Laurel Neustadter Illustration

March WetCanvas Portrait Challenge

2010-03-27T16:04:00.002-05:00

I have been busy at work in March, so have not had much time to post. I recently completed a 4-evening Color Theory oil painting class and did the March WetCanvas Portrait Challenge. This portrait was painted in oils and is from a photo reference.

February WetCanvas Portrait Challenge

2010-02-20T03:01:00.004-06:00

Vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, and Conte charcoal pencil on Sennelier Pastel Card. I like shadows and enjoyed the challenge of obscuring the left side of the face and only suggesting details. The support is very attractive, but also very delicate. I damaged the paper as I was working and had trouble adding charcoal on the damaged areas. Lesson learned: Do not erase too much on this support. (Does this mean don't make mistakes?)

Yet Another Zombie

2010-02-14T06:35:00.000-06:00

Can one ever draw too many zombies? I think not. Micron pen on Bienfang Graphics 360 paper.

Dallas gets 12.5 inches of snow

2010-02-12T19:01:00.006-06:00

Here is what I saw as I stood on my front steps this morning. A winter wonderland. Except of course for the trees falling down from the weight of the snow and all the power failures. 12.5 inches in 24 hours. A Dallas record.

Another Muddy Zombie

2010-02-12T06:13:00.001-06:00

Here is another version of a muddy zombie. Micron pen on Bienfang Graphics 360 paper.

Illustration Friday - Muddy

2010-02-10T06:26:00.002-06:00

Getting muddy is an occupational hazard for zombies. You know, crawling out of the grave and all. Micron pen on Bienfang Graphics 360 paper.

Work In Progress: Oil Portrait of Christopher

2010-02-07T17:35:00.004-06:00

I am working on an oil painting of Christopher. Here is what I have so far. I am in the modeling stage. The vertical stripes behind his head will be curtains.

By the way, a porn site was leaving comments on my blog, so I switched to moderated comments.

Christopher Sleeps

2010-02-04T05:50:00.003-06:00

I drew this while Christopher slept on the couch. I am experimenting with different styles and am thinking about design when I draw. Here I just used hatching and tried to keep everything on a diagonal.

Illustration Friday - Focused

2010-02-01T18:22:00.001-06:00

I drew this portrait from life. My son Andrew was sitting at the kitchen table and was very focused on his homework.

Fan and Sleeping Dog

2010-01-22T05:26:00.000-06:00

My Son Andrew

2010-01-19T05:07:00.002-06:00

This is my 16 year old son Andrew. I drew him while he watched TV.

Book Review: The Artist's Guide to Sketching

2010-01-17T07:11:00.010-06:00

I looked for James Gurney's new book at the Dallas library. I didn't find it, but I did find this book: The Artist's Guide to Sketching by James Gurney and Thomas Kinkade (1988). Yes, the Thomas Kinkade. Turns out Gurney and Kinkade were roommates at Berkley.

This book chronicles a road trip Gurney and Kinkade took one summer. Along the way, they did a bunch of on-the-spot sketching. This book shares their tricks-of-the-trade and drawings. The book covers the following topics:

Sketching in public (Logistics, dealing with people, being inconspicuous.)
Materials (How to keep it simple. Pencils, pens, markers, and wash are favored.)
Achieving accuracy (Start with pencil. Big forms before detail. Tips on perspective. Pen, marker and wash last.)
Capturing motion (Best treatment of gesture drawing I have ever seen.)
Creating mood.
Using imagination (We are not cameras, folks!)
Studying nature.
Sketching people.
Sketching man-made objects and structures, such as buildings.
Fitting sketching into your life

This book is inspirational and full of useful advice. I put this book in the same quality category as Bert Dodson's Keys to Drawing and Drawing with Imagination. This book is no longer offered new, but is available used. Used prices range from $45.00 to $315.00. These prices attest to the value of the book.

Here are my initial attempts at doing more comprehensive sketching and at using marker for values. Marker is a whole lot faster than pencil.

Over the Top Award

2010-01-15T04:30:00.000-06:00

I have a fun award from Jeanne Grant.

The rules are: I need to answer a list of questions in ONE word, and I need to pass the award along to 5 other bloggers. So here we go:

1. Where is your cell phone?…Purse
2. Your hair?… Blonde
3. Your mother?… Passed
4. Your father?… Active
5. Your favorite food?… Starch
6. Your dream last night?… Didn't
7. Your favorite drink?…Merlot
8. Your dream/goal?… Illustration

9. What room are you in?… Office
10. Your hobby?… Art
11. Your fear?…Failure
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?… Illustrating
13. Where were you last night?… Home
14. Something that you aren’t?… Sophisticated
15. Muffins?… Homemade
16. Wish list item?… Time
17. Where did you grow up?… Vernon
18. Last thing you did?… Baked
19. What are you wearing?… Sweats
20. Your TV?… Small
21. Your Pets?… Adored
22. Friends?… Work
23. Your life?… Busy
24. Your mood?… Content
25. Missing Someone?… Me
26. Vehicle?… Honda
27. Something you're not wearing?… Shoes
28. Your favorite store?… Target
29. Your favorite colour?… Yellow
30. When was the last time you laughed?… Everyday
31. Last time you cried?… September
32. Your best friend?… Husband
33. One place that I go to over and over?… Library
34. Facebook?… No
35. Favorite place to eat?… Macaroni Grill

I'll pass this award along to the following bloggers, who all post frequently and do great work. Check out their blogs!

