Blast from the Past

I went through some of my old sketchbooks this morning, looking for a drawing that I seem to have misplaced, when I came across these studies that I drew several years ago. I'm quite proud of them. Both were done in pen and ink (with a nice wash in the case of the nude studies). I think that it's important to look back to where you've been to see where you're going, so I figured I would share these with my readers.

Nancy Drew

Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I love Nancy Drew, to the point of obsession. I have all of the old, yellow-spine books (including two original first prints!), as well as the blue-spine reprints from Applewood. I have a Nancy Drew address book, a Nancy Drew cookbook, a biography about the creators of Nancy Drew; you name it, I have it (or I will soon). I could not overestimate what these books mean to me; they take me back to my childhood, sitting on the porch in summertime, the sun beating down upon my skin, and nothing more to do than read and have fun. I even made my own Nancy Drew paper dolls at one point, with outfits based on my favorite novels, and clues and settings also based on my favorite books. I guess I was feeling a bit nostalgic today, so I grabbed one of the books (#44, The Clue in the Crossword Cipher) and drew my own version of the cover, which was painted by Rudy Nappi. I had a lot of fun drawing this, and I may pull out some more books and give them a go as well!

Materials: 11 x 14 inch Windpower Vellum Bristol by Strathmore, colored pencils

Holga Pictures

A short time ago I bought a Holga medium-format camera. I went to downtown Birmingham on a Saturday, when it is basically a ghost town, and took two rolls of film, with 12 pictures to a roll. I clearly messed up, because I only got four usable pictures, and one entire roll was destroyed because I didn't wind it back up tightly enough, meaning that all of the pictures on that roll were exposed to light. Still, I really do like these four photos, and it was nice to shoot film again, and to have to actually WAIT (for nearly two weeks!) to see what my pictures looked like. I ordered some more 120mm film from Adorama this week, so once it comes in, I hope to get back out there and do some more shooting.

Nude Woman # 1

It took me nearly a week, but I finally got around to this painting. It is based on a study I did last year. I'm really quite happy with it. I sketched out the image over a week ago and it pretty much just sat around on my desk until this week. I ordered a bunch of new colors from Dick Blick that came in this week, so I got to open fresh new tubes of acrylic and paint with brand new brushes. So much fun.

This painting is now up in the shop if you'd like to see more pictures of it.

Materials: 8 x 10 x 1 inch canvas panel, acrylic paint

Reflection

By the time I finished the above painting yesterday, my fingers were absolutely cramped to the bone. The pain was worth it, though, as I'm very happy with the result. I think it's quiet and contemplative, and I'm pleased with how well the colors went together.

To see more pictures, or to purchase, please go to the shop! Update: SOLD!

Materials: 11 x 14 inch canvas, acrylic paint

Delighted

I am SO HAPPY with the above painting. I apologize for not having a good, straight-on picture, but the weather has been icky so I haven't had any decent natural light. Plus, I'm too lazy to get my tripod out and work with my indoor lighting.

The above painting was painted on a gallery-wrapped canvas. I had this canvas for a while, but I was too afraid to use it because it cost more than the typical canvas. I've always had a strange issue with not wanting to "mess up" nice canvases and papers. I've been known to buy cute notebooks and never write in them, for fear of soiling their beauty. I am glad that I took a chance on this canvas, though, because I just love the outcome. I think she's so chic and put together, and I'm really very proud of the subtlety in the facial shadows and highlights.

Although I may eventually add this to the shop, I want to enjoy it for myself for now.

Sunkissed

The above painting was actually painted last weekend, but I'm just now getting around to posting about it and listing it in the shop. I wanted to do something really bold, and I definitely think I accomplished that.

Usually when I start a painting, I make a very rough under drawing. This time, I marked off all of my shadows and all of the highlights to hopefully make it a bit easier for me to figure out where I was going with my color scheme. I think that in some ways it made it easier, but in other ways, I got a bit more confused. (Not entirely sure how!) I'm not sure if I'll draw it out so much to begin with again, even though I am happy with how it turned out.

For more pictures, please check out my listing in the shop. Update: SOLD!

Materials: 9 x 12 gesso art board, acrylic paints

New Etsy Listings

As promised in yesterday's post, I have the below collages up for sale in the shop. Follow the links for more pictures and pricing information.

In the Kitchen Update: SOLD!


Bird in Flight


Black-Throated Trogon


Graceful Birdie

Gettin' Busy

I spent many hours today on the floor in my living room, surrounded by glue, paste, paper scraps, stickers, and all manner of collage materials. I had SO MUCH FUN making the collages you see above. It was a nice way to zone out and forget about Real Life for a few hours and focus on making something pretty. I hope to have these put up on Etsy for sale shortly. (You may remember the large bird from this post.

In the middle of making my collages, I remembered that I had a huge box of illustrations that my grandmother had cut out from catalogs when she was a little girl. I found them buried in my chest of drawers and pulled them out for the first time in ages. They are an absolute TREASURE TROVE of 30s and 40s fashion, and I used one of the cut outs in the collage you see on the upper right. It's kind of a kitchen-themed collage, as the woman in question is clearly washing a dish...what a good woman always does for her family, right? :) I hope to use many of these cut outs in my future collages and paintings. They are too good not to share.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog

In honor of my trip to Costa Rica last month, I decided to paint this Red-Eyed Tree Frog, who, yes, lives in Costa Rica. I'm really quite happy with how this turned out, and I very much enjoyed sitting down and painting it while listening to Top Chef Masters in the background. It was fun to use so many great colors and I like how the background has an unfinished look to it, even though it is absolutely COVERED in blue paint. I've never painted a frog before, and I think this was a pretty good first try!

Materials: 8x10 canvas panel, acrylic paints.

Update! Item is now available (with nicer pictures) in the shop!