Peaches.

I'm having trouble with the light areas on his face. To get his face light enough on this dark paper, I've laid down Light Peaches and Creams with the intention of going in over the top with darker hues. Trouble is, lighter pencil colours tend to be very waxy, especially the Prismas, and so darker hues do not sit well on top. I'm getting 'blotchy' patches and it's driving me crazy! Ah well, I'll keep trying different things on it. I might crack it ... then again ... I might give it up as a bad job and start a flower instead! Hey ho.

Green Bottle WIP 3 Final

2011-10-21T20:27:00.001+01:00

Worked on this some 4 hours or so more. Instead of going at it in one marathon drawing fest, so to speak, I've been dipping in, leaving it and then dipping in again over a couple of days. That strategy seems to work better for me because I'm seeing it with fresh eyes each time ~ it's amazing how parts of the drawing jump out at me demanding to be tweaked each time I look!

I refined the foreground area a little more and, having completed the bottle itself, decided that the background did not need to go any darker. I also decided not to saturate the paper with colour, I prefer the 'grainy' look. This has been a case of 'softly, softly' pencil strokes, a constant process of adjusting colours and values across the whole image until I'm happy with it. And, guess what? I'm happy with it!

Green Bottle WIP 2

2011-10-18T14:46:00.000+01:00

Some more work done on this, about 5 hours of careful colour choice ... back and forth with pencil marks until I'm happy with the colours. So far I've used Dark Green, Dark Umber and Mid Terracotta on the background and numerous greens on the bottle itself. It needs to be nice and dark but I'd rather not use Black because I feel it somehow deadens the picture by 'killing off' the subtlety of the other background colours. After all, when you really look into dark shadows, they are rarely simply black are they? The paper colour choice also helps here of course. I think the drama is coming through nicely, hopefully I won't over do it!

I'm not layering colours on top of each other but using them alongside each other though obviously there is some overlap. For example, I'm doing the background quickly with a squiggly circular stroke, first one colour then other colours filling in the gaps. I like to work up the picture all at the same time so will do one bit and then keep revisiting other bits. For example, I lingered for a while working on the bottle neck ellipse (always difficult!) and then when my eyes started crossing with the intensity of it I moved away and worked on another part. I'll keep going back to that ellipse with a 'fresh eye' until I think it's about right.

I'll work a little more on the upper, dark areas of the bottle next and also sort out the foreground area which is looking a bit rough. What I don't want is a drawing that is too polished-looking ... or too 'sketchy' either. It's all about finding a good balance, I think.

The Drama of Glass ~ Green Bottle WIP 1

2011-10-14T17:58:00.002+01:00

7" x 5" Coloured Pencil on Brown Colourfix Sanded Paper

I started this little effort yesterday, about 5 hours work done on it so far although it doesn't look like it! I like green bottles, in fact I did a drawing of a different green bottle on the same paper a while back ~ Blog post back in December 2009. I took loads of photos of the bottle in different lights and with different backdrops. I wanted 'dark and dramatic' and this is the image I settled on.

I'm using Derwent Coloursofts, but also some of my favourite Prismacolor greens too, namely Yellow Chartreuse, Chartreuse, Marine Green, Dark Green, Limepeel, Jade and Celadon Green. There is also some Faber Castell Ivory in there too, where would I be without it! In terms of process, I'm not working in any orderly fashion here, you know light to dark, for example, - in fact there is virtually no method at all in my madness! I'm darting about doing whatever area happens to take my fancy. One guideline I'm keeping in mind is that because the bottle itself is being rendered largely in warm colours, the shadows need to be kept 'cool'. Early days yet and it's looking rough but the trick is not to panic ... it will come good (fingers crossed!).

A bit of light relief. Here's Bobby in a bigger box, he outgrew the old one! Does that look more comfortable? I don't think so!

And ... here's Barley

How's a person supposed to get any work done around here?

Landscape no-no, history and some trivia

2011-10-12T01:40:00.001+01:00

I attempted a drawing from a photo I took recently but unfortunately it was utter rubbish so I'm uploading the photo instead!

I wanted to draw this pic because this particular church has special significance for me. It is the parish church in a lovely little village in Buckinghamshire called Newton Blossomville. Many ancestors of mine were baptised, married and buried here back in the early 1800s. I am writing a book about them and want to include some of my own drawings in it. This image, however, is far better left as a photo! I don't know why I thought it would make a good drawing. Ah well, I'll have to have a rethink, maybe take a trip over there again and take some more photos.

Incidentally, Newton Blossomville has some connection with a chap named John Newton who lived in the small town of Olney, about two miles away. John Newton was a curate in Olney where he wrote the hymn 'Amazing Grace' in the 1770s. Apparently, he wrote it after he had some kind of spiritual awakening and it was then put to music and became an anthem for Black African slaves, especially in America. Beautiful, haunting song and written in little old Olney! It's amazing what you can discover when researching your family history.

Newton Blossomville is such a gorgeous little village and it's like stepping back in time going there. The only things that tell you you're in the 21st century are the cars on the road ... oh and the tarmac on the roads too! Here's another pic of it ...

By the way, I did some final tweaks to my Rachael portrait, straightened out her collar bone for example, and I've posted it on the Paint My Photo site (click on 'View Slideshow' to see it properly). I'm quite pleased with how it turned out (Good Grief did I really just say that?!).

Portrait of Rachael WIP 4

2011-10-01T23:59:00.000+01:00

Er, did I say this just needed a few tweaks here and there and it would be finished? How foolhardy of me! Once I got back to it again I could see there was so much to do. I am always afraid of overworking a piece but this really needed more colour, blending and attention to detail. I've used cotton buds to blend the colours and it has a painterly look now, easier to achieve on this Colourfix sanded paper I think.

I think it really is just about finished now although I really must revisit that chest area. It looks like I've given the poor girl a broken collar bone ...oh and a nasty looking boil in that area too! (Sorry Rachael!). All the flaws show up so clearly when the pic is uploaded. I suppose that's a good thing ... groan. Will remedy them post haste.

Portrait of Rachael WIP 3

2011-09-30T14:23:00.000+01:00

Worked some more on this, mainly the hat, neck area and clothing. This is a picture with lots of light and shade of varying intensity and allows me to practice getting the tones to look convincing. One thing I've learned is that if I see a particular area that needs to be darker, it's sometimes better to achieve that by leaving it alone and lightening the adjacent areas instead. For me,it's all about constant adjustments, little by little, always being mindful of the picture as a whole.

Rachael's hat and dress were rendered only with some of the colours I've already used on her skin and the background. It gives the image a green tinge I think, but I like it. It's almost finished, just a few minor adjustments to do here and there.

Portrait of Rachael WIP 2

2011-09-27T17:03:00.000+01:00

I've worked on this a little more today and thought I'd better upload it again before I do too much. As you can see, I've kept pretty faithful to the original photo although I did crop the image to shift Rachael to the right. I just think it has more impact like that, more interesting than dead centre.

I hope you can see that I've added in some more colours, not just to the background but to her face and neck too. The photo does show a wide range of colours in her skin but there's a danger of just 'seeing' the browns and reds. In real life, there are shades of green, blue, purple and yellow in skin too. Sooo ... I've added in Sky Blue, Caput Mortuum, Caput Mortuum Violet (Polychromos) and Limepeel and Pale Vermillion (Prismacolor) ... so far. I've left her neck deliberately unblended for now to remind myself, and show you, where I've put some of those colours.

I've used greens, Bistre and Ginger Root (what a fab colour!) on the background but also in her skin too which helps to unify all the elements in the image. There's a danger, I think, that if you use completely different colours for the background, the portrait itself can look like it's kind of stuck onto the background. Hope that makes sense. I'm using cotton buds to blend the colours together and push the pigment into the paper. I love Colourfix paper, it takes so much punishment!

I'm really enjoying this project. A way to go yet.

Portrait of Rachael WIP 1

2011-09-26T17:28:00.001+01:00

Approx 8" x 10" Coloured Pencil on Colorfix (Soft Umber)
(Ref: Original photo by Li Newton on Paint My Photo)

Here's Li's original photo ...

I know, it's been a while sinced I posted anything. In fact, it's been a while since I drew anything! No excuses except I went off on another path researching my family history. Genealogy is utterly fascinating and can take over your life ... well all your spare time anyway. But those (dusty) pencils kept calling and I've had a few prods from blogger friends, thank you good people.

I like to draw from my own photos but I haven't taken any lately ~ must get snapping again. Looking for some inspiration, I came across this striking photo of a young lady from Barbados by Li Newton (Paint my Photo). I like her 'dead-pan' expression and the beautiful colours in her skin ... good light/dark contrasts too, so I thought I'd give it a go. A portrait is probably not the thing to tackle when you've just come out of hibernation, artwise, and you've almost forgotten the techniques you learnt and the way colours work on the paper. Heyho, I never said I was wise or sensible. I'm learning again ... fast!

I'm using Polychromos pencils, all the browns, reds, pinks and, of course, one of my favourites, ivory. One or two Prismas are also in there too, Sienna Brown and Dark Umber. Early days yet with this and I can see loads wrong with it but I'll plod on. I'll be starting the background next, bit late I know, and it will be kind of cross-hatched and muted. Oh and the hat too (been putting that off, it looks tricky). I'd forgotten how calming, almost meditative, drawing is ..... aaah!

Taking a Short Break

2010-08-06T16:46:00.000+01:00

Apple, approx 7" x 7". Derwent Pastel Pencils on Canson Mi Teintes Paper

Here's a little drawing I did from life very quickly with some pastel pencils I found in my drawer. Just wanted to upload something other than the very finished, detailed stuff I've got into the habit of doing in recent months. Simple and rough, yet quite refreshing I think.

I've been very busy lately with family stuff and getting out and about, making the most of the summer season which is so short here in the UK. Art-making has taken a bit of a back seat but I'm hoping to gather some fresh material - and inspiration - to draw from (pun intentional) in the next couple of weeks. Blog posts will therefore be pretty spartan now until the beginning of September when I hope to return with some new artwork.

In the meantime, here's Bobby in a box......

He has taken to sleeping here, right next to my working space, despite there being a myriad of other much more comfortable places around the house in which to snuggle down. He likes to be where I am I think.....aah!

Marbles Portrait

2010-07-27T18:36:00.003+01:00

"Five Marbles". 11" x 14.5", Derwent Coloursoft Pencils on Sennelier La Carte Pastel Card (Dark Grey).

Well here's the completed picture I did for the Derwent Pencils Company. It is a larger piece than I normally do but, strangely, it didn't really take a great deal longer to do than a smaller piece. The detailing is the same whatever the size, in fact, I think it's easier because it's not so fiddly and you've got the freedom to do bold, broad strokes. I had wondered how on earth pencil artists do their large pieces, much bigger than this, without going totally bonkers! Now, I'm thinking working big is maybe not so onerous as it seems.

One might think that the logical surface to draw marbles on would be smooth white paper. However, I chose to use a dark grey 'La Carte' pastel card for two main reasons. Firstly, coverage is quicker and the Coloursoft seemed to lay down very softly and smoothly. Secondly, it's harder to work precisely or get bogged down in detail on this rougher paper - you are kind of forced to work more loosely which, I think, yields a less 'photographic'-looking result. I used the pencils dry, with no solvents, and used cotton buds and a hardish bristle brush in circular strokes to smooth out the pigment on the marbles.

I'm really not into slavishly copying my photos. I'm not that good a photographer that I get brilliant photos worthy of exact copying anyway! Nor am I keen on jiggery pokery with photo software, I'd rather be drawing. What I do is choose a photo and then interpret it in my own way, exaggerate colours, leave extraneous bits out, bring out the colours in shadows and so on. Whilst this drawing could be regarded as photorealistic, especially as you see it on the screen here, it is most definitely a drawing in actuality.

I took many, many photos of marbles in different lighting, positioning and group combinations before I came up with a composition I thought would make a good drawn image. Derwent wanted a portrait format, rather than landscape, of 'close-up' marbles, which was more of a challenge, I think.

Hmm, all in all, I'm quite pleased with this one. It looks especially good when viewed from a distance, something which is hard to achieve with a smaller drawing, I think.

Ooh, I nearly forgot to say, I had the thumbs up from Derwent today (Phew!) so the drawing is now winging its way up north to them.

Some light relief from PC madness

2010-07-18T17:10:00.020+01:00

I finally got my PC back, hmmm. The data they managed to recover was negligible but at least it still works. I spent most of Friday and all day yesterday reinstalling programs and uploading stuff. As I was doing this, Windows insisted on trying to install updates - two years' worth of them. I tried to delay them but I lost the battle in the end and gave in to the bossy reminders. 89 updates later (yes, 89!) I'm left wondering what the point of these updates is anyway, given that they didn't prevent Windows going AWOL in the first place! I think I'll get a MAC next time around.

When I wasn't spitting feathers at the computer screen I actually did some tidying up in my office. The stacks of books and art materials were becoming a health hazard and badly needed organizing and storing sensibly. The trouble is that I begin well and then get sidetracked by something I come across during the clearout - I think this is called task avoidance! On this occasion it was a book I've had for about 15 years and which always makes me laugh. It's a compilation of a series of books written in the 1950s by Geoffrey Willans and illustrated, brilliantly, by Ronald Searle.

