Throwing caution to the wind

So as promised here’s some of what I’ve been working on. Staying true to form, I have several pieces on the go right now since I get bored easily.  ;)

I'm just going to post one since I have several shots of another and not a great deal of time to do this post. This one is actually an experimental piece in that the support I’m using is Masonite that’s been gessoed. I’ve tackled this particular subject before but I used oils and it was many years ago. I liked the image a lot but wasn’t quite sure if I was ready to try it in cp’s and what support I should use. Far be it from me to do anything easily so I figured why not make this as difficult for myself as possible and not only re-create the subject in cp's but also on a support I’ve never used before.

 Untitled

Coloured pencil on masonite

Copyright Rita Woodburne

So there she is in all her work-in-progress glory.

It's supposed to be the temperature of Hell freezing over this weekend (and by that I mean not even the dogs want to stay outside) so I'm planning on doing a lot of indoor activities such as art, reading and removing the hideous border wallpaper from our kitchen.

In my next post I'll have some pics of the other piece I've been working on and, if I'm brave enough and the wallpaper doesn't give me too much trouble in its removal, some updates to this piece as well.

I guess I could include the kitchen as a work-in-progress as well...

I Just Need A Little Nudge

How I spent my Monday Afternoon...

So it's almost Friday and when the week-end rolls around it'll be time for working on some more art and, hopefully, posting more works.

Lately it's been difficult to get art done because, as many of you know, life tends to get in the way of doing fun and enjoyable things and, as I mentioned in my previous post, because of the weather.

I hate to say this given the lousy Summer we had, but I'm kind of wishing we would have a rainy day or, even better, a snow day. While I generally enjoy getting outside in the cooler weather, for the most part this time of year always feels like a time to hibernate indoors and (for me anyway) work on oodles of art. Small pieces, big pieces, still life's, equestrian pieces or even reading some art history books. I've started on some pieces, the WIP's I'm planning on posting soon, and even started re-reading one of my art history books from university.

"Dramapple" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It's all very good and well, but I think I need that little kick from Mother Nature where she says: "Hey! Look at what I brought you... a snowstorm! Go ahead, stay inside and drink ridiculous amounts of hot chocolate and play with your coloured pencils. Have fun!

Oh, and tell your husband to get the snowblower warmed up because this one's going to be a doozy!"

Yup, that's what I need. And to remind the Other Half to get the snowblower tuned up. :p


Back this week-end with more art!

Really? 350?

See? I told you I'd be back!

So today's post is Happy 350th post to me.

To be honest I didn't even realize it until I logged in and in the stats for my blog I noticed that my last post was #349. Yay observant me!


Anyhoo, here are a couple of updates for the two previous pieces I had featured here. Both of them have essentially passed what is fondly referred to in the coloured pencil artists world as "the ugly stage".

Freisian Stallion- WIP
8x10, Coloured pencil on Colourfix

True, every piece of art during its creation goes through an "ugly stage". The problem with coloured pencil, as any artist that uses them extensively will tell you, is that the ugly stage can last a long time. A veeeeery loooong time. In fact, it's often during these ugly stages that pieces get abandoned, like those errant single running shoes seen at the side of the highway.

Who gets so mad at their shoes, nay, a single shoe, that they feel the need to chuck it out the window while travelling at top speed in their vehicle? When they stop and have to get out do they regret throwing the shoe out the window? These are the questions that plague me... but I digress.

Silver & Cherries- WIP
11x14, Coloured pencil on Colourfix

So those are the updates for this week. My drooling ACEO isn't complete yet as I have another artistic project that I'm working on for my brother's abode. In typical guy fashion he has nothing on his walls and, as an artist, it pains me to think that there are nudist walls somewhere that are crying out for some decent clothes to wear. "Clothes", in this case, being art.

On that note I must go now and continue the noble quest of creating wall clothing. Toodles!

WIP's up the wazoo!

Sorry for my disappearance into la-la land last week. Schoolwork took up more time than I had anticipated and then the Other Half and I were away this week-end enjoying the odd Summer weather we've been having.

At any rate, I'm back today (and later this week... really!!) with some more art.

