Cay Denise

Today's effort is based on a lovely photograph of Dorothy Height taken in her older age.   The sketch was done with mechanical pencil (HB core), pupils highlighted with a white Signo pen, and certain areas filled in with watercolor.  Some additional small embellishment was done with a silver Pen Touch marker. What I like best is having been able to work with the lines of her face and capture a sense of older age.  Overall I'm quite satisfied with this work.  

It has taken me about four days to work through the process, that involved doing two pieces, to get this result.  The piece is based on a digital or painted image of an African woman.  The creator's name is unavailable. The first part of the process involved a sketch done in mechanical pencil (HB core) filled in with watercolor.  That medium did not work well for the piece.  That is because the skin color was too hard to mimic with watercolor in addition to the needed shading.  So, I gave up on that piece--keeping it as a learning reference. The second effort finished today was also sketched with mechanical pencil (HB core) and has been painted in with acrylics.  Some eye work and other line work has been done with black Muji pen, and the decorative body lines were created with a neon yellow Sakura Gelly Roll Pen. That Gelly Roll Pen was the only type (of my water-resistant, permanent and water-soluble pens with fine nibs) that could create the color intens...

Thursday's effort was based on a painting by Jacometto Veneziano titled 'Portrait of a Young Man' dated 1475-1480. The sketch work was done with mechanical pencil (HB core), the pupils were darkened with a Muji pen and highlighted with Signo white pen, Japanese watercolors were used for color, and a silver PenTouch marker was used for the jacket enclosure. Of course color-wise, the original painting doesn't look nearly as colorful as this one.  I added the reddish purple for the background and did a bit of gradient work at the bottom--adding light blue for the second layer instead of more reddish purple.  

Today's effort is a sketch based on Richard Westall's painting titled 'Emma Hamilton as a Bacchante' dated 1805.  This was done with mechanical pencil (HB core) with Signo white pen highlights on the eye.  The biggest challenge was with face and keeping the features small and doing them in a way that they look like the painting.  Overall, I'm satisfied. Update:  Added the scarf behind her which I neglected to do earlier.      

I love this post by Sara Genn who writes about the phrase "Do It Now" (DIN), something Paul McCartney's father said to him many times. If you don't do it now when you have the dream or vision, you probably won't do it.  Procrastination quickly rears its ugly head and alters the dream or vision of something delightful into something not worth the time to do.  You lose your energy from the ideation that sparked it. After reading the article, you can find the song Paul McCartney wrote and recorded about DIN on YouTube. https://painterskeys.com/din/

Today's post reflects a multi-day effort creating my version of a portion of the painting titled 'Bianca' by William Holman Hunt dated 1868-69. Day 1 - the sketch outline was completed Day 2 - face shading and some shoulder ruffle shading was completed Today - sketch was tweeked and piece was painted (except for face, neck, and top of chest)   Tools used included mechanical pencil (HB core) for the sketching and acrylic paints. Before painting anything, I decided to use acrylics thinking it would look better than watercolor.  Now after completing it--I know that was the right choice.  I'm very satisfied with the effort, have learned some things, and am feeling more brave in trying out new ways of working with paint to do garment shading.  That's a big step!

Today's effort is a bit different than my practice has been this year.  In early December, I started a fun mandala with birds that has been undone since then.  I painted in the owl and added some 'soil' under the Blue-footed Booby today to complete it.  This has been done with acrylics, and some marks with black waterproof pen. For me, I get such a sense of curiosity from the bird images.  In fact, when I look at it, I feel like I'm looking up from being in a dark cavern to an opening above me and they're looking down at me.  Does that come across to you?     I think this is so whimsical and may even frame these friends to (continue to) watch over me while I work!  (Wouldn't this be fun if the frame were hung from a flat ceiling?)

A tutorial was published by 'My Modern Met' on 2/17 of how to draw a bee in 14 steps (article author was Margherita Cole).  Recently, my first try wasn't quite 'right'.  Leg spacing/placement was an issue.   The second try came out better, though I just reviewed the instructions to see if it covered adding a middle leg on the opposing side.  They say that you're to put them in, but the final drawn example shows a five-legged bee -- just like mine.  Regardless, I appreciate the tutorial as I never thought I'd draw a recognizable critter like this.

Today's effort was based Karl Joseph Stieler's "Portrait of Therese Alexandra Freifrau von Tettenborn" dated 1815. The tools used include mechanical pencil (HB core) for the sketch work; Japanese watercolors for the background, garment and cap; Stabilo PointMax colored pens for the cap band, and white Signo pen for the pupil highlights. The eyes are a bit off in terms of angle compared with the painting, but they still look ok.  The headband is also a bit off at the ends.  Aside from those two things, I didn't decorate the cap which is actually more of a scarf wrap in the painting nor were the folds in the garment added even though there is a hint of them.

The Week 10 lesson was from Jennifer Bonneteau titled Silly Selfies.  In working from an altered selfie (photo below), I used Sharpie permanent markers and alcohol inks primarily to have fun -- attempting to capture the essence of that altered colorful selfie.  The second photo is the result.  There is a lot of cross-hatch and stipple line work in it, and it is the first time I've worked with Yupo paper in this way.  This brand of paper has a very nice and smooth surface - great for alcohol inks.  

