Sloggin'

I have to admit I've been quite intimidated by the Daphne drawing. I guess it's because of several reasons. Realism is not my strength, for one thing. Another thing is that it has been a very long time since I have done any kind of a portrait (probably about 15 years). Finally, this dog it really important and special to me, and I want to do an excellent job. All of this, plus the inevitable holiday rush, has given me cause to stay away from my studio....until today. Finally I felt ready to add on to what I did last time, resigned to the fact that if I screwed it up too badly, I could always start again. Fortunately, it actually didn't go too badly. The problem is getting the right texture and color in the shiny parts of her fur. I have laid down a foundation in the middle of her forehead, but I think I will be experimenting with it for some time to come. Hopefully updates for this will be more frequent.

Additionally, I have started a new paisley. My mom challenged me to create a paisley in monotone. I chose a Stonehenge paper in cream and paired it with a Lyra pencil in sap green, which I think is a very attractive color combo. So far I have blocked out the basic shape and the fringy blobby things I like to put around it, but that's it. I'll probably post some photos early next week.

New Project

I have had this project waiting in the wings while I finished my mom's paisley. I wanted to do a colored pencil portrait of our beloved dog, Daphne. This is a very special dog, a real comfort to our family (she's a natural therapy dog). I want her portrait to be really beautiful. The catch? I don't do much realism, and I also don't know much about doing layers like most colored pencil artists do (you may notice there were no layers in the paisley). So this is a double challenge for me. Above, you see the photo I am working on and the tracing I took to give me guidelines. I am creating on 8 1/2" X 11" white Stonehenge paper with Prismacolors. If you want to know how I did the tracing part of it, just drop me a message and I'll explain that.

My mom gave me good advice about how to approach the fur texture. I am simplifying it for myself somewhat because I don't have the patience to do a lot of layers all in one place. I can handle a few though. If you look below, you will see the part of the project I did tonight.

So Far

Here is the part of Daphne's fur I did tonight. That section is quite dark and in the photo does not show much texture; I chose to keep it dark, but to give more texture. Of course this will probably be modified later in the process. Basically it is black fur texture over blue slate (Daphne has a blue undertone to her fur). I know some people say you should never use black colored pencil, but instead should mix your black out of other colors. Well, I tried that on scratch paper with different color combos, and none of them looked like Daphne's fur as much as the black pencil does, so I'm going to try it this way. If I'm not happy with it, I'll probably do it again. I'm bound and determined to do this well (not perfectly, mind you, but well).

Finished!

This went a lot faster towards the end, for some reason. What a learning experience! I think the main thing I learned on this one was to keep my pencils really, really sharp unless I was laying down a large field of color, in which case multiple layers were needed. I also learned that I was frustrated by working with a limited set of colors....although I really like the way it works. Using the Tuscan Red for all the outlines brings some unity to a pretty chaotic image. So do the repeated themes such as gradients, natural elements (hair, fish scales, etc.), and curved lines.

I realize this creation has some serious limitations as far as composition goes, and that overall it is, like I said, pretty chaotic. But hey, so is life. I'm proud that it turned out as well as it did given my fairly primitive level of skill. And now it is ready to give to my mom for Christmas.

Oh, and in case you didn't know (I didn't until someone pointed it out to me) you can click on the picture to see it up close and personal-like.

Struggles

The worst part of this whole thing is the photography. I know there must be a way to capture the richness of the chromatic colors and the vibrancy of the metallics without glare and the garish overstatement of the contrast option of Photoshop Elements, but I have yet to find it (and not enough time to figure it out). I am sorry to bring you this photo of the paisley, which is admittedly lacking in detail and color-realism, but this is as good as it gets right now. The drawing itself is going fairly well. There are things I would like to change, of course, but overall it is progressing in a satisfactory manner. As you can see, the main paisley shape is done. Now I have to do the fringes, the round piece, and the blobbies on the end. I will stick with the same color selections and probably introduce a few new themes and patterns which will capture the contrast between the sharp, angular shapes and the rounded, curved ones.

