Tag Archives: Art

Bike Tour…first sketch

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When I decided to look for charity work, my first thought was to contact my friend’s husband. This man is very involved in all sorts of causes, but he is also a person living with MS. Our lives were also touched, when another man living with MS, took his own life to avoid the progression of the disease.
Well, the bike tour….when you draw anything as complicated as bicycles and figures, you really should have a photographic reference. Since there is a copyright issue in using photos, I intend to change the figures I’ve taken from the photo as much as possible. So, here’s the first sketch.

biketoursketch

Connecticut Fantasy Finish

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As I was going to work yesterday, our landlord came bursting out the back door. He wanted to show us that there were berries falling all over our car, and to be careful. Then he pointed out a tree I hadn’t noticed before. A mulberry.
Mulberries are found in Connecticut. There were two in my childhood yard. Like magnets, they attracted birds and squirrels looking for a good meal. I wouldn’t be surprised, if at night, they were scavenged by raccoons, too. That is, when the raccoons were finished knocking over the garbage cans.
So, on the left side of the drawing, I included a mulberry tree. It gave me a chance to put in some red and pink colored dots to break up the green. I softened the tree on the right, put in some finishing touches, and Voila! Connecticut Fantasy is finished.

ctfantasyfinish

Connecticut Memories

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Been working on the piece. Thinking about it, brings back many memories. I spent most of my life in Connecticut. My mentor once remarked, “Connecticut should be called the green tree and stone wall state”. Which is true.

The landscape there is beautiful, many moods, variety of textures. I’ve decided to add some animals, squirrels and birds…it wouldn’t be authentic without them. So here’s where it stands now.ctfantasywip3

Too many cooks in the stew

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As I mentioned before, I’m going to be working on a piece for a silent auction for the cure of MS.  However, I was lost for an idea (how do you make an appealing, saleable picture out of a dread disease?).  I consulted with the man I proposed the idea to, with some ideas.  His outlook was totally different.  I’m good friends with his wife, who had other ideas.  So, I’ve got an appointment to call the man tonight, and hash this all out.

In the meantime, Connecticut Fantasy is coming along.  I found I had a bit of a challenge.  How was I to make the grass look long and scruffy, along with shadows cast from the trees, without loosing the wildflowers.  Here’s the result, and I’m pretty pleased.Image

Notes from a Broad

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Back at work again…nearly trashed the beginning of Connecticut Fantasy, but glancing at it again, I decided it was worth the try. So, saved from the garbage.

And for colored pencil artists out there….Beware Prismacolor Orange. It’s very fugitive. Unfortunately, I used it on one of my favorites “Cloud Over Greenwich/Jessica’s Home”. Now the original is unrecognizable. I’ve posted the jpeg many times, it’s the cloud with flowers in it. Now the original looks like a slightly baby aspirin colored blob in a brilliant blue sky. Fortunately, I have reproductions to remember it in it’s splendor…..but please, if you have Prismacolor Orange in your pencil box, throw it out.

Also, I am going to be working on a drawing for a silent auction to support the cure of Multiple Sclerosis. The event it will be shown at is in November, so I have time. I’m going over in my mind relevant ideas, but something upbeat.

But enough words, you want to see pictures. Here’s a detail of Connecticut Fantasy work in progress.

daylilies

Starting Small

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One thing or another…just not feeling my best. Oh, I suppose I could complain about everything that’s happened to make me feel that way, but truth is, it’s not all that interesting. Not even to me. So, I’ll spare you.

I did start a little on Connecticut Fantasy, but given my decrepit condition, I’m taking it slowly. One of the things that I love about Connecticut are the wildflowers (or weeds, depending on your point of view), that grow there. So, I’ve started with some Queen Anne’s Lace and the start of some daylilies. A piece at a time. I think, after all these years of drawing for the market, I’ve finally found a way to have fun doing art again. Takes a while, but it’s worth it.

Without further ado, here’s the very beginning, a glimpse of the wildflower in progress.

ctwip1

All the best intentions….

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Evidently, the charity that I send my drawings to had a problem with its venue…so my work will be sent back. Maybe they’ll find someplace else in the future.
But in the meantime, more about “Connecticut Landscape Fantasy”. Sometimes, I like to do a composition based on real places, but in a free-flowing mode, using typical elements of that place. In the past I did one of the Oregon Coast, which has since been lost. Here’s an example I do have, it’s called “Merritt Parkway Fantasy”, which I did many years ago. For those of you not in the area, it is a main highway in Connecticut. Sorry, picture a little fuzzy.merritpkwy