2nd Annual Student Show and What's been happening in Jan.

I'm a little late in posting photos of my 2nd Annual Student show at Crossroads Art Center & Gallery on Jan. 16th - Feb. 17th, in my exhibit space.  We had a great turn out and lots of beautiful art.  Unfortunately I don't have a group picture of all those who are showing their work but I am so very proud of all of my Students.  they work very hard and I believe enjoy the process of Colored Pencil Painting.  This is by no means all of them but a short view of the show.  If your in Richmond go by Crossroads Art Center & Gallery before Feb. 17th to see the work for yourself!

The infamous "Bob" with his portrait by his lovely wife, Toni Brown. Dressed as he was in his portrait. This was her first portrait accomplished in my class. And it won an award in her local Fredricksburg Show. Great Job!

Jean Dickson with her first Rose accomplished in our Beginner's class this spring.  And she has moved on to more lovely work since.  A decorative Painter Jean has many talents.

Barbara Chadwick with her "Study in Red" her first piece accomplished in class and "Pumpkin" drawn in class and from life.  Barbara is a botanical artist who usually works in watercolor and enjoys working from life in that tradition.

Pauline and "Clyde"  in front of her first portrait of her handsome hubby.   Pauline's work in the show also included her piece from our shiny objects class,  Still Life With Strawberries.


Additional students in my show with work are Jan Ozolek and her "South African Lilac Breasted  Roller"-Bird Portrait seen to the left of Pauline in this picture.  And Brian Austin's lovely landscape view "Sister Bay Beauties" with Echinacea also in this view.

Rebecca Spangler's two landscapes: "Savannah Street Scene" and "Mabry Mill" are also part of the exhibit.  (pictures coming)  And Barbara George's "Ireland Green" butterfly-botanical piece.





Kathy Scott's "Provincial Cafe" is a lovely street scene from one of her many European vacations.


So as you can see my students have worked hard and deserve to have their paintings shown both here and on my exhibit walls at Crossroads Art Center and Gallery, Richmond, VA

They are already hard at work on new pieces in 2015 and I'm sure the show will grow and gain more interest for colored pencil painting!  I know my pride in showing their work keeps me teaching and encouraging new people to pick up this media.

Gloria

My Last Studio Piece for 2014 "Backlit Watermelons"

             Backlit Watermelons - 10" X 20" Colored Pencil On Ampersand Pastelboard

My last studio piece for 2014, is finally photographed and on my website.  The only thing that says December about it is the red and green subject matter.  This is the seventh piece in my Backlit Series and is currently waiting for my show in April "Artful Healing"  a fundraiser that benefits the World Pediatric Project.  The funny thing is I was temped to make holiday cards out of it! LOL  

Instead I photographed my new puppy "Bacio" in his holiday get up.  He's sort of become my new studio pal.  As he learns his studio manners I'm learning to lighten up a little and have a bit more fun.  Who can resist that face!

As 2014 sinks into the sunset I have a few other plein air pieces yet to scan or photo so a few more pieces are yet to come from 2014.  And while I'm anxious to start my new studio piece there is always so much art business to catch up on.  Do you get bogged down with the business side of art?  An artist is just like many sole proprietors, there is always so much marketing and office stuff to do than the creation side of the business we all love.  

Before the year ended I made my LIST OF GOALS FOR 2015, and try as I might to keep it concise, it's a long list.  I think setting goals for your art business is the best way to stay on track as the year progresses.  Although my tendency when I review my list from the previous year, if for my eye to go straight to the things I didn't get done,  I'm always pleased when I get to check off the items I did get done.  I do this the old fashioned way, writing it down in a notebook/journal.  I know it is the visual side of me that likes keeping the lists manually instead of digitally.  How about you?

Top on the Goals List is to say "no" to some of the art volunteer work I do.  And I am ahead of that item.  This leads straight to the the top line item on my list which is to complete more work in 2015, monthly.  My goal in 2014 was to work out a system and increase my speed in plein air work with colored pencil.  And this was the main reason I completed a higher number of works last year.  

While smaller than my studio work, the plein air pieces have helped my work in so many ways.  Observation and actually seeing is so much more hightened when working en plein air.  And this comes into play even when I am photographing a still life for a studio piece.  As time frees up this year I plan on completing more sketches of my setup for each new still life work while things are still fresh.   

Colored pencil painting's slow process of many, many layers hinders the ability to keep things fresh long enough to complete a larger studio piece entirely.  But color studies and sketches can help your minds eye remember, as it sort of writes itself into ones memory as you sketch.  

