NELVIA'SART.COM

                                                                   Mugshot 6  4"x4" Ok I have switched both paper and media today and went to color pencil.  I am trying to use a pretty limited palette and took a shot at depicting dark skin tones.  Because I was working with pencil I felt like I had a bit more control.  However because the paper has some texture to it I have valleys with no color - tomorrow might try some Bristol board and see how that goes, or maybe hot press watercolor paper - both have really hard smooth finishes.  I think I might stay a while with this - would like to try doing pastel but am not really sure I can get fine enough details since I am working so darn small.  I might have to try to enlarge some of the future ones to get what I want - oh well, got to at lea...

                                                                         Ballerina                                                                           11"x14"                                                                        Color Pencil Well this weeks entertainment is another portrait.  My friend Hilda, a wonderful portrait and pastel artist, has been counseling me on another project - bless you Hilda.  Anyway she sugg...

Odd Man Out is just a quickie today of things I found along my walks.   We have lot of pine trees here of different varieties and as you can see different sized pine cones, as well as the acorns the squirrels love to eat.  Got to admit I love to draw those little acorns, different textures and I just like the shape.  Pine cones like pineapples are a real challenge as they have a definite mathematical pattern.  Since I didn't get it absolutely correct, just the impression, guess I will have to keep drawing them until I get proficient.  This makes me think of Fall though and not of the absolute COLD we are going to have starting tonight - finally winter is definitely here. I have several larger pictures going that I have been working on and they are just much slower going.  One is working back in oil so I have to let it dry somewhat between layers and the other is another palette knife painting. Hope you are having a super weekend and thanks much fo...

                                                                       Miner's Tool                                                                             6"x9"                  ...

                                                                 A Little Attitude                                                                        11"x14"                            ...

                                                                    Red Tail Hawk                                                                   Color Pencil/Pastel                             ...

Well here is today's update on my hawk which is slowly coming along because I have been watching golf on tv and reading a Jefferson Bass book.  I keep adding more layers of pencil and frankly am amazed that the mat board just continues to take them.  When I think the feather work gets too dark I hit it with a bit of white pastel and work it all over again.  Since this one is being a bit tedious for me I as I often do in these slumps I start to read and study a lot and look at other people's work and techniques (thank God for WetCanvas).  Also I am finally getting into the summer time routine, porch in the morning (getting lesser each day) and then board yourself up in the afternoon as it is HOT HOT HOT. So reading about I get all these new ideas and start to try other techniques and just had to start a wolf head portrait piece that I already did in oil, but am now going to try to do it in acrylic.  I will try to work on that a bit more tomorrow hoping to fin...

First off thank you Val for telling me what your first reaction was, that I had lost the beak in the background coloring.  It just points out how important it is to have others give you meaningful critiques and input.  Studied on it for a while and while not sure if this will be the final, I think the beak does pop out more now that I've used a lighter value than what I had in previously.  I also think it may have made the strengthened the focal point more of the eye area because it picks up some of the eye color as well. Also I bit the bullet and sprayed the pastel portion with workable fixative and am hoping that will keep it in place and not go flat on me, but ... we'll see.   The dark green also has been migrating and it has been difficult to keep the color pencil area clean as every time you move the board some of it floats down.  Patience has never been one of the virtues I was blessed with and color pencil is tedious and slow at best.  Some...

Normally I am not the biggest fan of backgrounds, but felt that I needed to get this one in so I could overlap the feather work where needed and also get some more color in to judge the color of the hawk itself.  Once I got it in I got excited as I felt it start to snap a bit and pull together outlining where I think I am going. So before I mowed the grass I got that background in fairly quickly, using five shades of pastel.  And then, because I didn't melt at 94 degrees, this afternoon I started to work under the beak and finished around the eye.  I will now work from left to right trying to protect and not disturb that pastel.  I might get brave and try to fix it since I am not really concerned that I keep the actual colors (if it changes it darker I don't think that would be a problem).    I know the mat board won't take many more layers and I will probably need hit it again to keep it from getting that flat look.  So a light spray of workable ...

Well this is to keep me more honest than you as I am trying to keep the pressure on me to get back into the art room consistenly and make something positive happen.  So this is my progress through today.   I do find that I am using quite a bit of graphite in this piece along with the color pencil and am thinking I better get my pastel background in before long. Bloody hot outside, going to be 97F degrees today (I know it is supposed to be summer, but come on!!) so nice to be inside - thank goodness for air conditioning.  I really don't know how the people in the olden days lived in the South with this heat and humidity.  I finished the book I was using for inspiration so hopefully my drive to continue doesn't dissipate.  Thanks for stopping by and hope you are having a great week.

Ok, so what started as a bit of a rest and focus turned on other things, then getting really nasty sick, turned into a full out slump.  I just got where nothing interested me or jump started my motor to get into the art room. So how great is our mind??  I think I have mentioned before I am a voracious reader, everything from Smithsonian magazines on politics, art, literature and science to James Patterson and Nora Roberts.  Yes I am a huge fan of Nora's I think she just writes an interesting read and I like that she does a series of books, so you learn about the characters. So, you might ask, what does this have to do with this hawk?  Well, the book I am currently reading has hawks involved, and we have three different hawks that frequent our yard, two Shin and one Red Tail Hawk.  They are just magnificent creatures even though I know they chase my birds.  But I neither have the camera or ability to capture them in a photo that would be good enough for ...