Illustration Friday - Confined

2010-01-13T21:57:00.010-06:00

Hansel prepares to trick the witch.

I chose to illustrate a scene in Hansel and Gretel. The witch has put Hansel in a cage and is fattening him up. Her eyesight is poor, so every day she she feels Hansel's finger to see if he is fat enough to eat. He tricks her by putting out a bone instead of his finger.

I am teaching myself Photoshop and experimenting with color. This is the drawing I colorized:

My son Christopher posed for this drawing. He loves drama and was happy to pretend he was locked in a cage and needed to trick the witch into thinking he was thin. I took a photo of his pose and used it as reference. Here is the photo:

WetCanvas January Portrait Challenge

2010-01-11T22:35:00.004-06:00

One of my resolutions is to participate in the WetCanvas Monthly Portrait Challenge. This is a charcoal drawing of one of this month's photo references; you can see the photo here. I used General charcoal pencils and a white Pitt pastel pencil on Strathmore charcoal paper. I am hoping to improve my likenesses and mark making ability.

Illustration Friday - Renewal

2010-01-06T20:00:00.015-06:00

I used a yoga pose to illustrate renewal, since I always feel renewed after yoga. Here is the full pose in a circular format:

And here is the full pose in a slightly different color scheme:

I used Crayola Chalk and Micron pen on Strathmore drawing paper, and I used a photo in Yoga Journal as the basis for my figure. The last version is the original version; I altered the color in the first two in Photoshop. The cropped version is my favorite.

After Rembrandt

2010-01-06T04:30:00.000-06:00

After Rembrandt. I like the drawing because the woman looks real.

Black and White Portrait

2010-01-04T04:30:00.000-06:00

Prismacolor black marker in my sketchbook. This is drawn from a photograph, but I reduced all values to black or white. Any guesses on who this is?

Lost in Space

2010-01-02T04:30:00.000-06:00

This piece was inspired by the Illustration Friday prompt Pioneer. I started to think about how the American settlers brought household items from home with them. I then thought about how much stuff I have and what a hassle it is to move. Which led me to think about space pioneers. What will the first settlers to Mars want to bring from home? Will they overpack? Will they bring foolish items? Will they need to discard household items in space?

I made line drawings of household items and scanned them in. I then manipulated and arranged the drawings in Photoshop Elements. I didn't understand layers before this exercise but now I do, so at least I developed a new skill.

My Art Goals for 2010

2010-01-01T08:45:00.012-06:00

It is that time of year again. I love reflecting and making goals for the new year. My goals fall into three categories:

Production Using my current skills to produce artwork.
Learning Developing new skills so my future artwork will be better.
Sketching I see this as a combination of production and learning.

By December 31, 2010, I will have a website that show cases my best illustration work, so I can start seeking illustration assignments in 2011.

Production

Participate in Illustration Friday every week.
Participate in the WetCanvas Monthly Portrait Challenge every month.

Learning

I will be taking oil painting with Dave Kramer at the Dallas Creative Arts Center. Dave is the best art teacher I ever had, and I want to take advantage of his instruction.

In addition, I will work through the following self-study books:

Adobe Photoshop CS4 Classroom in a Book (Complete by 4/30)
Creative Photoshop CS4: Digital Illustration and Art Techniques (Complete by 9/30)
Vanishing Point: Perspective for Comics from the Ground Up (Complete by 8/31)
Color Drawing: Design Drawing Skills for Architects, Landscape Architects, and Interior Designers (Complete by 12/31)
Watercolor Basics: People (Complete by 4/30)
Painting People in Watercolor (Complete by 9/30)
Expressive Portraits: Creative Methods for Painting People (Complete by 12/31)
The Figure: The Classic Approach to Drawing & Construction (Complete by 12/31)
Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Simple (Complete by 12/31)

Sketching

Here are my ideas for filling my sketch books:

Drawing from life
Imaginative drawing
Drawing dreams
Drawing memories
Making up stories
Illustrating journal writing done in the style of Writing Down to the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Anatomy studies
Portrait practice
Color practice

The photo is our front walk on Christmas morning.

Illustration Friday - Pioneer

2009-12-31T06:02:00.004-06:00

This pen drawing is roughly based on a photograph of Charles Darwin by Julia Margaret Cameron. The photograph is here. I was enchanted by the texture of his beard. I didn't use any pencil; I drew directly with pen and took my chances. Blue .05 Micron pen in a Canson Field Sketch book.

Both Darwin and Cameron were pioneers. I assume everyone knows of Darwin. Cameron (1815-1879) was a British aristocrat who took up photography the last 11 years of her life. She did portraits of many luminaries of her day, and her pictures influenced modern photography.

It's Snowing in Dallas!

2009-12-24T15:36:00.009-06:00

Miracle of miracles. It is snowing in Dallas on December 24th. And it is starting to stick. We are hoping for a white Christmas. Here are some pictures of our house. OK, so this is nothing compared to what you get in more northerly climates, but for Dallas folks, it is a big deal. Kids are ecstatic, and grown ups feel like kids again. Happy holidays!

Illustration Friday - Undone

2009-12-20T22:17:00.007-06:00

She's coming undone.

.05 Micron pen on Bienfang Graphics 360 100% Rag Translucent Marker Paper, with a touch of pink Prismacolor pencil. I love the paper--there is absolutely no bleeding.