Close-ups of Paisley--See Below for Full One

Truckin' Along

I have not been doing much artistically this week because of illness, crazy weather, and general busy-ness, but I have been plugging along at my mom's paisley. I'm pleased with how it is coming together. One thing I learned is that in a work this size you have to either pick colors you have lots of, or pick lots of colors. Since I am doing this with eight colors, some of which they do not carry in open stock at the local stores, I went to Dick Blick and stocked up on the ones I needed: Chocolate, Tuscan Red, and Dark Green. The other colors I either have some extras of, or they carry at Hobby Lobby: Indigo Blue, Copenhagen Blue, Metallic Gold, Metallic Silver, Metallic Copper. I hope now I have enough to finish this puppy!

Today's Update

Not too much time to talk about it, but this is where I'm at as of now. I'm using some of the patterns I made up for the Zentangles, but lots of other stuff too. It sure is fun.

Mom inspired me

My mother, an artist herself, looked at my Zentangle and said it would look good as a paisley. I mulled that one over for a few weeks before deciding to try it. The first one is lost to history because I spilled tea on it. Man, was that embarrassing. At least I wasn't nearly done or anything. Well, I decided to try again, and this time I put it on larger paper. I sketched the guidelines. It isn't much to look at, but I have big plans for it. Watch this space for updates!

One Step

Here is the first step of my paisley journey. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. My mom's choice of colors really stands out against the grey Mi-Tientes paper (smooth side). I'm loving the soft shine of the metallics and the richness of the chromatics. I can hardly wait to do more!

New Space

Here is a photo of my new colored pencil work area. This is apart from my mixed media studio. I wanted to keep the colored pencil stuff and the paint away from each other.....not sure why.....guess I'm just afraid of getting paint on my CP stuff. As you can see, I've made myself quite comfy. But not so comfy I will desert my mixed media studio. In fact, I worked on one of my altered journals this weekend. It is getting easier with time and practice.....

Checking In

Well, I have no new pics of stuff to post. It's not that I'm not working on stuff.....I have been. I am working on a human/polar bear drawing in colored pencil (for the WetCanvas Fantasy/Sci-Fi forum, of course), a picture of my dog Daphne in colored pencil (primitive, but not too bad for a beginner), and lots of art journal stuff until Monday afternoon(yay, I am finally figuring out how to combine art with text!). But I have spent most of the last 48 hours here at Rush-Copley Hospital with Keith. Keith had an emergency medical problem that required intensive treatment, but now he's on the mend. I sure don't envy him the medical treatments he endured; at least they worked, though. So the upshot of this is that we have not been home for me to work in the studio or take pictures of anything. I have gotten some colored pencil stuff done, though. It is hard to get a hang of the layering and color mixing. Very different from watercolor!They say Keith will be discharged tomorrow. I can't wait!

Chupacabra

I am a member of the WetCanvas! Sci-Fi/Fantasy forum, and last month's Creature Feature was a Chupacabra. It is a mythical creature from Mexico that supposedly kills goats and sucks their blood (very simplified version of the story). I decided to do mine in colored pencil on black paper. I wish I had taken more time with the rendering as it is a bit indistinct, but I like the red eye and the creepy moonlight effect. Perhaps I should go back and add more shadows. This month's Creature Feature is some kind of Star Wars critter. Wonder if I'll get around to that one before the end of the month?

A New Start

Well, I find myself in a bit of a weird situation. I am having to reinvent my online identity. Choosing to, I guess.....

For, oh, let's see, about six years I was known online as OpalEyedDragon. This I thought was a good, unique name for me since I am a fan of fantasy and sci-fi. Until tonight, all went well...but then another Christian objected to my use of the name "dragon" because in the Bible, the dragon is another name for Satan. At first I thought this was basically stupid, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a problem for me as a Bible-believing Christian. The Bible tells me to "avoid even the appearance of evil". Well, as a matter of conscience, I felt that I could not ignore this mandate. Therefore, I find myself in the midst of a change.

I cannot seem to find a way to change my old blog to my new email address, so I have to transition to a new one. You can find all my old posts at http://www.opaleyeddragon.blogspot.com/