It's all about a schoolboy called Molesworth who writes a diary about life at 'Skool'. His quirky spelling and witty prose describing his experiences of swots, snekes, swankpots, gurls, wizard wheezes, weeds, dirty rotters, parents and (how to avoid) lessons is soo funny! (At least, to me anyway).

I've always been a fan of books about schooldays, especially funny ones like this. Here's an excerpt...

And here's another....

Caption: "Special attention is paid to health and all boys are under the supervision of a qualified matron who has at her disposal the full resources of the sick room."

And here's my favourite.....

Caption: "Look at me coo er gosh posh eh? You wouldn't hav thort a pair of bloomers would make all that difference. "

(All images and excerpts copyright G. Willan and R. Searle)

Hehe! Ah well, bak to the tidying up! Sigh.

Busy, busy and....."More Tea Vicar?"

2010-07-13T00:39:00.005+01:00

Crumbs, how time flies when you're busy! Life and family issues have taken precedence over artwork over the last few days but today has been marbles day - taking pics, cropping pics, playing with potential compositions for a drawing. There are so many choices to make before pencils finally make contact with paper and the drawing gets under way. Marbles have been drawn by many coloured pencil artists so it's a challenge to try and do something different. Good fun though! The only thing that's certain so far is that I'll be using Derwent Coloursoft pencils and this drawing will be around A3 size - big for me!

As a bit of light relief, I thought I'd post some pics of a little Birthday treat I had last week. My sister gave me a gift of 'tea for two' at a local Manor house so I took my long-suffering friend, Maggie, with me. Here's where we went, Flitwick Manor......

Now I'm not really into stately homes, even little ones like this. The people who live in them generally own far too much of this country's precious land and have more money than they know what to do with ~ just my beliefs. However, my sister knows I love my tea and I really appreciated her gift. So, as the saying goes ~ "More tea vicar?"!.....

As you can see, we were given more cakes than any bod should reasonably expect to eat at one sitting ~ but we didn't complain! There is a gap on the bottom platter where there had been two huge scones, these had already been eaten by the time the photo was taken, hehe. I know this may be hard to believe, and we are both quite slim (maybe not for much longer!) but we polished off every cake you see here ...... oh and also the cucumber and smoked salmon sandwiches which preceded them! Absolutely delicious! Just to rub it in, here we are savouring the moment .....

What was really nice was the fact that we had English Breakfast leaf tea - not bags, proper tea in a china teapot! I always drink leaf tea in a pot at home but you rarely get it elsewhere these days, which I think is a crime.

And here's a pic of a magnificent cedar tree in the gardens. Apparently, that big branch on the ground broke off under the weight of snow that fell earlier this year during the arctic winter we had.

And finally, here's a pic of a birthday card sent to me by a friend (I'll get her back!). I hasten to add that I deplore ageism in all its forms......however, I'm afraid I had to lighten up when I got this! Methinks if you're going to go to exercise class, best not to wear a dress........jogging pants, or slacks might be a better option?!

Wild Poppy Final and some news!

2010-07-07T16:39:00.003+01:00

Here's a better image of the drawing, I took a photo of it which gives a more accurate image than that grainy scan I uploaded yesterday. The greens still aren't quite true but hey ho it's the best I can do. It bugs me when the image isn't right.

On another note, I've been asked to draw some marbles with Coloursoft Pencils by the Derwent Pencil Company. How cool is that?! It's a subject I love to draw so I'm really looking forward to it. I won't upload the picture until it's finished as I don't think it would be appropriate to do it as a work-in-progress. Well, I'd better go and dust off that big box of lovely marbles I have stashed away and get cracking on a composition!

On yet another note, if anyone has emailed me at the address in the sidebar on the right here, I apologise for not replying - I cannot access that account at the moment due to my pc problems. If you wish to email me any time, for the moment, it would be better to do so at this address instead ~
janet.pantry (at) btinternet.com. Many thanks.

Wild Poppy WIP 2

2010-07-06T21:17:00.000+01:00

Another three hours work done on this today and it's just about finished. Of course, when it's uploaded to the computer screen I start to see lots of flaws in it and little niggly bits I want to change! I did the background with Greens from the Caran d'Ache Supracolor range - Light Green, Emerald Green, Dark Green and also Night Green (Lyra Rembrandt) which is the darkest green I have.

The background was done very roughly and randomly with cross-hatching. I find that if I do it too carefully it ends up looking overdone. On my laptop screen (not ideal) the greens are not as 'true' as they are in real life but I can't correct them without the photo software which is on my PC. Lordy knows what this drawing will look like on other screens! Ah well, I'll have a look at it tomorrow and do some tweaking if necessary, then I'll take a pic of it in the daylight and see if I can get a better scan of it. Having said all that, I'm quite happy with this one, all in all.

Wild Poppy and Ice Cold in Alex

2010-07-02T22:28:00.001+01:00

Approx. 7" x 7" Coloured Pencil on Aubergine Colourfix sanded paper. Work in Progress.

My friend, Maggie and I took advantage of the gloriously hot weather we've been having lately and went for a walk in the lovely countryside we have around our way. Needless to say, we did get lost despite being armed with a carefully planned route and a decent map. We were trekking happily down the side of a field admiring the wild flora when Maggie turned and ventured to suggest that the row of trees on our left wasn't supposed to be on our left, according to the map she was holding, but on our right. I said, in a moment of logical clarity (I get those sometimes!), that perhaps we should retrace our steps, find a path along the other side of the trees and follow that. We then decided that whichever side of the trees we walked we would end up in the same place (!) so we decided to continue along the original path.

Maggie the Map Reader

So there we were, tripping happily down the path, admiring the views, merrily quipping that we were glad to be well away from the noisy drone of traffic and other humans. The mood changed pretty rapidly, however, when we were ....how shall I put this?... overcome by a pungent and extremely unpleasant smell. We had arrived at a large sewerage works, surrounded on all sides by a high fence, with no further pathway around, or away from, the area. Just more fields and an almighty stench.

Our only option was to go back up the steep, long path in the direction we came from across more fields....and some woodland.....and yet more fields in a pathetic attempt to get back onto the circular walk we were supposed to be doing. The map was next to useless by now because it gave us no indication as to where we actually were since nothing we saw matched anything illustrated on the map (Lol). What you need in these circumstances is a brain which can cope with spatial awareness and tell you, at least roughly, in which direction to head for in order to get you back to where you started from. Either that or a compass! We had neither of these handy things.

All we could do was to head towards the distant sound of traffic which would take us back to civilisation. How ironic that the very sound we had initially wanted to get away from suddenly became very welcome and comforting! By the time we got back to my little car sitting in the village pub car park, we were hot, tuckered out, blistered and very thirsty. It was a bit like that old film called "Ice Cold In Alex" with John Mills and Sylvia Sims....you know the one? Only not quite so hot and exotic, just li'l ol' England. Oh and yes, we did go into the pub and have a very long, cold drink!

This wild poppy, the drawing shown way back up top here, is from a photo I took on our walk. It was one of a few growing wild in a field. Poppies look so fragile with their papery petals blowing in the breeze. I want to try and capture the feel of that. I'm using a mixture of pencil brands here, chosen purely on colour - pale lavendars and lilacs, aubergine, pale greens, yellow and whites. I want to add some greens as a background, if I'm brave enough!

NB. My PC is still in dock being repaired, she said optimistically. And this laptop I'm using would try the patience of a saint!

Meltdown

2010-06-29T00:03:00.000+01:00

My drawing flow has been temporarily disrupted by more computer problems sent from the gods to test my sanity .... again. Windows Vista has decreed that it no longer wishes to function on my PC and has decided to go AWOL. Unfortunately, I have not kept my data back-up routine up to date and so have had to send the offending article off for a data recovery operation which may, or may not be successful. I'm trying to stay positive even though I'm very, very pee'd off about it, not so much about the possible data and program loss but about the fact that it happened in the first place.

I'm always very careful on my computer and have good anti-virus protection and yet, I'm told, this sort of thing can happen out of the blue. Windows files, apparently, can just get corrupted and permanently jam up the whole system....just like that. In the blink of an eye all the precious stuff you have painstakingly installed and uploaded over some considerable time, and not sufficiently backed up, can be gone. Be warned folks, Be warned!

Anyway, I'm using an old laptop at the moment so I can continue using email and the Internet....and the printer/scanner too. I also have many of my photos and drawings on other devices so it's not so bad. Worse things can happen, can't they? I still have my pencils and paper.... now they can't disappear into the great unknown, can they? I Will Survive!

Rose Interior, finished, and Wimbledon

2010-06-25T00:14:00.000+01:00

I tinkered some more with this and it's about finished. It was tricky doing some of the petals convincingly...... they are positioned at different angles, of course, and so the light is hitting them in all sorts of strange ways. This is a photo of the drawing, rather than a scan, and doesn't really show up the nuances of colour in there very well.

I've concluded that although I like the Supracolor pencils, some of them are a bit scratchy on the Stonehenge. Prismacolor pencils, being softer, work much better on it, I think. I'm not too keen on white paper although I've seen wondrous work done on it by others with far more patience than me!

On another note, I'm eating these........

and watching this....on TV......

........at the moment. Well not exactly this match, it was Gasquet and Fish on Court No. 1 at Wimbledon two years ago but you get my drift! I took this photo when I went to Wimbledon two years ago. I know.... our seats were pretty far back - lucky I had my binoculars with me at the time!

I love watching the tennis and I enter for the ballot each year to try and get tickets at Wimbledon - it's the cheapest way to get them. The other ways to get in are that a) you are, or know, royalty (er... nope); b) you have connections through a tennis club (er... nope); c) you have corporate, group affiliations (er... nope); d) you are willing to camp out all night and queue for hours at the gate the next day (er... definitely a no-no!).

It's great to go see the tennis at Wimbledon, there's a really nice atmosphere. It's well-organized, very civilised, and very.....well.... English, I suppose. Here's another pic.....

On another note, normally I really don't care for football. However..........Come on England!!

Rose Interior. WIP 2

2010-06-20T16:20:00.000+01:00

Here's a quick update on this modest little drawing. I've spent about 8 hours on this so far, even though it is quite small. There are lots of intricate shapes in those petals - I have yet to work on the lower left hand side. I normally scan in my drawings as I seem to get a better image that way. This one scanned really badly, however - I think, because it's a bright picture and also my scanner is pretty basic. So with this drawing, I've taken photos which, to my surprise, have produced better, more accurate, images of it.

Normally, I would cover the whole image with a first layer of colours and then move in to refine the detail, adjust tones and intensify colours. Can't help it, I'm an orderly sort of person! On this one, though, I have deviated from that a bit and played with the yellows and greens to try and get that intensity of colour in the central area. So the next step is to render those bottom petals, review the whole image and move into the final touches. There is no doubt that working on white paper is more laborious and exacting than working on my usual tinted papers. Still good fun to do though!

Rose Interior. WIP 1

2010-06-17T19:07:00.000+01:00

5" x 7" Caran d'Ache Supracolor pencils on Stonehenge paper.

I know, I was going to do something on Black Stonehenge paper. Well, I did start a drawing on that paper but a disastrous choice of pencil colours meant that it had to be abandoned and it's just too cruddy to show! I did actually like working on that paper, it's very soft and I could get nice strong colours..... just not the right colours! I'll try it again soon.

In the meantime, here's a little number I've just started. I took lots of photos last week of some roses which were in glorious bloom in my daughter's garden. It was a sunny, slightly cloudy, day and the light was perfect for taking pictures. I dithered for ages trying to decide on a good crop for this drawing and I settled on this one. I think the closer you get into a flower the wider the range of hues you can see.

I'm using the Supracolor again because the yellows in this range are really nice. I'm using about 8 different yellows on this plus Khaki Green which is a very light green. I'm also using Light Purple and Aubergine. These colours, I think, would be fine on a darker paper but because this paper is White I need some shades even lighter than this so I've brought into play some trusty Prismacolors - Pale Sage, Lilac, Lavender and Greyed Lavender - too.

This first draft looks a bit rough and ready even though it's taken about 3 hours to get it looking like this!  One reason for taking so long is that I can't be as cavalier with the pencil strokes on White paper, it's not very forgiving and it shows every mark. Another reason is that I like to get the shapes just right ( just call me anal!). Once the shapes are 'right' then I can concentrate on the colours and tones. Hope that makes sense! A way to go yet.

Viola Close-up Final

2010-06-10T17:03:00.001+01:00

I'm calling this done now. I've added a little colour here and there and changed a small detail on the background (spot the difference?) just to aid the composition. No, I'm not telling you what I did! It's pretty accurate in terms of colours and contrast although those colour transitions are much less obvious in real life. They're smoother I think and some of the subtlety is not coming through on screen (honest!).

All in all I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I could take it further and add more strokes to make it look more polished but I like to see the support showing through - it looks more lively somehow. I enjoyed working on the card, the pencils glided on quite smoothly - even better when they are really sharp. I'm planning on doing a drawing on Black Stonehenge paper next - I've never used that support and I've heard it can be a bit of a challenge. Gotta try it then haven't I?!

Here's a pic of my Official Keeper of the Pencils, Bobby.

He loves the Blues, as you can see! At least he doesn't make off with my Blu Tack blob like Barley does. Yes, he's still doing it, despite repeated reprimands from me. I've tried to outwit him by hiding it where I think he won't spot it - hehe, who am I kidding?!