Illustration Friday - Hatch

2009-12-18T05:06:00.013-06:00

A new crop of babies arrives in the cabbage patch. Here is a close up of the baby:

Book Review: Sketch Book

2009-12-01T04:51:00.001-06:00

Just finished reading Sketch Book: Conceptual Drawings from the World's Most Influential Designers by Timothy O'Donnell. The book profiles a number of different designers and shows pages from their sketch books. The focus is on graphic design, not illustration or fine art. The book is interesting in that the subjects use their sketch books as a thinking tool, not as objects of art. No pretty pictures here. I got the book from the library. I wouldn't buy it, but it is worth checking out from the library. It provides food for thought on how to make good use of a sketch book.

Illustration Friday - Entangled

2009-11-30T04:48:00.005-06:00

When I saw the prompt entangled, I immediately thought of a thicket of bushes in my backyard. The tangles have long fascinated me, and I have been wanting to draw them for some time now. This prompt was a good excuse. I drew from life for about an hour and then switched to imagination. I developed the drawing in pencil and at the end added some colored pencil, colored pen, and pastel pencil. I left part of the drawing undone, because I think it looks more interesting that way.

Box Figure

2009-11-28T06:29:00.002-06:00

I am practicing reducing figures to basic shapes such as boxes. This drawing is based on a photograph in Yoga Magazine. It is a woman doing a yoga pose.

Illustration Friday - Music

2009-11-25T06:09:00.007-06:00

The children eagerly follow the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

I am working on my silhouettes. I think the key to a good silhouette is (1) gesture and (2) details such as hair, ribbons, profile, and clothing. Arthur Rackham was a master at silhouette.

I drew the figures from imagination. I have been practicing figures and am finding practice pays off for imaginative work. The figures are drawn in Chartpack AD Marker on printer paper. The marker bled a little; next time I need to remember to use paper specifically made for markers.

Pumps

2009-11-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

I first drew these pumps using water soluble graphite pencils, but I didn't like the results. So I went over them with charcoal. I don't think these two mediums were meant to go together, but I like the results.

Illustration Friday - Unbalanced

2009-11-15T21:40:00.008-06:00

On Wednesday evening of last week, Mrs. Thea Gilberston from the town of Franklin was ajudged insane by Judge J.D. Perry and was taken to Mendota State Asylum on the Thursday afternoon train by Sherriff Buckley (Badger State Banner, April 13, 1893).

The above quote is from the wonderfully strange Wisconsin Death Trip by Michael Lesy, which chronicles crime and insanity in the 1890's in Wisconsin. I drew this portrait from imagination in pastel and charcoal on a watercolor-toned board and then adjusted in Photoshop Elements.

After Durer

2009-11-15T05:49:00.000-06:00

I love Durer's pen and ink work.

Figure Drawing Practice

2009-11-14T05:34:00.003-06:00

This drawing is based on a painting by Emmanuel Benner. I am practicing constructing the figure.

Illustration Friday - Blur

2009-11-11T16:31:00.007-06:00

As Albert aged, he found the years passed by in a blur.

I drew this from life using pencil, scanned it in, cropped it, and added color in Photoshop Elements.

In the Blue Grotto

2009-11-11T06:42:00.000-06:00

Figure drawing practice. This is after In the Blue Grotto by Jean Benner, which I found on this site by Mary Van Deusen.

2009-11-10T06:41:00.000-06:00

My dog Shelty.

Hand and Foot

2009-11-08T06:37:00.000-06:00

The foot is mine; I was looking down at it. It looks like a hobbit's foot, doesn't it?

Skull and Watch

2009-11-07T06:28:00.003-06:00

I drew the skull and watch from life in pencil, and then I adjusted the color in Photoshop Elements.

Flying

2009-10-17T19:22:00.003-05:00

I did this for last week's Illustration Friday prompt flying, but didn't submit it. It is based on a Vanity Fair photo from the 1950's. Except the model in the photo is not wearing an aviator's cap and goggles. The drawing fits right in with the gorgeous but silly advertisements in magazines like Vanity Fair. Beautiful people in really, really expensive clothing in interesting scenes that are far, far removed from reality. I get my Vanity Fairs at the local library's used book table for a quarter each and dream about the good life.

Bali Dancer and Flowers

2009-10-04T17:30:00.002-05:00

I am slowly getting back into the drawing habit, after a month hiatus. I drew a little here and there but not much. This drawing of a woman was inspired by a "Flashback" photo of a Bali dancer in the current issue of National Geographic; the photo was originally published in National Geographic in 1939. The flowers were drawn from life.

Illustration Friday - Strong

2009-09-06T05:24:00.002-05:00

A strong padlock will keep your possessions safe. To render this drawing, I used techniques I learned in the book Drawing Realistic Textures in Pencil by J.D. Hillberry. The drawing is on hot-pressed watercolor paper. I used pencil, charcoal, and frisket film to render the image.

Esther Neustadter 1929-2009

2009-09-03T15:42:00.006-05:00

My mother, Esther Neustadter, passed away at home on Tuesday, September 1st following a lengthy illness. She took her last breath at 12:45pm. She was 79 years old.

She was born on September 12th, 1929 in Kitchener, Ontario to Henry and Susan Riediger. She grew up with two older siblings, Eric and Ella, and she had two additional siblings that died at birth. She grew up speaking English and German and was fluent in both languages. She worked as a bank teller before she was married, a job she enjoyed.

