Red Tail Hawk

Finally a new drawing! Playing a bit more with pattern and bits of color. This drawing is 33" wide by about 10" tall. It is a juvenile Red Tail they have at the Desert Museum. I also have another work in progress of a raven in flight. Shouldn't be too long before it's complete.

I am also going to be doing a group show with my mother (how cool is that) at the Ranch House Gallery at Aqua Caliente in July & August of 2012. It will take me that long to get ready for it too. My mother works mostly in oils, but also dabbles in colored pencil and graphite as well. I will post some images when it gets a little closer of some of her work. I am very excited to share in this opportunity with her. Should be fun, can't wait!!

Strokes of Genius 3- Yippppeee!

I just received the letter that " Horse with no Name" will be included in North Light Books, Strokes of Genius 3: The Best of Drawing . I'm very excited and honored to be included in the book with so many amazing artists. I have the first 2 books which are filled with some absolutely gorgeous works of art from some of the best artists out there. It won't be out for quite some time - around October of 2011, I can't wait!

All Consumed!

What the heck have I been doing for the past 4 months? Good question! Not nearly enough art. On top of working 5 days a week, I've been volunteering 1 day a week for the Raptor Free Flight Program at the The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum as a bird handler. I love the birds, dearly! I have learned so much and have a new love and deep respect for raptors. I have been getting some amazing photo reference as well - Yes I will be drawing a lot of birds in the near future!!

The Raptor Free Fight Program has , a Ferruginous Hawk, 2 Barn owls, a Great Horned Owl, a Grey Hawk, a Prairie Falcon, and a whole family of Harris Hawks, as well as 2 Chihuahuan Ravens, and a Greater Roadrunner. I volunteer all day on Fridays from 8:00am to 2:30pm. There are about 4-5 volunteers per day and we feed and handle the birds, clean and do odd jobs, help with training and help put on the demonstration twice a day. I've made some great friends who I'm sure I will keep for a life time, and it is honestly the best day of the week for me. They asked me to do an illustration for the t-shirts this season and I was honored, and more than happy to. I couldn't decide between a hawk and an owl, so I did both. Then they couldn't decide which one to print, so they did both! I did them in pen and ink, which was a first for me. I loved doing them and I may do more with pen and ink at some point. It was much much faster than pencil. They wanted me to show a connection between the handlers and the birds so I thought it only fitting to show the bird on a handlers glove. The shirts should be coming in this week and I'm very excited to see them!!

Ferruginous Hawk

Barn Owl

I got a wood burner quite some time ago and had never done anything with it. Because I was so broke this Christmas, I decided to make everyone something. For the girls I made wood burned pendants and for the guys I turned them into keychains. I had a blast making them and several people asked me to make them one. Of course I started playing around with other items and it has sort of taken on a life of its own. I am going to open an etsy shop soon with limited edition giclee prints of my drawings as well as some of the wood and leather burned accessories I've been making. My plan is to hopefully start selling things so I can cut back on my days at work. I would much rather be creating than working : ) Here a few of the items I have been burning!

Pendants:





Pendants wrapped with silver:




Belt buckles:



And last but not least, I've actually started a new drawing! It is just going to take some time to complete. I have several reference photos and plans for new drawings ready to go - I am working on a harris' hawk now, next will be a barn own, a horse and a coopers hawk, not necessarily in that order : ) I may actually do a work in progress on my next drawing and show a bit of my working process and how I plan out a drawing. Hopefully it won't be so long between posts for me, I was feeling a bit guilty for not posting in such a long time : (

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have been really busy - I didn't realize how busy, until I was through with all I had to get done and then I didn't know what to do with myself. So here I am!

I have been volunteering on Fridays for the Raptor Free Flight program at The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It has got to be one of the coolest things I've ever done. The people are all incredibly nice and the birds are amazing. I'm sure I will be posting more on the subject as the season progresses and we start handling the birds more. So far my favorites are the Barn Owls and the Chihuahuan Ravens. I will absolutely be drawing a barn owl soon!

My Pygmy Owl drawing was juried in to an art exhibition at Sundust Gallery which opens Saturday, October 9th in Mesa Arizona.

I have been drawing these little hummingbirds for an upcoming show at the Tubac Center of the Arts, It is a holiday exhibition of small works called " Little Treasures". I will find out on the 16th of Oct. if they are juried in. I added a touch of iridescent powder to these for the color, which is perfect for the hummers beautiful little iridescent feathers. I hope they take them, I love going to Tubac.
"Nesting" 5 1/2" x 8"

"Out on a Limb" 4" x 7 1/4"

"Play Time" 5 1/2" x 8"

"Resting Place" 5 " x 8"

Harley Brown Rocks!!!