WIP's to be specific. If you recall from the last post (you can look below, I'm not re-posting the same image, consarndit!) there was the large piece I was doing of the silver jug and cherries. Here is another update to the piece:

Silver and Cherries- WIP

11x14, Coloured pencil on Colourfix

As per usual, I've done more to this one than I'm showing for today only because 1- I'm on dial-up and there are only so many pics I can upload at any given time before I lose my mind and 2- I have another WIP I'd like to share with you, dear reader. :)

The other WIP would be this equine piece:

Friesian stallion- WIP
8x10, Coloured pencil on Colourfix

Friesian stallion- WIP
8x10, Coloured pencil on Colourfix

Again, I've done more on this one than I'm letting on but you'll just have to contain your excitement to see how it turns out. Think of it like one of those "The Be Continued..." episodes of a show that you're totally hooked on.

I've also got an ACEO on the go that I'll share later. I'd like to finish it up and do an entire WIP post for that one because it features food and I swear the reference looked so good that I may have drooled on it a bit.

Speaking of food, I may as well share that I've been typing the last half of this post with a banana in one of my hands. Yup, that's right, my talents aren't simply limited to art; I can type while weilding a banana as well. Will wonders never cease?

Until later this week (with possibly a drool covered ACEO) keep on art-ing!

Dimpled fruit... yes, you read that right.

Hi there, dear reader!

So I'm back again with an ACEO WIP. I told you I was itching to get back into doing art; and what better way to start than with a challenging miniature piece? I say this one was a challenge because, for lack of better words, I've never done dimpled fruit before.

That doesn't really sound right, does it?

Lemon still life ACEO- WIP
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Anyhoo, this being my first foray into a still life with a dimpled fruit I decided on a nice reference pic featuring some lemons that I got from the artist forum WetCanvas!, although I can't recall the name of the individual that contributed the particular photo.

I think I find dimpled fruit to be a challenge because of the way I work with cp's. That is, I like to "block in" areas of colour and then start layering. When you have dimples and divets in things (not just fruit, although I can't think of anything else off the top of my head that presents the same texture) there are all kinds of considerations to make regarding lights and darks and sometimes, to be perfectly honest, that's just too much calculated planning for me.

Lemon still life ACEO- WIP
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

That said, I was up for a challenge and since this is my first attempt I'm pleased with the results and hopefully I'll be able to start including all kinds of textured fruit now. Limes, oranges, strawberries, lychee fruit (okay, maybe not)... the possibilites are endless!!

This ACEO is complete but I'm going to leave you in suspense until tomorrow when I'll be posting again. Now if you'll be so kind as to excuse me I have a loaf of cinnamon zucchini bread that needs to make it's great escape from the oven.

Till tomorrow! :)

Yellow anyone?

Let’s talk about van Gogh, shall we?

More specifically, let’s continue with the discussion from earlier about works that can cause grief. I debated doing this one... extensively. Despite being one of his most famous works, I am really not a fan of this one. I look at it and say ‘blah’. Even for me, who likes simple composition and uncluttered images, it’s about as exciting as a loaf of bread.

Also, there’s a lot of yellow. And not even a nice kind of yellow. It’s the kind of yellow that makes you uncomfortable. However, I shoved my dislike for this piece aside and decided that I wanted to tackle it.


Normally an ACEO takes me a couple of hours to do. This one took me 4 days working on it on and off. It's progress can be seen below:

van Gogh, "Sunflowers", Part 1

van Gogh, "Sunflowers", Part 2

"After van Gogh, "Sunflowers" " ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Let's just say I can understand now why van Gogh went off his rocker. Yellow. Orange- yellow. Yellow ochre. Canary yellow. Goldenrod. Deep cadmium. I mean, really, how much yellow can one person tolerate?

About half way through this one I almost tossed it into the fireplace but I'm glad I didn't. I knew I needed to persevere and get this one done... even if it meant that I was going to go crazy and eat my cp's.


Thankfully that didn't happen and this ACEO has found a new home. Doing this ACEO reminded me of a lesson I learned when I was seriously starting out with cp's and that is that coloured pencil pieces can have a very long "ugly" stage. I had forgotten this because I've been working on ACEO's for so long and they are generally done very quickly so if there is an ugly stage it's very brief.

This one was educational and I'm glad it's done.

This week is shaping up to be a very busy one for me so I don't know that I'll get to do another post until next week-end. Hopefully I'll be able to sneak one in but if I can't, until next week-end keep on art-ing!

Keeping my sanity... kind of.

So the art is keeping me sane... who woulda thunk it?

That said, before my mini hiatus there I had mentioned that I wanted to discuss pieces that didn’t keep me so sane. More specifically, pieces that were difficult to get through for one reason or another.

