Work-in-Progress: Wyoming Wild Horse

The 'model' for my current work-in-progress is a wild horse that was photographed in Wyoming a number of years ago.  It will be a small colored pencil piece, just 8" x 12", and as usual I am working on Uart sanded pastel paper.

The image above shows my work to present, and currently looks much more like a graphite drawing than a work in colored pencil.  By building a grisaille using the range of Prismacolor french greys, I am developing  the general values and their placement.  As the subject is a grey horse and other colors in the drawing will be subtle, this technique should lend itself well to the piece.  It has been quite some time since I have laid in my base coat in this way , and I am enjoying it.  Next I will begin building the details and colors on top of the grisaille.

Oh, and to divert............the barn swallows are back.  There are only a few right now, but soon (as I'm sure I wrote at this time last year) there will be dozens of swooping, happy barn swallows in the barn and surrounding sky.  Their return always does my heart good, though it feels a little different this year than it usually does.  I suspect that this is due to the fact that this past winter has been a most difficult one, what with its losses.  There are simply those things that life brings, that change one  --  so the little things that have always brought me such joy with the return of each spring season are now measured against the backdrop of the past few months.  Its a process.    

As always, thanks for reading.

"Dust and Thunder" Completed

Dust and Thunder

18" x 24"

Color Pencil on Uart 600



Upon completion of Dust and Thunder yesterday, I couldn't help but think about how much I have learned from this drawing.  Much of it's process has been an exercise in managing discomfort -- a frequent and nagging sensation that what I was attempting to do each step of the way may not get the result I was going for.  In retrospect, this feeling was probably born primarily from approaching a subject in ways quite foreign to me..........the dreaded unknown.  

During a previous blog post I discussed how controlling contrast can impact composition.  Effective handling of contrast can help to lead a viewer's eye through a painting or drawing, and ideally the focal point should have the strongest contrast of edges.  With Dust and Thunder, I attempted to impact the contrast through color and edge control.  My previous assertion that my goal would be to make the appaloosa horse the focal point, may have been unrealistic -- given the prominence of the two largest dark horses.  However, I attempted to draw attention to the appaloosa in a couple of ways.  First, in my reference photographs the brightly lit area behind the horses did not extend as far left as it does in my drawing: I extended the brightness behind the appaloosa, to create contrast through both the use of values and color.  Secondly, I attempted to keep the edges of this horse's neck and head fairly sharp, as hard edges also increase contrast thereby drawing the onlooker's eye.  For similar reasons, I had to work very hard to keep most of the foreground foliage very loose and soft: too much detail there (hard edges) would have distracted from where the areas of interest needed to be.  As it is my tendency to feel as if I must place every little detail (okay....yes....I have control issues), this was quite an undertaking for me.  Finally, because colors of high contrast or intensity at the margins can pull a viewer's eye out of the image, I attempted to slightly darken the values of the sunlit dust on both the left and right-hand margins.

I have the distinct feeling that the process of this piece and the many things I have learned, of which the above is just a sampling, will change my future artwork: how and to what degree, I do not know.  Clearly in both life, and art, there is a lot to be said for pushing oneself beyond one's comfort level.

Thanks for reading.

Just when we thought it was over.......

I certainly don't need to tell any of you from the midwest or the east coast (or the plains, west, and parts of the south for that matter) what a difficult winter it has been.  Here in southern Michigan our longing for spring has been encouraged by a couple of days with temperatures in the sixties.  I even felt compelled to turn my horses out onto their summer pasture for the first time this season, which was cause for much kicking up of heels.  And always a sure sign of spring, my lovely neighbors returned from their annual five-month stay in Florida.  Add to this factors such as the sudden appearance of the sandhill cranes for their migratory stop-over, and you'd think that milder weather is a shoe-in......right?  But alas; it is not to be, at least not in the immediate future.  True to Michigan in March form, we are under a winter weather (what?) watch, and slightly further north is expected to get up to eight inches of snow and up to a quarter inch of ice.  I'm. So. Excited.

But enough weather-whining, and on to art-related matters.  I'm considering making some changes to the lighting in my drawing room.  Currently I have natural light from both a north-facing and east-facing window, and am flanked by true-color lamps with an incandescent overhead -- but I often find that by early to mid-afternoon, depending on the sky conditions outside, I begin to have trouble seeing colors correctly.  Upon the recommendation of a friend I've considered investing in one of the lamps that contains both florescent and incandescent bulbs, thereby providing both cool and warm light simultaneously, and am interested in knowing what others may think of that type of lamp.  Any comments you could provide about what forms of lighting work best for you and why would be greatly appreciated.

Finally, I have been asked by a couple of artists and friends about the status of Dust and Thunder.  Following its most recent update, I promised myself I would not write a post regarding it again until it was completed.  Over the next couple of days I am doing little more than the tweaking, and making some value adjustments -- so it is very close.  (Phew!)

Thanks for reading, and wherever you are.......I hope it is spring.     

"Dust and Thunder" Update: Growing Pains

Have I mentioned that I don't do foliage?  Well, practically.  Developing the foreground and foliage under these horses' hooves caused me to wonder..........when did I last execute any form of plant life?  After some deliberation (and the 20+ years I quit drawing altogether don't count), I recall it was in a pen and ink drawing in or around 1978.  So clearly, I don't do foliage.

Despite this fact, I recently completed laying in the foreground and foliage in "Dust and Thunder".  One of my goals with this piece has been to begin to develop a looser technique -- to successfully suggest detail, rather than attempting to draw every detail.  Though I'd probably be embarrassed if I knew how many hours it actually took me to develop the foreground, I'm pleased that I seem to have managed to clutch the reins a little less tightly -- in other words, hopefully I am relinquishing some artistic 'control issues' just a bit.  (Moi'?)

