Wine By Candelight - New Painting For New Kent Winery Exhibit

                                           Wine By Candlelight   12 X 12    Colored Pencil

Today I'm posting a newly finished colored pencil piece painted onto a gallery wrapped hardboard support by Ampersand that I primed with Colorfix sanded surface primer.  The photo reference is from a set up I did in my kitchen.  This wine themed piece is the first in a new Wine series I'm doing for several fall art shows coming up.  Some of the exhibits are at wineries and or wine festivals.  The first is this weekend (Sept. 18th) for the Central VA Classic Car Show at New Kent Winery, in New Kent, VA.  My husbands antique 53' MGTD isn't yet ready for the show but this piece is.

The surface of this board was primed with gesso by the factory, and to be used for acrylic or oil, but I lightly sand the top and sides then primed it again with the Colorfix Fine Tooth primer in the color Soft Umber.  This primer seems to be a little rougher than the bluish grey I have of the same type.  I did not render the sides of the gallery wrap hardboard style, the gesso color I used as the background of the table surface shows thru (so it coordinates).  Followed by my usual coats of fixative and then 6-8 coats UV varnish to finish the piece.   So all I have to do is attach the hanging wires and it's all set to go to the show.  Now to finish 2 other framing jobs before the show.

I've just come back from a Plein Air painting weekend at The Peaks Of Otter Lodge, here in VA so I hope to scan and post some of my pastel studies I completed from that event soon.  Then use a few of these studies to create some studio works for a show in Roanoke next year.  So much to do, so little time.  So everyone get creating!

Landscapes in Colored Pencil - Bodie Island Light 24 X 18

I finished this colored pencil painting just before my vacation last week and needed to settle on it a while, you know like we all do with newly finished work.  Set it aside, look at it, put it in a frame to check it out, look at it some more and then leave it for a week to see - is it really done.  Well, I guess so as I photographed it today, and here it is.  Done except for the 6 - 8 final coats of UV Varnish which I'll do tomorrow.  I like to shoot it after I spray it with matte fixative but before the varnish as I think the added coats make it harder to photograph.  It's done on Ampersand Pastel Board.  So it can hang without glass, protected by the UV Varnish.

The lighthouse in lower Nags Head, NC is a familiar site for vacationers to the outer banks.  And is one of the reference shots from our Trip at the end of May.  The view is from the marsh lands looking back to the light from the deck platform.  Catching the reflection in the marsh water was a unique shot of this often photographed lighthouse.  One of the many pieces I will be working on for a gallery in the outer banks.  I hope you enjoy my take on it.

The Wave - A study on water

                                                    The Wave a 8 X 10.5" study

I've been working on this study  for a few weeks off and on, trying to get the look of the ocean, it's color and action.  This was an exercise for a larger piece coming next and my first try on Canson Edition paper.  Not sure I like this paper as it doesn't take the layers my normal Stonehenge does or for that matter what my HP Watercolor paper does.  But a Study is just that but I do see some uses for this paper in adding it to my artists journal as is is supposed to handle mixed media too!  For this I used 100% colored pencil, no wc pencil under painting.  But I will have to try that out when I add it to my artist journal.

After dealing with many on going internet issues (2 months with Verizon checking my lines, modems and such) I hope to get caught up on blogging and other communications.  But today I'm planning on getting my newest water themed piece of and running.  Line drawing, and transfer to board on the agenda.  Will show you the progress in a few days. 


What art have you created today!

Gloria

The Artist's Journal Workshop by Cathy Johnson- Great Book Review

I have to recommend a book I just received and hadn't been able to put down until I finished it.  The Artists Journal Workshop - creating your life in words and pictures by Cathy Johnson.  It is a real motivator for me an avid sketch book/journal collector.  (Albeit a collector of many empty journals.)  OK I'm not that lazy as many of you may think, it's a long and sorted traumatic story dating back to my childhood when my brother found and read my diary!  Since then I always liked the ideas of journaling thoughts, sketches, and such but I was always afraid someone would read it and not understand my rantings.  Writing has always afforded me a way to work thru feelings, list to do's or want to do's (I'm a crazed list maker, just ask my family) and of course being an artist there is the need to sketch.  Whether to work out a new painting layout, practice my skills, doodle, document a trip or just plan recap my day.

With this book Cathy shows you how she and 27 other insightful artists do just that.  No I'm not a paid North Light Books employee, but I wouldn't mind if they sent me free books to review.  It is just a wonderfully done book, showing you how to get over the blank WHITE page, tips and techniques to get you to make this a habit, suggests materials to use, how to put together an efficient and small journal kit for travel and a more complete one for at home.  No this is not an Art Journal, you know the unique pieces of art in and of themselves made from old books or all collage based.  Although I think an artist's personal journal shows that art is their daily life, and thus a work of art for them.

This was just the book to get me moving again and start to fill some of the journals I have collected.  Next on the to do list is to organize a sketch crawl.  More on that at a later date.

I have been working on a colored pencil wave image, not large and more for practice than anything for a larger piece.  Now back to the colored pencils, oh maybe I should get dinner started..........