To touch on this subject I’m going to use 2 ACEO’s I completed not too long ago, those being Vermeer’s “Woman Holding A Balance” and van Gogh’s infamous “Sunflowers”.

Let’s start with Vermeer, shall we?

This piece, while exciting, was fiddly in nature and also, because ACEO’s are so darn small, presented the challenge of getting the woman’s face in that space without it looking something akin to the female version of the Elephant Man.

Before I get into my ACEO trials and tribulations here’s a link to what the full original painting looks like:

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/37/76837-004-D488CF6A.jpg

Now imagine cramming even a portion of that into a space 2.5 x 3.5 inches!

I liked the challenge that the aspect of teen-weeny spaces presented to me (so much so that I’m doing more of them) but I didn’t anticipate how much it would frustrate me.

Below you can see the stages of how this ACEO progressed:

Part One.

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Part Two, with some wonky lighting issues.

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
(Yes, those are some of my cp's the ACEO is sitting on)

Done!

"After Vermeer- "Woman Holding A Balance" "
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I think the biggest challenges I had with this one, aside from teeny-weeny faces, were making the balance obvious to the viewer and retaining that softness and dramatic value that Vermeer has in so many of his works. There was also the challenge of getting her hands to look like hands, rather than making it look like she’s wearing flesh coloured mittens, and speaking of flesh, there were issues I had with colour as well. I don’t often do portraits or works with figures so this particular piece offered up a few learning curves.

In hindsight I’m pretty happy with it but if I were to do it over again I would have given more attention to values and colour (in that order of priority) since in comparing the original with my ACEO the two main areas of focus, her face and hands, are lacking darker values in the ACEO which is part of what gives it that drama.


Since this post has already gotten quite long I’ll save van Gogh’s piece for this week-end. It’ll be a nice break for me to post again and I suspect that if I have to address two pieces that gave me trouble the sanity I’m trying to hang onto will fly right out the window. Although that would make for an interesting post, wouldn’t it?

Cherries and snow

Well, we didn’t get that much snow on the week-end and after checking the forecast it would appear that it’s actually coming overnight and throughout tomorrow. Other than a few errands I have to run tomorrow I think I’ll be spending a good chunk of time working on art since I didn’t get as much done over the week-end as I was hoping to.

Despite time constraints over the week-end I do have this little ACEO to share as well as the beginning of an 11x14 piece I started.

"Red, red and more red" ACEO- Part 1
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

"Red, red and more red" ACEO- Done!
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

For the larger piece it’s a re-do of an ACEO I completed last year. The original reference image is from WetCanvas! I believe. In the original photo there’s a lace tablecloth on the table and when I did the ACEO I omitted it but I’m considering including it in this piece. Since this is a larger piece it would be much easier for me to include the detail of the lace as opposed to the ACEO where I’m quite sure had I attempted to include the lace my eyeballs would’ve fallen right out of my head.

No title yet... WIP
11x14, Coloured pencil on Colourfix

Copyright Rita Woodburne

The other thing I did with this one was use solvents for the background. I really wanted that solid black and since I’m working on Colourfix for this one I knew that no amount of burnishing would get me that solid black... not without waxy consequences anyway.

I’m debating whether I want to attempt using solvents for the cherries as well since I’m pretty much a newbie when it comes to combining cp’s with solvent. I may try a few test pieces to figure out how much manipulating I can do.


So that’s what I’m up to for now. If anyone out there has suggestions for using the solvents I’m all ears!

Don't just sing for supper, yodel for it.

Vermeer- Part 3

"After Vermeer- "The Milkmaid" " ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Welcome back, dear reader!

So there she is, the yodelling milkmaid.

Despite taking on this project at the worst possible time of year I must admit that I'm enjoying it, contorted faces and all. The Vermeer ones are much more time consuming but I'm learning quite a bit from both his work and van Gogh's. I've been able to boil it down simply to this: the van Gogh pieces loosen me up and the Vermeer's make me rein everything back in again. Plus I'm getting to analyze VG's colour use and Vermeer's ability to play with light.


So, for the next 2 pieces I've decided on I picked "Gauguin's Chair" by VG and "Woman Holding a Balance" by Vermeer. I can already hear myself grumbling while doing the Vermeer. :)

While I've held off on starting the Vermeer I have started (and almost finished) the van Gogh. Here's parts 1 & 2:

Van Gogh "Gauguin's Chair"- Part 1
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Van Gogh- Part 2

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Truth is, this one is pretty much done. Between cleaning up after Cutter (there's pieces of bark all over the house), trying to get regular chores done, Christmas preparation and the general hooplah that constitutes living on a farm (Oh good! The water trough for the horses is frozen!... and here comes the hay wagon!) I'm surprised I've been able to get anything done with this project. Tis' the season for too many things to do and not enough hours in the day.