Viola Close-up WIP 2

2010-06-08T00:43:00.000+01:00

I worked about 4 hours more on this today and it's almost finished, I just need to do a little tweaking here and there. I was afraid that maybe the green card would dominate too much but I think it's okay. I won't list all the pencils I used - too numerous! - but there are 8 greens, including turquoise green, indigo, periwinkle blue, aubergine, orange, 3 yellows, cream and white from the Supracolor range. I also used Prismacolor Lilac and, to get that background really dark, I used Lyra Rembrandt Night Green which is the darkest green I've found in any of the brands I have.

Lots of people tend to shy away from using coloured pencils on dark papers, mainly because it seems really hard to get good, strong, bright colour down. I rather like working on dark paper now so I thought I'd put down a few of the things I've learned - someone might find them useful.

My tips for working on dark paper

Firstly, I choose a shade of paper according to the subject I want to draw and the effect I want to achieve. Usually, this shade will act as the base colour for the picture thus cutting down the amount of time I'd have to spend laying down pencil colours. The paper colour I use is integral to the picture I'm doing, so I choose carefully. Sometimes I get it wrong but it usually works out well.
To keep my colours vibrant, I'll lay down different colours side by side rather than layering one on top of another. I've found that heavy layering tends to dull down the colours and make them muddy. By 'side by side' I mean a few fine strokes of one colour and then, alongside, a few of another colour with minimal overlap.
Occasionally......just occasionally......when I want to achieve a really dark shade, I'll mix 2 (maybe even 3!) colours together. On the Viola, for example, I layered Aubergine, Indigo and Night Green to achieve those inky patches on the background.
I'm very sparing with the White pencil when it comes to the brighter areas. I use creams for 'white' areas and add White pencil only on the very brightest parts of my subject. I've found that doing this makes highlights stand out much more.

These are just a few ideas, I'm sure there are many more out there. Feel free to let me know!

New Drawing.......at last! Viola Close-up WIP 1

2010-06-06T00:07:00.001+01:00

Viola close-up. 5" x 7". Caran d'Ache Supracolor pencils (mainly) on smooth green card

It's been a while since I posted any art....... just couldn't get into creative mode..... but I've dusted off some pencils and just started this little flower. I have a big tub of Violas in my garden, all of the pale violet/cream variety, bursting into bloom - they smell and look gorgeous! I started a bigger picture of Violas and foliage but it wasn't going well so I cropped it down to this close-up of a single flower which I will now focus on.

I'm having a break from my usual paper, Colourfix, and I'm using some smooth card for a change. I bought a stash of this card in assorted colours from an Art Fair last year without any real idea of what I intended to do with it! I think I have some sort of paper fetish (Lol). I like the feel and smell of it and have to buy it, especially if it's different from anything I've seen before (Hmmm, does that sound alarming?!). Anyway, the card is made by the Paper Company and is surprisingly nice to work on, although it's quite thin and doesn't take many layers of pencil.

I'm using Caran d'Ache Supracolor pencils which are water-soluble, though I'm using them dry because I don't like what happens when you add water! These pencils are really nice - great range of colours. They are harder than other brands like Coloursoft and Prismacolor but because of that they keep a lovely sharp point and I find they lay down really smoothly on this card.

I chose a strong green colour for this drawing because it gives me a head start for the dark background, adds a touch of drama and I just prefer to work light over dark. This strategy works well with sanded papers but sometimes backfires on smoother papers when you can't get the lighter colours to 'sing'. Anyway, on this one I'm trying to lay the colours down side by side so they don't 'muddy up'. I'm aiming to bring out the subtlety of the lovely pastel shades in this flower......a way to go yet.......it could well go 'belly up'!

Artless Interlude

2010-05-13T17:41:00.002+01:00

My blogging friend, Paula Pertile, coined a great phrase this week 'Art Limbo' which summarised so well her feelings about where she is at with her art right now. I think many of us have probably been in this place at some time or another. For me, it signifies a kind of paralysis which sets in from time to time when the art stops flowing, the ideas dry up and the enthusiasm wanes - at least that's how it feels for me at the moment! It's a waiting game with me, if nothing comes then I'll just have to do other things until inspiration strikes!

In the meantime I've been soaking up Springtime.......which means Bluebells! We are lucky enough to have some ancient woodland virtually on our doorstep so I thought I'd post up a few photos of mine taken at Ashridge Park. The bluebells are out for only about two weeks so when word gets out that they've 'arrived' hoards of people descend upon the area to see them.

My photos don't really show the true splendour of the scene and the light wasn't great. You have to be there to drink in all the gorgeous colours and see the blue-violet carpet of all those bluebells. Magical.

A kitty story and more politics

2010-05-07T23:08:00.002+01:00

Inca. 8" x 8" Derwent Coloursoft on smooth cartridge paper.

I've been doing some boring but necessary admin, trawling through my digital photo stock of all my drawings, labelling and organizing them into some sort of recognizable order. It has been interesting to look back at some of my early stuff and discern some of the changes in my work, and hopefully improvements, since then. I came across this little drawing I did of Inca, my daughter's cat, about three years ago. I was quite proud of it at the time and still like it. Looking at it now, though, I see that it could do with a little more definition on the nose and those lighter areas.

Inca, believe it or not, is mum to our four black and white cats, Keith, Bob, Barley and Whiteface. There were six kittens in that litter and all were black and white. No prizes for guessing what the father must have looked like! Inca has since been spayed and, until about a month ago, was living with us. She was often hostile to her boys, even though they are all neutered, and seemed not to want them around. I figured that maybe it was just her natural instinct to push them away and off into the big wide world. So.....we took the decision to give her to a good friend of mine who had recently lost her own cat and was really keen to have her.

We weren't sure how it would turn out......whether she'd miss her boys or they'd miss her....but kept the option open for her to return if it didn't work out. At first we missed having her around but I'm pleased to say that it seems to working out very well. She has settled in well with my friend who dotes on her and her boys seem unphased by her absence....in fact, they all appear to be far more relaxed now. A good call I think.....phew!

And now for something completely different. Hey, I live in a country which has, today, become a kind of 'government no mans land'! The people decided to 'hang' the parliament after the General Election - the first time that's happened for about thirty years! It was essentially a three-horse race and no single party achieved a clear mandate to form the new government. The upshot of it all is that two or more parties will have to form some sort of pact, or coalition, in order to go to the Queen with a mandate to govern the country.

As I write this, Cameron (Conservative) is talking to Clegg (Liberal Democrat) to see if they can do a deal. Hmmm......that's gonna be tough as they disagree on some pretty crucial issues. Gordon Brown (Labour), who came second in terms of parliamentary seats, is looking like 'Billy no mates' at the moment! That could change, though, because there are so many different permutations possible in terms of how the government can be formed and it will take at least a few days to sort it out.

Personally, I think the hung parliament is a Good Thing. It is clear that the electorate wants change, not only in terms of who runs the country but also the voting system itself. We seem to be heading for a more mature system of consensual politics, perhaps proportional representation of the kind they have in most other European countries. Not before time I reckon. There are people, including those in the media, who are impatient with indecision and the so-called 'chaos' of it all - they want certainty, they want things to be either black or white. They want to herald in a new leader....now.... because then they will feel safe. But I say let's stay in the 'grey' area for a while and work things through in a measured way. After all, as we artists already know, there are lots of different colours in grey, aren't there? Grey can be infinitely interesting!

I'd better get off my soap box now. I'm not usually this interested in the political scene but I've been following the commentary on this all day and I kind of got hooked....can you tell?!

Minnie Finished

2010-05-01T23:13:00.000+01:00

Here's my final version of Minnie after a bit of tweaking here and there. I so didn't want to overdo it and, to me, it still looks a little underdone. But, I have paid heed to the comments of my wise arty friends here and decided to STOP before it's too late! It is a joy working on Colourfix paper, I don't think I could go back to smooth white paper now.

Cat Portrait: Minnie WIP 2

2010-04-28T23:26:00.001+01:00

A few hours more work done on Minnie today. I have now laid down the initial colours for the whole image. It's always good to get to this point because now I feel that the 'donkey work' of putting in the main shapes and tonal areas is largely done. I can now see the whole 'picture' and start to enrich the colours, adjust values and generally refine things where necessary. The left hand side of the cat, for example, needs to go quite a bit darker.

This initial process takes a lot of concentration because I'm trying to establish the cat's markings, correct tonal values, anatomical accuracy and colour harmony all at the same time. Quite tricky but I'm pleased with progress so far. I'm running low on some of my pencils so I've ordered some more - why do I leave these things until the last minute? Bad planning!

Cat Portrait: Minnie WIP 1

2010-04-26T11:32:00.000+01:00

8" x 10" Coloured Pencil on Soft Umber Colourfix sanded paper

Well I finally got my PC back, it had to have a new power pack installed which set me back £110 of which the labour cost was £70.....hmmm. Wish I was techie minded, could have put it in myself

for nothing! Anyway, here we are with another drawing, not the one I had originally lined up to show - that was a daffodil which started well and then turned into a nightmare. I think I am jinxed when it comes to drawing yellow subjects on dark paper, same thing happened with a carnation I did a while back! Ah well, all those lovely yellow pencils I wanted to use will have to wait.....until next time.

Back to topic. This is a drawing of Minnie, my beautiful 10 year old tabby cat. She has been with us from a kitten and enjoyed solitary feline status until the boys, Keith and Bob, came along and later.....my daughter's three cats too. It took her a while to adjust to the presence of all the boys invading her territory but she gets lots of fussing to compensate and they all get along fine now.

I was snapping lots of shots of flowers in the garden on a beautiful Spring day when I looked up and saw Minnie stretched out on the patio table, bathed in sunlight. I took a few snapshots of her and and this is a crop from one of them - the flowers will have to wait!

I'm using mostly Polychromos pencils supplemented with some Prismacolors. The Poly range is a bit short on the lighter shades I need for this drawing so I'm using lovely Prisma shades, Peach Beige Ginger Root, Nectar, Rosy Beige, Pale Sage, Jade and Celadon Green. There's still no substitute for the Poly shade, Ivory, though, which I'm using quite a lot on this one. Here are a couple of quick snaps of the equipment I'm using.

For this portrait, I'm including more of the cat's body for a change. As you can see I'm working my way down slooowly and there remains lots and LOTS more to do.

Computer Problems Grrr! And a bit of politics.

2010-04-17T00:01:00.001+01:00

Just thought I'd better check in as I haven't posted for a while. I've been having a few problems with my PC lately and then yesterday, it decided to crash out completely - I have no idea why, except that it seems to be a power problem, some kind of electrical fault I think. I am using a borrowed laptop at the moment without any of my usual software or data files. It's painfully slow but better than nothing I suppose! It could be a week or so before I get my PC back and I'm hoping it is reparable as it's only two years old - but then, I'm told, that's positively ancient in computer terms! I have a new drawing coming but cannot upload it yet - far too challenging to do that on the laptop!

And now, just thought I'd mention, for those of you who don't already know, that we have a General Election looming in the UK. Everyone here is positively glued to the TV and radio to hear the scintillating commentary on the policies promoted by our illustrious political contenders in the race for No. 10 Downing Street. If you believe that, you'll believe anything! It's unsurprising, I think, that there is such apparent apathy and cynicism (or is it just me?) among the British people about our politicians in terms of both their behaviour in recent times - not good - and the stuff that generally comes out of their mouths.

Now don't get me wrong, I have always voted in both national and local elections because I am proud of our democracy and believe everyone should vote. My daughters will tell you how I always nag them to get out and vote, that they are lucky to have the right to do so and that Suffragettes fought, and some died, in the early 20th century so that women would have that right. There is a lot of apathy though, especially amongst younger people in this country, probably largely because they have not known war or real poverty or, indeed, what it means to be disenfranchised. I really hope that none of us has to experience any of those things again in order to be shaken out of this apathy.

There has been a lot of talk about the real possibility of a 'hung' parliament which essentially means that the major competing political parties will have to share power - instead of winner takes all! Personally, I think that's a great idea, imagine...... the three main bods, or should I call them The Three Stooges!, Brown, Cameron and Clegg, all having to sit round a table and agree on policies instead of wasting their energy arguing with each other! And.......would they all then have to move into No.10 together? Oooh, very cosy!!

Ah well, I'm off to see if I can find a TV channel that doesn't have a politician or news commentator spouting off about the economy, education or the NHS to me. Now there's a challenge!

Samantha WIP 3 Final

2010-04-04T22:25:00.000+01:00

Thank you, folks, for putting up with my major rant about BT. I should really go and bash up some cushions or something instead of broadcasting my frustrations! It's crazy how these things get to you so much though isn't it? They do say that internet access is fast becoming as important as other utilities such as water, gas and electrickery! Thus, getting cut off can be majorly traumatic!

Anyway, here's Samantha finished at last. The scan is pretty accurate colourwise, although not terribly high quality in terms of definition. I darkened the hair and neck, adding Dark Sepia, Walnut Brown, Burnt Ochre, Sanguine. I also added more of the same colours as before to the skin tones and smoothed them out with some cotton buds.

