Friday, March 26, 2010

Bright Red for a Rainy Day

I always come back to the candy apples because I love working with the vibrant reds so much and I have fun rendering the reflections. This piece is on cradled gessoboard, again with the Colourfix primer on the gessoboard which gives me a red undertone that is easier to work the apples and get them nice and vibrant. I did use lots of solvent with the pencil on this piece. I used it in the front to get the white surface to cover the red primer. I used it in the background to achieve the rich darks. No, they're not black, I used Black Grape, Tuscan Red and Indigo layered in that order.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The tulips are finished just in time for spring

I looked back at my posts and found that I started this piece on Jan. 27. I seem to pick it up, work on it and then put it down and work on something else. So I ordered the frame and when it arrived, I figured that I should just get down to business and finish! This drawing is on UArt paper and I found it a little difficult to fill in the red velvet cloth so that the paper wouldn't show through. I wanted the cloth to look very smooth and velvety. Using a bristle brush helped blend the pencil into the paper. I also tried using Polychromos and Lyra Rembrandt pencils which are a bit harder than the Prismacolors and can be applied a little more smoothly. These pencils helped to smooth the cloth. I really had fun with this piece, each tulip seems to have a different personality and each little vase is unique.

Monday, March 1, 2010

New Gallery Exhibiting My Work


My colored pencil work is being shown in a newly opened art gallery in Bristol, RI located at 423 Hope Street, named Bristol Art Gallery. I took some pictures of the gallery windows at night because I love the way the gallery is lit up and so easy to view as you drive by. You can see some of my work to the left of the flag in the top photo just under the nude. The owner, Nancy, has assembled some talented artists in different mediums. Several artists are local and several more are from different parts of the country or Canada. It is always fun to see new and different artists and artwork showcased.