Speaking of getting things done, I'll be doing my end of the year wrap up later this week. I'll have a look-see at the plan I set out for myself at the beginning of the year and see where I stand now. Now if you'll excuse me I have dogs and cats running both willy and nilly through the house and in keeping with what I've learned from the Vermeer piece I must "rein them in".

Toodles!

The Two Dutchmen

So I'm back and, as promised, I have an update with my "end of the year let's see if I can cram more work into my day" ACEO project involving van Gogh and Vermeer. The two pieces I chose for my foray into this mini project were van Gogh's "Irises" and Vermeer's "The Milkmaid".

I chose the van Gogh piece because this was the poster I had hanging in my bedroom for eons when I was a little girl. I loved the image then and I still love it now. The Vermeer piece I chose simply because I love the pure white of the milk that the woman is pouring. Yup. That's really the reason... simple, I know.
I'm just doing little segments of each piece and I've left some things out of each one that are in the original segment that I chose. Just for fun I'm not going to tell you what I left out and we'll see if anyone can figure out what it was that I removed.

Enough babbling, onto the art:

Vermeer- Part 1

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

After doing the initial laydown for each one I took a deep breath and wondered what I had gotten myself into. Oddly enough, despite the intricacy of the van Gogh piece it's been the easier of the two to work on. I suspect that may have something to do with the fact that it's oodles looser than the Vermeer. The other challenge I've run into it that in terms of colour I have no idea if they're like the originals. I'm work from my computer monitor so I'm playing it by ear.

Vermeer- Part 2

Oddly enough, when I started working on both of these I realized I had chosen works with similar colouring. Blues and yellows.
Both artists were taken with that particular colour combination and van Gogh himself had actually seen "The Milkmaid" and, upon seeing it, remarked what a talented artist Vermeer was and that he enjoyed his use of colour. I often wonder what Vermeer would have said about van Gogh's work...

van Gogh- Part 1
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

The van Gogh ACEO will be done by the end of today and then I need to get the Vermeer done so I can start on another 2 pieces. At this point I'm not thrilled with the Vermeer because, quite frankly, I've made it look as though the poor woman is yodelling while pouring the milk. I don't think Vermeer would be impressed.

van Gogh- Part 2

So that's where I'm at so far. I don't know how many of these I'll get done before the month is out but I'm hoping for quite a few. I'm also hoping I can throw in a few other artists to give myself some variety and to get more ideas for projects I'd like to do next year.

Speaking of next year, I'll be doing my end of the year wrap-up next week where I review my 2008 plan and slap myself on the wrists for what I didn't accomplish. Join me in the fun and frivolity, won't you?

Of Art and Aneurysms

Well hello there, dear reader.

Grapes and Pears ACEO WIP
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

So my artistic saga continues and I'll be honest in saying that when I started this whole van Gogh/ Vermeer project I didn't really have a highly specific outcome in mind. I just knew that I admired the work of both and that I hoped when all was said and done that I'd be a better artist for it. When I started I also had no idea that at this point I'd be having a hissy fit over trying to get the best lighting to take a picture of a rose and little glass bluebird.

"Symbols of the Season"
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I love doing still lifes now (something else that has come as a big surprise) but trying to set up my own compositions is causing that little vein on the temple of my head to pop out and I'm getting kind of snarly over the whole affair. My biggest qualms are coming from lighting issues and that my camera is "out of date" despite being only 3 years old.

I've searched high and low on the Internet for tips, tricks and any other general information I feel will be useful. I've managed to rig up a box that I use for setting up my still lifes and it allows me to change background fabrics, fiddle around with the depth of objects as well as the height of objects. However, the lighting is *ahem* lacking something to be desired... as in: it's crap.
So I ask, dear reader, do you have any tips on lighting for still lifes? Is there a better time of day to be taking ref pics? Is an overcast day better than a sunny day? Anything, anything at all... I'll try it. I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing.

So there's my plea for help. I'm going to go work on some more art now, maybe a horse or wildlife piece because they're not causing my blood pressure to rise exponentially.