I had been concerned that the strong blue hat might have overpowered her pale skin tones but I think her blue dress helps to balance things out nicely. One thing about sanded paper is that a lot of pencil dust is generated and the temptation is to blow it away as you work. However, it can stain the paper so I had to be careful not to get those dark blues onto the skin and hair areas. All in all, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

Fun and Games with BT

2010-03-31T23:06:00.000+01:00

More to come on my Samantha portrait very soon. I've been having such a traumatic time back and forth on the phone with that wonderful (not) company British Telecom that I just have to write it down somewhere - so if you don't like my rantings please click off now!

BT (British Telecom), in my humble opinion, is the most incompetent, inefficient, inept, unwieldy and thoroughly useless company I have ever dealt with as a humble customer of internet service provision.  Yes, I am now looking into other options, such as cable/ satellite, which do not have to rely on our ancient landline system for good, reliable broadband speeds. I realise that our landline system is now groaning under the strain of the ever increasing demand for high speed broadband and that fibre optics (like I know what they are!) are the way to go for the future. However there is absolutely NO excuse for BT's shambolic customer service system. Anybody who has had the misfortune to have contacted this will know what I mean.

About a month ago, a workman, working on road repairs, accidentally cut through a cable which effectively disabled the internet service to 46,000 homes and businesses around my home town area for 48 hours or so. Ok, accidents happen, and I appreciate this was going to take a while to sort out and we have to be patient. We eventually got our internet connection back but Broadband speeds have been very erratic, too low for downloads, video streaming and so on, ever since.

For the past three weeks I have been 'liaising' with BT customer advisers. Each time I phone, or they phone me, we have to run through a gamut of routine questions, always with a different 'adviser', always without reference to any calls I've made previously. If I have to tell one more BT person that I have a wireless router and that its green lights ARE all flashing I will most definitely throw the d**n thing out of the window!! I have had around 25 robotic conversations with BT personnel in the past week or so and I'm now slowly, but surely, heading for the van with the men in white coats.

During some of our conversations, I've chilled out a bit, realising that they are only doing their job, working from a script and it's no use trying to cut to the chase - just go with the flow, we'll get there in the end. Even if it does take about an hour and a half to do so. Other times, I demand to speak to the Manager, whose name I am careful to write down, but he turns out to be equally robotic, unhelpful and ineffective - just with a slightly better command of English!

The last Manager I spoke to told me, and I quote : "Mrs Pantry, I'm sorry but my tool isn't working properly so I cannot check your connection..."   I commiserated with him, saying I hoped he could get his tool up and running again soon and laughed. Bad move. There was a long silence. I've made several attempts at some humour during these conversations, vainly trying to retain some of my sanity, but they have all wooshed over the automaton on the other end of the line like water off a duck's back. These people are not human. Seriously, they are not - they read their instructions from a script and if you, the customer, dare to deviate from this and venture a few suggestions of your own, you will be ignored and the script gets repeated again.

One thing that does make me laugh is the message you get, when you call the service line, which says "please be aware that some calls may be recorded for training purposes". Who is BT kidding here? If that were true then how come the company hasn't learnt anything from these calls? The conversations I, and many others, have had with BT customer service lines recently are as innane, unproductive, frustrating and pointless as they always were. So BT, you are being, at best, disingenuous in trying to suggest that you care a jot about the effectiveness of your customer service lines. In a word, they are c**p. Oh, and by the way, BT Yahoo, a pathetic offshoot of the BT brand, is also complete rubbish as well, but that's a whole other story!

End of rant.

Samantha Portrait WIP 2

2010-03-29T23:39:00.000+01:00

I did a few more hours work on this today and then some more joyous time trying to get an accurate image of it to upload here! There is a slight cast shadow across the top from the scan and the highlights aren't quite as blobby as they look here, apart from that it's about right.

I re-adjusted the patterning on the hat and it looks more accurate now. I spent quite some time on her hair, using Light Yellow Ochre, Ivory, Cinnamon, Burnt Ochre, Bistre, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna. Haven't quite finished the right side of the hair yet, my eyes were starting to cross so I had to stop for today! I also did some more on the skin tones using Light Flesh, Medium Flesh and Prismacolor Rosy Beige, Peach Beige and Peach too as the Polychromos range is a bit short on these lighter shades.

I think I have her expression about right so I don't want to do too much more on her face, just slight tweaking and blending in. Did I hear someone say 'what about the background'? Er.....nope, must be hearing things! Haven't messed up yet but that could change. No.....come on, stay positive Janet!

Samantha Portrait WIP 1

2010-03-28T03:52:00.000+01:00

10 x 8" Polychromos Pencils on Colourfix sanded paper (Rich Beige)

This drawing is based on a photograph by Kelly Herdrich who kindly gave it on loan to Peter Weatherill, a fellow artist and tutor. So, my thanks go to Kelly and Peter.

Yes it's true, I am a glutton for punishment - another portrait. Normally, I work from my own photos and it's a little tricky drawing someone whom I've not met since I know nothing about the person and have not seen them 'in the flesh' as it were. On the other hand, not knowing the subject means you're not going to bring your own preconceptions to the drawing, as mentioned in my previous post.
The little girl's dress was originally pink and white but I've changed that to blue to give a better balance to the picture and lessen the impact of that hat (I think!). I'm using some Turquoise Blues and Prussian Blue for the hat and dress. For the hat, I laid down some Bluish Turquoise and Cobalt Green first and then smoothed it out with some cotton buds. Then I've gone back in with Prussian Blue to model some of the stitching. It's a fine balance, I think, between not making the stitching too detailed and artificially regular and yet making sure that it reads as a knitted hat. There's still work to do on the hat so we'll see.

Samantha's expression looks almost like a sneer so it'll be tricky to capture that without overdoing it and doing her an injustice! She's quite young so I'm guessing she might be a little shy about having her photo taken. I need to keep her skin tones quite light and also not age her too much. Haven't decided about the background yet, hmmmm.

Update on "Little Man", the portrait

2010-03-20T01:49:00.000Z

Well, I've received back some feedback on the portrait I did of Ben, my 11 year old nephew (see previous two posts). Both Karen, my sister, and Ben himself both prefer the earlier version which they feel is most like him. Karen said she thinks it has "a certain something about it" which is not there in the finished version. She agrees that the final picture portrays him as older than he actually looks but the hair and eyes are very accurate. Ben thinks his nose is too big in the final version (!), the earlier one is just right and he wants to thank me for making him look good! A young diplomat in the making I think!

I've learnt a lot from doing this portrait. Here are some of my conclusions.

1. Drawing a member of your own family is especially challenging because you cannot help but be influenced, consciously and unconsciously, by your own knowledge and perceptions of that person. I often see Ben as a very wise head on young shoulders, he astounds me sometimes with his mature and thoughtful comments - perhaps that's why I ended up drawing him looking older than his years.

2. Drawing from a photograph is most definitely not an easy option, as some people would have us believe. It does, however, require a lot of careful consideration and skill if we want to end up with a drawing that projects an impression of freshness and vibrancy, alongside accuracy and realism. I know this is possible. I'm working on it!

3. The early stages of my portraits, and other subjects too, almost always look fresher, more vibrant and more accurate than the finished versions. I find it very difficult to determine that nebulous point of no return, you know, when the picture is done and it's either good or it's bad. I'll say things like "if I just make that a bit darker" or "that eye isn't quite right" or "it looks too insipid!" when I know I should be saying "it's good enough now, doing more on it won't improve it"! Would that I had the wisdom to be able to say the latter a lot more often!

4. I love doing portraits just because they are so difficult to do well and I really want to do them well. Do you detect a whiff of masochism in there?!

And finally...... Ben (of portrait fame) is running the Sport Relief Mile tomorrow to raise lots of money for this great cause. GO BEN and no slacking or you won't get my money!! (Just joshing, hehe).

"Little Man" Portrait - Finished

2010-03-19T01:14:00.000Z

Another 5 hours or so of work done on this and I think I'm calling it done now. I've used Polychromos throughout, except for a layer of Blackberry (Derwent Coloursoft) on the background to get it darker. I had great fun (er...not really!) trying to get an accurate digi image of my drawing. After much cussing and blaming the software, I finally arrived at a pretty faithful representation.

In trying to render the values correctly in this I think I probably overdid it a bit with the reds. This brown paper does not take as much punishment as my usual sanded papers and you cannot put light colours over dark quite so readily. I'm quite pleased with it though and I want to use it as a kind of prototype for a larger portrait of the same pose which I'll do on sanded paper.

There is something weird about this drawing. Having finished it, I've noticed that Ben seems to look about five years older than he did in the earlier version of the drawing!! Maybe my brain's addled or something but I think I've aged him unintentionally. Is it just me or does anyone else see this too? I'm not sure now which version is the more authentic in terms of how Ben actually looks. To resolve this I'm going to email copies of both the earlier draft and the finished drawing to Ben and his mum (my sister) and ask for their views. It'll be interesting to hear what they think. I'll report back.

Some New Art! Little Man WIP 1

2010-03-15T21:24:00.000Z

"Little Man" 6" x 8" FC Polychromos Pencils in Brown Sketchbook

Here's another attempt at a portrait, about 6 or 7 hours' work so far. It's a picture of my nephew, Ben, who is 11 years old, caught in a rare quiet moment! Ben is a lovely boy, full of beans and very bright. I want to try and capture his likeness in this thoughtful mode. I recently bought a new printer/scanner but I don't think it scans as well as my old one, deep joy. This scan of the drawing so far was the best I could get but I think the colours are pretty close anyway.

I really like the Polychromos pencil range for portraits, there are some nice subtle browns and reds like Nougat, Bistre, Van Dyck Brown, Caput Mortuum, Dark Sepia, Raw Umber, Burnt Ochre, Terracotta, Venetian Red. I've used all these and more on this. I'm trying to get a dark, moody look on the drawing (what's new?!) so I've used layers of Caput Mortuum Violet and Dark Sepia on the background and it will get darker still.

I think I must be a bit of a masochist because this is so hard.....just look at that hand position....good grief! I really like the pose though and wanted to try something a bit more challenging. I've spent a while getting the basic colours in and trying to establish a likeness. From now on it's a question of adjusting the values, blending colours and hoping I don't overdo it. Fingers crossed!

No art, just reflections and some trivia

2010-03-05T19:27:00.000Z

Artistic inspiration has deserted me just now and I have no artwork to show. I have, however, been thinking long and hard about where I want to go with my art, why I'm doing it and trying to get some sort of planning for the future in place. Until now I've just been 'going with the flow', so to speak, but I think it's time to get myself organised, establish some goals, like.... to sell my art or not to sell? If so, sell what, how, where? If not to sell, then I could continue drawing for pleasure only. I think I've reached a crossroads now and I need to make some concrete decisions and then move on down my chosen path. I suspect this angst is why the drawing is not happening for me at the moment. I'll work it out.

On a lighter note, dare I say it....could it be that weather-wise we have turned a corner and Spring is on its way? Or are these a mirage!

Crocuses are erupting in my garden! Now I could say that we have purposefully decided to allow our garden to return to a natural 'meadow-like' state but that would be such a bare-faced lie! The truth is we are too darned lazy to get out there and look after it properly....you know, with carefully planned planting, weeding and the like. I have to admit that although I do appreciate gorgeous flowers and plants and love to draw them, I really cannot muster up an ounce of enthusiasm for gardening. My most hated BBC radio programme is "Gardener's Question Time" - I find it crushingly boring! Hence the wilderness that you see here - pretty though, isn't it?

Now here's something closer to my heart!

This is Bobby, brother to Keith and brother (once removed) to Barley whom you may remember from previous posts on this blog. Do not be fooled by that nonchalant look, Bobby is King Pin, the Top Cat of this family. He positions himself in front of my computer screen at key times during the day, if that is where I am, of course, and does not budge. Who needs language when you can communicate your needs as effectively as this! This posturing translates as "it's time you quit staring at that thing and started preparing a meal for myself, my brothers and other feline relatives!"

And finally, there's this......

I am one of a dwindling number of people who actually still like my tea brewed properly in a teapot - remember those? I spotted this tea cosy in town recently and had to buy it. Need I say more?!

Single Rose Finished

2010-02-24T21:00:00.000Z

I did a little more tweaking here and there with the same pencils as before and intensified the colours. I've tried to work very lightly, pressure-wise, so as not to saturate the paper and allow the subtle nuances of different pink and red hues to show through. The stem and leafy bits are a tad more yellow-green than is showing here.

All of Lauren's roses have now wilted and gone so I'm glad I snapped all those shots of them. Lauren likes this pic so I'll frame it for her as a keepsake. I didn't do a background on it (chickened out!) but I think it's OK as it is.

Single Rose WIP 1

2010-02-21T01:55:00.001Z

6" x 8" Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor Pencils on Rose Grey Colourfix sanded paper

I just started this rose, this is about six hours work so far. I've not had much inspiration lately - sometimes I cannot decide what I want to draw, I think you could call it 'artists' block'. It's like that though, art, peaks and troughs, isn't it? Anyway, I was stirred into action after last Sunday, Valentine's Day, when my daughter, Lauren, who lives with us at present, received a dozen roses delivered to the door - how romantic is that? Lucky lady! Naturally, at this time of year, flowers are a bit thin on the ground and I like to draw them, sooo..... out came the camera and I snapped about a zillion shots of those roses. Hence the current drawing.

