A Different Kind of Portrait

I had forgotten to share this photo of a portrait I had been commissioned to draw so I'm going to post it now. This portrait was done as a surprise for it's likeness, Angie, pictured here with the drawing. I had been asked by one of Angie's friends to draw a portrait of her from this self portrait photo that she took of herself and present it to her at my Providence Art Club exhibit. Pictured here, she is seeing the drawing for the first time. And since this was a surprise for Angie, I didn't post the image as I was working on it and then just got busy, absentmindedly forgot, so I'm doing it now.

The photo was black and white but had a sense of color to the gray tones. I was intrigued by her pose, the colors/values and the body art on Angie's forearm which reads Harmony, a tribute her young daughter. I used only a few colored pencils to achieve this the values: Slate Gray, Cool Grey 50%, Tuscan Red, Indigo Blue, Black Cherry, Black Grape and Black. While I wanted it to read as a black and white photo, I chose to give it warm tones of colorful darks. I worked on Strathmore rag illustration board which has a texture so I used bristle brush to burnish the colors into the board as I was working. The most difficult part was the top left which is a solid dark. I achieved this by layering color over color starting with Tuscan Red, adding a second layer of Indigo Blue and a third layer of Black Grape using a light even pressure then burnishing between each layer of pencil. This combination was too colorful and not dark enough so I added a layer of black on top letting the bottom layers of color show through. It took several layers and a lot of burnishing to achieve the rich dark I was looking for.

Our Art Boot Camp ended yesterday and I have to say it was a rewarding session for both students and instructors myself and Felicia Touhey. I have to share one comment that was made at the end of class when the students were laying out their work for everyone to view. One of the students said to Felicia and I with a big smile on her face: "You must be so proud of us and all that we achieved in this session!" Yes, we are absolutely proud of the students. To me that is the biggest reward an instructor could want, helping students to learn, to grow and feel a sense of accomplishment.

Three Boats, Three Apples

Here are three small pieces I've done for a local small picture show at Spring Bull Gallery, Newport which opens Saturday. They are all 5x5" and will be framed in 12x12" frames with a wide mat. I chose a boat theme for tbe Newport scene.

 Illusion 5x5" colored pencil on gray Fabriano Tiziano paper. This reference photo is from Nantucket, MA

 Primary Colors 5x5" on UArt 800 sanded paper. I took this reference photo in Malta.

 Reflecting the Sky 5x5" on UArt 800 sanded paper. I believe I photographed this boat is in Wickford, RI.

My newest candy apple pieces (I don't think I put these on my blog yet) On the Chopping Block 12x12", Three Apples 6x8" and Melting 8x8". All on 2" cradled Ampersand Gessobord. These three pieces are hanging in Angelina's Coffee, Bristol, RI.

Teaching Pastel and Selling Work

Felicia and I are continuing on with our 8-week session of our Art Boot Camp and so today was my turn to teach pastel to our students. I was a bit nervous because I love working in pastel (it is my first choice when working en plein air) but I have never taught it before. I wanted to be sure I could give good instructions to my students and help them choose shapes, hues and values which can sometimes become confusing when picking up so many pieces of pastel to create a vibrant drawing. We're working from a large fall still life set up, which can be seen somewhat in the background of my photos. I encouraged each person to take a small part of the still life this week in order to become familiar with the medium, not try to tackle too much and get really confused. I started the class with a short demo and then ran around the table for 3 hours helping each person! Time went by quickly and they all really enjoyed it, I saw a lot of smiles at the end of class. Including me! I'm thinking about teaching a pastel course. If anyone local is reading this and is interested, please let me know. You can email me through my website or send me a message on FaceBook.

My exhibit at the Providence Art Club has ended and I picked up my work today, minus these four pieces. I am saying goodbye to Fragments of Time, Well Worn, Uplifted and Keepers of Mystery. They have all found a new home. Uplifted is going to live in Brazil and I have to admit I was sad when I heard it had sold, it was my favorite and much of my soul is in that drawing.