Also, be sure to have a Happy Halloween tomorrow filled with all kinds of sugary, spooky goodness. I'll see you in November! :D

It's Getting Chilly Outside

Today was the first day that it really hit me that Summer is over and Winter is on it's way. Although it was sunny it was a very blustery day and there are lots of leaves flying off the trees even as I type. To put a positive spin on it I did spend some time outside tidying up the garden and when I felt a chill in my bones (aka- arthritis flaring up) it was time to head inside and work on some art.

I've mentioned previously that it's usually around this time of year I start to get a hankering for doing still lifes and lately I've been doing quite a few, even taking a stab at doing some of my own compositions. One of these still lifes, in a fledgling phase, can be seen below:

"Basket of Temptation" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It's farther along than this but I'd like to save that for another post and touch again on my van Gogh/ Vermeer project (no, I haven't abandoned it).


At this time of year it also hits me, as I'm sure it does many others, that the year is almost over.

Where the heck did the time go??

Who knows, but what I do know is that now is also the time that I'll be reviewing my artistic goals for 2008 for the last time and see what I accomplished, what I haven't accomplished, what can be abandoned and what can be carried over into next year.

So this week-end I'll be doing just that and more. I'll be giving thought to what I'd like next year to look like and I'll be making a mini plan of attack for what I can accomplish during the remainder of this year.
As a sneak peek for a series of ACEO's I've been working on that are pertaining to my van Gogh/ Vermeer project I offer up this little diddy:

"Midnight Wind" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Have a super week-end, dear reader, and enjoy the fine weather while we can. Until next week!

Pastelbord loves me... it loves me not.

Ah the joys of Pastelbord, it’s a nice support, it doesn’t require glass for framing, it comes in a variety of coloured grounds to save artists some of the value work and, really, who wouldn’t feel just a little hoity- toity drawing on something that’s made with ground marble. I mean it just sounds fancy.

That said, the stuff is driving me nuts. My love/ hate relationship with this particular support is going on much longer than I had hoped. Take, for instance, my first few experiences working with Colourfix. At first I really didn’t care for it at all and then after doing a few pieces on it I’ve not only fallen in love with working on it but I daresay I’ve become horribly addicted to working on it (although not for everything). Colourfix grew on me much the way that nice little vine- type plants like Morning Glories grow on trellises. Pastelbord, on the other hand, is growing on me in the same way that mold grows on bread that’s gotten too old.

My biggest qualms with it are that I’m an artist that works in sections rather than from left to right or top to bottom. This means that at any given time I may need to rest my arm or hand over a section of my work and with Pastelbord I find that when I do this I’m lifting off not just a small portion of my work but a whole clump of it in a puffy coloured pencil cloud. It’s ticking me off to say the least. I’m also finding that, unlike Colourfix, I can get quite a few layers down but not oodles of layers. Oh, and by the way, here’s where my Scottsdale rider is so far:

Scottsdale Western Rider
11x14, coloured pencil on Pastelbord
Copyright Rita Woodburne

With all my frustration with Pastelbord you’d think I’d have given up already but alas, not so. Why? Because I’m really, and I mean really, stubborn. That and after having several pieces of glass break en route to art fairs I’m really keen on being able to frame something without glass. I hate that shuffling, scratching, clinking noise that you get when unpacking art that has broken glass.


So here’s my appeal to artists that use Pastelbord on a regular basis:
How do you get around pigment lifting off the surface aside from being really, really careful? Fixative? Mylar/ vellum sheet? Voodoo magic? .... or are you just really, really careful? Also, is there a trick to getting lots and lots of layers down the same way you can with Colourfix?

I feel like I’m missing something here, some kind of trick to working on it and like I mentioned before, I’m stubborn so I’m not about to give up anytime soon.

Happy Labour Day!

Happy September, dear reader!!

As I mentioned in my previous post I intended to be lazy. Quite lazy, in fact, since this is the last real ‘Hurrah’ of Summer before weeping children head back to school and the population in general in my neck of the woods starts getting ready for the on-set of cooler weather. (Must stack firewood, must stack firewood...)


I have spent my ‘laziness’ being rather productive, relatively speaking, in creating art and starting some new pieces, finishing off older ones and coming up with new ides for “works-to-be”. One piece was of a fox kit that I posted earlier in one of its beginning stages as you can see below:

Fox Kit, WIP
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

And here is where that piece is now:

Fox Kit, WIP
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

There’s still some work to be done on it yet, that’s for sure, but I feel pretty good about where it’s going and I suspect that I’ll be able to wrap it up this week.