Of course my blog entries were on my list of Goals for 2015, I have hopes to create a video and some demos for the blog this year as well as post more frequently.  So please if your reading my blog leave a comment, ask a question, or just plain let me know what you want to see.  I'd like to make this a meatier place to find colored pencil information.  

What are your goals for 2015?

Gloria  Callahan         

Strokes Of Genius Vol. 6 : Value / Lights & Darks by North Light Books

I am so very honored and proud to have had one of my images placed in this book of wonderful drawings.  Colored Pencil, Pen & Ink, Pastel, Graphite and much more.  My work "Harley's Davidson"  Colored Pencil can be found on page 51, as seen below.

A link to the North Light Book is HERE.

Of the 1500 entries submitted there are 140 great images.  If you are into drawing this is a must see book.  I received my copy on Monday and now that classes are finished for the week I can't wait to drink in each and every drawing, along with a hot cup of coffee that is!

Happy scribbling everyone. 

Gloria Callahan

More 2014 Plein Air Colored Pencil Works

I promised you more Plein Air pieces and here they are:

"Pier 22 Annapolis Docks" a 8 X 6" Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard completed during a weekend workshop on location at the docks.  My BFF and fellow plein air junkie, Kathy Scott also worked at this view in her native oil paints.

In Sept. we attended a plein air workshop from Oil Painter - Barbara Nuss who's book on Composition we both own and hold in high regard.  Which can be purchased from her at her website HERE or at a Barnes and Nobles.

Now again most workshops I attend in plein air are for other media, not colored pencil.  But I always feel you can learn from other artists in their approach and palette.   I just translate in my head the colors they mix or demonstrate into my well known Prismacolor shades.  Black Grape, Moss green etc.

To the right is Kathy's 10 X 8" piece done in Oil "Dockside Bar"  Her piece was also finished in the studio afterwards.  To view more of Kathy's work her website can be viewed HERE You can see the differences two artists observe in the same view.  It is the artist's prerogative to add or remove elements they find distracting to their subject.

The view across from the main dock area was in constant motion.  The large sail boat Woodwind II from my piece, came and went in the 4 hours we painted in the sun.  A large bay charter boat came and went from slip 22 every hour and a half.  Blocking our view and making us move our set up spot initially.  But such are the perils of working in the fresh air!  

The above shown pieces were from our second day of the workshop, Sunday.   On the prior day, Saturday we watched a demo Barbara completed from the window of the Quiet Waters State Park in Annapolis, MD, while we waited for the rain to clear.  Then it was out to the South River view to take it on for ourselves.

So my "South River View" an 8 X 8" Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard came to be.  Now again, my colored pencil works are usually near 75% complete on location, with the build up of layers and saturation of color added afterward.

We concluded our trip to Maryland with a detour thru Chads Ford, PA to see the homes and studios of N. C. Wyeth and his son Andrew.  What a treat!

I do have a few more works yet to see the finishing touches from other 2014 plein air adventures in CP.

Stay tuned!
Gloria

Back To The Blog - Summer and Fall Plein Air Colored Pencil Works

Finally after a very busy Fall I am getting back to blogging.  My apologies for letting things slide here on the blog.  But on the positive note I have been creating out in the Open (Plein) Air.     Which was one of my goals for 2014.  The piece to the left is one started on site in June at a location in the Bellevue area of Richmond, as part of the VA Plein Air Painters group of which I am a member.  It is currently on exhibit at "Stir Crazy" the local Bellevue area coffee shop, as part of our group exhibit.  The lovely home at 1622 Pope St.  is featured only in part here because this was not intended to be a home portrait.  But it was to be a study in the dappled light falling on the lawn and seen thru the trees between the lots.  

Thus the title: Dappled Light - 1622 Bellevue SOLD

The scan of this piece is reading a little red and with a slight cast of acid yellow which does not appear on the original piece.  But I gave up trying to tweak it in Photoshop.  If it does not sell at the show I will photograph the piece again to get a better image truer to the original's color. 

10 X 8 Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard.  I would say 70 percent of the image was done on site with the final saturation of color completed in the studio.  We worked about 4 and 1/2 hours on site that day.  

Prior to putting the finishing touches on this work I had started several pieces in plein air this season and am in the process of putting finishing touches on the rest.  Our Plein Air group considers works done en Plein Air, works that where 85% of the image is finished on site. (No matter the media)  So this one is noted as Plein Air and Studio for that reason in the show.   Accomplishing 85% in one working period out of doors is a feat I have only accomplished a few times in CP and the results are smaller works generally.  Unless I can use a toned board, but that effects the overall colors in the works due to the translucent nature of CP.