Tonight's effort is my version of Joseph-Siffred Duplessis' "Portrait of Benjamin Franklin" that was painted around 1779. He looks a tad younger in this and maybe a bit less stout than the portrait, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind being either one. The image was done with mechanical pencil (HB core) with some help from my new 4B pencil.  The eyes were filled in using some Derwent water-soluble pencils and a spot of white Signo Pen was added for the highlight.  The background was done with Japanese watercolor.

This is a great SAQA Textile Talk with Judith Content, Fiber Artist, about her pandemic project titled 'Ephemeral Land Art'! Judith has worked with the Shibori dying process for decades and primarily works with silks having created beautiful Shibori-dyed, silk kimono-like fiber art. For her latest project over the last year or so, she did no dying.  She used her dyed silk scraps to create unique installation art that emulates rocks, mushrooms and jellyfish.  Taking them to the beach and other outdoor areas, she installed and photographed them. The work documented through photos and videos is mesmerizing, and her slide show and talk below is very engaging!

This is yesterday's and today's effort of sketching Francois Gerard's 'Madame Recamier' dated 1805. It has been done with mechanical pencil (HB core) and white Signo Pen for the reflection in the eyes. I'm really liking the intimation of fabric draping, the seat cushion shading, the body pose (especially the neck and chest where there is a twist at the waist), and the arms/hands that seem to be in good proportion to the body.  The most challenging part were the eyes and mouth/lips, and that may have been because of how small they needed to be.  The eyes are likely still a bit too large -- but after all the tries, I'm resting my effort with them and am accepting the mouth/lips as ok. This was a lesson in doing more than a face and capturing a pose of the full body--which I don't normally do, and I did it!! My process started with the columns first, then the feet progressing with the garment all the way to the head plus adding the cushion and chaise frame ...

I recently purchased a package of new pencils with a range of 'leads' and am learning about them and pencil history.   Pencil 'leads' come in a range.  They are typically categorized as H (hard), B (soft; darkness), F (sharpens to fine point) or HB (hard and black).  For the H and B pencils, there can be a number, added to the letter, that distinguishes the hardness of that 'lead'.  H (hard) leads make lighter lines while B (soft) leads make darker ones.  In addition, the higher the number for the H lead, the harder the lead and the lighter the line.  For the B lead, the higher the number, the softer the lead and darker the line.  In terms of the history of graphite used in the core of pencils, here are some key points: A major graphite deposit was discovered in England in 1565 Graphite is a crystalline form of carbon Pencil graphite has no lead  Pencil cores are made of purified graphite power + kaolin (a clay binder) Hard pencils have about...

The sketch I posted yesterday, I've been working on today.  It is based on Rossetti's "Proserpine" dated 1877 and is now done.   The sketch has been painted with acrylic paint including glazes using the same.  The pupils were filled in by black Muji pen, and the white highlight was made with a Signo pen. I like how the ivy and its background creates interest, the pomegranate and her hand holding it, and her mouth/lips that look closer to Rossetti's muse who modeled for his piece.  The only thing I may change in time is to add strokes in the hair to show its waviness.  With or without them, I'm satisfied!  

For the last couple of days, I've been doing some practice work based on a sketch/study by Dante Gabriel Rossetti of his muse that he did for one of his paintings.  The first two images below were the result.  The darker one was done with a black Stabilo Aquarellable pencil and then activated with water.  The pencil was difficult to work with, and I wasn't able to get the detail I wanted.  That effort, I consider to have been unsuccessful while it informed me that I don't like that pencil to work with -- at least not right now.  The second one with the watercolor framing the face was done with a combination of two mechanical pencils (one with HB and the other with 2B lead).  This was a bit better, but in both images I couldn't get the 'Rossetti style' mouth/lips right.   My effort in the bottom photo was based on the actual painting Rossetti did -- that his study had been for.  How did I figure that out?  Because as I started drawing her...

This effort is an acrylic painting done Wednesday.  It is allegorical rather than a realistic depiction, and is part of my processing the unfolding situation with the invasion of Ukraine.   These are trying times.  That said, art as well as music, writing, collage, woodworking, etc. can be tools of expressing those things we find hard to put into words and move sad feelings from inside us (using our chosen medium) to create something constructive outside ourselves.  The intent of this piece is to convey contrast between a pastoral scene and a highly destructive event (in no specific location).  It is intentionally simple. In working on this, I used fluid acrylics which I haven't worked with in many months.  I forgot how quickly they dry out, especially when you're working with mixed colors.     

Thursday's effort is based on a painting titled 'Portrait of an Elderly Man' by Francesco Bonsignori dated 1487.  The drawing was done with mechanical pencil (HB lead), Muji black pen to fill in the pupils, and Japanese watercolors for the background and garment coloring (black and red, respectively).  The original painting is very dark and I wasn't able to see a distinctive hat on the subject's head though there apparently is one due to the way the hair is in the image.  So the background in this practice piece (that includes the area for a hat) has been painted black.  I'd prefer the black to be darker so the face stands out better, but I'm going to leave this one as is.   This 3/4 view of the face was interesting to do, since the neck has several folds due to the man's weight and age, and there are some prominent wrinkles, a dimple, and a face indentation to include.

Monday's effort was the drawing of a woodcut created by Melchior Lorck titled "Portrait of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent" dated 1559.  The reference photo is included with this post.  It is different than those I normally choose, but I like it.  Most of this piece was done with mechanical pencil (HB lead) and black Muji pen.  Additional tools used include a White Signo Pen to highlight the pupils and grey watercolor for the shirt. What I like about both images is how the different kinds of line work complement one another in distinguishing the different areas of the image, including the background.