Another piece I’ve started is this one:

Scottsdale Western rider
11x14, coloured pencil on Pastelbord
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It’s (obviously) in a very rudimentary stage at this point and it’s featuring a rider and her horse from the Scottsdale Arabian Show that took place back in February this year. It was a really nice pose and I had to chuckle to myself because the Arab looked so Quarter horse-y in all the Western gear, the only thing that really gave him away was that he didn’t have that tell-tale QH rump on him. This piece is on pastelbord and since this post is long enough already I’d like to leave my next post to talk about the love/ hate relationship I’ve developed with this surface and make my plea to other artists that are using this surface.


So there you have it. Regular readers will know, Autumn is my favourite time of year, not just because of the colours, which tend to be just scrumptious I might add, but also because this time of year always seems to feel like a “New Year”. So stay tuned because I suspect that with a bit more free time on my hands and the prospect of me returning to my original intents with my art that some interesting things are sure to come.... :D

Head for the hills... the zombies are coming!!

I know, I know, I’ve been MIA...but for good reason...

The other day over on her blog, Greywaren Art, Maggie posted her thoughts on the potential of a zombie attack and whether the artist side of us carries over into the wee hours of the night. More correctly (I hope, and please correct me if I'm wrong), are you an artist through and through? Regardless of whether you’re awake or not, selling your art or not, beginning artist or seasoned veteran? Are you being true to yourself?

"Enlightened" WIP
5x7, coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

This was something I’ve been thinking about a lot over the past few months and most especially when I injured my back and was forced to do nothing but lie on my stomach and stare out the window and watch the world go by. I also did a lot of reading on art history and interviews/ articles on contemporary artists as well. Life got in the way of me pushing forward with my art in a gung-ho kinda way and, to be honest... it was probably for the better.

I've pulled an about face and decided to focus a lot less on selling my art and instead have shifted my focus on developing my skills and style. For me to do that I need to set the business side of being an artist aside and I need to just focus on my art and, as I posted in the comment section of Maggie's post, to Hell with the rest of it.
Now, potential collectors don't go tucking your cheque-books away just yet. I'm still selling my art in art fairs and, if the Universe unfolds as it should, by next year it'll also be in galleries but I'm cutting back on commissions drastically. I simply have too many projects of my own that I want to explore and my free time to pursue those projects has become very limited as of late.

So basically what you see here and on my website (which should be updated soon) is what I'm doing and I'm shifting into purely visceral mode with my art. It was what I did when I was younger and didn't have a care for anything else except doing exactly what I want... and when I was doing that I was happy as a clam with legs.
Yes, I'm regressing and taking a child-like approach to my art again and quite franklyI can't wait to see what happens. I'm sure I'll return to an artist/ business person approach to my art eventually but for the forseeable future this is what I need to do... zombie attack or not.

Only a few days left...

So today’s the week, Bon Echo is fast approaching and I basically have today, Monday and Tuesday to get myself organized. The Other Half figured we’ll have to pack most of the things up on Wednesday since we’re heading up on Thursday after he returns from work... and he’s even so excited about it he’s going to try and leave early from work (a thing unheard of during the busy Summer months!)

Fox kit, WIP
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I still have 1 piece I’d like to finish up (pictured above in all it’s WIP glory) and a few ACEO’s I’d like to bring as well. The ACEO’s aren’t a big deal since I can just bring them with me and finish them up at the show which makes for a super conversation starter with potential buyers. I’ve already spent a good portion of the day digging out my display racks, the covers for said racks and making sure that I have all the hardware I need for setting up the racks and securing my work. I’ve also been re-packaging my cards into the outdoor friendly packaging of plastic sleeves. That task in and of itself has proven to be interesting because the sleeves I ordered are a rather snug fit for the package of cards and more than a few expletives have been uttered in an attempt to get them in without giving myself multiple paper cuts.


Trials and tribulations aside I really have to say that I think outdoor art fairs are great because it always seems as though there’s a sense of camaraderie amongst the artists showing their work. If one person’s display topples over there’s always at least a few artists that will rush over and help them. If someone needs to attend to the call of nature their neighbours at the show will be more than happy to watch their booth (and if they’re really good they’ll make a few sales for them too!) Most importantly they can sympathize with you if you’re a newbie to the whole art fair thing and, as has been my experience, everyone is more than happy to share their experiences with you with some of those learning curve stories being very funny.