Working with Dynasty Brush Company

In the above photo I'm using a Dynasty Brush Mongolian Sable flat brush to add odorless mineral spirits to my colored pencil so I can move it around like paint. This is a commission piece I am working on for a customer, it is 6x24" on 2" cradled Ampersand Gessobord coated with Terra Cotta tinted Colourfix Primer which gives it a nice texture to work on.

For another totally different method of working with colored pencil, I'm using Dynasty Brush Deerfoot IPC (ink, pastel, charcoal). This rounded brush has a flat angled end (like a deer foot) which is perfect for burnishing my colored pencil work and pushing the pencil into the grooves of the paper. I'm using UArt 800 grit sanded paper with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. The Polychromos are less waxy than other brands and lend themselves to being applied to the sanded paper in a similar method to working with pastel.

I may have mentioned previously that Dynasty Brush Company has offered me an opportunity to experiment with several of their different types of brushes and has featured me, my artwork and recent accomplishments in this blog entry on their website, the link to my article is here. I'm really honored to be chosen to be able to try the various Dynasty brushes in my colored pencil work, and also a little bit with oils and watercolors. I am always trying new methods and materials when working with colored pencil in which to work quicker, as we all know that colored pencil can be timely and require much patience. I also look for ways in which to smooth my colored pencil work when using a very textured surface which I often do.

Colored Pencil Home Study Course

I am excited to announce that I was just selected at one of TEN TOP Colored Pencil Masters to be featured in a brand new Home Study Course called"Sessions with Colored Pencil Masters". My work will be also be featured on Nov. 13, 1 p.m. EST, in an International webinar which gives a sneak peek of the course with tips, tricks and shortcuts from top Masters. To sign up for the FREE webinar click here:https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/220486601. Even if you are unable to watch it live, sign up so you will get a link to the replay.

If you want to purchase a copy of this new course at a special low price, go to www.ColorPENCILSecrets.com and use the discount code: KendraF. You will get $10.00 OFF (even a SALE price).

Fragments of Time

I have just finished this colored pencil drawing which is done on UArt paper and is 29x24". I start with Polychromos pencils which can blend really nicely into the sanded paper with a stiff brush then I add Prismacolor pencils on top. They don't blend as well because they have a more waxy consistency.

I've been working larger lately and just having fun being creative with the larger format. After working on Uplifted, Keepers of Mystery, and The Woman in the Window, I have been enjoying working on the old crumbling walls surrounding my subjects. Something about the passing of time and seeing the old beneath and mixed with the present is attracting my attention. Perhaps it is because I have been somewhat emotional lately assisting my elderly father who is declining rather quickly and is difficult to observe but no regrets that I can be of help to him. So maybe this is why I am incorporating history into my works.

My reference photos for this drawing came from a trip I took to Tuscany with eight other artists. We rented a villa and travelled around the area. This scene is from Siena, as we were walking down a narrow street an elderly woman poked her head out the window for a moment. I quickly snapped some photos before she noticed and ducked back inside. I was also intrigued by the other elements in the photo, the round window, the shrine to the madonna and the wires and pipes running along the facade.

This piece is also going to be included in my exhibit at the Providence Art Club, Providence, RI which opens this Sunday, October 21 from 2-4 p.m.

Ampersand Art Supply: Featured Artist: Kendra Ferreira

Ampersand Art Supply has featured me and my current colored pencil box project on their blog!


Ampersand Art Supply: Featured Artist: Kendra Ferreira: Box Lids for the upcoming show at the Providence Art Club Rhode Island artist, Kendra Ferreira, is currently working on a series of Cla...

Ocean Life Claybord Boxes

Here they are, my nine finished boxes. Each are 5x5" with a colored pencil drawing on the top and a smaller drawing on the inside. Inside drawings were done on Strathmore illustration board, outside drawings were done on Stonehenge white or cream paper attached to the claybord surface with Grafix double tack mounting film. I had so much fun with this project, pardon the pun but it was "out of the  box" for me. I like the idea of creating 3D art, doing something a little different other than work that hangs on the walls. I will be exhibiting these pieces at my Providence Art Club exhibit opening Sunday, October 21st and am excited to get feedback from the viewers. Also, I will be selling the boxes individually or in a grouping.