I'm working on a light coloured paper this time as it suits the subject matter better. I've become so used to the way pencil colours look on dark surfaces that it's been very strange re-discovering what the colours do on light paper! Pinks, for example, appear darker and stronger on light paper, especially sanded paper, so I'm having to test all the colours first. They also interact with each other differently - yikes! - so, as I do like to try and get the colours and tones just right, it has been quite a painstaking process to get this far in the drawing.

I have, thus far, laid down the basic colours and tonal areas. I'm using most of the Pinks in Coloursoft and Prismacolor plus Poppy Red, Pale Vermillion, Dark Purple, Lavender and Lilac (Prismacolor). I'll be adding more colour next, refining and adjusting the tones and having a rethink about that stem and other green bits which are looking decidedly dodgy!

Single Poppy Finished

2010-02-06T01:21:00.000Z

Here's the finished drawing. Fraid I skipped a couple of stages because it looked dreadful as I continued to work on it - almost scrapped it! I used Black Grape (Prismacolor), Green and Dark Green (Derwent Coloursoft) on the background which has changed the look of the piece somewhat, made it more dramatic. For the flower itself, I continued with the colours already used and added Process Red and Black Grape (Prisma), Pink Lavender, Deep Fuscia (Coloursoft).

This poppy was a gorgeous shade of purple so it was probably unwise to have drawn in on Burgundy paper (duh!), consequently, I was fighting the paper all the way. Should have done it on the Aubergine paper instead - isn't hindsight a wonderful thing?!

It's one thing to draw the picture but it's quite another to scan it accurately so that it is faithfully reproduced in digital form. This drove me ever so slightly nuts. I think it was because the reds and greens were fighting each other. Anyway, this is a pretty accurate image of the drawing, I got there in the end and it didn't turn out too badly. Looking at it now, I do wish I had left more space around the flower to give it more room to breathe, you know? Never satisfied (Hehe).

Single Poppy WIP 1

2010-02-04T00:47:00.000Z

8" x 10" on Burgundy Colourfix sanded paper, Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor Pencils.

Fancied doing a flower again, haven't done one for a while. I found this photo among a batch I took last summer - I drew another version called 'Purple Poppy' in July 2009, here's the blog link. This current one is on the same paper as the previous drawing although I thought the colour was Aubergine at the time, wrong - it's called Burgundy! I've just had a new consignment of Colourfix paper, I really like it better than any other sanded/tinted papers I've tried.

For the record, I'm using Loganberry, Cranberry, Deep Fuscia, Pink Lavender, Rose (Coloursoft) and Dahlia Purple, Tuscan Red, Magenta, Hot Pink, Jade (Prismacolor) so far. For the stem I've used Hooker's Green (Derwent Inktense), Dark Green and Celadon Green (Prismacolor). For the brightest highlights I always use a Chinese White Derwent Drawing pencil. I have yet to deploy one of the best colours in the Prismacolor range - Black Grape (what a star!) for the darkest areas on the flower.

I'm quite pleased with it so far. I'll carry on to finish covering the flower with the first layer of colours and then consider what the heck I'm going to do with the background - always a challenge!

Young Elvis Portrait, WIP 2. Finished

2010-01-20T20:44:00.001Z

I did some more on this drawing today - very, very gingerly. I added some more colours to his face, Dark Flesh, Light Flesh, Ivory. Then some more colour in his hair, Dark Umber, Venetian Red, Dark Sepia, Ivory. Then some general tweaking with Bistre, Nougat and more Dark Sepia - we're talking incredible restraint here....like very tickly light strokes...not like me at all! I resisted a strong temptation to put some Black on it, just to get the darks darker....decided it would ruin the delicacy of the image and take me down the slippery slope I went down on that last portrait of Lauren.

The thing with portraits is that each stroke you put down matters a lot, especially on a little one like this......you can so easily get it wrong. Anyway, I'm going to leave it alone now, while I still like it!

N.B. Just noticed that the first WIP looks very pink compared to this one. It's hard sometimes to get it to look 'correct'. I think this one, ie. WIP 2, is much more accurate and faithful to the actual drawing.

Young Elvis Portrait, WIP 1. Just for practice!

2010-01-19T13:07:00.000Z

Approx. 6" x 8". Polychromos Pencils in Brown paper sketchbook.

I'm not really into doing Celebrity portraits but I'm on a bit of an Elvis 'trip' at the moment, having recently watched a TV documentary series on his life as told by the Presley family. I've been a fan of his since the age of 9 or 10 and I've drawn many portraits of him over the years - this is the first one for a long while though.

This is one of my favourite shots of him - it is a more informal one, different from all those other iconic pics we're all so used to seeing. He was just 22 here and this picture was one of a series of casual shots snapped whilst he was filming Jailhouse Rock in 1957. For all you purists out there yeah I know, it's not my photo - I'll probably burn in Hell now won't I?!

Anyway, I'm so glad to be back using my Polychromos - they are so gorgeous! I'm using all the lovely Browns - Walnut Brown, Nougat, Bistre, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, Dark Sepia and more. I'm also using Ivory for the lighter tones, such a great colour - there is no equivalent, in my opinion, in any of the other brands I have.

This scan is a pretty accurate representation of the drawing at the moment. It looks rather monochromatic and monotone (is that a word?) right now but I'll be putting some more contrast in there. This piece is giving me lots of practice (I need it!) in rendering hair, getting features correctly proportioned and getting a likeness. I don't want to overdo it though. We'll see.

Cat Portrait Demo and the Big Chill, some pics

2010-01-11T02:34:00.001Z

Barley the Cat, 8" x 6". Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft Pencils on Sennelier La Carte sanded pastel card.

This little picture is featured on the Mighty Art Demos website where I have described in step-by-step detail how it was done on the sanded support, for anyone interested in how I work. There are also many other fascinating demonstrations on this site by artists using a variety of media - Enjoy!

And......I thought I'd post up a few pics of the extraordinarily snowy weather we are having here in the UK, just in case you didn't know! This one is a view from my house..........

And these two are views of my back garden......

It looks quite pretty doesn't it? Picture postcard stuff. Yes...well it would be if we could all go shopping for vital provisions like bread, milk and tea (musn't forget my tea!) via a sleigh pulled by a team of huskies. Unfortunately, no such transport is available round here and instead, we all have to either don the wellies and trek a mile and a half to the shops or dig out the car (literally) and risk life and limb driving along untreated icy roads.

I shouldn't whinge too much though, after all.......I could be living in Scotland - perish the thought! Not that I have anything against Scotland, it's just that up there in the Highlands they are having temperatures below - 20 degrees C at night and conditions are said to be akin to those at the South Pole at present.

We are just not used to this white stuff, having had several years of very mild winters hitherto and having been lulled into a false sense of security by theories about global warming. When we get more than a couple of days of snowy weather on the trot the country starts grinding to a halt. By the fourth day of this current cold snap, news bulletins were reporting chaos on the roads with gridlock traffic and abandoned cars, schools closing (a highly contentious issue) and a serious decline in retail sales due to people not getting out to the shops! And...... we've not had a refuse collection for four weeks now! We'll be getting dysentery next. Anybody would think there was a war on. Where will it all end!

I'm beginning to sound like the proverbial grumpy old woman so I'd better stop now. Roll on Spring, said she, trying to sound cheerful!

Portraiture. Three Lessons I've learned.

2010-01-07T17:00:00.001Z

"Lauren, my daughter". Approx 9" x 9" Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils on Brown La Carte sanded paper.

This is a cropped piece of a larger drawing, 10" x 12", showing the drawing at an early stage before I messed it up. I didn't pause to upload it as a WIP because I'm impatient and wanted to keep going and finish it. At this stage it doesn't look too bad, I've got the basic tonal areas and features in. From here on in, however, the whole thing went off the rails and this is how it ended up.

It doesn't look like the same person, does it?! Whilst the final version is more finished-looking it has the look of a plastic doll, particularly the eyes, the shading is overworked and it just looks wrong. More importantly, the first version is a much better likeness of Lauren - according to her elder sister who tells it like it is! So what went wrong and what have I learned?

Well, I'm not going to beat myself up about it but be constructive instead. Firstly, portraits are a tough genre in art as we all know because traditionally we are seeking to get a good likeness - unless, of course, you're wacky and off the wall like Picasso. So.....practice, practice, practice is key. I do not do enough of this. As others have said before me, you have to put in the graft if you want to do well in portraiture. So that's Lesson One.

Secondly, I think the first picture is fresher because I began by working swiftly, putting down quick strokes and generally drawing with an eye for the WHOLE image, all at once. On this sanded surface you can get colour down quickly with pencils, more like using pastels, which I enjoy. Also, you can work more spontaneously because you can put lighter colours over darker ones so you don't have to worry about reserving space for your lighter tones or going too dark.

When I moved on to refine the tonal areas and focus on the features, I began to lose spontaneity and got bogged down in the detail - too bogged down. Although it obviously needed to be refined and adjusted tonally, the key issue here, I think, is that I stopped looking at my drawing as a WHOLE image - working each area or feature in relation to all the others. I just zoomed in on one bit at a time and promptly lost the plot! Then, when I stepped back and looked at it, the likeness had gone and it looked stilted and 'dead'. So......Lesson Two......always keep the whole image in mind when working on any one part of it.

Thirdly, because I was enjoying the drawing, at least at first, I worked fast and furiously - like a woman possessed! - to get it done so I could stand back and admire it (Hehe). I was so totally immersed in it that my eyes became tired of the image and judgements about colours and what needed adjusting became blurred and unreliable. It's sometimes hard to stop and have a break when you are on a roll. But........... Lesson Three.....I have to learn to take at least one good, long break, maybe even a few days, while working on a picture. I will then be able to look at the picture afresh, see things I didn't see before and get it into perspective again.

I'm off now to knit me a lovely warm woolly hat, just bought the pattern - this cold, snowy weather looks like it's in for the long haul!

A New Decade and Blogging: My first six months

2010-01-02T23:26:00.003Z

So here we are in 2010! Those numbers look a bit weird, kind of futuristic, much nicer than 2009 though, I think. 2009 was ok for me, the year I launched my blog onto the unsuspecting public! Don't know how it will all pan out this year - the blogging that is - but I'm keen to carry on, do lots more drawing, enjoy the ride and just see how it goes.

I've been reflecting on my experiences of blogging, having completed the first six months of this art journal, as well as my arty hopes for this year. There are several things I've learned from blogging.

1.     It has kept me drawing regularly, more so than I'm sure I would have done without it.

2.     It has made me think carefully about what I draw, how I draw and why I draw. There is something about putting your work out there in front of an audience that really focuses the mind!

3.     It has given me new connections with other art bloggers and arty people, whose occasional comments I have greatly appreciated. I've also enjoyed, and gained much from seeing, other people's blogs.

4.     It has given me insights into bits of me I never knew before. For example, I really like writing - almost as much as drawing! Writing flows out of me like water from a tap full on, drawing is more like a slow trickle - drip...drip......drip! Maybe that's telling me something?!

5.     It is giving me an ongoing record of my work as it happens -something I can look back on and feel proud of - or cringe at -depending on what I drew or wrote about!

6.     There is sometimes a voice from within which says "You MUST post something scintillating AT LEAST every 2 or 3 days or you are not a true blogger/people will forget you/you are not a bona fide artist". I'm learning to ignore that voice. I'm a great believer in the adage that if you have nothing to say, don't say anything at all. That goes for drawing too.

There it is then, my first six months. So what about this new year? Well, I don't have any rigid plans but I would like to do some drawings I can be proud of - good enough to enter into, and be accepted by, exhibitions....good enough to sell maybe. I had some modest success in 2009 but I want to go further, get better at what I do, try new things with coloured pencils and most of all......(drumroll)....I want to Please Myself! Because....if you don't please yourself, she said wisely, how the heck are you gonna please anybody else?

(Pause while I watch a documentary on TV about Elvis. One I haven't seen before.....I adore Elvis).

Back now.....twas a very interesting programme, interviews with the Presley family, doesn't his daughter look like him? Uncanny.

Anyway, I'll sign off now.......I have a new drawing bubbling and ready to show very soon. Happy New Decade everyone!

Bottle finished, Stille Nacht and Bah Humbug!

2009-12-20T23:14:00.000Z

Here's the final rendition of my moody green bottle. I know, it doesn't look a lot different from the last post but I've darkened the background and generally tweaked it a bit. I rather like it, it has some weird reflections! I might frame it and hang it in the garage or something! Hehe.

As this will be my last post, possibly until the new year, I wanted to end on a Christmassy note. I heard the Christmas Carol "Silent Night", on the radio the other day and it reminded me of when I used to sing it at school in German many moons ago. I can't remember all the German lyrics now and that bothers me so I unearthed a version of it on YouTube, complete with the German words so I can learn them again. So for those who value a few moments of calm, listen to this - it's lovely!

Now I'm not going to complain about the 6 inches of snow we've had here that won't shift and it's cccold, or the fact that they won't grit the side roads causing my car to slip and slide all over the place, or the fact that my six cats refuse point blank to go outside to do their business......oh no, I wouldn't do that, after all, it is Christmas and we are likely to have a white one (groan!). Instead of Bah Humbug!, I'll try and take my cue from the reformed character of Ebenezer Scrooge when he said this:

"I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to every-body! A happy New Year to all the world!"

(from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens).

