Sketchbook Mondays # 4

Peekaboo

Charcoal study

      Isn't my husband the best? :) Why yes, yes he is. I loved reading his post on Wednesday, it was so, so fun :)

      I'm back! A little tanner than I was before (always a good thing) and I think my hair got bleached a little more in the sun, so now I'm even more blonde than I was! Free hair color, can't beat that. It was a really amazing time, I loved it. I'm continually amazed how great it feels to get away from the world (ahem. . . computers) and be in the mountains. I feel like I was so spiritually fed, like I can conquer anything. A very good feeling :)

      This little sketch is one I plan on painting someday, I love that little face peeking out of the curtain. I wanted to show some movement in the curtains, while keeping the face mostly in focus. It was another really quick sketch, it took about fifteen minutes. I think it turned out better than I thought it was going to when I was in the middle of it. But isn't that how it goes? Anyway, have a great Monday everyone, sketch something awesome and tell me about it and I'll come see it! 

Answers to Questions . . . and a Little More

Sandra: If you could choose one painting for Crystal to paint especially for you, what would it be of?




Crystal's Husband; Brodie: Sandra what a thought provoking question. I am lucky because she paints so many pictures of our kids. Our home and my office always have a fresh supply of beautiful pictures of our children. I am often approached by other parents yearning for works of their children - I tell them I discourage Crystal from doing commissions. Part of the wonder of Crystal's work is her heart is in each one. She has painted work for other people and started over time and time again because she is either not "feeling" inspired or something, in her opinion, is wrong with the painting.



With that said the direct answer to your question is pictures of her. All of the self- portraits that Crystal has done have been posed, beautiful but posed. They are lacking her true nature. I never suspect her self portraits to capture the essence of her as she captures it of other largely because she doesn't allow her to see herself as favorable as she should.



Kim: Were you into art before you met Crystal? Has her love of art influenced you?



Crystal's Husband; Brodie: That is a tricky question. I, like everyone else, love beautiful things. So if that beautiful thing happened to be art, then yes I was into art. I'm not moved by art because it is done by someone who is revered by the world. I hated my college art classes because they told me that certain art should mean this or move me a certain way. I feel art is unique to everyone and should be left to individual translation.



Her love of art has influenced me. I have watched her pursue her dream tirelessly. She was talented ten years ago, but she is not one to rest on plateaus. The average painting used to take her 40-60 hours now they are much faster and she has continued to perfect her skill.



One More Thought: Crystal is an extremely humble and modest person. She does not like to brag on herself which is fine because that is one of my favorite things. Crystal enters shows because I have almost forced her to do so. She was convinced that her works were not good. So I wanted her to be compared to others because I knew she would do well. She won two awards in her first show and has continued to enter more competitive shows and do well even on a grander scale. I recently had some business cards made up for her. Her father was over here the other day and I asked her to show him one of her cards. It was only very reluctantly she did so. When we go to shows she is happy to have gotten in and I am mad that the judges couldn't see she was the best.



Thanks for putting up with my ramblings.

Sketchbook Mondays # 3

Chauncy, our Giant Schnauzer

      In keeping with the spirit of sketchbook Mondays, this is truly a super fast sketch. It took me less than ten minutes and it really is far from finished. I've been going to paint this image for a few years, it's a picture of our dog looking out the back door, waiting for us to let him out :)

       The appeal here, other than the fact that it's my cuddly, cute, huge dog, is the light. I think I'll paint just about anything if the light is hitting it in just the right way.

      Also, if you look closely you can see I had trouble placing the bridge of his nose. I had to try a couple times to get it right, and I left most of my original marks there because I liked the sketchy energy that it gave. As always, if you want to post a sketch for Monday leave a note in the comments and I'll try to come check it out.

      I say try because things have been crazy busy around here lately. I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to comment on anyone's post, I've been getting ready for a week long camping trip with 11 teenage girls for my church, and it's been hectic. I'll be gone the rest of the week, but I have a guest host for our Wednesday question. :)

      My husband said he will answer any questions you may have about me or my art or anything else, so leave a question in the comments if you want and we'll see what he has to say. It should be interesting, and certainly a  change of pace :) I'm seriously curious about what he has to say about me, but I'll have to wait until I get back because he won't say a word. *pouting*

      Anyway, I hope you all have a great week and I'll see you when I get back!

Trying Something New

work in progress

      I'm taking a break with the painting of my son, it just wasn't working. I think I killed it, too much fussy painting. Ah well, live and learn.

      So here we have a new project :) I don't paint very many flowers, I think I've only painted one before actually, but I was at my mom's a few weeks ago (and she is a MASTER gardener, let me just tell you) and we were walking around her garden. I saw this tree peony and absolutely loved the way the light fell on it. And, it's pink! My favorite! I am unashamed that I have fallen victim to gender sterotypes because pink is my favorite color ever :)

      Also, here's a very rough sketch I did before I started painting, focusing mostly on shapes and hoping to have some interesting line work too. Because there are so many different shapes in flowers I needed to have a map of where the darks and lights were, otherwise I get confused and it doesn not make me happy when I am confused. That's the purpose of this little sketch, my own little shape map.

      And can I just say how much fun it has been to paint so far? Because it has, a lot. I needed a fun painting, I was letting myself get too stressed out about paintings not working. I think I have trashed about three in the last few months. Not good, but part of the whole experience for me, I've come to accept that. Sometimes a painting works and sometimes they don't, no big deal. Right? Right :) 

      Wednesday's question has come and gone I'm afraid, but I still think we can have some good blogging fun :) Here's a picture of my youngest when we went to the park yesterday, he just discovered how to blow those dandelion puffs and he saw these clover flowers, which he thought were the puffies. So he spent a lot of time picking them and trying to blow them, it was so cute. It took him a little while to figure out they were not blowing away :)

 

I think I'm going to have to paint that.