This last photo is a better look at the nine inside drawings.

Pet Portrait of Frasier

This post is going to have everyone thinking of the holidays and it's much to early for that however here is a pet portrait I just finished of a cute little West Highland Terrier named Frasier. The drawing is 11x14" done in colored pencil on charcoal gray Canson Mi Tientes paper. It is exactly the pose my customer wanted, she also chose the winter or holiday themed scarf and wanted pine trees in the background. Fortunately she gave me several good photos to work from, although this pose wouldn't have been my first choice. Commission work can be tricky because the artist is drawing or painting the customer's ideas and impressions and not the artist's own. It can often take me a while to mentally get into the drawing I've been asked to do and to put it down on paper as the owner sees her dog. I find that it always helps to talk in length to a customer about his/her dog and also to meet the dog in person and understand a little about the dog's personality. I feel as if I did okay with this piece but I do see a few areas that could be improved upon. Of course I'm not going to point them out to my readers!

Karen Rosasco Watermedia & Composition Workshop

This week our studio is hosting a 5-day experimental watermedia workshop with NY artist Karen Rosasco. The focus of the workshop is to work in a rather abstract manner using techniques such as layered acrylic, charcoal, collage, relief printing, layering mixed media and textured gel medium.  On the first day we began by coating large sheets of watercolor paper with gloss medium, then layers of thinned acrylic afterward adding textures into the wet surface and/or spattering rubbing alcohol for  interesting effects in the paint. On the second day we cut the paper into smaller pieces and started to think more about composition, taking away areas with rubbing alcohol for whites adding more paint for darks, deciding on compositional values, perhaps adding more textures. Today we collaged a variety of papers and objects onto our papers, added more paint and more lines. At this point we take the plunge and really think about our final composition for each piece. As you all know I work very realistically so this is a stretch for me. I came home exhausted today because my brain is working so hard! I must say Karen is a wonderful instructor, she is pushing me in new ways of thinking and creating. She teaches several new techniques from her each day which we can use now or incorporate into our own work at a later time.

 These are some of my beginning compositions that I will continue working on. I have used some of my drawings, my etchings, tissue paper and colorful paper cocktail umbrellas collaged into these pieces.

  Here are some of the gals working

 Examples of one students' work, lots of collage and textures.

 Here are Karen's abstract "drag figures" which I can't explain. If you want to learn her technique, take one of her workshops, you  have to see her demonstrate.

This is Karen showing us examples of her works.

Ampersand Clayboard Boxes

I purchased nine 5x5" clayboard box kits from Ampersand with the intention of doing a series of drawings on the tops of the boxes and inside the boxes when the covers are lifted. I've chosen ocean life as a theme and worked on the drawings for the tops of the boxes shown here, placed close together. Because the clayboard is too smooth of a surface to draw on, I'm using white stonehenge paper or white bristol paper, although the turtle is drawn on cream stonehenge. The mediums I have used are image transfer and colored pencil. Image transfer is a process in which I take a Xerox copy of a drawing or photograph and transfer it onto the paper with a Chartpak colorless marker. Of course the image will come out in reverse so I have to switch it accordingly. Next I add colored pencil to the transfer and around. Some of the backgrounds I chose to leave white and some are colored.

My next step is to decide what smaller images I want to place inside each box and work on those. I'm doing this series for my upcoming exhibit at the Providence Art Club in October. I will show these boxes on pedestals as 3D artwork and most likely in smaller groupings.

Also, Ampersand has used my colored pencil piece on Gessobord Patti's New Bowl in a recent blog entry for the company's fall sale on the different boards.

End of Summer

While sitting on Surfside Beach in Nantucket with friends right after Labor Day two years ago, I took several photos of this scene. It's taken me that amount of time to finally dig out my reference photos, review them and decide on a composition. It's fitting for the time of year and my reflections on summer so I came up with this simple horizontal scene. Just a quiet, end of summer afternoon, two guys on the right looking out at the water and possibly reflecting on the day or on the season. In the middle, the girl holding the surfboard is photographed by her boyfriend with the waves in the background. It's a quiet, tranquil scene. Reminds me of happy days spent at the beach.