John and Esther met in 1949, when John, who was from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was visiting relatives in Kitchener, Ontario. They met ice skating in Victoria Park. Although Esther was an excellent ice skater, she made a point to fall down frequently so John could help her up.

After John returned home to Lancaster, John and Esther wrote to each other. John returned to Kitchener for Esther’s sister Ella’s wedding, and John proposed marriage to Esther at Ella’s wedding. John and Esther were married on October 14th, 1950 in the Mennonite Brethren Church in Kitchener, Ontario.

After they were married, John and Esther moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where they purchased a 64 acre farm. Esther’s first child, Tom, was born on January 19th, 1952. In later years, Esther would fondly remember her farm dog Penny, a Saint Bernard, and would recall the tornado that took the roof off of their barn.

In 1952, John and Esther sold their farm and moved to Jamestown, New York, about 60 miles from Niagara Falls. John bred cows for the Curtiss Breeding Company and Esther was a homemaker. Esther’s second child, Laurel, was born on March 9th, 1959.

In 1961, John and Esther moved to Vernon, New York. Once her youngest child was in middle school, Esther started working as a book keeper at a local feed store. She first worked for Don Mower in Vernon Center, and when he went out of business, she went to work as a book keeper for Pohl’s Feedway in Vernon. She worked at Pohl’s until she retired. She enjoyed book keeping and excelled at it.

In November, 2008, Esther and John moved to Dallas, Texas, in order to be closer to their children.

Although she lived in the United States for almost 59 years, Esther remained a Canadian citizen and never became a citizen of the United States.

Esther grew up in the Mennonite faith. In Vernon, she attended the Vernon Baptist church and later became a member of the Oneida United Methodist church.

Esther enjoyed reading mysteries and liked to visit used book stores to look for books. She loved dogs and had a pet dog for most of her married life. While her children were still at home, she enjoyed playing pitch (a card game) with other women once a month. Later, she enjoyed participating in social activities at the Utica Maennerchor Club, a German singing club. Other members always liked to sit at her table, because she was fun to be with and would make sure everyone had a good time. She and John traveled to Germany to visit John’s relatives in the Heidelberg area.

Her favorite holiday was Christmas. She loved buying and wrapping presents. Her children did not understand German, so she and John discussed all Christmas plans in German, in order to keep everything secret until Christmas morning. Christmas morning was always highly anticipated.

Esther’s greatest joy was her home and family. She liked being a homemaker and took pride in a clean and neat house, full of good food. While her children were growing up, vacations were visits to Kitchener or Lancaster to visit relatives. Once her children were grown, she frequently traveled to California and Texas to visit her children and grandchildren. She was happiest when she was with her family.

Here is my Mom and Dad's wedding picture. On October 14th, 2009, they would have been married 59 years.

Foot Plus Shoe

2009-08-29T22:33:00.001-05:00

Body Parts

2009-08-28T04:06:00.000-05:00

Illustration Friday: Caution

2009-08-26T03:53:00.005-05:00

Caution: Don't run with scissors!

Here is double trouble:

Micron red and black pen and Prismacolor pencils on Canson Mi-Tientes Pastel paper.

Plaid

2009-08-25T04:15:00.002-05:00

Lately I am enjoying rendering complex textures and patterns. Here, I try to give the impression of plaid without drawing every detail.

Let It Be

2009-08-24T04:47:00.003-05:00

This drawing consists of images from the Sky Mall catalog. I choose photos that interest me and see where it takes me. In this drawing, I saw I was choosing serene faces on the left side and scary faces and animals on the right side. The serene faces do not seem to be too concerned about the situation, so I call this drawing Let It Be, after the Beatles song.

The Insect Repellent Hat

2009-08-22T17:09:00.002-05:00

I copied a photo in the Sky Mall catalog on the flight from Chicago to Syracuse at the start of my vacation.

Illustration Friday - Wrapped

2009-08-20T18:38:00.004-05:00

Just got back from my summer vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. I did this drawing in my sketch book, using a mechanical pencil. I was inspired by my teenage son asleep in our hotel room in Ticonderoga, New York. Thanks to moonlight coming through the window, I could see the general shape of his sleeping figure in the middle of the night, wrapped in a blanket. I quickly sketched the scene, as best I could in the moonlight, and then abstracted the drawing in an attempt to make the drawing more ambiguous and mysterious.

Illustration Friday - Impatience

2009-08-09T22:20:00.004-05:00

The problem with winning the rat race is you're still a rat. - Lily Tomlin

Although being in a hurry and impatience are not exactly the same thing, I think they are closely related. After all, if you are not in a hurry, what is there to be impatient about? Last Friday, as I was driving home from work, I saw a runner dash past me. Later, my husband told me he thought an illustration about impatience should include a clock. Voila! I had a concept for my illustration.

I used Edward Muybridge's photograph sequence of a running man as the models for my runners. Here is the sequence I used:

Max

2009-08-07T05:54:00.003-05:00

This is my cat Max. Blue gel ink pen (Gelly Roll Fine Point).

Illustration Friday - Modify

2009-08-05T05:27:00.004-05:00

After the wizard's apprentice turned his little sister into a cat, she howled with delight.

I have been itching to make a drawing that combines human features with animal ones. The prompt modify was a perfect opportunity. I combined two photo references into one graphite drawing and then tinted the drawing with color in Photoshop Elements.