Look forward to the next installment on my 2014 Plein Air Season and my new addition!

Gloria Callahan

  

A Red Shoe Evening - 11" X 14" Colored Pencil On Ampersand Pastelboard

                                                      A Red Shoe Evening 11" X 14"

With all the Plein Air painting I've been doing this summer and teaching it took a little while to finish this Still Life.  It will be making it's debut at Crossroads Art Center and Gallery at this weeks opening reception, Sept. 19th, 2014 6-9 PM.  But since I have been doing several landscapes I kind of see the landscape of this work too.  I may have to get this photographed again as it looks a little more bright than the original piece.   But at least you get to see it.

The story behind this reference starts with my daughter in law and her new red shoes.  You see the kids came home for a costume party a year or so ago, one that fit the TV show Mad Men's theme.  Her new red shoes looked killer on her with a strand of pearls at her neck, red cardigan, white blouse, and dark skirt.  A true 1960 look for her and my son in his skinny tie and suit.   Off they went to have fun, however the next morning I saw those pretty red shoes kicked off on the floor of my kitchen with their reflection in the floor.

Well by now if you have been reading my blog you know this gal cannot pass up a good reflection to save her life.  Ideas were "a poppin" in my head.  When my daughter in law came downstairs I asked if I could borrow her shoes for a photo shoot.  Her comment tickled me,  "Those shoes killed my feet all night, I won't be wearing those anytime soon.  Of course you can have them."  I was so pleased since that meant I needn't hurry to photograph them before they left.

A week later I set up the still life with my old pearls and a few perfume bottles on a shinier surface and snapped away.  This would be so cute in a woman's bedroom or dressing area!  A reminder that we ladies will do anything for fashion at least once, and a killer pair of shoes has a double meaning!

Does it make you remember such an evening?  I think maybe several in my case since as a young girl I had a hard time resisting a "cute" pair of shoes or how they can make an outfit!

Gloria Callahan

Colored Pencil - Plein Air Summer

                                                     Sunday Park Plein Air  6" X 12"
                                           Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard

Summer 2014 started with working "En Plein Air" (in the open air) with colored pencil and it's still going strong.  So while my posts have been a little farther apart I have been working on getting my speed up and working in new and various sizes.  2013 and prior I mostly worked in 5 X 7 sized pieces and one 8 X 10 but I had vowed to work a little bigger in plein air this year.  Many other media painters work their plein air just as small but they may get 2 pieces done in the time I work on one.  No matter, it's all in the doing as far as I'm concerned.  The above piece was at a local park here in July  at Brandermill's Sunday Park.  A small park in Chesterfield County, VA.  Quiet during the week and just a perfect spot for working on my speed.  I liked the long format of this board and had previously only worked on my backlit fruit series on it.  See here or here for a sampling of that series.  One of which I don't think I ever placed on the blog is:

                  Backlit Citrus 2  6" X 12"  Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard  SOLD

While I liked the long format for the still lives mentioned, I'm finding I also really like this long format for a larger vista.  So I will be sure to do more plein air pieces on these boards.

The largest piece plein air I have tried was 9" X 12" on a 5 hour session plein air and a few hours at home.  Virginia is blessed with at least one lavender farm in the Blue ridge mountains east of Harrisonburg.  My favorite plein air pal and side kick, Kathy and I ventured out for an overnight in the area on the hunt for plein air sites.  White Oak Lavender Farm was our first stop, day one of the trip.  As a gardener, woman and foodie it's a little distracting at a place like this because you just want to buy up their plants, scented lotions, lavender balsamic vinegar and lavender blueberry jam.  Yes, you heard right lavender balsamic vinegar!  But I digress.....

Although it's a great place in a quaint Shenandoah setting, it's not the quantity of lavender you see in Provence.  But since I was bummed my friends were in France and I was not this would do nicely.  Our hard winter was hard on the lavender and so a little imaginary enhancements were added in the following piece to even out the farm's replacement plantings in some areas.

                                                          Lavender Fields 9" X 12"
                                           Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard

While I think capturing the distant Blue Ridge mountains and more distant rolling fields of the farm went well, most of the work on the foreground field of lavender was completed at home.  Lavender is very hard to capture well, but I did my best.

Did I tell you that working outdoors in a field of lavender is dreamy!  No other word for it d-r-e-a-m-y!   As the breeze on this overcast day blew by, the scent was ethereal, not over powering just light on the wind.  Kind of like the approaching rain heading our way.  It held off until just the end of our session when we could not wait any longer to make our purchases in the farm's gift shop.

I'll add some more plein air work in another post but for now you can see some of what I've been up to.