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!