Presently I am tweaking the darkest values on the horses themselves, then will move on to continuing the development of the dust around the horses' legs -- something I look forward to.  With that, as well as the placement of the light source and landscape behind the horses, I will be able to address the contrast issues I discussed in my last post.

Thanks for reading.

"Dust and Thunder" Update: Maintaining a Focal Point

While recently developing a couple of preliminary layouts for future drawings, I've continued to work on Dust and Thunder.  Below is a photograph taken late this week, during one of its many (smile) "ugly phases".

During my recent research and readings about composition both online and in books, I am increasingly intrigued by the many ways in which an artist can create a dynamic composition by the handling of certain aspects of a drawing / painting -- color, contrast, edge control, and temperature, to name but a few.  More specifically as applied to this current drawing, I have been giving a great deal of consideration to how controlling contrast can help to define my focal point.  The focal point of a drawing / painting should have the strongest contrast of edges.  This can be achieved not only through the use of color and / or value, but also through edge control, with hard edges providing the greatest contrast.  Areas of high contrast other than the focal point, can actually pull the viewer's eye away from the focal point.  For this reason hard edges throughout an image (guilty!) can be problematic.

In Dust and Thunder my plan is for the area of the appaloosa (spotted) horse to be the focal point.  As I develop the background colors and foreground foliage, as well as continue to define some edges and soften others, it should become more clear as to how I am attempting to use the above information to do this.  I'm interested to see how the conscious application of the principles pertaining to contrast may effect my drawing, both on this piece and in the future.

Thanks for reading.

  

        

Close-up of Current Horse Drawing: "Dust and Thunder"

Now that the holidays are in the rear view mirror and my son has recently gone back to college, I have returned to the herd of galloping horses that generated so much angst for me when I last worked on them.  This work-in-progress has been given the working title, and possibly the final title, of Dust and Thunder.

In a past post I've mentioned that I continue to learn to draw, simply by drawing -- and this piece has given that fact new meaning.  You may recall the tremendous anxiety I experienced early in this drawing's process, given the differences from my usual style.  I have tended to feel more comfortable with subject matter that is viewed from a close-up perspective, and has clearly defined details and textures.  Dust and Thunder on the other hand, is about ambiguous shapes and values, soft edges, a rather tricky source of back-lighting, and lots of dust!......(which is yet to be revealed, as most of it will be laid in after the entire drawing is completed.)  In addition, the viewpoint is that of a landscape -- a first for me.

There have been many times I felt lost trying to navigate my way through this drawing: it seemed as if I simply did not know how to put one foot in front of the other.  More than once I wondered if I would have to give up on it.  But when I returned several days ago to finishing off the values of the two greys in the image, I no longer seemed plagued by the difficulties I was previously having with it.  Maybe I just stuck with it long enough.........or maybe I simply needed the break from it that I took out of necessity after the loss of my mother............or maybe recent events have helped to lend a degree of perspective of sorts, about what really is problematic in life -- and what is not.  Or maybe.............

Whatever the reason(s), I'm grateful for the learning -- and it feels good to be back in the saddle again, so to speak.  A happy, productive New Year to everyone.  Thanks for reading.  

The Artistry of a Gentle Soul

Myself and sister Kelly, with Mom; taken on the occasion of Kelly's birthday in March 2010

Drawing has been very difficult for me over the past several weeks, and thus, non-existent.  Actually it has been a struggle to engage in anything art-related.  So I decided earlier this evening to get back to my blog by starting at the beginning..........starting at what feels like the recalibration of my life following recent events.

As is true for any of us, I've had periods of time in my life that were tremendously difficult to navigate; times when the challenges seemed overwhelming.  But nothing could have prepared me for the loss of my Mom in early November, several days after a heart surgery that, by all accounts, was expected to be successful.  For many days afterwards I felt as if the wind had literally been knocked out of me.  

As one of my cousins so aptly put it, "Your Mom was the gentlest soul I've ever known."  She was a tremendously sweet and kind woman, and possessed an unpretentious and quiet classiness that drew others to her.  Her giggle was infectious.  My Mom loved her children and grandchildren absolutely unconditionally, and though a couple of us gave her plenty to worry about in our youth (I won't mention any names.....smile), she always knew that one day we would be the fine adults that she and my Dad had raised.......in spite of ourselves.

My mom was also my earliest art inspiration.  When I was a very young child she made paper dolls for me out of cardboard, and taught me how to trace around them to make their clothing.  The possibilities were endless!  I recall my preference for her paper dolls over store-bought ones, and can vaguely remember pestering her relentlessly to draw more paper dolls.  Many years later my Mom would accompany me on a road-trip to Bethesda, Maryland, to attend my first CPSA International Exhibition.  It was the first time I had shown work in a venue of that size, so I was appropriately petrified........and her presence and nature helped calm me.  We rode the subway, both for the first time in our lives -- and laughed at our own cluelessness pertaining to making our way around a big city. 

Both my sister and I were very close to our Mom; we talked to her daily, sometimes several times a day.  Occasionally when I would be very focused on a particular part of a drawing I would allow the phone to roll over to the recorder, and then I would hear from the direction of the kitchen..........."Lynda??  This is your Mother.  Are you screening your calls?????"    : )

So.......as I begin to get my land legs under me again, this felt like the best place to start -- the only place to start.  Thanks for reading.

".......all endings are also beginnings.  We just don't know it at the time."

        Mitch Albom,  The Five People You Meet in Heaven