shifting shades and planes

An abstract done in layers of gesso, w/c, charcoal, and other random media lying around! On 90# Canson.

The scan has brighter and slightly darker colors than the original.

An unusual piece (for me) in that it took several days to do while I waited for layers to dry and contemplated next moves. But it is more like the abstracts I admire than most of what I produce.

Happy New Year!

complacency

I have a clay giraffe who has such a satisfied, quirky expression. I toned the paper first, drew him, then blotched in more background.

The shape on the left was a bloom that I turned into a catlike figure.

Tech pen and w/c on 140# Fabriano Artistico.

lifting power

These paperwhite bulbs were below the rim of the bowl when I started them. They've all pushed down long sturdy roots, lifting themselves right out of the rocks, and beyond.

Experimenting on Saunders Waterford paper with w/c crayons and pencils.

imagining again

For once, one of my imagined guys has hair!

Quick sketch on Moleskine w/c paper.

I wish you a joyous, peaceful, healthy holiday!

Happy Christmas Eve!

It's been a tough December. May the return of longer days bring brighter Light for all of us.

Playing with paint on S. Waterford paper, experimenting with bloom. I added Sharpie and colored pencil on top, intensifying hue.

back, intermittently

Until the power outage, I'd only missed posting about 3 days since November 13, 2007. So now I start again, knocked down but not out by a major ice storm.

Doodling on 140# Saunders Waterford paper. My next year's goal is to work on better paper, opening up to more flexibility and techniques in layering and lifting.

It's a goal, nothing more.

W/c and tech pen.

re-empowered

Power is back, landline re-attached, cable restrung.

We can rejoin the modern world. I'm still digging out from the camping experience. But I'm glad to report that one can draw just fine with a headlamp shining on the paper.

They have to be mostly imagined things drawn, though! It's very dark outside the two-foot circle from the light.

Posting will restart after I've done some Christmas prep. And prepared for the 6-12 inches of snow that are forecast for tomorrow.

Ugh! New England winter! Don't tell me how pretty it is until you've coped with the cold, wet, dark parts.

still powerless

Finishing day 5 with no power. Learning to cook on a woodstove where there's little space, little heat regulation (too hot or not hot enough, basically), and hard to see by candlelight what's happening in the skillet.

But at least we're eating hot food!

Posted from the local library's internet connection.

lacking electricity

Quick post from the public wireless at the public library to say that we have no power at home. Blogging is blocked!

There are power lines down across streets all around us, 2 days after the storm. Our phone, electricity, and internet lines have been pulled off the house by 2 huge branches, now lying in the driveway.

We're sleeping on the floor by the woodstove and using candles after 4 pm dark. At least I can cook on the woodstove, using up food that's rapidly thawing and warming in the fridge.

The estimate is 3-7 days to get power back. But the malls and stores are open--not so many trees around there.

Posting will resume when power does.

trying out the paper

Experimenting with actual painterly skills (ha!) on 300# paper. I painted the objects while standing (plein air style, but inside).

Then after that paint had dried, I did the background fast strokes over and around the items. Radically poor technique, I know, and the wall is not this color.

But it was fun to try.

playing

Soluble pen and w/c in the Reflexion journal. Great paper for watermedia.

turned away

Chaucer held this position long enough that I could actually catch the contours. Not sure what he was doing back there; he wasn't moving!

graphite man

People emerge in my doodles. I have no idea who they are. But they're usually bald.

dabs and strokes

Caran d'Ache w/c crayons and w/c in the Reflexion journal.

imagined tree

Imagining rocks and a tree.

Tech pen and w/c iIn the Reflextion journal.

brush broom

This broom always makes me think of a woman in a full dress, half-sitting. It hangs on the back of our front door.

W/c brushes for the broom, colored pencil for the door, on Strathmore drawing paper.

tall thin buildings

A doodle, then I added color.






Fountain pen with Noodler's, and w/c in the Reflexion journal.

mixing the media

The pink and blue/green are w/c paint. The cat and floor are done with Art-Kure brush pen.

I used Prismacolor markers for the chair and pillow. Love the intensity and permanence; hate the paper penetration.

On Canson Sketchpaper.

300 lb cat

. . . meaning that I drew him on 300 lb. Arches.

I thoroughly wet the paper and drew a base sketch with w/c crayons. Lots of bleeding, so I waited for the paper to dry a lot, then layered in more crayon for more intense color.

My intent is to learn how different media act on this heavy paper--one small piece at a time.

soluble brush pen

Using an Art-Kure brush pen,then ve-ery carefully trying to wash color into the face from the soluble line.

In the Reflexion journal--great paper!

stuck

Flying home again, drawing on the plane. This is the imagined scene that emerged on the page.

After I drew it, I saw the metaphor for my Dad's existence in a nursing home--path to freedom blocked by immovable rocks.

local sight

Still life in a unhappy place where life is fading.

Drawing keeps me going.