Much Ado

I hear and I forget.  I see and I remember.  I do and I understand.

                                                      Chinese proverb

      Well, this is the third in my series of Art Deco colored pencil drawings.  I am slowly learning how the pencils work ~ new terms like burnishing and overlaying are part of my vocabulary now.  I am also picking up new techniques like laying my work on a heating pad so the color spreads more easily, using Q-tips to blend colors, filling my shadows with a light dusting of indigo blue.  I must admit, however, that I am getting a bit tired of flowers.  One more floral drawing is already in the works but am now thinking of moving on to art deco patterns.  Anyway, I highly recommend this medium to anyone who is considering trying their hand at art.  It allows for a lot of control ~ so unlike watercolor! 

Golden Ribbon

Success for the striver washes away the effort of striving.

                                                    Pindar

     Well, finally, here is my second colored pencil art deco drawing.  I am still trying to figure out all the nuances of using colored pencil but am really enjoying the process.  Working from the top left corner down across to the bottom right I complete a small section at a time.  When the work is completely finished I start over again at the top again going across and down finely tuning each section.  Some may find this process tedious, others may find it meditative.  Either way the end result, I think, is worth the effort.  If you like the drawing above then check out William Morris.  He has long been a favorite artist of mine.  A master of design, his work is so intricate it is almost hypnotizing. 

Five Tulips

Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals.  some seem to smile, some have a sad expression, some are pensive and diffident, others again are plain, honest and upright.

                                      Henry Ward Beecher

 Well, now I know why the coloring book craze has taken over!  What a joy to work with colored pencils ~ they enable such control over line and shading.  I am going to try my hand at one more of these using a much wider palette.  It could be that I find this method so enjoyable because it doesn't call for any "looseness" at all ~ this is about as tight as it gets!

Dawn

The eyes are not responsible when the mind does the seeing.

                   Publilius Syrus

 This is sixth drawing in the series of women with red.  I have learned a lot about shading and value doing these drawings.  It is my intention to do six more in the next several months.  For now, though, I have become interested in working with colored pencil.  My experience with this medium is very limited but I have enjoyed working on the red parts of these drawings.  Currently on my drawing board is an art deco flower composition.  I am using a limited palette of red, green and blue.  Next time I will post it even if it's not finished.  In this particular drawing above I really tried to broaden the value range from the whitest white to the blackest black I could achieve.  She is definitely my favorite ~ probably because I can see some progress in my technique.  I also walked away from this one earlier than I did the others.  It is my tendency to overwork my drawings, I think ~ always aiming to be a little looser.  That's not so easy, though, as I always see room for improvement.  Like the saying goes though, artists don't finish their works, they just abandon them.

Vision

     A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.

                            Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 Well, this drawing is about as far away from the last one as I usually can manage.  For me, this is very loose drawing and I am working very hard to work less on the details in her hair.  Hopefully, I will be able to stay nice and loose in her clothing as well.  And, the big decision to be made ~ where to put the red?!?  Merry Christmas!

Crimson Sheets

A very beautiful woman hardly ever leaves a clear-cut impression of features and shape in the memory: usually there remains only an aura of living colour.

                                            William Bolitho

      At last!  This little lady is finally done.  She can stop sitting on my drawing board.  So far in this series of women with red this particular drawing has taken the longest to complete.  It turned out that it was more an exercise in working with colored pencil than it was in achieving value.  Having worked so much with oil paint I have grown accustomed to being able to cover up any color or value of color that didn't work within the painting with another layer of paint.  Once dark shades are put in with colored pencil, however, it is next to impossible to lighten them ~ much like watercolor.  I have a new respect, therefore, for colored pencil artists.  They must be very good at planning ahead!

The Red Sheet

     The world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face.

                                                             William Makepeace Thackeray

 Since this blog is called One Artist's Journey I have decided to go back and start posting some of my works in progress.  This is the next drawing of a woman done in charcoal pencils and red colored pencils.  Her face is wrong, wrong, wrong.  Somehow I have managed to put her nose as if it is being seen in a full frontal view.  Hopefully, in the next session I will be able to give her a nose job.  That should help with another problem I see ~ her eyes.  As it is now they look too close together as their placement on her face don't agree with the way her nose looks.  Basically there are two different perspectives which leads the eye to be confused.  I am also having trouble with the shadows in her wrap.  Even though I was trying to stick to only using red pencils it looks as if I am going to have to add some purple in the shadows to give it more dimension.  There is red in purple so I am only breaking my made-up rule a little!  Looking at the picture as a whole, I also think I have way overworked her face.  I like the gentle shading on her body so will try to erase some of my darker lines when I get back to her features.  Anyway, there is a long, long way to go on this one but thought I would put it up now to show how things are constantly being worked and reworked.   Привет