Sky Over Dallas, Texas

2009-08-02T06:24:00.000-05:00

This is what the sky looked like yesterday over Dallas, Texas. It was rainy, stormy, and dramatic. I observed the sky as I drove around doing errands during the day and then drew it from memory last night. I used a 3B and H pencil in my Canson Field Sketch Book. I used a tissue for blending.

Illustration Friday: Idle

2009-07-29T05:19:00.000-05:00

This is my submission for the Illustration Friday prompt Idle. I am inspired by Dorthea Lange's photographs from the Great Depression, a time when many workers were idle. This drawing is a quick contour drawing inspired by a photograph of a San Francisco bread line, shown below. I try not to copy her photographs but rather attempt to use them as a point of departure. My contour drawing looks more like a bar scene rather than a bread line, but happily this still fits the theme of Idle. The Great Depression meets Cheers? I like all the hats in Lange's photos.

What's It All About, Alfie?

2009-07-23T05:05:00.000-05:00

Fun with the SkyMall magazine on flights between Dallas and Washington, D.C. These are all images from the magazine. Doesn't everyone need Easter Island and zombie lawn statues? Of course they do! Mechanical pencil and colored Micron pens in my Canson Field Sketch Book.

Survival of the Fittest

2009-07-17T04:17:00.000-05:00

Illustration Friday - Hollow

2009-07-14T04:56:00.001-05:00

Although drawn by her beauty, he eventually discovered her hollow shadows. Mechanical pencil in a Canson sketch book.

Illustration Friday - Shaky

2009-07-09T22:30:00.000-05:00

The grim reaper meets his match. Is he shaking with fear?

I see now that the grim reaper should be more distinct. I need more reaper and less flames.

Tissue Paper Flower

2009-07-08T06:16:00.000-05:00

This is a tissue paper flower from my son Andrew. Graphite and colored pencil.

Large

2009-07-07T08:39:00.000-05:00

This is a continuous line drawing of my dog Shelty. Simple can be good.

Toy Story

2009-07-06T08:28:00.000-05:00

This is one of Christopher's toy knights, drawn in Micron pen. I love drawing action figures. They don't move!

Last Friday, NPR aired a piece called Artists Make Money By Forgoing Traditional Galleries. The piece profiles 3 visual artists, exploring how each makes a living. None make a living selling their art, but each nevertheless is able to create art and survive. Check it out.

Lady Liberty

2009-07-04T17:47:00.000-05:00

This is a pen and ink drawing of the Statue of Liberty, drawn from a souvenir statuette from Ellis Island. My paternal grandparents left Russia in 1917, went to Germany, and then emigrated to the United States in 1925. They entered the United States via Ellis Island. My maternal grandparents also left Russia in 1917 and emigrated to Canada.

I did some consulting on Wall Street about 5 years ago and had an apartment in Battery Park, half a block from the Hudson and a view of the Statue of Liberty. The statue is beautiful. If I could afford to live in that area of New York City, I would move there in a minute.

I used a variety of Micron pen colors and experimented with blending colors.

Happy July 4th!

More Drawing Practice

2009-06-28T21:24:00.000-05:00

More drawing practice. An electrical outlet, a kleenex, and a globe. This time, I experimented with putting in background color, to make the light objects stand out. I like the idea of the kleenex floating through space. I don't worry about comparative scale of the objects. The small globe next to the large kleenex and outlet give an other wordly feel to the drawing. Mechanical pencil and colored pencil in Canson sketchbook.

Drawing Practice

2009-06-27T11:10:00.001-05:00

I am trying to establish a daily drawing practice. I am trying to do at least one drawing a day, but am combining drawings from different days on the same sheet of paper. I am also experimenting with different mediums in my daily drawing practice. And I am having fun. Mechanical pencil and colored pencil in Canson sketch book.

Christopher's Portrait, by Rose Welty

2009-06-14T07:05:00.000-05:00

Look what I received in the mail! A portrait of my son Christopher, by Rose Welty. The scanned image is wonderful, but it cannot compare to the real thing. The line work is awesome. Thank you, Rose!

Creepy and Thrifty

2009-06-07T06:28:00.000-05:00

The skull is from Halloween Spirit. As of May 19th, there were only 162 days left until Halloween. Wow, better get cracking!

There was a story on NPR this past week about skulls:

Evidently some actors who play Hamlet will only use a human skull.
The skull is treated roughly in Hamlet, so there is a good chance it will be damaged.
Some people will their skulls to theater companies, so they can play Yorick after death. So if you have a boring job in the here and now, there is still a chance for a second career in the arts after death. The downside is you will be treated badly.

That is all I can think to say about skulls today.

Shoe and Foot

2009-06-06T08:22:00.000-05:00

I am having fun trying to compose items on the page.

Candle Stick and Dog

2009-06-05T06:09:00.001-05:00

I am trying to draw looser and faster.

Scavenger Hunt

2009-06-04T06:28:00.000-05:00

I am joining in the WetCanvas Scavenger Hunt. There are 26 items to draw; here is one page of my drawings. I am trying to train myself to draw faster and looser. I am also trying to make interesting compositions with the items. I do best with organic items, especially human faces and figures. I am inspired by Esther Wilson's sketch book compositions; you can see her daily drawings here.

100 Heads: Head #64

2009-05-31T18:52:00.000-05:00

Here is a copy of the Mona Lisa, made in charcoal. I had two purposes in making this copy:

To improve my observation skills, and
To study the planes of the face.

