Bragging rights

I'm tipping the proverbial "hat" to myself. The past few months have been quite successful: My painting "Waiting" was selected to be in Ann Kullberg's e-book Hidden Treasures. This same painting, which earned  CPSA Signature Status for me by being my third acceptance into the CPSA International Exhibition within ten years, was also purchased at a recent art fair and was my biggest sale to date. And let's be honest,  sales make the rest possible. For those of you interested, I am in the process of having the image printed in giclee form to be sold in my shop soon.  READ ON

My painting "Who Rescued Whom" was published in Strokes of Genius 6, by Rachel R. Wolf, Northlight Books, hitting the bookstore shelves as we speak.

My painting "Departing" earned second place at the CPSA District Chapter 119 exhibition, showing now until the end of the month at The Clifton Cultural Arts Center in Clifton Oh.

That's it for now, but there is always room for more.

Kevin's View

This little 9x19" piece of Bailey's Island Maine (or near there anyway) was painted from one of hundreds of reference photos taken there this summer.  My husband and I were guests of some dear old  friends. They kindly tolerated my habit of banging through the kitchen, making coffee at the crack of dawn, so I could scramble around their property with the camera. Once they arose at the alarmingly late hour of 10:00 am,  they drove me up and down the coast, combed beaches and took me out on their boat to find Harbor Seals.  I didn't waste one second of my time there. I painted this little gem to fit a skinny gold leaf, antique frame given up by its previous owner. (I'll post a photo of the finished version, once the rest of the materials are in. ) It is fun to use the occasional woopsies and discards. I have a strong need to repurpose stuff. Given a predetermined size, color pallet and style, forces me to change up my routine.  It's an interesting exercise.

Departing

"Departing," 18.5 x 25" various lightfast colored pencils mixed with solvents on 4 ply mat board.  The reference is from a series of photos I took as my 25 year old daughter prepared to board her plane to California.  The painting is about leave taking and letting go.  I may have gone a little crazy with all the details, right down to the turtle charm bracelet, which she has had since she was small enough to collect everything turtle, the safari bag she found in my closet, her high school back pack and the thrift store suitcase. I include these things because they are necessary to create an accurate portrayal of this cunning, free-spirited artistic person, whom I love beyond measure, in her moment.

Artists are poor for a reason!

If you have ever wondered why the real life artists aren't as happy-go-lucky as they are reputed to be, consider the expenses incurred in self promotion.  For instance, did you know that an artist pays a submission fee of $30.00 to $50.00 for every image submitted to a juried show? Did you know that if the piece or pieces are accepted, the artist pays for presentation requirements, shipping and insurance,  to and from said exhibition?  For example, some shows require plexiglass, which is nearly twice as expensive as conservation glass. (Don't even ask about UV blocking Plexi.) I recently sent two pieces to California.  My shipping plus return shipping total was nearly $400.00.  Expenses like these are a calculated risk against a possible sale or the possible lead. How many small businesses take that kind of risk? As I've said numerous times, being an artist is not for the faint of heart.

Colored pencil commission takes a surprising tack.

This is a first!  While working out the composition for a full colored pencil commission , I sent a picture of the pencil sketch to my client.  She immediately shot an email back asking me to "STOP!"  She liked the pencil sketch so much, she wished to buy it as is. Of course I'll "clean" it up a bit before I let it go.  Here's the most recent photo.  I will continue to darken a little here and there and  brighten a highlight or two. The piece started out as a horizontal, but the client wanted  me to show pool water, so now it is square.  Interesting development, wouldn't you agree?

Lucy finished

I used mostly Prismas and Luminance cp's with mineral spirits on 100% rag mat board.  I'm almost sad I darkened the foreground.  It's hard to know what to do once you have taken the plunge.  Even if you photo shop values into the comp during the designing stages, there's the perspective and "reality"aspect.  Would I leave a detailed background and a blank foreground?  Wouldn't that be odd?  My thought was that subtle roughed in details and shadowy earth tones would support the portrait without busying it up too much.  What do you think?

Doberman Pincher WIP

Lucy is coming along.  Her coat colors are a gigantic challenge. I have hundreds of colored pencils rolling around on the drafting table! The use of mineral spirits was crucial. Tweaking will come later. I am going to set this aside for a little while to work on something else.  Plenty left to do, but I'm "Artist blind."

Portrait commission WIP of Lucy the Doberman Pincher

I'm having a little trouble with my rag mat board surface holding up to all the color pencil layers.  One thing I've found: odorless mineral spirits when allowed to over saturate breaks down my surface.  I've since switched back to good old regular mineral spirits, but the damage was already done.  -Came close to starting all over, but was able to dip and dab color where needed. The detailing is just about impossible.  Working fixative allows a little repair.  Otherwise, the piece is coming along. I will never return to odorless mineral spirits.  Thank goodness for windows and fans!