One Green Bottle WIP 2

2009-12-15T19:44:00.000Z

Well, this is turning out dark and moody, isn't it? I worked on the background with Pale Brown, Moss Green and Light Umber for the lighter area and darker greens and browns for the dark area and shadow. These colours have been juxtaposed with each other rather than layered on separately - I do not have the patience for layering one colour over another, I'd get bored! I've also refined the reflections, adding colour here and there and generally trying to make sure that the wide array of hues I've used on the bottle actually 'hang together' properly - if that makes sense.

I'm liking it better now that the purply tinge of the paper colour has all but disappeared. It's a bit weird looking I must say, quirky ?, and I'm not sure whether to take it further ...... you know, bump up the highlights, give it more contrast, stronger colour. My instinct at the moment is to leave it alone - I quite like it understated like this. I'll have another look at it in a couple of days, then decide.

One Green Bottle WIP 1

2009-12-13T01:21:00.000Z

7" 9" ish Coloured Pencil on Burnt Umber (I think!) Colourfix paper

I was recently given this quirky bottle by someone who knows I like to draw them so here's my version of it. It looks rather oddly shaped, as if I've drawn it wrongly, but it really does look like this honest! I could have altered it, I suppose, to make it look more symmetrical, but that would bother me - I'd know it was wrong.

I'm using Derwents and Prismacolours again and this is about 6 hours work so far. I have covered the paper with a single light layer of many colours to map out the image and establish where the lights and darks are. Much concentrated observation goes into this stage and my strokes are loose and light but carefully placed. This is going to be a moody, muted kind of picture and I'm using a wide range of colours. I won't list them all but the greens include Limepeel, Moss, Artichoke, True Green, Grass Green, Dark Green, Aquamarine, Light Aqua (Prismas) and... (deep breath)... Light Green, Lichen Green, Lincoln Green, Green, Dark Green (Derwent Coloursoft)! Well, some people want to know these things!

I'm really enjoying this one. This paper is an unusual colour, a sort of purply brown, which means that familiar pencil colours look totally different on it....keeps me on my toes!

NB. There's only 12 days to go until you know when and I haven't mentioned Christmas once! Doh....I just did!

Another Cat Portrait

2009-12-09T02:22:00.000Z

8" x 10" Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor Pencils on Dark Grey Pastelmat

Yes I know, it's been a fortnight since I posted anything on here. The truth is have been faffing around with still life set ups which didn't work out.......again. I then did a cat portrait on La Carte sanded paper which was....mmm....ok, but just not good enough to show. So I've now done this one which isn't too bad I suppose. This is Barley, my daughter's cat, who is brother to Keith whom I've drawn previously.....can you see the likeness?!

This is the first time I've used Pastelmat paper and I found it softer and more robust than most other pastel papers I've tried and I like the colours in the range. It's great for blending colours and getting a 'painterly' look but not so good if you want fine lines or an illustrative type of picture. I've used Derwents and Prismas again here - I prefer the Derwents because they seem chalkier to me whereas the Prismas seem to lay down very waxy, especially the lighter colours, like white, light greys and cream. However, you can get a much finer point with the Prismas for delicate areas, like eyes, so I guess it's swings and roundabouts with pencils. The actual drawing has more subtle colouring, eg. more pinks in the fur, than is showing up here for some reason.

Barley is a good looking kitty, about 18 months old, with a lovely laid back, easy-going kind of nature. He does have a penchant for Blu Tack (sticky putty) though. I use blobs of this stuff for lifting colour as well as dust and bits from the paper as I'm working. If I'm not paying attention, Barley will jump up and grab the blob from my table and run away with it. I told him today that this was getting beyond a joke - I'm finding chewed up blobs of Blu Tack all over the place! I'm wondering what the attraction is, why is it so tasty to cats?!

While I'm on the subject of Barley, here's something quite amusing....at least I think it is. Lauren, my daughter, who has got better things to do, decided she would submit this picture of Barley

onto a quirky website called CatsThatLookLikeHitler.com . As you can see, it is a website where people can upload pictures of their cats if they think they bear a resemblance to Hitler! It is clearly meant to be just a bit of harmless fun. The site was started by some mad Englishman (of course!), based on an idea by an equally mad Dutchman - haven't these people got anything better to do with their time?! Anyway, Lauren was a little disappointed because Barley didn't get accepted. She thinks he does have a Hitler-esque look about him and seeing this rather menacing looking photo, I'm inclined to agree with her! I did tell her she was mean putting Barley up for that - he is the sweetest, gentlest cat you could ever meet. Tut, tut.... enough of this frivolity!

Cambridge Visit

2009-11-23T16:26:00.000Z

My friend, Maggie, and I went over to Cambridge on a shopping visit last week so I thought I'd post a little visual record of our time there. Cambridge sits on the River Cam and, aside from being famed as the place where clever people go to get educated, it is a really pleasant town steeped in history and lovely little shops. I didn't know quite how many colleges there are in Cambridge - 31 to be precise. 6 of them date back to the 15th Century, 4 of them were founded in the 14th Century and the mother of them all, Peterhouse College was founded in the year 1284! Wow! Shame we didn't take some pics of these but that would have been too much like a history lesson perhaps.

Here's the central quayside area where you can hop on a punt and mozey off down the river.....only today, as it was quite blustery and cold, that didn't seem like a wise option.

This view was down river a little.......

This is one of the typical cobbled streets full of olde worlde little shops which we had fun dipping in and out of - you felt like you might see a horse and carriage at any moment! The most common mode of transport, however, was the bicycle........and lots of them! No cars, at least not in the centre of town,

just lots of students, and dons, flying around all over the place on bikes.

Maggie and I were on a mission. We knew there was a decent art shop somewhere in town but we just couldn't find it. We asked many

people who tried their best to guide us in the right direction. We also had a map which turned out to be grossly unhelpful.....partly because it didn't have all the side roads on it, but mostly because neither of us has the slightest modicum of a sense of direction. We can't help it, we are just both extremely handicapped in the spatial awareness department!

Anyway eventually we found it, so here I am posing outside Tindalls - that elusive art shop. I don't know why I am pointing innanely at the sign - I think I was just so thrilled to have actually found the shop!

And....what a shop, it was great! These days, at least in my part of the world, there are fewer and fewer good art shops on our high streets. They are slowly disappearing probably because of the economic downturn but also, I think, because more and more people are choosing to shop online now for their art materials. It's good, though, to go to a real, live shop sometimes, wander around and see and feel things 'in the flesh', so to speak, isn't it? For example, I love the feel of papers........and this was an Aladdin's cave of papers.

I bought some Sennelier La Carte sanded paper - heaven! It was expensive though, £25.95 for an A3 pad (gulp!), but worth it I think. I also re-stocked my diminishing supplies of Art Spectrum Colourfix, although they didn't have all the colours I wanted. The Colourfix was available only in large sheets but I was able to use the (very large) guillotine to cut them down to the size I wanted. The shop assistant said she wasn't allowed to do this for me but I could do it myself. I think then if mistakes are made, the customer is responsible, rather than the shop. Also, rather more pertinently, if the assistant happened to cut off a finger or two in the process, the shop would have been up the creek without a paddle don't you think? If I had mutilated my own hand.....well that's just tough I suppose.

Anyhow, I emerged from the shop laden down with luscious papers, a few coloured pencils and eight fingers and two thumbs intact - phew! Incidentally, we could have done with borrowing that bicycle with basket, someone left temptingly parked outside the shop, to carry everything back to the coach park....sigh! All in all, a great day out.

Another Keith Portrait

2009-11-20T01:56:00.000Z

Approx. 8" x 10" on Black Art Spectrum Colourfix paper

I started this one yesterday and I think it's about finished now so it hardly constitutes a "work in progress" in my usual fashion. I wanted a subject suitable for the sheet of black Colourfix paper I had left over and Keith, seen posing in my previous post, seemed appropriate. The paper drove me batty because it was a bit like wearing a black jumper, it attracted and showed up every bit of dust and debris going and I was forever blotting it with 'Blu Tack'! It does, however, give a picture a degree of drama which I like.

This drawing was a tricky one to get right in that the cat is backlit - he was standing on a window sill on a bright day - and so his face and most of his body is in shadow. I decided not to attempt a background because I think that would have killed the drama of the pose (plus I'm pretty rubbish at them!). I like drawing pictures with high contrast in them and exploiting the effects of light against dark, and vice versa to suggest form. The chiaroscuro tradition in art is one which interests me, mainly because I like a bit of drama!, and I'd like to do some more drawings along these lines.

I've used Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor pencils on this one.

Portrait of a Cat, done and dusted!

2009-11-12T02:41:00.000Z

So here is my final version of Keith. I have added more white to the fur, emphasizing the highlights, using a Derwent Drawing Chinese White pencil. The fur needed more definition generally, I think, so I waded in with more Prismacolor Warm Greys, Indigo and Greyed Lavender. I also refined the pink ear and the nose a little more. The dark grey paper helped a lot in providing a foundation colour for the subject and speeded up the drawing process no end.

I prefer the way the Derwent Coloursoft lay down on this paper (Colorfix) as they are chalkier than Prismacolor and also, they never break on me - unlike the Prismas which tend to break a lot. The Prisma Indigo kept breaking in the sharpener so I put it in the microwave oven for 30 seconds - worked a treat! The waxy colour strip melts just enough to reform in the pencil shaft as an unbroken pencil once again - clever stuff huh?! You just have to remember not to 'over-cook' it though or it might explode! The only reason I persevere with the Prismacolor pencils is that they come in a much wider range of colours than the Derwent Coloursoft.

So what will I draw next then? I daren't make another 'statement of intent' because whenever I do that my plan always seems to turn to mush!

Portrait of a Cat, almost finished

2009-11-09T23:28:00.000Z

8" x 10" Coloured Pencil on Dark Grey Colorfix sanded paper

I started this pic yesterday and continued today - about 8 hours work so far. Prior to this I had been struggling with a still-life set up which was driving me nuts so I gave up on it to preserve my sanity. I then reminded myself of the old adage that when you become bereft of inspiration for your art, it's good to draw something you love. So that is what I've done!

This is a picture of Keith, one of my beloved cats. Keith is the quietest one of the bunch, he is very serene and good-natured and this is a typical pose of him. Poor Keith - I spent a long time staring at his face to get a better idea of the detail and his eye colours, I think he thinks I've flipped my lid!

He has one pink ear and a very pink nose which I've tried to capture. I'm out of practice with cat portraits and on screen it's looking rather too 'photographic' for my liking. Never mind, I shall put it away for a couple of days and then do some tweaking when the flaws in it will no doubt become more glaringly obvious. I'm using Prismacolor, all the lovely warm greys, and Derwent Coloursoft pencils.

Autumn in the Park Finished - ish

2009-11-02T23:00:00.003Z

Well it's all done bar the tweaking. I've strengthened the colours using the same pencils as before and laying down the colours side by side, especially on the foliage, rather than on top of one another. I did not want a saturated 'painted' look, there are probably no more than 3 or 4 layers of colour in any one spot. All I'll do now is put it aside for a while and then tweak as necessary. It was interesting to do a landscape but they are not really my favourite topic. And......I'm so glad that cyclist was not in the foreground, I would have had to pay more serious attention to detailing him - Cripes!

Autumn in the Park WIP 2

2009-10-30T20:03:00.002Z

A few more hours work done on this over the whole piece and this is a pretty accurate representation of my drawing. It's quite difficult to get strong colours on this particular grey/green pastel paper. I do work with fairly light strokes and do not layer heavily as I like the subtlety of colour that this technique produces but, even so, I can usually achieve rather more strength of colour by this stage in the work.

I shall continue to add more of the same colours. I'm using probably all of the mid and dark greens in the Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft ranges in that foliage - I think the Coloursoft pencils suit this paper better because they are more chalky than the Prismas.

I'm impatient to get this one finished now because today I had a flash of inspiration for a new white still life set-up. I'm charging up my camera batteries as I speak in readiness to take a zillion photos of said new composition!

Autumn in the Park WIP 1 plus Susan Boyle

2009-10-28T15:36:00.003Z

8" x 10" on grey/green Canson Mi Teintes paper (reverse side)

Just started this landscape using Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils. Haven't done a landscape in eons so I just fancied giving one a go and see what happens. I've spent approx. six hours on it so far, half of which was spent drawing the composition. The scene is a local park in early November a couple of years ago, the cyclist came along just at the right time when I snapped the photo! I have moved some of the elements for a better composition - not with a software programme but by my own hand on the paper, as it were. I'm using the pencils kind of like I would with pastels - scribbling away, dipping in and out with different colours and hoping it works! Now I've uploaded it I see loads of things that need adjustment. Early days yet, lots more work still to do on it.

And......I simply have to mention a song I heard a few days ago on the radio, Susan Boyle singing "Wild Horses", an old Rolling Stones classic. It stopped me in my tracks because it is so spine-tinglingly good. Here is a video of Susan giving a wonderful live performance of it on the America's Got Talent programme. Note that she doesn't fly onto the stage on a trapeze wearing next to nothing, she isn't surrounded by wriggly male dancers, she isn't under 30......oh and her voice hasn't been modulated or electronically 'enhanced'. How refreshing!! She doesn't need all that rubbish, she simply commands the stage with nothing but her humble presence and that wonderful voice. I understand her debut album, which includes this song, is due out on November 23rd and it will most definitely be on my Christmas Wish List!