      Now it's your turn, that was my random little bit of news for today, what's yours? Tell me something totally random, like what you had for lunch today, or what's the worst movie you've seen lately, or what song do you listen to the most? Please share, it'll be fun, just wait and see.

      Here's something random about me (actually I think you guys know a whole lot of random stuff about me), I am terrified of moths, that's right, I said moths. I don't know what it is about them, but they totally freak me out *shudders* 

      See how not scary that was? The randomness, not the moths. Okay, your turn :)

Sketchbook Mondays

      Technically this isn't from my sketchbook, but it is a more unfinished study than what I usually do, and for that reason I'm saying it counts. I know I say I usually don't do studies before I do a painting, but this time I am. This is going to be a spiritual painting, based on one of my favorite scenes from the New Testament, and I want to make sure I get it right. I'm also working on a more finished drawing right now, and then will move on to the painting. The eyes are my favorite part of a sketch or a painting, there's just something so satisfying about trying to get them just right, so the person looks alive and full of emotion.

      I was out of town for a few days last week, celebrating my anniversary with my husband, it was SO fun, loved every minute of it. We browsed around a bunch of different art galleries, and it was inspiring to see all the different work, I love doing that. It ignited that spark for me again and now I'm just itching to get some paintings finished and start on some new projects. 

      Also, if you want to post a sketch for today, just leave a note in the comments so I can come check it out, I'd love to see it :), and let me know what you're working on, it's always fun to see.

      And here is a fun and inspiring quote about sketching from one of my favorite artists ever, Robert Barrett, it comes from his book "Life Drawing." Enjoy!

"A sketchbook allows you to draw for the pure pleasure of it. Most children draw because they want to, and so should you! Your sketchbook will become a self-portrait of sorts, reflecting your understandings and limitations, your assuredness or timidity, and your ability to devise solutions to problems."

What I'm listening to: Stolen by Dashboard Confessional, and Panic Switch by Silversun Pickups

WIP Wednesday

work in progress

15 x 21 watercolor

      Here's my latest work in progress, it doesn't look like much right now, but I'm hoping it will turn out just right. This is a very early stage (obviously) with only 4 layers of color and minimal shadow modeling. His right side looks a little wonky because it's so brightly lit by the sun, once I put in the background it will read as more of a figure, hopefully :) I'm loving the pinks, reds, and yellows in the skin tones, it's been fun to paint so far.

      And now to our Wednesday question, this time I have a blogging question for you. When you leave a comment on a blog, do you like the blog host to answer you? Do you expect it? And do you go back and check if they do, or subscribe to follow up comments? Also, do you prefer to hear back from them via email or just within the comment section?

       I have been wondering about this for a while. I love to hear back from the blog host, and a lot of the time I will go back to see if the person responded to me (especially if I know they usually do). Sometimes people send me an email reply to my comment which is nice, and fun to read. But not everyone has their email enabled, so when someone comments on my post I can't always send a personal note back to everyone, so I usually just reply in the comment section. Anyway, forgive my rambling, I've just been thinking about this and was wondering what all you awesome people thought about it :) My main goal is to let people know that I appreciate the time they took to leave me a comment, I want to make sure that it's the best way possible for you guys. Because I love your comments, they totally make my day :)

Sketchbook Mondays

     I thought I would try something new. I love to get a peek into artist's sketchbooks, it's SO fascinating to me, so I thought I would be brave and post a sketch from mine every Monday. If you want to join in, leave a link to your post in the comments and I would love to come and check it out!

      This is a sketch of my youngest when he was still pretty little (I think about six months old). Grandma had given him this puppy hat, and he was just adorable. Also I love how wide and clear his eyes are, and his little round nose. I could go on, and on, but I won't :)

      My sketchbook is kind of small, and it's a hardbound book (I stopped using spiral bound sketchbooks because of how they smear, but then I discovered that if you sketch in colored pencil it doesn't smear! So I may go back to spiral after this one's all filled up) so it's kind of hard to get a good picture of it. If any of you have tips for me about this I would love to hear it. 

     Also, I would like to give a big welcome to my new followers: Kathi, Rafael, Beth, Noemi, and Linda. Welcome! I'm so glad you're here and I'm looking forward to getting to know you :) I'm just starting this now, so any past followers that didn't get a shout out, I'm sorry, I'm very glad you are here too :) Happy Monday everyone!

Opportunity

"Opportunity"

10 x 14 watercolor

Finished! And I kind of like it. I think white subjects can be difficult to paint, but I really enjoyed this one. I've been a slow painter lately, kind of having to force myself to get started. I hate that, but I've come to realize that that's how creativity works with me. It ebbs and flows, when it flows I try to ride it out for as much as I can, and when it's not I just keep painting anyway, but not with that verve that I had before. It will pass, I just need to find something that sparks with me again. I'm working on it :)

Wednesday question time! I'm trying to rack my brain for a nice easy one. Hmmmm. . . here we go. If you're an artist, of any type, what is your favorite subject? In painting, drawing, photography and writing. I think I've covered all my bases there. Mine, obviously, is people, but in particular babies. I love to paint babies, there's just something about them that makes me want to try and capture that feeling of having your little one be brand new, again and again.

And, I forgot to mention the poll I posted a few weeks ago! Thanks everyone who voted, you flattered me with your answers. I've just about got the contest figured out (it's going to be so cool!) and will have it up in the next little while, so make sure to check it out! Have a great day everyone!