I was completely blown away by the generosity of Harley Brown. As the winner of the "Last Photo" contest I was informed that I would be receiving the last photo from Harley. I was completely expecting to get an 8x10 photo with a piece of cardboard in a manilla envelope.... seriously. Late last week I received a package from harley with "the photo" - framed, a nice note written in one of his gorgeous note cards, one of his signed prints, a copy of his book in which he drew a stunning indian and a personal note to me. I couldn't believe it, I am touched! it shows the generosity and spirit of such a great man! Thank you Harley Brown!

I have started reading Harley's book and I am loving it!!! He is so inspirational, and has given me a new outlook on my art and how I feel about my own work. It's an easy read, broken down into small sections. Perfect for someone like myself, with the attention span of a gnat : )

Exciting News!

I was feeling a little down yesterday. I was laid off in January and the job market is getting worse and worse. Ocassionally it gets the best of me. : (

Around 6:00 last night I decided to check my email, and received some news that cheered my right back up!!

Several months ago I came across an article by Harley Brown in the International Artists Magazine. I love his articles. He is, to say the least, amazing and his articles are always interesting and informative. So he had a contest to draw his last photo, of a lighthouse.

I took the challenge and sent in my drawing, and I actually won! The editor of International Artist Magazine wrote me a nice little email informing me that I won and said of the hundreds of entries from all over the world mine stood out. How nice is that to hear?

I will receive the original photo signed by the master himself, Harley Brown, as well as having my drawing published in the next August/September, # 68 issue of International Artists Magazine.

Here is Harley's photo-

And here is my drawing - I used graphite powder on this one. I'm in the process of doing another drawing with the graphite powder. The more I use it the more I like it, and the more comfortable I get with it. It has a different- "looser" look.

Playing with Color Again!

I am going through a weird little faze right now! Being a graphic designer, I always associate a piece of art with coordinating patterns. When working as a designer we always took a main image and added coordinating patterns to make a group.

I often think that way when I am drawing. After completing a drawing I almost always start picturing patterns that would work with the art. I often think about drawing a pattern to coordinate with my main image. I started playing with this idea this week. I have a couple done already because I'm working fairly small right now. I also decided to add a touch of color. I'm doing washes of watercolor. I will post another very soon. What do you think? Good or bad, I would love to get some feedback.

I'm also trying to figure out why my blog is not updating correctly on other's blogs. I'll keep trying, and thanks to those who have been trying to help me with the problem.

NEW DRAWING

Here is my latest drawing. Not sure what to call it yet. The horse belongs to a friend of mine and I can't remember what his name is. It's rather large - 17" x 20". The photo isn't great but you get the idea. I love drawing horses and I have some incredible reference photos, so I may do another one soon. But in the meantime I think I will do a few smaller drawings.

Western Screech Owl 9.5" x 10"

Ok so I was supposed to have this finished like, a month ago! I got a very big freelance design job in - which of course is paying my bills right now. I have also been busy experimenting with acrylics and epoxy coatings so I can mount my art and seal it without having to frame. I guess it's just for no other reason than a different look and an extra added touch. I started this drawing with powdered graphite, which I am still learning and experimenting with. I like the process a lot.

I think this piece still needs some work. It looks a little flat still. I will keep working, but I hadn't posted in so long I was feeling a bit guilty!

Latest work

Elephant 12.5" x 18"
I just finished this elephant drawing. I took this picture last time I was at the Reid Park Zoo, I wish I knew a little more about the elephant. I think I'll go back and find out more about him... or her. I thought it was going to take me forever but, actually wasn't too bad. It was fun! I love drawing new textures that I'm not used to doing, because it's always a nice learning process. You come out of it feeling like you learned something. I'm also working on an owl drawing that I used the powdered graphite ( turned to liquid) on. Hoping to get it done by the end of the weekend!

Lighthouse

For those of you who read the International Artist Magazine, you should recognize the name Harley Brown. I love his articles, in the back of every issue! He is amazing to say the least. For those of you who don't know who he is just google his name and look at some of the amazing art he creates. Well, in his last article he asked readers to do a pencil sketch of his last photo and I thought it sounded like fun. So here is my version of Harley's last photo.

I also used graphite powder mixed with water to do my background. I've been playing with it for a while and this was the first picture I completed using this technique. I still need to keep experimenting with it. It's a little hard to work with, not at all like watercolor, which I'm used to. Much harder to control. Maybe it's just that I don't know what the hell I'm doing yet.