Autumn and a Leafy drawing

2009-10-21T23:17:00.006+01:00

8" x 11" Coloured Pencil on Hahnemulle Bamboo Paper

This drawing is derived from a bunch of leaves I gathered a few days ago in our local park. I did it quite quickly with a combination of Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils. I would have done it on coloured paper but I wanted to try out this newish type of paper. It's fairly textured and I quite liked it but I wish it was available in colours other than white. I really wanted to put a background to it but a) it would have taken forever on white paper and b) I couldn't decide how on earth to do it! I took this photo of the Sycamore tree from whence the leaves came (the lady and her dog posed especially for me to give a sense of scale..... no they didn't really, I'm lying!).

And.......following the same theme, here's a pic I took last week of a magnificently old tree which takes pride of place at beautiful Ashridge Park, not far from where I live, in all its autumnal splendour.

As I'm in poetic mood, rare for me (!), and we are having an especially colourful autumn, I'll leave you with a verse from a poem called "Last Week in October" by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) who is one of my favourite authors.

"The trees are undressing and fling in many places

On the gray road, the roof, the window-sill -

Their radiant robes and ribbons and yellow laces;

A leaf each second so is flung at will,

Here, there, another and another, still and still."

Two Tulips - Finished and Birmingham trip

2009-10-15T21:33:00.006+01:00

Well, I've added some more colour and tweaked it in places - I know, it doesn't look a great deal different from the last post but I so didn't want to overdo it! I did add a touch of yellow to the background (breaking my cool greens only rule!) but I thought it needed livening up a bit. I don't know whether I like it or not but maybe it will grow on me and at least I think I've achieved what I set out to do. One thing I did ponder over was how to get that shiny tulip petal look whilst not burnishing it and not filling the tooth of the paper - ah well, you can't have everything!

I went to the UKCPS Exhibition in Birmingham almost two weeks ago now so I'm mentioning it somewhat belatedly! I was struck by the diversity of the coloured pencil work on display, the different methods of working and subject matter. It's odd but the pictures I expected to like I wasn't that impressed with. Others that hadn't impressed me on the computer screen looked a great deal better in real life. It just goes to show that it really is worth seeing pictures 'in the flesh' if it's at all possible, although, of course, that is not always practical. It felt good to see my own two pics in there - I feel quite proud of that. I did take some photos of the exhibition but they are rubbish - the photos on the UKCPS blog are much better!

Anyway, I've never actually been to Birmingham City Centre so that was a first - sorry all you Brummies out there but I wasn't that impressed! Although the shopping experience was brilliant, quite frankly I fear the city planners, probably back in the 1960s, have made a right pig's ear of the place, haven't they? I found it quite bizarre. I snapped this photo (Ok, I'm a lousy photographer!) to illustrate the apparent incongruence, to me anyway, between the old and elegant church and the concrete mess that surrounds it. A beautiful ancient church to the left and a lacklustre concrete branch of Borders to the right! It's sad that this kind of scene is so common in many of our towns and cities.

To redress the balance a little, I'm told that there are other much nicer areas to experience in Birmingham City, especially down by the Canal.

And......here's a photo I took of the famous bronze Bull who stands proudly at the Bullring Shopping Centre. Now I liked him....he's fabulous isn't he?!

Two Tulips WIP 3

2009-10-12T17:02:00.003+01:00

Here we are then two or three hours' work later. Using the same colours as previously, I've added another layer of colour overall. I'm doing this very gingerly because of the aforementioned paranoia about over-saturating the colours! I'm fighting the urge to put some stronger, brighter colour on that background - but I'm not giving in. I'll be strengthening the reds on the flowers next but using the juxtaposing method rather than blanket layering and the next post will see it finished. I'm still liking it so that's got to be a plus.

And.....here's a pic of Keith who had been watching my picture develop with some interest, I thought. However, I fear that boredom took over and he decided that watching me drawing was rather like watching paint dry and he'd much rather slip into this mode!

Two Tulips WIP 2

2009-10-09T21:58:00.002+01:00

Another five or so hours work completed on this. I did the background very loosely with Derwent Coloursoft Green, Dark Green, Mint, Grey Green and Sea Green. I chose to stick to the cooler greens because I want the background to recede and, hopefully, make the flowers pop forward. I think it's working and I'm quite pleased with it - so far.

I've also started adding some reds, oranges and yellows to the petals and I'm doing the stems with warmer greens - Limepeel, Chartreuse and Moss (Prismacolor), again a ploy to push them forward. I hope all this attention to colour theory pays off! Still more to do on the petals but I hope I don't overdo it - oooh the tension is too much! (hehe).

Two Tulips WIP 1

2009-10-07T20:58:00.002+01:00

Approx. 10" x 8" on Canson Mi Teintes with Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft coloured pencils.

Back to the drawing board after a hectic couple of weeks of family and domestic matters. So good to be back in the sanctuary of my art room. Having ruminated a bit on what to draw next, I've settled on some flowers (just for a change!). I know it's autumn and I should getting inspired by all the lovely new colours appearing everywhere but I've had some photos of tulips hanging around waiting to be drawn since Spring so I've started this little picture.

Although it's looking a little insipid right now, rest assured that these tulips are going to end up red - bear with me on this one! I've spent some time juxtaposing colours (Bet Borgeson style!) such as Spanish Orange, Pale Vermillion, Poppy Red, Carmine Red, Hot Pink and Scarlet Lake (Prismacolor) on the petals. I've used Poppy Red, Limepeel and Chartreuse on the stems - so far - and I'll be using more reds and greens, Prismas and Derwents, later.

My plan is to try and capture that shiny texture and vivid colour so characteristic of tulips but without too much colour saturation. I will also be adding a background of muted cool greens - gosh, aren't I brave?! Wish me luck!

The National Portrait Gallery - my visit

2009-09-24T16:03:00.010+01:00

Yesterday, I went to the National Portrait Gallery in London, a half-hour train journey from my home town, to get me some culture (!) and hopefully, some inspiration. The NPG exhibits portraiture of famous figures from Britain's illustrious (?) past and present. Whilst there are obviously some beautifully executed paintings in there, I must admit to finding the endless stream of paintings of Kings, Queens and Statesmen rather tedious. There seemed to be very few portraits of, or by, women and even fewer of, or by, people from other ethnic origins. Whilst the historical rationale for this is perhaps understandable, IMHO there is really little excuse for such a dearth in the available 20th Century and Contemporary art out there (or am I missing something?).

I'm no expert on the art appreciation front, as you can probably tell, but I do know what I like. A few paintings did catch my imagination. One such is this one of Louise Jane Jopling by Sir John Everett Millais, painted in 1879. I liked the 'no-nonsense', direct look on her face, the masterly colours and detail on her dress and the unsentimental way it was painted. It made a pleasant change from the overly pretty paintings of women by men that I had seen hitherto.

Another painting that struck me was this self portrait by L.S. Lowry. Apparently, he painted those red eyes as an expression of his grief over his mother's recent death. Lowry, famous for his paintings of stick-like figures against ordinary, industrial landscapes, was allegedly not given to expressing himself emotionally and that, for me, makes the painting all the more poignant. I was very moved by it. I love Lowry's work anyway - one of the few examples in British art of a painter depicting working-class people in ordinary, even mundane, settings.

At the risk of sounding unpatriotic, I really prefer the French and Dutch 'masters' when it comes to portraiture. Especially those who painted the 'common' man and woman, I don't have examples right now but you get the gist. Endless depictions of male statesmen, soldiers, royalty and even famous literary figures really don't cut the mustard for me I'm afraid.

I think I'm a bit of a renegade! Hey ho, might as well go the whole hog and express my horror at a contemporary picture I came across of Sir Ian Botham (cricketer). It stands about 6 feet high and I can honestly say that my own daughter could have painted a more engaging portrait than this at the age of three! What's that all about? I obviously would not make a good art critic - she said unapologetically.

Anyway, to save you any more of my rantings, here is a quick pic I took of Trafalgar Square (just around the corner from the NPG). It was hastily taken before I had to head off to top up my 'carbs' - I am diabetic and need to ensure that my glucose levels don't drop too low. That's my excuse anyway for putting away an enormous clotted cream scone ten minutes after I snapped this photo! Mmmm.

Blue Marble Finished

2009-09-21T17:46:00.003+01:00

Another couple of hours work on this, having refined it here and there, and I'm calling it finished. I put a layer of Lemon Yellow (Coloursoft) on the background to tone down that gaudy orange background and this is a pretty accurate scan of the original drawing.

It was fun trying to get the 'right' mix of colours on this, especially on this coloured paper. My aim was to produce a drawing of photo rather than an exact replica of a photo and so I have refrained from saturating it with solid colour. There are no more than four layers of colour in any one place. I like the nice fine points you can get with Prismacolor pencils - it really makes a difference with something like this. I'm really quite pleased with it - she said hesitantly!

Blue Marble WIP 2

2009-09-16T19:25:00.003+01:00

About another 2 hours of work completed on this on the marble and shadow only. I've not added to the background as the colour is pretty strong anyway. I've used the same pencils as before to strengthen the colours. I'm liking this paper, its texture allows for lots of blending and easy adjustments. I don't think I could go back to white papers now - I can get good strong colours in much less time on coloured papers.

I see that the shadow needs more work - the marble itself is almost done. I have focused on the shapes I see within the marble - it's only when I stop and step back from the drawing that I actually see it as a marble! I find it fascinating that a different photo shot of the marble, perhaps moving the camera just a fraction and changing the direction of the light, would have produced an entirely different set of colours and patterns to draw. That, for me, is the beauty of glass and why it is such fun to draw it.

Blue Marble WIP 1

2009-09-16T00:04:00.003+01:00

7" x 5.5" Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft Pencils on Canson Mi-Teintes pastel paper.

Back to basics with this new drawing - the humble marble. It looks like I've just plonked this marble down and started to draw it but that would be a gross oversimplification! The first thing you have to do is ensure that the surface you place it on is flat and level - the darned thing would not sit still! Of course, you could resort to the 'Blu Tack' remedy which is very effective if you want to position an object in a precise way in order to draw it (I've done this many times!). However, this won't work with a marble because it's see-through and so a blob of sticky tack would ruin the look!

Joking aside though, this simple little still-life set up involved much preparation and many mini decisions. Having chosen the marble, I then had to decide on the type and colour of surface to place it on. Next, I needed to decide about the lighting - natural or artificial. I used my daylight lamp for this one as it was a dull, overcast day. Then, I took about 45 shots of the marble from all sorts of angles and lighting conditions. And no, drawing it from life wouldn't have worked because I wanted to draw it large and would never have got all the detail.

The next stage is sifting through the shots and selecting the best ones. I find this pretty time-consuming because I go back and forth trying to decide which one(s) to use for my planned drawing. I will then crop the photo(s) every which way until I settle upon the one(s) I want to use. Then, I get to choose my pencils and start drawing. I regard all this preparation, prior to putting pencils to paper, as an integral part of the creative process and every bit as challenging as the drawing itself.

For this drawing, I'm using Canson Mi-Teintes paper, a pale orange, on the reverse side where it's not so textured. I've used Prismacolor Orange and Yellowed Orange on the background; Ultramarine, Powder Blue, Lilac, Parma Violet, Blush Pink, Light Aqua and White (Prisma) and Pale Blue (Derwent) on the marble; and....Crimson Red, Crimson Lake, Limepeel, Orange, Yellowed Orange on the shadow. The reds aren't showing up too well on this scan. Sharp pencils and careful attention to detail are the order of the day on this one!

Denzel Washington Portrait

2009-09-10T19:12:00.003+01:00

6" x 7.5" Polychromos pencils in brown paper sketchbook.

This is a drawing from a TV programme, the Jonathan Ross Show. Now, I do not normally watch this show because I can't stand Jonathan Ross - he has an ego the size of a small country and I find him shallow and irritating. He tends to use his guests as a platform for his own jokes and ego-boosting rather than allowing them to tell their story in their own way - I don't like that.

Anyway, I made an exception this time because I rather like Denzel Washington - all round good chap, great actor and sooo good looking! Denzel has a rather quizzical expression on his face here - he's probably thinking 'does this man ever stop talking?'!

Kiwi Fruit WIP 3

2009-09-09T17:37:00.004+01:00

Here we are then, more work done and I'm afraid this one's gone belly up! It pains me to upload it but it's important to record the failures as well as the successes. Although there are bits that aren't that bad, basically the colours have been muddied - probably by the application of too many different greens. I don't think it can be rescued. I could blame the paper but that's a cop-out, isn't it? Never mind, I think this was always going to be a tricky one to pull off in coloured pencil.

And.....to add insult to injury, one of my cats has just sauntered onto my table and plonked himself on the drawing! Mmmm.....

Kiwi Fruit WIP 2

2009-09-08T00:38:00.003+01:00

A few more hours of work done on this, mainly on the right half of the kiwi. It is looking darker now but it needs to go even darker to make that left half pop out more. This scan is pretty accurate and it's helpful to see it on the screen because I can see more clearly where I need to make adjustments. For example the light green areas look too bluish so I shall knock those back a bit.

For the record, I'm using Prismacolor Light Green, Pale Sage, Limepeel, Apple Green, Tuscan Red, Celadon Green, Grass Green, Pink Rose, Rosy Beige and a Dark Green whose name I don't know cos the printed name has rubbed off. And.....Derwent Coloursoft Green, Lime Green, Pea Green, Sea Green and Loganberry. Phew!