                                                                     Night Train                                                                         9"x12"                        ...

Cruising 7"x5" Color Pencil/Pastel   Well this little guy is out for a swim.  What drew me to this was trying to see if I could get the water look and of course the fluffy little bundle who is just paddling away.    Thanks for stopping by and hoping you are having a good Monday.

  Lady in Red 7"x5"                                                  Color Pencil/Hot Press Watercolor Paper Week 1 of the challenge is history!!!!!    And yes, I did sing the song the whole time I worked on this. I thought Leslie put it very well yesterday "But this is the time where the novelty starts to wear off and it's really easy to come up with a reason not to complete the challenge. Painting 30 paintings in 30 days is not easy." Saw another artist on PMP do an interpretation of this photo and just loved it so had to try myself.   Also wanted to see if I could make her look like she was lookingY up.   Did do this on hot press watercolor paper I inadvertently ordered and sinc...

Yes, Pigs Can Fly 7"x5" Color Pencil/Pastel/Ink Whoopee - we are at day 5, so means almost a week into the challenge.  Got to work on the mental as I am tired and found I had to beat myself this morning to get into the studio.  But finally got there!!!   Yep, this definitely is a face that only a mother could love.  But I love the ears and he had really long coarse white hairs sticking out everywhere.  Oh yeah, his expression is priceless.  This came from a reference picture from PaintMyPhoto.ning by photographer Patricia Ann Jones, her title was Mirror, Mirror .... which was cute too.  This is  mostly color pencil, Sakura white pen and pastel for the background on gray paper.   Thanks much for stopping by and hope you are having a great weekend.  Lots of football!!!!  Enjoy

Shades of Pink 5"x7" Graphite/Color Pencil on Bristol Board   Well this puts me back to summer and heat - not winter, cold and drizzle or downright rain.  I love taking pictures of kids (these days always ask first) and this little girl caught my eye.  She was all dolled up cruising in her stroller at the Birmingham farmers market.   I just loved her coordinated glasses and bow and those little cupid lips - she just gottcha. Thanks for stopping by and hope you have recovered from New Year's and getting a good start on the new year.

Well back at work on the lower section of the tail, this is where there are a lot of patterns and also a lot of stringy (am sure that is not the technical name) feathers that look soft and hang down.  Tried to get the pattern of these by negative drawing.  This is an important tool that I definitely need to practice more on.  With this level of detail I find myself getting pretty tight and do take a lot of breaks.  I probably am going to have to darken up the under belly, but wanted to wait to get the other leg in and develop the under the wing feathers on the right side before I darken too much.  I find it is difficult, when there is so much white on the paper, to determine how much to darken until the end.   The color adds so much that it might be correct just with the faintest of featherwork that I already have.   So am taking the sage advice to just kind of block it in and then wait (hmmm, think that smacks of patience) until I c...

Well this week it is back to my Osprey and I have been working on him in what seems like lots of time increments (hubby accused me of being glued to my chair).  I keep thinking about the 10,000 hours comment that you need to put in before you start to get it, whoa, with color pencil I think I must be getting close as for me it is a slow process.  But alas, too, been busy trying to clean house now that the heat is on the dust, it is aflying!!!  Also with Christmas coming I kind of want to spruce things up, as I know before I am ready the holidays will be here. Since we have the 12 Days of Christmas cooking coming up (this is hubby's annual tradition and we eat from around the world)  I needed to clean the kitchen, degreasing, so new grease has got a place to go.  But not complaining because I am the receipent of all the good food.  (So got to increase the exercise regime and better start now!!) Anyway here is the Osprey with the mai...

  Well I have Pink to the stage now that he is going to sit on the easel for a bit while I decide whether or not to add more color in the feathers on the body.  The reference photo is even lighter than what I am reflecting here, and thi shot doesn't show the colors as dark as they are in real life.  I do have some other reference photos where the flamingos have much more dramatic coloration on the neck and some of the body feathers.  Will study those and determine whether I can and want to add that much color in.  If anyone has some name suggestions please comment as I am not sure that "Pink" does it. Thanks for stopping by and hope you are having a great week.

Not having any formal art education I tend to do a lot of reading to learn techniques, gain ideas, be awed by what others are doing, and get inspiration.  So I gave myself this year, 2014, to just try anything before I settle down into something and stick with it (whatever that might be).  Anyway I am reading an e-book from Nicole Caulfield about how she uses color pencil on sanded paper.  She creates portraits that look like Rembrandt, using the fade-too-dark edges and dramatic lighting - believe it or not, with color pencils.  I have worked with pastel for many years, but very little with sanded paper, pastels is the main media using this type of support, or so I thought.  Hilda - do you use it?  If so what brand do you utilize. There are only several types of sanded paper out there (yes, it is an archival type of the sand paper found in hardware stores) from moderately expensive to what I call expensive, $10/sheet.  However, you can make you...