Elephant Portrait 2

It is in vain to hope to please all alike. Let a man stand with his face in what direction he will, he must necessarily turn his back on one half of the world.

George Dennison Prentice

Well, I have gone over the entire drawing once in an effort to give it depth. This is the process I enjoy the most, the fine tuning. It's amazing how much of the work now is done with the eraser. First the dark lines are put in, then some shading, then some blending, and finally some erasing. This process is done over and over until the final figure takes on a true look of three dimension. It's like pulling his face out of a snowstorm!

Elephant Portrait

That which is bitter to endure may be sweet to remember.

Thomas Fuller

Well, I've finally gotten all the major lines drawn in and an indication of where most of the shadowing is going to go. Now it's just a matter of spending lots of time getting the right amount of blending done and the right amount of shading. To get a good feel for the all the wrinkles I'm also going to have to go back and pay close attention to each line ~ they need to be very dark in some places to indicate depth and much lighter, almost invisible, in other places to indicate just slight indentations in the surface of the elephant's face. Lots of fine tuning to be done!

If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl.

H. L. Mencken

Known for their ability to never forget, elephants seem amazingly calm. If they are really remembering everything they have clearly found a way to deal with their past. They seem to know how to live in the present and let their hurts and cares of yesterday behind. What a great outlook to have! I have decided to do a series of drawings of elephants. My thanks to Wet Canvas for this great photograph. An extreme close-up, it's going to rely heavily on getting each wrinkle in place and then a great deal of shading to give his face some depth. I am working with only graphite pencil but will probably add a little bit of charcoal at the end.

Apples with Pot

The father of every good work is discontent, and its mother is diligence.

Lajos Kassak

Yesterday my art teacher was back in class and gave me some final pointers for this painting. It's amazing how a small change can have such a huge impact. After three hours of tiny readjustments here and there I felt I had done all I could do. Fortunately, when my instructor came around again, he agreed. Finished! Now, of course, I need to wait 6 months to put a coat of varnish on but I can finally put this one aside ...... well, actually, now that I look more closely at it I see several places that could use a little more attention. Ugh.

Progress!

Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.

St. Francis de Sales


As I have written earlier I am very happy with my art instructor ~ he's insightful, supportive, and has a wonderful eye. This past week I took the three paintings in this post to class for his advice. Unfortunately, his wife was ill and we had a substitute ~ a wonderful teacher also. She looked at my paintings and declared me a "Renaissance painter." My heart soared. Now I know what I aspire to be! Renaissance art emerged about 1400 in Italy (that's why I feel so drawn to Italy, I'm sure ~ it is by far the most beautiful place I have had the privilege to visit). To me Renaissance art is closely associated with the classical painting done by the late 19th century masters. One of the best sites to visit to learn more about these artists and what is being done to preserve their work is the Art Renewal Center. It is well worth a visit. Anyway, it's nice to have a direction at last ~ one never knows how one comment can change another person's life!

Apples with Pot

Success is that old A B C ~ ability, breaks and courage.

Anonymous

The time had come to put the ring on the pot. I was in my art class and wanted to know the best technique to get a perfect ring drawn. I had all sorts of implements on hand and was anxious to discuss them with my teacher. When he came over and I began to explain all the steps I was going to take he just looked at me and smiled. "Draw it," he said, "just draw it." Then he handed me a white charcoal pencil and started to walk away. Why not, I thought, I can always paint over it. But, lo and behold, it worked! Perhaps success is really more C B A ~ I think courage has to come first.

A Pair of Eggs

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together.

John Ruskin

I have decided to try my hand at some painting with a very limited palette. For this one I used only four different colors ~ black, white, green, and brown. There's still some work to be done with the shadows and molding the eggs and jar but I think its gotten off to a nice start ~ certainly makes cleaning the brushes a lot simpler!

John Ruskin