NELVIA'SART.COM

Struggling with how to learn GIMP, trying the tutorials and I am just hopeless I guess.  Anyway, here is Tomboy, Rachael, I think it's a girl, at least in my mind.  Anyway, think she is pretty much complete, may do additional in the neck area. But she is going to stay on the board for a few days and then I'll see what I want to do with her. Thanks for stopping by and hope all have a great week.

Well here is my little tomboy this morning.  Have to go out and trim bushes in the front yard - ugh!!  But have her shadow side pretty roughed in and now will have to go to the sharp point and then smooth the color layers on that side, IRL you can see the board and it gives her a rough skin texture.  I reworked the mouth area and am hoping it will look more like the reference, but see right now that I have it a bit lopsided and too much mass to the right bottom, glad I posted as it makes me more objective.  I really don't like the light shape on her shadowed eye, so got to work that a bit more too.  Did lift some color out of her right eye, actually got to looking dull and had great mud going there as I was reworking and tweaking too much - got to stop that.  I am hoping to get her neck area in and her mostly completed by tonight.  Know it is going to get hot this afternoon and the humidity after 3" of rain is not pleasant outside sitting, so wi...

Sorry for posting so much but when I get excited .......  Rachael is coming on now at a pretty good clip and am hoping I can get the rest of the face in tomorrow.  Got to rework one of her eyes and not sure how that will go.  Still have the bottom lip and know that is going to,be very pivotal in this painting.  Since I have been working on her gave myself a drawing break this week.  Try tomorrow to get one done for next week.  Thanks for stopping by and looking, sure appreciate it. Raining now so cools down the hot, porch time with a glass of well deserved wine.  :)

Well am happy that I actually got some work in this before work and bed and am hoping to have some uninterrupted hours and think she will come more together.  Thanks to all who stopped by and if you see something don't hesitate to tell me.  Sometimes you lose the objectivity. Hope all have a great weekend 

Sometimes these pictures just want to be on paper so bad you just have to get out of the way and let them come so here is an update

Oh  Oh boy, sorry but took a side adventure as I still have much more prep work for my next painting, I don't know that much about horse heads and musculature so got to find some better references so I can make up what I can't see.  I have had her drawn for a while now and wanted to do her on this green mat board but thought it would be in graphite.  But just love her rosey skin tones and those sleepy eyes and knew it had to be color, so off to the races with color pencil.  Not a lot of layers available here so got to get it nailed in about 3-4 swipes and then I am locked out.  Know already I am going to have a fight with the eyes and the lips, sooooo... Not sure will make it or not but will try to go all the way to the end on this one. Hope everyone has a great week and paint like it means something!!

Here is this weeks drawing.  Decided to combine my next piece work with this one, so this is part of what I hope will become the first painting of the "Spirit" series of paintings.   Had this idea in my head for many years but never could get it to paper, so now is the time to try.  Glad I drew this first because as always see things I definitely want to change.  Still debating whether this will be pastel or color pencil, but it will be on dark paper again as it will be a night scene Busy morning already as got my run in, rescued the hummer feeder from the ant invasion and now the day is just beginning at only 8:30.  Just me the hawks calling in the sky and all my garden critters from the birds to the chipmunks.   Got plenty of yard work to keep me busy today, the down side of the garden. Challenge today is learn how to resize photos on GIMP -oh joy as tech skills I ain't got. Thanks for stopping by and hope you are doing lots of painting this weekend.

Sometimes you are happy and sometimes you aren't - some times the experiment is ok and other time should have left it alone.  Both are graphite drawings, sprayed with workable fixative and then color pencil over it, with a little ink accent on the wheel hub.   Have to give my kudos to both Renate and Rita who do the flowers.  Did a bit of the hydrangea from life and boy is it a little bugger.  But that is the purpose of my commitment for a drawing a week.  Now it's Sunday, got last week's done, and got to start another - looking for the subject now and got to start later today as I know the week will fly by.  Mulling over the next project, got to get it started and then hope it will kick into gear. Appreciate your stopping by and have a great painting week.

Ok I have challenged myself to try to do at least a weekly, between now and December, drawing or painting with emphasis of doing from life work or from our photos.   Hope at some point I get to challenge myself to once a day, but no way I could achieve that now.  Am putting them in a separate sketchbook so I can evaluate the progress.  They say "practice makes perfect" or "the more you practice the more talented you become".  This is a small half page size, probably 6"x8" with 3 graphite pencils, H, F and 2B.  Didn't allow myself to use a tortilion, my crutch, just cross hatching and pencil strokes, not much erasing allowed either.  Since close to weekend, might spray with fixative and then add color pencil just to make my heart happy.