Flashback - color

I have been in a bit of an art funk lately. I had that great lesson last week and was all motivated and then I had a crazy week and couldn't get to my art at all, and now that I do have a little time, my brain just doesn't want to go there. I feel like I have a bit of a block at the moment. And, probably the best thing to do is to try drawing something to get over it. I just feel a little stuck. So, in the mean time, here is my last "flashback" post.

A lot of my art is done in pencil and is therefore black and white. I like that medium a lot, and I like the simple contrasts of blacks and whites and grays. Since I have gotten to know how to use pastels, I am venturing into the world of color a little more. It adds a whole new dimension to the art, and the approach is different. Back in my high school days, I experimented a bit with painting. I never did oils - there was never the budget at home or at school for oil paints, and to this day I have not yet painted with oils. But, honestly, I don't love painting. It can be fun at times, but it isn't where my interest lies. That being said, I have a few paintings (and one colored pencil drawing) that I did during High School. I look at them now and I see all the things that I did wrong, but hey, I was just getting started at this point.

 This first one is a pencil drawing of my brother. It isn't my greatest portrait, and it doesn't really look like him very much - more the essence of him than really him. The paper got wrinkled, thus the funny shadows. But, it was one of only a few drawings I did in colored pencil.  I still like pastels better. Colored pencil doesn't blend the way pencils and chalks do. There is more layering than blending to get the colors you want.

 This second picture is a study, probably from a magazine ad. I had to take the picture, do a line drawing, a black and white painting, and a color painting of the same picture. It was an interesting task, and it was a good challenge to see how well I could duplicate the same thing. I decided I shouldn't be an animator - my characters would look different every time :).

 This is from a photo I had of sailboats in Mission Bay in San Diego. It has a very "beginner" look to me, but this may be the first time I attempted water.  I was in love with the ocean and all things related to it at the time. (Well, I still love the ocean, I am just not as obsessed as I was then).

Speaking of ocean, this is from a photo of a beach house I stayed in in South Carolina. I have fun memories from that place - it was beautiful. I have found that green is a hard color to mix - whether with paint or pastels - it is tricky to get the right kind. The fluorescent green grass in this has always bothered me, but I love the building. I remember actually painting this, remembering the fun times I had there.