The copy is not perfect, but I am getting tired of making copies so I am going to call it quits for a while. Does making copies improve observation skills? I don't know. It improves skills for copying a two dimensional image. I cannot say if it improves observation skills for real life, though. Copying a flattened image is easier than drawing from life. And of course, copying, whether from a 2D reference or life, is not art. It is a technical skill.

For a change of pace, I am going to switch to more imaginative work in June. I plan to create art inspired by moody movie stills, study and invent costumes, and work on some sequences. I also plan to do a lot of sketching from life. Not drawing from life, as I am inclined to do, but quick & dirty sketching. I am also working on an oil painting in an oil painting class.

Here is my copy side-by-side with the real thing. OK, not the real thing, but a black & white photo of the real thing.

Starting Over

2009-05-25T18:41:00.000-05:00

Christopher and I got all of our unwanted oil paintings together and gesso'ed over them, so we would have lots have fresh panels. We went out on the patio on a beautiful Texas Memorial Day, spread our paintings out, and painted over them with Dick Blick Master Gesso. It is thick, gooey, and oh so satisfying. This is the first time I have used gesso; I will report in a future post how oil paint takes to the surface. The Gesso label says it is for acrylic painting, but my oil painting teacher says it works for oils too.

We left the gesso'ed panels on the patio to dry in the sun. It only took a hour or two. A few unfortunate bugs lost their lives on the gesso surfaces, but the thick oil paint should make the tiny insects unnoticeable.

Angel of Faithfulness

2009-05-21T07:22:00.000-05:00

This is a sketch from life. No pencil, just a pen. I find drawing with a pen strangely relaxing. If I make a mistake, I let it go, cuz there no erasing. The drawing is what it is. This statuette is the Angel of Faithfulness from a Jim Shore collection. I never tire of drawing her.

100 Heads: Head #63

2009-05-19T07:15:00.000-05:00

This is my mom. I sketched her on Saturday. She was uncomfortable and was shifting positions a lot, so the position of her head was shifting too. Nevertheless, the sketch resembles her. She says I make her look like she is frowning. I do not think she looks mad; I think she looks thoughtful.

100 Heads: Head #62

2009-05-17T07:12:00.000-05:00

This is my husband Bob. I drew him last night, while we were watching episodes from Heroes Season Two. (We are always a few years behind on TV series.)

100 Heads: Head #61

2009-05-10T15:02:00.000-05:00

This is my copy of a self-portrait by Kathe Kollwitz (1867-1945), a German artist who specialized in print making and whose work highlighted the plight of the poor and oppressed. I used medium vine charcoal to outline the face and then used compressed charcoal for tone, on Strathmore charcoal paper.

In my last post, I mentioned I copy master portraits in order to improve my observation skills. Here, I was also trying to expand my toolkit of techniques. This portrait is an example of modeled drawing. Darker tone is used to push the form away from the viewer, and lighter tone is used to bring the form towards the viewer. The range of values do not represent the range of lights and darks that result from a light source shining on the subject. I like the exaggerated angular features and the way the texture of the paper is incorporated into the portrait. The resulting portrait is very expressive.

I think Kollwitz outlined the face in charcoal and then used a piece of charcoal on its side to quickly model the head. This technique is quick to execute, but requires great skill to do well. It must take years of drawing practice to get to the point where the tones are laid down correctly on the first try. My copy is 9" x 12", which I found to be a little small. I think a larger size paper would make it easier to vary the pressure and resulting charcoal tone in one sweeping arm movement.

Here is a side-by-side comparison of my drawing and Kollwitz's. I am going to try a self-portrait using this technique.

100 Heads: Head #60

2009-05-09T18:30:00.000-05:00

This is a copy of one of Rembrandt's self-portraits. The original is in oil; my copy is in charcoal and pastel. I used Winsor & Newton medium vine charcoal, Conte H, HB, B, and 2B charcoal pencils, and a Pitt white pastel pencil on Strathmore charcoal paper. Why copy a portrait? I am trying to improve my observation skills. If I copy portraits and consistently get a likeness, I know my observation skills are improving. I am also practicing my approach to portraits: Start with the general and work down to the specific.

I check my work by putting my drawing and the original side-by-side in Photoshop Elements. I learned how to do this here.

The likeness is not terrific. This portrait was not as easy as I thought it would be. First, older, flabby faces are tougher than young, lean faces. Muscles and bone structure help. Second, I discovered there are a large variation of values in the dark areas. At first, I tried to render the dark areas with a uniform value. It did not work. Third, the texture of the older face was a challenge. Rembrandt effectively used oil point to render the roughness of his skin.

I have a new appreciation for Rembrandt's work. His portrait is beautiful and so sensitively rendered. It is something to aspire to.

100 Heads: Head #59

2009-05-02T17:01:00.000-05:00

I did this portrait of my mom this afternoon. I spent 30 - 60 minutes on it. Mom was a good sport about sitting still and not moving too much. A perfect model. I still struggle with the back of the head. How big is it? What is its exact shape? I need to do more skull studies to internalize the shape of the head. In this pose, mom was leaning the back of her head against the back of the couch. Don't know why I didn't think to draw the couch.