NB. I haven't got fed up with it yet...there's still time.....

Kiwi Fruit WIP 1

2009-09-05T21:18:00.003+01:00

Good grief, it's over a fortnight since I posted anything here - what a slacker! Well, the 'glass' project I was thinking of doing is now on the back burner, so to speak, until I can come up with an idea for a set-up to draw.

I've started this drawing of a kiwi fruit, cropped from a photo I took some time ago. In fact, this is my fifth attempt to draw this particular photo! Previous attempts at it (not recently) kind of fizzled out - I would get to a certain point and then get bored and lose interest - how weird! I really like the photo though and I need to draw it, obviously!

This effort is on white Colorfix sanded paper and measures about 7" x 9". I'm using Prismacolour and Derwent Coloursoft pencils because of the wide range of greens in these brands. So far, this is about 15 hours work and there's still a fair way to go. I would have done it on green Colorfix but I don't have any left so it had to be white. The white version is much slower to work on than the coloured varieties but I like how this sanded paper forces me to work in a looser way than I would on smooth papers. The kiwi half on the right needs to be much darker so I'll be working on that next - then it's a matter of enriching the colour, especially at the edge, on the left half. I'm having fun with the greens! Fingers crossed I don't get fed up with it before it gets finished.

Note to self: Must cultivate some patience.

Viola finished and some news

2009-08-20T23:05:00.004+01:00

Well, I finally finished the Viola - phew! It's only little, just 5.5" x 6.5", on Daler-Rowney Extra Smooth paper and I used FC Polychromos. Interesting exercise doing this in stages and having to describe what I did. I think I got all flummoxed about it because I was trying a bit too hard to get it right, rather than just 'going with the flow' which is what I normally do. So glad it's done now.

I heard at the weekend that two of my pictures have been accepted for the UK Coloured Pencil Society Exhibition in September - how exciting! They are both Still Life pictures I did a while ago and both measure approx. 9" x 8". This one, Little Bottle, was done on Goldline Fine Grain white paper with Polychromos pencils.

And this one, Empties, was done on Black card with Derwent Coloursofts.

I like drawing clear glass - although it's the reflections you are actually drawing, rather than the glass itself, isn't it? I'd like to do another glass arrangement for my next project so I'll be busy setting some stuff up and taking photos over the next couple of days. I want to use that piece of Fisher 400 (sanded paper) I have stashed away gathering dust - it deserves to be used!

The Viola Adventure

2009-08-17T20:41:00.009+01:00

Who would have thought that this innocuous little flower could cause me so much grief? I have agreed to do a little step-by-step demonstration for the UKCPS stand at the forthcoming Art Materials Live event in Birmingham. The task has turned out to be far less straightforward than I envisaged.

Here are four of my five attempts to recreate a Viola (or Violas) for this task. One is on Fabriano 5 paper and the other three are on ordinary sandpaper (Fine Grit 600) from a local DIY shop and they were all abysmal failures!

The sandpaper was going to give me a nice, brightly coloured, easily rendered and interesting picture. What was I thinking?! What do you generally do when your first attempt fails? You try again of course, learning from your mistakes and doing it differently. You do not, however, do it three times in almost exactly the same way, expecting somehow that some miracle is going to happen whereby a skilfully rendered, beautiful flower will emerge.

There are probably folks out there who can work wonders with pencils and bog standard sandpaper - if they can avoid choking on the pencil dust, that is - unfortunately, they do not include yours truly! And the other failure on Fabriano 5? Well, the colours were all wrong and the background was.....well.......enough said.

Anyway, here is the Viola picture I am actually doing for this task. It's the one I started doing in the first place, before I decided I could do it much better on other papers. It's really not that bad - Oh, the irony!! This image represents step three of the exercise and I am planning to have it finished by either step four or five.

And finally....... here's a picture of a natty little wooden pencil holder which someone at my art group was kind enough to make for me. It holds 13 pencils, even the stumpy ones, which is about right for the number I generally use for a single picture. Thanks John!

Waterlily WIP 3

2009-08-08T19:36:00.002+01:00

More work done on the green leaves and tweaking elsewhere. I have burnished the water with a paper torchon and I think some of the subtle colours have been lost in the process - sigh! I am happy with the flower, though, and the general colour scheme and composition.

Some thoughts on process

I always have this dilemma about how much saturation of colour to lay down. I do like some paper texture to be showing as it is, after all, a pencil drawing. Also, I do not generally aim for photorealism as I really do not see the point of that when you may as well have the photograph to stand for itself . However, when you have a subject depicting smooth surfaces, such as the leaves and the water in this picture, the grain of the paper is more of a hindrance than a help. I could have done it more effectively on smooth Bristol Board perhaps?

Anyway, I'm sure I could improve on this - some things about it are really niggling me - however, I am getting bored with it now and am itching to start something new!

NB. Did anyone else see that strange orangey yellow ball in the sky today? Can't be certain but rumour has it that it was actually the sun! Well fancy that!

Waterlily WIP 2

2009-08-04T18:53:00.004+01:00

Here we are then, another few hours of toil later on this one. I've worked quite a bit on the flower, the water and the red leaves. All I can say is respect to all those who do landscapes in coloured pencil - doing these leaves is driving me nuts! There's still a lot to do on the green leaves and I want to get those greens looking right. I put some Apple Green (Prisma) down on the upper green leaves but it looked cruddy so I erased it all. I'm spending some time testing out the greens on a spare area of the paper. Pencil colours lay down differently according to the colour of the support so testing them out first on your support is important.

On a different note, does anyone (in the UK) know where the summer's gone? (If it ever came in the first place). If I hear a weather reporter tell us one more time that it's going to rain I think I'll scream! Apparently, the Met Office have now backtracked on their 'promise' to us back in May that we were going to have a long, hot, 'barbecue' summer. Why don't they just admit that they can't do accurate long range forecasts? Here's my prediction for the coming week.....rain....and then more rain. Oh dear, had to get that whinge out of the way!

Waterlily WIP 1

2009-08-02T20:44:00.004+01:00

8" x 7" Coloured Pencil on Rose Grey Colorfix sanded paper.

I took many photos of the waterlilies at Waterperry Gardens during my rain-soaked visit there - hence the water droplets, yes that's what those little blobs are meant to be! I'm using Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils again. The pinks are HotPink, Pink (Prisma) and Bright Pink, Pink and Soft Pink (Coloursoft) so far. Other colours I've used are Bright Purple, Cranberry, Petrel Grey, Mid Grey, Grey Green (Coloursoft) and Magenta, Cool Greys, Black Grape, Celadon Green, Limepeel, Yellow Chartreuse and White (Prisma). I may add in other colours, if they seem appropriate, as I go along.

Photographs are inclined to not pick up accurately many of the subtle colours we see in nature and we have to rely, quite often, on our memory of what we saw. I want to try and capture the murky, dark, greeny grey colours of the pond water I actually saw when I was there. This shouldn't be difficult, in theory, given the wide range of pencil colours I have at my disposal! We'll see.

Purple Poppy Finished - ish

2009-07-28T00:47:00.006+01:00

Another 3 hours or so on this adding in more of the same colours here and there. I've tried to get an accurate scan of the picture colour-wise. This is as near as I can get to the original, although I think it is showing up just a tad bluer than it should. I'm calling it finished now although I know I could go on, there are always things I want to change.

If I were to do this poppy again, I'd do it on white, probably Colorfix, sanded paper and forget the flippin' background! Oh well, onwards and upwards....now, what next?

Purple Poppy WIP 3

2009-07-27T01:11:00.004+01:00

Another couple of hours or so further on. That background was bugging me, it had to change. I've put a layer of Parrot Green (Prisma) all over it....risky, but I think it looks better for it, more harmonious with the flower. I've also intensified the colours generally, using the previous ones plus Black Grape and Pink (Prisma) and Rose and Loganberry (Derwent Coloursoft). I'm now heading towards the finishing line and the next post should be the final one.....ever the optimist!

Purple Poppy WIP 2

2009-07-25T19:21:00.004+01:00

Another four hours work on this and it's looking decidedly more purple now. I spent a long time on the background using Derwent Coloursofts Mid Green, Lime Green and Dark Green and a paper torchon or two to blend them. At first, I was thinking a light limey green theme would be a good foil for the dark poppy........wrong! Then I darkened it but it looked too dark. Finally I settled for this muted, mid-toned limey-green look! I've concluded that doing backgrounds for a light coloured flower is much easier, there seem to be more workable options. I wonder if other people have these perplexing dilemmas!

Anyway, I'm quite happy with the colours now and the next stage is to darken the darks, particularly around the centre of the flower, and do some tweaking here and there. It is a pleasure to be able to put lights over darks, as you can on this paper, it seems to make the process of drawing more spontaneous.

Purple Poppy WIP 1

2009-07-23T23:01:00.003+01:00

Approx 11" x 9" Coloured Pencil on Aubergine Colorfix sanded paper.

I'm using Prismacolor pencils on this one, plus a few Derwent Coloursofts, because there are some lovely dark reds in these brands. I snapped this beautiful poppy last month in a friend's garden - I hope I can do it justice!

Thus far, this is about four hours work and I am really liking this paper. The pencils are going on like pastel and working on this coloured ground really speeds up the process. I spent some time 'sculpting' those stamens, until my eyes were crossed actually!, and then just blocked in the basic colours for the petals using Tuscan Red, Magenta, Process Red and Hot Pink (Prismas). I envisage the background, at the moment, as loosely rendered, muted greens but that could change. I'll start work on that as soon as I've finished laying down the basic colours for the whole flower.

Watery Waterperry

2009-07-20T15:08:00.004+01:00

My friend and I went over to Waterperry Gardens, near Oxford, yesterday for the annual Art In Action event. There were exhibitors showing and demonstrating activities such as calligraphy and illustration, ceramics, woodwork, painting, drawing and printmaking - also, lots of opportunity to have a go yourself. I particularly enjoyed the drawing tent, unsurprisingly, and saw some beautiful charcoal work by Marguerite Horner.

The gardens were particularly picturesque and, had it not been for the rain, would have been great to browse around. Now, I'm not averse to the odd shower but we are talking here, folks, of frequent torrential downpours which had everyone dashing for the nearest tent every ten minutes or so. Welly boots were the order of the day, though not for me unfortunately! Rivulets of water and the odd puddle turned into a veritable muddy quagmire and the rain kept coming. We brits do not complain though do we? We just smile and remind ourselves that without this wet stuff our country would not be nearly so green and pleasant!

What irritated me more, however, was the fact that I had to pay £1.60 for a cup of tea - correction...a polystyrene cup of hot water which had been tickled by a tea bag. Refraining from a strong desire to tell the organizers that I could have bought 200 tea bags for that price I comforted myself with a piece of carrot cake. Chin up though, the parking there was free - yay!

White Daisy WIP 3

2009-07-14T22:28:00.003+01:00

Another 3 hours or so of work done on this. I put a layer of Phthalo Blue and over that some more Sky Blue, in places on the background just to give it a bit more ooomph! My lighter blue pencils are now reduced to little stumps - oh the perils of sanded paper!

I have basically strengthened all the colours on the petals and tried to get more tonal contrast, more by lightening the light areas than putting down darker greys - if that makes any sense. It's quite satisfying being able to put lights over dark colours, as you can with this paper, and I have used a Chinese White Derwent Drawing Pencil as the final layer for the highlights.

I think it's probably about finished now. I'll put it away for a few days and then look at it again. No doubt something will shout at me to be tweaked, I'm never satisfied.

White Daisy WIP 2

2009-07-11T19:19:00.003+01:00

Another four hours or so of work on this. I am using almost all the cold and warm greys in the Polychromos range on the petals. I've never used these greys before - I tend to steer clear of them usually - so now I'm really getting to know them! I quite like this stage, when all the basic colours are laid down, because I can now move around adjusting the tones and generally refining the whole thing. Looking at it now, my eye goes straight to that dark grey in the petals on the right - looks odd so I'll adjust that. The pencil colour is going down almost like pastel and it's easy to blend on this paper.

I am not one to keep slavishly layering colour over colour, haven't got that much patience!, but I do want to introduce more contrast to this because, apart from the white highlights, there is very little tonal contrast in those petals. Have to be careful though, could easily overdo it.

White Daisy WIP (1)

2009-07-09T15:34:00.000+01:00

I've started this daisy on pale grey Colorfix sanded paper, about 9" x 11". I took lots of photos of white daisies in the Spring this year and this is from a crop of one of those. I'm using my favourite pencils, Faber Castell Polychromos, although I haven't used them on this paper before - oooer! I like to work the whole picture up at the same time, rather than working on one bit in detail, because I get a better sense of the whole piece, colourwise ,as I'm going along.

I've used sky blue and light ultramarine on the background so far and a stiff brush to try and get a smooth look - we can't have a stripey sky! Trouble is, as any seasoned coloured pencilist will know, while this sanded paper speeds up the drawing process, it does tend to eat up your pencils so I might have to dip into my stocks for some more 'blues'. I've also put in the lightest bright bits with a white pencil and started modelling the centre. I've used the blues also in the petals and introduced some greys.

I don't really have a 'game plan' when doing these flowers - I just work it out as I go along so it's always a case of being 'on a wing and a prayer'. We'll see....early days yet.