So with my busy schedule ahead of me (and the possibility of a trip to the store to buy some band-aids) I will have to go. I still have stacks of cards to package up and, of course, the piece above that needs to get done. Throw some housework into the mix and it’s a wonder if I'll even have time to eat or sleep before Thursday arrives and we’re off and running.
In anticipation of the hectic rush I’ve already started to prepare another post on Vermeer and van Gogh that I’m hoping to post on Wednesday evening or Thursday afternoon before we leave, so be sure to check back later in the week for that post and to see if I’ve completely lost my mind by then.

Toodles!

Even More Flowers and a Horse

Hi there, dear reader!

So today's post is going to be an update of my second attempt at the daisies for my ongoing Van Gogh project as well as another older unfinished piece I dug out in an attempt to re-work. But first, the daisies:

Van Gogh project daisies, take 2. WIP
5x7, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Up to this point I've really only filled in the base colour for the stem, petals and underside of the flowers. This is the same thing I did with the first daisy piece but I find now that I'm working on the Colourfix I feel less anxious about making alterations as I go. As I mentioned with the first daisies, Colourfix is much more forgiving than Mi-Teintes when it comes to layering and fixing mistakes.

That said, the only problem I can see at this point with this piece is the background and that expanse of blue sky. Seeing that Colourfix is a sanded surface it's worth noting that from time to time you come across little sections that have a bit more grit to them than other spots. As a result you get chunks of pigment that come off the pencil and aren't as easy to remove. I'm not sure how I feel about a sky that could be described as "chunky". However, I haven't gotten to that stage yet (it's slated for this week-end) so I'll just have to wait until then to see if I can pull it off.


Now the other piece I yanked out was a horse I started last year, sometime around June or thereabouts. I had a sampling of pastelbord at the time and was still getting comfortable with using it. I got the horse outline down and started filling it in and then...I got stuck. My steam for it ran out and I put it in an envelope and forgot about it. I came across it again last week and figured I'd take another stab at it and, of course, I forgot to take a pic of it before I started to re-work it. So this is the point it's at now:

Untitled (for now at least)
8x10, coloured pencil on pastelbord
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It needs colour and value and "oomph" (that's a technical term, I'm sure of it). I'm going to take my sweet, dandy ol' time with this one because I'm not really sure where I was trying to take it in the first place... but that's what happens when you squirrel a piece away for close to a year before looking at it again.

The weather is supposed to be less than accomodating for outdoor activities this week-end so I'm hoping to get some of the many works-in-progress I have on the go wrapped up or close to it. I've told myself I can't start anything new until I get at least 3 of them done so with that in mind, I'm off and art-ing.

Back later in the week with some more on the gardening front!

Yes, I used Yellow Chartreuse

It’s done!!

Yes, the experimental daisies are done and, to be honest, I’m quite relieved that they are. About half-way through working on it I remember thinking: “Damn...why didn’t I do this on Colourfix? I can get way more layering on Colourfix...and it’s easier to hide mistakes.” Alas, I didn’t do it on Colourfix and I also couldn’t bring myself to scrap this one and start over. So I just kept on trucking through it and I’m glad that I did. Without further ado, my Van Gogh Project experimental daisies:

"Sun Seekers"
5x7, coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Copyright Rita Woodburne
(Sorry 'bout the shadowing on the right side, I'm working on my photography skills...)

Bright, sunny and cheery, the perfect picture to be working on at this time of year. Reminds me that some of those wee daisies are hiding under all that manure I’ve been scooping and they’ll be popping up soon enough.

I’m happy with the way that this one came out and I think that I did as much with this one as I could. Now that it’s done and I’ve had a break from it I can see things I would’ve done differently and most of the issues I encountered were ones that could’ve been avoided if I had given some more thought/ planning to the piece prior to actually starting on it. However, I’m more of a “jump in head first and hope the rocks are small and deep” kinda person so planning was not at the top of my list of things to do.

I decided that since I was working with a solid colour background I would play around with using complementaries in the daisies themselves to add some interest to the piece and satisfy my need to play around with the colour. The nice thing about working with white is that you have some fantastic options for adding colour and with this being a bright piece I felt comfortable adding colours like Yellow Chartreuse and Parma Violet... right next to each other!


I know, I’m just so wild and crazy.


Anyway, here’s a close up of one of the daisies and you can see some more of the colour I’ve played around with:

"Sun Seekers", close-up

Copyright Rita Woodburne

So there you have it. I’m really open to comments and crits for this one because, like I said again and again, this was an experiment. What do you think of the colour? The perspective? The subject matter? The price of tea in China?