100 Heads: Head #58

2009-04-26T16:46:00.000-05:00

This is a portrait of my son Christopher. You can see the reference photo below. I used medium vine charcoal, Conte H, B, HB, and 2B charcoal pencils, and General's white charcoal pencil on blue Strathmore Charcoal paper. And I used a little bit of red pastel too. I have recently made some portrait drawing process changes:

I work standing up at an easel now, rather than sitting down and drawing in a sketch book. Being able to step back and look at both the photo reference and my drawing at the same time seems to improve my proportions and values.
When I am standing back and looking at the photo reference, I squint in order to see the major shapes and values. Human beings do not focus on detail the way a camera does. There is no reason to try to copy all of the details in a photo.
I work on the general shape and tilt of the head, position of features, and planes of the face before getting into details of the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. This is contrary to my instincts and is hard for me to do. But slowing down and getting the big picture right is faster in the long run and leads to better results.

There is nothing new about any of these revelations, of course. Sometimes it just takes a long time for the basics to sink in.

Book Review: Teach Yourself Visually Drawing

2009-04-21T05:00:00.000-05:00

I came across this book at my local library: Teach Yourself Visually Drawing by Dean Fisher and Josephine Robinson (Wiley, 2008). I am always on the lookout for new drawing books, so I checked it out. It is excellent.

The book takes an atelier approach to drawing. In fact, many of the drawings remind me of drawings in Classical Drawing Atelier by Juliette Aristides. Teach Yourself Visually Drawing, however, is a little more down-to-earth and accessible. For example, Teach Yourself Visually Drawing has numerous step-by-step demonstrations.

Teach Yourself Visually Drawing has the following chapters:

What is Drawing?
Drawing Materials
In the Studio
Prepare to Draw
Discover the Pattern of Light and Shadow
Introduction to One-Point Perspective
Add More Dimension to Your World: Two-Point Perspective
Discover the Potential of Line
Planar Rendering of Complex Forms
Draw a Plaster Cast
The Portrait
Drawing the Human Figure
The Landscape

Most chapters end with a gallery of drawings. The drawings are by a variety of artists and are just exquisite. Very inspiring.

Teach Yourself Visually is evidently a whole series of books (e.g., Teach Yourself Visually Knitting, Teach Yourself Visually Guitar, Teach Yourself Visually Windows XP). The marketing slogan is "Read Less-Learn More". The idea is to learn by looking at pictures rather than by reading. This sounds intriguing, but in reality, most art books teach by showing art in various stages of completion. This book is good not because it has more pictures and fewer words than other art books, but rather because of the classical approaches it teaches and the exquisite drawings used to illustrate the techniques.

100 Heads: Head #57

2009-04-19T14:04:00.000-05:00

This is a copy of the painting Portrait of Gabrielle Cot by William Bouguereau (1825-1905). You can see a reproduction of the original here. I do not think I have quite captured the likeness, but I have worked on it long enough and am ready to move on. I am trying to train myself to be more observant; one way I judge my observation skills is by how close I can get to a likeness. In portraiture, precision counts. I used a HB mechanical pencil in a Canson sketch book.

100 Heads: Head #56

2009-04-15T10:08:00.000-05:00

This is a copy of Portrait of a Peasant Girl by Alexei Alexeivich Harlamoff (1848-1915). The original is oil on canvas; my copy is black and white charcoal on gray paper. This is the WetCanvas April Monthly Portrait Challenge 2009.

Toy Story

2009-04-14T06:41:00.000-05:00

I enjoy drawing Christopher's action figures.

100 Heads: Head #55

2009-04-13T06:37:00.000-05:00

This is my husband Bob, watching a Heroes episode. Save the cheerleader. Save the world.

100 Heads: Head #54

2009-04-12T06:25:00.000-05:00

This is a scribbled line gesture drawing of my son Christopher. He was asleep with his shoulder hunched up over the lower part of his face. Scribbled line gesture drawing is a little like sculpture. You push in the form by scribbling more, and you pull out the form by scribbling less. Getting proportions right can be a challenge, since you start at the center of the form and work your way out.

100 Heads: Head #53

2009-03-31T21:30:00.000-05:00

This is a portrait I did for my on-line portrait group.

100 Heads: Head #52

2009-03-29T07:31:00.000-05:00

This is a copy of the angel's head from the painting Madonna on the Rocks (1483-1485 ) by Leonardo Da Vinci. This painting is in the National Gallery in London. The original is in oil; my copy is in graphite. I changed the angel's hair a little to make the woman look more contemporary. I have been using the egg shape as a basis for drawing heads. I draw guidelines on the eggs to help me position the features of the face. This method is not particularly accurate though; it is easy to get the guidelines wrong. I plan to try out other methods, such as the cube in perspective, to see if they lead to quicker accuracy.

Doodling on a Jet Plane

2009-03-28T07:08:00.000-05:00

I flew to the Washington DC area this week; this is what I did on the flight home to Dallas. The plane was nearly empty, so I had a whole row of seats to myself. Very relaxing. Good for me, bad for American Airlines. I got the idea for this type of drawing from the book Keys to Drawing with Imagination by Bert Dodson. Dodson calls this escher tiling:

The object of this technique is to make a drawing that has no background spaces; every shape is an object that fits into every other shape.

I made up a game where I had to copy images from the Sky Mall catalog in the seat pocket in front of me. You know, the catalog with things no one really needs? Like the King Tut Life-Sized Sarcophagus Cabinet for $850?

I flipped through the catalog until I came to an image that appealed to me, then I fitted it into the drawing. Very relaxing and childlike. Doing art for no reason at all.

100 Heads: Head #51

2009-03-25T18:14:00.000-05:00

30 minute sketch of my dad. Here I am experimenting with using line as a unifying element in the drawing.

