An art contest

I decided to try something I haven't done very much of - an art contest. I was on Facebook and Blick Art posted this one so I decided to give it a try. It is actually through a Colored Pencil Magazine. I learned a few things in the process.

1. Don't look at past winners. Holy cow - these are professionals entering this contest (really - they have professionals and they have beginners and I am guessing that mostly professionals won last year). It kind of intimidated me, but I decided to do this, so I stuck to it, knowing my odds were lower than I originally thought.

2. I hate rushing art. This contest had a deadline. When I decided to do it, I thought for sure that I would have plenty of time to get it done. But, life happened and I ended up having 4 days. Really, it was an hour here, an hour there, and then my one art day which gives me 5 hours. It felt rushed and I felt a little frustrated because there are things I didn't do the way I wanted to. But, again, I had committed to it and really wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, so I did.

3. I have been debating "reopening" my portrait business.  It was never really closed, but I don't get to do very many commissions. I haven't really decided for sure, but I did realize that I don't like the pressure and deadlines. I had to drop everything else in my house in order to get this one done, and I am not really in a position to do that on a regular basis. So, I still think about it.  I may just keep it "open" for if people ask about it, but not advertise.

4. It was kind of fun to enter a contest. I may actually do more. This magazine has a monthly challenge, and, while I don't think I will do every month, I may do it from time to time.

So, here it is. It is from a photo I took a couple of years ago.  I titled it "Make A Wish".

I finished the four portraits

I realized I started this process in February. So, about 6 months later, I have now officially finished the four portraits of my kids. They are definitely my favorite portraits that I have done so far -I am sure there is a little bias since they are my own kids ;).  It is fun to see all four together though. Now, I just have to figure out where I want to hang them.

Jonathan

All 4 together 

Nature art

I love nature. I like to paint landscapes, but sometimes I like to draw or paint the things that are up close that we sometimes pass over. My sister took a photo of a leaf on a sidewalk. I thought it was the coolest photo, so I asked her if I could draw it. I tried it once in pastel, and that didn't work so well. I started it again with colored pencil, but on a certain type of paper, and it wasn't going well. So, after I took the portrait class, I tried it again on this other paper that has worked well for colored pencils, and this was the result:

My nephew

I offered to draw my nephew as a gift for my in-laws at Christmas time. They gave me a couple of pictures to draw from, and I did one in pastel. But I also like the other photo - the two photos have different things I like in them, so, for fun, I decided to draw the 2nd one also, in colored pencil this time. They both have a different feel. And, I have to say, I loved doing the checkered shirt - it was a fun challenge.

Colored pencil

I have a new love. I still like my graphite pencils, and I still like my pastels, but I have a new medium that I have never really gotten into before, and now I love it. I happened to come across a class on the Craftsy.com site that was drawing realistic portraits in colored pencil. It looked really cool and had great reviews on it, so I decided to try it. And I have fallen in love with colored pencils. I had no idea that they could be used this way, let alone how to do it. I have done some colored pencil things in the past - way back in high school and college. But really, they felt more like coloring book drawings. I could do some mild shading, but you could see the stroke lines and I didn't have the good colored pencils anyway. So, I set those aside and didn't even consider it an option. And then I found this class. The teacher was great. And she gave good feedback. So, I did some practice sketches and decided to just try it. The result amazed me. The portraits I have done with these pencils are my favorite so far.  I have done 3 - starting around January or February this year. I did Madeline. Then Audrey. Then I had to take a break and I did some other art in the mean time. Then a few weeks ago I did Olivia (I was going to do Jonathan next but I just was dying to try Olivia's eyes and it just flew from there. ) And now I am working on Jonathan and it is going pretty well. Here are the 3 portraits of my kids that I have done:

Catching up

I think this is not my forte - keeping up with a blog. I also haven't been doing as much art lately, so I don't have as much to post. I am trying to get back into it a little more, and I am even taking an online class to learn a new portraiture style and medium.

This past fall, I looked through my photos from our trip to Glacier National Park. I decided to try to draw a photo of a leaf just after a rain storm. It was a little different than some of the other things I have drawn, and it was a fun exercise in trying new techniques.

This is the work in progress - I sketched out the lines, then worked from top to bottom (partly to not smear the lead as I worked).

This is the final product:

After doing this drawing, I did some work on quilting, but haven't finished any of those, so I haven't posted them yet. (Maybe that will be my next project?)

In December, I was really missing art, and feeling like I never had (or never made) time to do art, so I decided to just pick a project and DO IT. So, I thought through the many projects I wanted to do and decided to finish one that I started a couple of years ago but could never quite get. It is from a photo of my Dad when he was younger. I think it turned out pretty well. It is funny because at first, it wasn't quite him. I modified some things - especially the eyes - and then suddenly - there he was. It is always fascinating to me when that happens. The eyes are probably the most crucial part of the portrait. Mess up the eyes, and it just isn't them.

Here is the portrait:

The latest project I have been working on comes from a class about realistic colored pencil portraits. I don't know how truly realistic I will get them, but it has a lot of really good information and it introduces how to use a relatively new medium for me - colored pencils. I happened to find a great deal on the prismacolor pencils, so it was the perfect thing for the right class to come along and inspire me to use them. I started by just drawing an eye. This photo is one I posted on instagram to show the eye practice, and how many pencils it took to just color that one eye.  It has been fun, and I am now working on a more comprehensive portrait - hopefully I will get around to posting it in here when I finish. It still has several hours to go...

A new portrait

Some time back, on Facebook, my mom's cousin posted a really fun photo of herself, looking kind of rough, sitting in a bar. I just loved the photo - it had such character. So, I messaged her and asked her if I had permission to try drawing it. I started it soon after, and then I put it on hold for a long time, working on other things. Then, recently I decided I wanted to finish it so I got started again. This one has a lot of detail and was a slow process, but it was really fun to watch it unfold over time. Often when I do portraits, I don't do the whole background - or i will just do a color or mix of colors. The original photo actually shows more of the bar, and it does add a little to the picture, but I debated back and forth about whether or not I wanted to finish all the way across the photo. I decided that I wanted to just focus on her, but throw the background in to give it a little context.It was a fun piece.

The Tetons - Schwabacher's Landing

It is kind of tricky painting a scene that has mountains that are very iconic. In doing this painting, I have looked at this so much that I can no longer tell if it looks like the Tetons or not. But, it was fun to do. I had started it and had pretty good momentum going, and then I got busy with life and didn't do any for awhile. Then one day it kicked back in and I finished it. So, here it is: