all in one basket: from line to color

all in one basket: from line to color

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Three Old Sketches

These sketches from the year 2000 are an object lesson in using archival quality materials.  While the pencils I used were artist quality charcoal pencils, the paper was not artist quality.  Thus, while it started out as bright white it has since been altered by mere exposure to household air.  Had they been preserved under glass in a sealed environment, they might have been less altered.  Still, they are representative of good pencil work, but poor composition.  The drawings should have been a little smaller so as not to fall off the paper the way the hand and the mannequin do.  The hand is mine own -- proof that an artist will draw anything to "hand" (bad pun, I know) when at a loss for a subject. 


 
 
 

A Recent Work in Pastel

"Walk on the Beach" is  a 9 x 12 (23 x 30 cm) pastel on bristol sheet that I completed in February of this year.  It is currently framed and matted under glass, and for sale at Ste G's General Store.





Monday, April 13, 2015

More colors of Sunset

"Into the West 1"  is another 12 x 18 pastel on sanded paper completed in February 2014.  Dense fog diffuses the sun's light making the trunks of the trees look like the legs of giant beasts whose heads are hidden in the clouds.


 
 
 

The colors of sunset

 
"Into the West 2", a 12 x 18 pastel on sanded paper, completed in February 2014.  The close up shows how the color of the rolling hills reflects in the low hanging cloud, and how the rays of the setting sun diffuse and obscure part of the horizon.
 

 
 
 
 
 



Some old drawings


Three drawings from pre 2005 when I was a constant traveller with hubby in the big rig.  These were done while the truck was in motion, not an easy task.  I call the first one "The fiddler".  The second is titled "Mona" because of the lady's enigmatic smile.  Both of them are developed pencil drawings on paper.  They are about 9.5 x 9.5.  The third is a small (4x4?) sketch that I don't even have any more.  THAT is a lesson in keeping your drawings together in one place, and a lesson in the wisdom of scanning or photographing your work so that you have a record of it. 
 
 
 
 

 
 


Sunday, November 24, 2013

Untitled Pastel

This little work began as a photograph taken along the North Shore of the St Lawrence Seaway.  When I took the photo several years ago I thought the grey of the rock against the red sand made a striking color contrast, and that the tire tracks made an interesting statement about human intrusions into the natural world.  The photo drew me, so I drew it first as a pastel sketch on newsprint, then as a pastel drawing on Sennelier la carte paper. 




Sunday, November 10, 2013

The Cardinal and His Lady

The Cardinal and His Lady began as an 18 x 24 inch pastel sketch on newsprint.  The original plan was to have the female bird on the upper branch and the male on the lower.  After some consideration I decided the brightness of his plumage would better serve the composition if I put the male on the upper branch and his 'lady' on the lower branch.  The finished work is a 16 x 20 inch pastel on Sennelier la carte sanded pastel paper.  I used Mungyo Gallery semi hard pastels in combination with various soft pastels and Conte a Paris pastel pencils.  The finished work is in the private collection of Manon Baillargeon of Quebec.