Tuesday, October 8, 2013

High Quality Scan

Today I picked up my art work and the copies that were made of it by a high quality scanner. The copies look great! I'm so happy with the results.


Each fireman will receive a copy of the finished sketch as a gift from the Captain. They were all nicely packed with foam core so there's no chance of bending while in transport. I hope they like them.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Crazy things happen when out sketching...

When out sketching this past Saturday at the Science Center a fire truck came and parked beside my car. I noticed that they came from the station by my place. So having sketched their station the weekend before I asked if they would sign my painting. It turns out the captain really liked my sketch and asked if he could commission me to do a sketch of the fire suits in the station bay.

Long story short...I got to spend two evenings at the station with the guys sketching, having supper and learning all about the fire gear (among other things). What a great way to end the summer!

Here are a few pictures from my adventure:


Not only did I get a great sketch done, but I also made some new friends and got to try out some of the gear in the process! That stuff is super heavy! I highly respect these guys not just for what they do but for their willingness to be there for others in emergency situations. Keep up the great work guys!

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Pencil Cases

Something that I have always enjoy doing on a Saturdays is walking my dogs and catching up on the artist blogs I follow. They often have neat little tips or divulge some secret to using a specific art  medium. But when they show their set up (desk, organization of supplies, art areas) I get really excited! Its one thing to be an artist and give tips on how to use your medium, however, to show your creative space to others can be very helpful to them, especially when trying to create/organize your own art making space.

Its from these blogs/pictures that I got great ideas as to help keep my creative space an area that jump starts my creativity rather than hinder it. If my space is disorganized and messy I find that I am distracted by the mess and get frustrated when I'm not able to find the supplies I am looking for when I need them. If everything is in its place you can easily go wherever your creativity takes you without having those hold ups along the way due to lack of organization.

Below are a few pictures of the kind of pencil cases I have. No, I don't use a jar like the title of my blog suggests (gold stars to my little brother Chris who came up with the idea) because I use Prismacolor Colour Pencils that need to keep them from rattling around in a pouch like case, or jar. They are wax based, perfect for blending but the led is also very susceptible to breaking do to dropping or rattling around. To keep breakage to a minimum I use these amazing cases that not only hold all my pencils (over 130 different colours, and still I need to blend them to make other colours) but also keeps them all in the order I like them to be in, making it easy to find the one I'm looking for. Recently I ordered some new ones that not only fit in my art bag but are light and slim as well. Needless to say, I am VERY happy with them. I started my search for these specific cases last month and found that they are only available for purchase in the states. The funny thing is, I need them to go to the States for vacation. So I got them mailed to my Uncles and Aunts in Oregon who then forwarded them to me, only for me to bring them back there with me when I go there on vacation in a few weeks (this time full of pencils). They are the Global Art Materials Inc 120/48 piece pencil cases, and the best purchases I've ever made. Plus they come in a few different colours, one of which is my favourite!

Global Art Materials Inc. 48 piece pencil case
(Perfect for holding the current colours being used on a project, keeping the palette consistent)


Global Art Materials Inc. 120 piece pencil case
(Perfect for holding all, or in my case the majority of your colour pencils)


Some people like to organize their mediums (often pencils) in different groups of colours. Personally, I like to make a rainbow with mine. People say I have a colourful personality but they have yet to see my pencil cases :) My main case will hold all the colours I have excluding the greys, because many people  don't consider them to be true colours and I have no room for them in my 120 piece case). You are supposed to mix your own but for ease and speed I keep my greys in my smaller 48 piece pencil case (in the second zippered area) that I use for the pencils that I am currently using on a project. On average I use 15-40 pencils at a  time on different areas of an art piece. This helps keep my colour palette consistent throughout my drawings. I ordered both the the 120 and 48 piece cases not realizing how much I would love the 48 piece case. It's amazing! Holds the perfect amount and is small, compact and my favourite colour.

These cases also have the neatest little perk ever! When your cases are zipped up you can snap the little zipper tab(s) to the spine of your case ensuring that it stays closed! (See picture of the 48 piece case)

Hopefully you find this helpful. In no way did I intend for this post to be so long. It just goes to show how excited I am about these wonderful organizing tools. If you are a colour pencil fanatic like me, you won't regret the purchase of these handy cases.


Brothers

8 x 10 Colour Pencil on Pastelbord
"Tyler" "Ryan" "Andrew"


Child Portrait

8 x 10 Colour Pencil on Pastelbord
"Andrew"

     


Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Child Portrait

8 x 10 - Colour Pencil on Pastelbord
"Tyler"




Completed! Two more to go.





Friday, March 1, 2013

Friday, January 18, 2013

Latest Puppy Portrait

The other day I saw Toby curled up between my fathers feet and thought it might make a nice addition to the other portraits of Toby and Baxter. Because it will be part of a set I have decided to make it in Sepia like the others. Using three colours is always a fun way to practice values.
Here it is thus far.

8 x 10 in Sepia
"Untitled"


This weekend I will be doing a portrait class! To be able to draw interesting people while sitting in a coffee shop or doing portraits from life of my friends is something I have always wanted to learn how to do. However, to be a good portrait artist it takes a lot of practice. There may be a lot of people who in the future might become unsuspecting models. Beware, you could end up in my sketchbook!