"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!

"Happy Birthday to Me"

Well..... my birthday was a couple days ago and my husband gave me one of the greatest gifts ever. He took me out to Tanque Verde Ranch to take pictures of the horses.

I had no idea this place was even there. It's a little out of the way and hidden back in the desert. It's a real live Dude Ranch with hundreds of horses. I had been telling him for months I wanted to find some horses to photograph and he came through for me!!!

Now I really want to go horse back riding. I haven't been since I was a little kid, so I'm checking into some places to take a lesson or two, before we go.

I uploaded a few photos for you to enjoy. Of course I have a ton of new reference and cannot wait to get started on a drawing of a horse. The hard part is choosing one to do first. I got a ton of great photos.

Till next time!

"Pear" - 6.25" x 5"

It's been some time since I've posted. I've been quite busy to say the least. I finally put my website together! Some parts of it are not finished such as my bio. I'm not much of a writer.

I have 4 new drawings posted on the portfolio page of my website. This is one of my favorites. Not sure why.... probably because it was pretty quick and I didn't think too much about it . I also tried some new pencils on this one. Nero pencils by Cretacolor, which are charcoal and wax based. They feel like pencil but they can go all the way to black like charcoal. Nice!!

Till next time!

"Prickly Pear Bloom" - 13" x 18"

I just got this image back from being photographed. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I had tried a new paper for this drawing - it was a Strathmore bristol illustration board. It was OK, but.........

I still like my 300 lb, HP, bright white, Fabriano watercolor paper the best. I like trying new papers now and then, hoping I'll fall madly in love with one. I really like the whiteness and smoothness of illustration boards but can't seem to get as dark as I can with the watercolor paper. I like good contrast, and I have no problem getting it with the Fabriano 300 lb hp paper.

Till next time!