Fist Blind Contour Drawing

2009-03-24T06:39:00.000-05:00

Blind contour drawing of an always available model: My hand.

Giraffe Blind Contour Drawing

2009-03-23T06:34:00.000-05:00

This is a blind contour drawing of a giraffe statuette.

100 Heads: Head #50

2009-03-22T06:27:00.001-05:00

30 minute sketch of my mom, from life.

Going Bananas

2009-03-07T05:39:00.001-06:00

I am revisiting fundamentals this month and practicing contour drawing. I am also developing design skills by thinking about how I arrange multiple contour drawings on a single page.

The Couple (Rock of Ages Variation #1)

2009-03-06T16:50:00.000-06:00

Here is the first variation on the drawing I posted here. I used charcoal on Ingres paper. At first, I had difficulty getting started on a variation of another drawing. I am so used to copying, either from life or from master drawings, that I struggled with imaginative work. Once I got started, though, the drawing took on a life of its own, and I no longer referred to the original drawing, but rather let my instinct guide me.

Rock of Ages

2009-03-01T18:45:00.000-06:00

Wow, I have been gone from blogging for over a month! My mother is still in a rehabilitation center recovering from hip surgery, but she is now stable and is slowly gaining mobility. Rehabilitation is a long, slow process and I am getting back to my normal life and activities.

This drawing was inspired by an exercise in the book Experimental Drawing by Robert Kaupelis. I started with a crop of a magazine photo. I cropped the photo a long time ago, so I do not recall the magazine. I think the actual photo was of a man and a woman lying next to one another. I like the ambiguity and the forms in the cropped photo. The faces remind me of mountains. This drawing replicates the cropped photo closely, but it is just the first step in a series of drawings. In subsequent drawings, I will depart from the cropped photo more and more. Eventually, the art work will be totally different from the original photo.

Learning From the Masters with Cynthia Padilla

2009-01-24T15:19:00.000-06:00

I am taking a two day Mastering Portrait Drawing Workshop with Cynthia Padilla. It was last Sunday and again this Sunday. I signed up for it quite a long time ago; I decided to go to it even though my mother is in the hospital. In the workshop, we copy high quality copies of master works using Conte crayon, pastel, and other mediums. This drawing is my first attempt at Conte crayon.

This is head #50. I believe this is a copy of Head of a Girl by Francois Boucher. Sadly, I failed to write down the name of the artist. Bad me.

Good news about my mother: Yesterday she moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation center. She went into the hospital because of a slow heartbeat. The doctors corrected that, only to discover she had internal bleeding due to blood thinner medication. The doctors corrected that, and then she broke her hip in the hospital, which resulted in hip surgery. I think she is finally on the mend.

Illustration Friday - Pale

2009-01-22T16:37:00.000-06:00

I started with this drawing from life, which I manipulated in Photoshop Elements.

100 Heads: Head #49

2009-01-21T20:26:00.001-06:00

Another drawing of my mom in the hospital.

100 Heads: Head #48

2009-01-18T16:15:00.000-06:00

My mom asleep in her hospital bed.

100 Heads: Head #47

2009-01-17T08:42:00.001-06:00

This is a copy of Michelangelo's drawing Portrait of Andrea Quarates (1528). I have really struggled with this drawing and have decided it is time to call it quits. I found the nose particularly difficult.

I have not been posting due to a family medical emergency. My mother has been in the hospital for almost two weeks now. I work during the day and spend evenings in the hospital, so I do not have much time for art or the computer. To my portrait group: I am sorry about my lack of participation. I have been working on the portrait off and on. I will pop in this weekend to see your progress.

The Man Who Made Vermeers

2009-01-03T08:10:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading The Man Who Made Vermeers by Jonathan Lopez, which is yet another book on master forger Han van Meegeren. Han van Meegeren was the Dutch artist who successfully forged Vermeer paintings at the time of World War II. There is another recent book on van Meegeren, The Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick. I reviewed The Forger's Spell here back in November.

The Man Who Made Vermeers and The Forger's Spell tell the same basic story.

The Forger's Spell provides a panaramic view of World War II history, art forgery, art history, and van Meegeren. It is an easy read and paints Han van Meegeren in a sympathetic light.

The Man Who Made Vermeers, on the other hand, focuses more on the forger himself and provides a scholarly treatment of the subject. Lopez portrays van Meegeren as a Nazi collaborator who didn't swindle the Nazis as a political statement, but rather swindled them because he was a forger and forgers are in the business of swindling their customers. According to Lopez, the myth of Han van Meegeren as heroic forger has persisted for so long because much of the evidence against him is in Nazi artifacts that are hidden from public view, either by law in Germany or by good taste in other Western countries. The evidence against him simply wasn't accessible. Lopez also makes interesting observations around the psychology of forgery. By today's norms, the forged Vermeers are very bad and are obviously fake. Lopez shows examples of Nazi art and shows how the fakes borrowed elements from Nazi art. This appealed to Nazi buyers on a subconscious level. In general, forgers make their forgeries appeal to the modern eye in some way. As time passes and culture and norms change, the fakes become obvious because viewers are no longer immersed in the culture of the forger's day.

I recommend this book. It is not as easy a read as The Forger's Spell, but is probably more truthful.

Illustration Friday - Clandestine

2009-01-01T11:37:00.000-06:00

Dew-touched meadows and trees are actually clandestine fairy meetings. Happy New Year!