This drawing is 9x24" on UArt sanded paper. Same colored pencil techniques as I explained in my Edge of a Dream post.

Art Boot Camp info - October & November

If any of my local readers are interested, please contact Felicia or myself.

The Edge of a Dream

The Edge of a Dream is what I've titled my latest colored pencil drawing. I may  have mentioned in previous posts that I love walking on the beach any time of year and taking photos of the surf, the waves breaking on the beach and the clouds. I've worked several drawings of beach scenes from my photos but never incorporated any other subject into the scene.

Subsequently, earlier in the summer my husband and I were invited to a fashion show fundraiser in which we were lucky enough to be seated directly next to the runway. As the models sauntered past I whipped out my little camera and started snapping away, my thoughts of incorporating these tall wiry women and their interesting costumes in some of my artwork. This young woman was exceptionally tall and exceptionally thin and I had been pondering what type of interesting scene I could drop her into. After much thought I pulled out some of my more dramatic beach photos and decided to create a scene in which she is walking along the beach, stormy clouds and colorful waves behind, her skirt flowing in the sand. My intent is to give the the figure and the scene a dream like quality, as I was working I would put myself into the scene, perhaps she is me.

As in my past several drawings, I am using the UArt sanded paper with Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils. The Polychromos pencils blend and sink into the paper when burnished with a bristle brush. The Prismacolors blend also but not quite as well because they are much more waxy. The paper is very textured with distinct horizontal lines and I find that burnishing vertically and horizontally helps blend out those lines. The sanded paper eats up brushes in no time so I purchase cheap, flat bristle brushes and cut the brush hairs to about 1/4" so they will be stiffer and better for burnishing. I enjoy working on the UArt because it takes the colors so quickly, I can achieve deeper values and brighter colors on this sanded surface.

On another note, I am going to be leaving Spring Bull Gallery in Newport, RI at the end of August. I have been at the gallery since 2005 and enjoyed it so much. Spring Bull Gallery is a cooperative gallery  in which the members share in the expenses and duties. I have really enjoyed my past seven years at the gallery and I love the family of artists in the gallery with me. Leaving the gallery is bittersweet, I am sad to go, however new opportunities await and are in the works. Customers are welcome to contact me and see my work at my studio in Middletown, RI.

The Woman in the Window

Time is slipping by all too quickly and I've been spending a lot of time on this drawing while getting a bit anxious as I look at the calendar and realize I only have two months left to prepare for my exhibit at the Providence Art Club. October will be here too soon and I still find myself with several more drawing ideas that I hope to complete.

For this drawing, I chose the photo reference from the seemingly hundreds of photos I took while in Budapest in May. A few of us had just finished coffee one mid afternoon and were walking down a narrow street when a woman walked into a cafe directly in front of us and sat down in the window. The sunlight was falling over the building tops and down at a sideways slant and illuminated her so perfectly. The amazing play of light and dark but also the sense of intimacy of the figure had us photographers were clamoring all over each other to get the perfect shot. And thank goodness this woman didn't turn around, she would have thought we were all nuts jumping over each other pointing cameras in her direction.

Now I have been working on this approximately 24x24" drawing over the past few weeks trying to capture what I saw on the street in Budapest. I've taken out irrelevant details and played up the contrast of lights and darks keeping the surrounding window and broken wall but hoping they won't detract. The surface is UArt 800 grit archival sanded paper which is very textured, lots of texture is still showing through the dark areas. I like this paper because of it's gritty surface, it takes pencil color quickly but the textured lines in the paper can be challenging. I find Polychromos pencils work best and are easily blended or burnished with a bristle brush to smooth out the drawing. But I also like to add Prismacolor pencils which are more distinct and waxy and Prismacolor Verithin which have harder points to fill in small areas.

(My camera has distorted some of the straight lines in this picture of my drawing, the woodwork and trim around the window and wall aren't warped as they appear.)