Today, I broke the ties that bind

Today, I broke the ties that bind. Six years ago, I started with a black and white photograph, a black cold press board and 2 brand new white primacolor pencils. Several Q-tips and charcoal pencils later, I can honestly say that it has been a journey of discovery.

And in discovery that I would, I knew that I could and finally I have and amiss the sea of errors, doubt and multiple erasures and cover-ups, I am proud... no... satisfied with the end result.

My husband is much more ecstatic about the finished product and has now informed me that PRINTS are available for sale and the original to be mounted and hung on the wall.


working version


completed version with reference photograph.

This is the last (chill, people...) project that I attempt using a grid, as I have recently acquired a nice projector and thus spending more time in the actual rendering and brush strokes rather than making sure the scale is correct.

I do have another project on the drawing board that I had begun, but I was being a good girl and decided to finish this one before embarking on a new journey...

Practice does make perfect. Perfection, I don't want... the practice, I do...

et Voilá, Mecha Bugs...

So... my best friend in California sends me this care package of delicious cookies and a couple of stainless steel bug construction kits... I saw that she had already done the dragonfly; I thought I would give the grass hopper a try...

There is nothing more difficult than actually trying to unscrew a tiny screw because the legs are on backwards after I had already started to fold the assembly... :/

I was afraid of the instructions "Take your Time! Follow the instructions with care. Stainless Steel will 'work harden' and fracture if over bent so it is best to get it right the first time."

Talk about no margin for error! I truly wonder how many poor souls had tried to assemble one of these with the most anal care and exerted too much force thus breaking the construct? The world may never know...

In any case, the worst thing that happened to me was just having the legs on backwards... and without further ado, here is my mecha hopper!



She started reproducing right away!

Highlights on Black - The Hand Redux

So today for drawing time, I tackled the undesirable task of redoing the hand. Considering that I didn't like the way the initial attempt looked like, I had no other choice. Luckily, charcoal pencils cover what is left over from erasing the first rendition, but that is where the luck ends. Charcoal also dulls the brightness of white, as you can see from this horrid camera snapshot (I need a better camera) detail of the redone hand. Earlier posts show the rendition of the hand as it was originally done and my obvious disgust with the result.

Also, I managed to advance the portrait of the old man, some with the exception of the left ear. I tried using some white chalk in order to achieve a brighter white on top of the hat, but that only made more of a mess, so it's back to the white pencil. I would need to sharpen my white pencil more in order to make more defined details on the face, but for now, this is a good rendering. I am sorry for the photo quality, like I said before, the camera is in dire need of replacing.

As always, here also is a full shot of the artwork. Perhaps for next time I will concentrate on the right side more.

Something Different...

So for drawing time today, I decided to warm up my fingers with a little origami... the last time I made a model this complex, and kudos to Peter Engle (love your book) was years ago... so I decided (what was I thinking) that the easiest by far was the origami model of the alligator:



It is far from elegant... the drawings in the book make it look a little more clean cut than my sad rendition, but my fingers are agile and I found other uses for my scoring bone!

I'm going for a walk!

While on Vacation...

I spent the Christmas Holidays in France and for my birthday, my husband took me to Montmartre in Paris where they had a permanent exhibition of Salvador Dali's Sculptures...

OH JOY!

He knows I love Dali...

Out of inspiration, these little buggers came about:

Now, I am not quite done with them yet! I have to come up with a suitable color palette for these... Yes, that bat will only have one wing...

:D

Sporadic is me... Highlights on Black - Process 7

The Blog has a new header! Yay, Header! In posting on my blog... I know, I know... nearly 2 years... Jeez! why have a blog, then? :P

One of my New Year resolutions was to draw/paint more. In order to accomplish this, I enlisted the help of my computer calendar with reminders and alarms! So now I have a scheduled drawing/painting/creative time 3 times a week for 1 hour.

Since I started with that schedule, I have been able to advance my previous project... the project that keeps on giving me dirty looks as my husband says:

"When are you going to finish this?"

O.o

So here is a semi-completed top left quadrant. Last we saw this, the quadrant was not nearly as completed... I still have to do something about that hand... it disturbs me...

Le Atelier de la Cuiller Tordue

Finally I have completed the studio. From this point on this will be home to many works of art that will be featured on this blog.

The aquarium will eventually have fish and from time to time there will be a drop cloth to cover the floor from paint spills.

The couch is for resting, which I often like to do. For now, my cat is keeping the couch warm.

Until next time, when I advance Highlights on Black...