I've already started another drawing with the graphite powder. I like the slightly looser look I'm getting with it, and hopefully if I keep using it I will actually figure out what I'm doing!!

Whisper

This is one of my latest drawings. I had done a commission for a friend, and this one was a little extra surprise for her. I knew I had to draw a close up of this horse, he is beautiful. I gave the drawings to her today, so it is safe to post.

on another note - I've been doing a little experimenting with powdered graphite and water washes. Just playing but I like the effect I'm getting. If I actually finish one I will post it.

Pow Wow @ San Xavier Mission

I don't care what anyone says, the southwest is beautiful!!! Having grown up in Massachusetts, for many years living in Arizona I took for granted the beauty around me. I just saw cactus and dirt, no ocean, no green trees, no fall leaves......just dirt! The longer I live here (almost 30 years now), the more beauty I see and would not change it for anything. The people and culture are unbelievable.

We spent the day at San Xavier Mission watching a Pow Wow and dance competition among many tribes. The Indian culture has always fascinated me. I want to learn as much as I can about it's people and culture. I wanted to share a few of the more than 850 photos I took today, many of which will turn into drawings I'm sure. Kind of makes me want to paint with all the gorgeous color though! Who knows maybe I will!

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Juried Art Show

My "Prickly Pear Bloom" drawing was accepted in the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Juried Art Show, a Closer Look at Cactus & Succulents. I'm very excited about this because the Desert Museum is probably my all time favorite place. It is about 30 - 45 minutes away from my house, and I go there quite often. Every time I'm there I just feel to peaceful, like there isn't a care in the world, or anywhere else I would rather be. I love that feeling! Well I just wanted to share my good news. And, they used my drawing on the postcard, even better!! The show runs April 4 - June 7, 2009 at the Ironwood Gallery.

"Happy Happy"

I entered 2 drawings into the 46th annual Glendale Arts Council- Juried Fine Arts Competition and I got both of them in!! Not only did I get them in but, in the Pencil/Ink Category , I won the first place award for " Pygmy Owl"


And Second Place award for "Horse with No Name"

I'm so Excited!! And a little relieved at the same time, I was holding my breath hoping I would not have to take the 2 hour drive back up to Phoenix if they didn't get in!!. This was a nice surprise my first week of being officially unemployed : )
The Show runs January 28 through February 22, In Glendale Arizona.

Till next time!!

"A Bit of Color"

It seems like forever since I last posted. So much has happened since my last post. The company I have worked at for over 4 years shut down our Tucson office, so as of tomorrow I am officially unemployed. This is a first ever for me!! I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, probably freak out for starters! I will probably try to pick up some freelance work until something comes up. Not a huge Graphic Design market in the Tucson area. : (

Meanwhile, I have a couple of juried art shows I am entering. One is at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. The other is in Glendale Arizona. I will be dropping off 2 drawings on Saturday the 17th; hopefully I’ll get in. I will let you know how I do!

I have started playing around with a bit of color, just on the borders. I’m not sure if I will continue or not. Let me know what you think! I’m enjoying it for the moment; I’ll see where it takes me.

Till next time!

"Never give up on a problem drawing"

I learned a tremendous amount doing this drawing. This was my first time trying to make something look as though it were in mist. I had a few reference photos of other subjects in mist I had found on the internet to look at, which helped tremendously. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. I used a small amount of my 2h and hb pencils then used a blending stump to smooth it out. Then went back in and darkened the edges where I wanted.

I ended up putting this drawing away for a while because I got stuck on it. There was a different type of grass under the coyote in my reference photo, which I took at the Wildlife Museum( Yes, he was stuffed). It was more like a lot of sticks he was in and when I got to a certain point in my drawing I didn't like the way the sticks looked. It was confusing and the other grass looked much nicer compared to the sticks. I erased about a quarter of my drawing which I usually never do but, in the end I was glad I did. After erasing I went back and drew the grass back in. I was happy with it after that and finished the drawing.

One of the biggest lessons I learned was that a drawing not going so well can be saved. There was a time when I would have put the drawing away and never went back to it. I made myself pick it back up again and erase hours and hours of work and it was the best thing I had ever done. I now know that you can learn a lot from your mistakes and problem areas in you work. It was well worth the effort.

Till next time!

WORK IN PROGRESS

Wow it's been a long time, been busy putting in overtime at work, etc. And, just plain busy with life. This drawing seems to be taking forever too. It's pretty good sized, around 13-14 x 19-20. I keep thinking I'm almost done, then take a closer look and realize I have a lot of work ahead of me. I think I need to get a lot darker on it. I promised my sister I would upload it so she could check it out. Till next time!