I had fun with it. So much so, in fact, that I’ve started another daisy piece. I know, I'm such a glutton for punishment.

Until later this week, keep on art-ing! :D

Lilac Tea piece, WIP Part 1
5x7, coloured pencil on pastel board
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Lilac Tea piece WIP Part 2
5x7, coloured pencil on pastel board
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Today I was going to do a post on Van Gogh but instead would like to share something that is both funny and sad at the same time.

In the town closest to me, which happens to be Belleville, the current mayor has been working very hard to improve the healthcare facilities as well as get more doctors into our region since most folks out this way don’t have a family doctor, including myself. For all his hard work we thank him immensely as he’s already got 17 doctors signed onto the Doctor Recruitment Program (the first one will be opening his practice in October of this year I believe) and has helped re-work the current budget for the region to get more advanced equipment into the local hospital. One of the pieces of medical equipment the Quinte region has recently received is a new MRI machine.

The acquisition of the new MRI machine was big news because 1- I would think that regardless of where you live if your hospital received medical equipment of that size and price tag it would be news and 2- this is largely a farming and light industry community that is growing by leaps and bounds so anything that makes front page news is worth talking about... including the crowning of the Queen of the Furrow, but that story is for another day.

They talked about it on the radio for weeks. They wrote articles about it in the weeks leading up to its delivery. Then finally the big day came, the day the MRI machine was delivered. I believe the city closed off a portion of the road in front of the hospital specifically so this thing could be delivered and placed into the hospital in a timely manner (it is a monsterously large machine). When this happened you better believe the local papers were there to get pictures and talk to the hospital big-wigs. Myself, being a curious critter, waited until my local paper was delivered to see the pics and read the associated article.


Here’s where things get a little ironic.


Imagine my surprise when I saw the picture and realized just how big a machine this was. Then imagine my surprise when in the picture I saw just how many men it took to unload it. Then imagine my surprise when I saw one of the helpful workers smoking a cigarette while unloading the MRI machine.


And the quest for improved quality of health continues...


PS- The Lilac Tea piece is actually done. I'm just posting these WIP pics to coax you, dear reader, into coming back. ;)

More Zest!

"Caught in the Breeze" ACEO can be bid on here.
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Well, howdy doody, dear reader!

Today I'm going to resume my solvent experiment. If you want to refer back to the first image before we begin just head over here to refresh your memory.

Pretty ugly, eh?

Well, like I mentioned before, that's okay because all coloured pencil pieces are subject to an ugly stage at one point or another. Fortunately, because this is a small piece and because I'm infatuated with horses, I can see past the ugly stage and onto something a bit less aesthetically revolting.

I decided that while I hadn't done enough smooshing (<--- that's a technical term...really) with colour and solvent I still wanted to go ahead and start on some "modeling" of my subject. This included pumping up some of the highlights and shaping the face a bit and blocking in some of the shadows by blocking in a colour as an under painting. It also included some fiddling with the hair because, well, I love flowy hair on horses and I just couldn't help myself.

Untitled WIP with bad lighting, 5x7 coloured pencil on pastelboard
Copyright Rita Woodburne

You, hopefully, can also see that I've thrown in some of the colours I'm planning on using throughout the body and face to establish warm spots and cool spots.

In the next picture I've gone over the mane some more and applied more solvent to the pink/ salmon coloured areas and I've also started working the face and neck areas by adding in more lights and other lighter colours such as Light Peach, Putty Beige and Ginger Root.

Untitled WIP, 5x7 coloured pencil on pastelboard
Copyright Rita Woodburne

My next steps will include more shaping in the face, such as including in the fiddly bits that can be found on a horse face, as well as establishing the shadows on the body and focusing more on getting the nose area the correct value.
While I'm working on those things I'll also be rolling around in my head what I'd like to do with the background. Because this is an experimental piece I didn't really give it too much thought but I do know that I'd like to stick with a fantasy feel or something very simple, no scenery.


So there you have it, another step forward in the solvent experiment. I'd like to have this one wrapped up for next week because it ties in nicely with a project that I'm undertaking next month (I mentioned it in my Plans for 2008- in the artsy section) and I'd like to mention what it is next week as well as extend an invitation to any other artists, or hobby-artists, out there in bloggerdom who would like to participate.

Curious? Well, stay tuned...