What art have you created today? 

 

Siberian Iris I and Cat Portraits

                                                         17 x 8 Colored Pencil Botanical
After teaching some fellow artists my techniques in colored pencil I'm showing you one of my works my class worked on.  A long format piece that lends it's self to the almost life size rendering of the irises I brought to my home garden from my grandmother's garden in PA when we moved to our current VA home.  My Mom kept her mother's irises going and then passes them on to me, and I have since passed many on to my sons.  They are prolific and beautiful at the same time.  Although I have worked my way into other subject matter my garden still holds many botanical subjects waiting to be captured in colored pencil.  This will be part of a series, although not right away, as I get easily distracted with new subjects.

I have completed a cat portrait recently also just to prove I could.  It's not for sale as the image was not my own.  But I did enjoy doing it.  My son Chris tells me I should get into pet portraits, something I'm not sure I'd like to do as getting reference shots of living things that don't sit long is a challenge for me.  Now if I could just get my dog Daphne to not shy away from the camera I may just do her portrait.  Her dalmatian spots may drive me crazy but I would so like to capture her playful manner.  Below is my sample portrait at 8 x 6 it's not large but was my first attempt at fur.

 
Keep your pencils near as inspiration is everywhere!

New Painting Photo'd and ready for framing

                                            Spring Thaw   16 x 20 Colored Pencil On Pastelboard

Now that the big Easter egg hunt for the grand daughters is over, dinner cooked (with too much ham left over) I was finally ready to get this newly finished painting photographed.  Getting a true likeness of my painting via the camera and then Photoshop is always an ordeal for me since I'm now on my own for this task.  (My son is off to bigger and better things.)  A photo reference of melting icicles with the VA creek rushing by, prompted this painting.  The attempt to capture the coldness of the ice yet the awakening of the moss and lichen growing on the rocks was my goal.  Full of abstract shapes - this really had me checking my left brain at the door!  It will go into a very nice Expresso /blackish frame that is 3.5 inches wide.

On other news, I have been assembling my newly purchased pastels for a trek into the PA Mountains for a plein aire outing.  With my sole goal of finding a faster medium to get more accomplished with a saturation of color and the Plein air experience.  No I'm not going to replace my beloved cps,  but I hope to use the pastels to do more saturated studies for future works to be done in cp, along with the gained skills of working from life.   And I really don't want the mess of pastels in my studio, outdoors the dust and mess will be easier to live with.  Now I may go around an entire day with colored dust on myself for the world to see but my studio should still be clean.  Okay, I know I'm a bit of a clean freak when it comes to art supplies, but I have to admit shopping for those pretty colored pastels had a rush that put me over the potential messes to come.  The Terry Ludwig set of 60 Maggie Price came today and they look so good!  I'll save the set up for my Plein air box/kit for a future article, that is after I figure out how to pack for just this one new media.............

Back to the wonderful work of painting,
Gloria



 


  

Review: Gauguin and Canaletto Exhibit's at our National Museum and the Chester Dale Collection

Preparations for an art program are keeping me busy this week along with a side trip to the National Museum to see the Gauguin and Canaletto Exhibit's.  But my most favorite exhibit of the day was the Chester Dale Collection - From Impressionism to Modernism (who gave to the museum some 300 works of art.  Chester who (1883-1962) was a successful businessman who made his fortune on Wall Street, and his artist/critic wife Maud put together one of the finest collections of 19th and early 20th century art.  One that I think rivals the Frick collection in New York.  The Monet's, Degas's and Cezanne were wonderful but the several Mary Cassatt's were my favorites.  While the Picasso exhibit still is on here in Richmond the several pieces they owned of his Blue period were also intriguing.   I wish I could share with you images here on this blog but I wouldn't want to infringe on copyright issues.   This is simply a must see for anyone who visits the museum.  (Many of these works are exhibited only here as was Mr. Dale's request.)  

The purpose of the trip was to see the prior mentioned exhibits.  Although Gauguin was not one of my favorite painter's his life was an interesting tale with an tragic end.  What I did find in this collection of paintings, wood carvings and ceramic sculptures was several almost impressionistic paintings he did, which was so out of his normal style.  Having always loved the skills needed to carve wood but lacking the strength in my own hands, I found his works in wood fascinating.  Also his ceramic sculptures.  Although some of his subject matter was a bit disturbing.  His love of the island people of Tahiti is apparent.

Canaletto's paintings in Venice were of course the detailed works of architecture that I adore but never want to replicate.  During the time of the Venetto  artists painting this city for tourism sales, Canaletto was surely the master who started it all.  What I found interesting was from the selection of his piers Canaletto seemed to paint the pristine and the "department of tourism approved" view of Venice.  Several of his piers portrayed the city a bit more realistic and time worn.  But all displayed an extremely technical command of their brushes.  (Amazing when you think of the quality of brushes they had to work with.)

Now when people say my colored pencil is time consuming I'll think to my self "Whoa if they could only see those Canaletto's."