06/03: LONG DAY!!

I had an early appointment at the spine clinic and then we had to shop for essential DIY supplies in readiness for picture hanging tonight.    Spent a couple of hours sticking photoprints onto backing/mounts and sealing them in cellophane wrappers (I've only had 4 months to get this done ..... why on earth did I leave it till the last minute)??

David printed off all the labels - we loaded the car and got to the gallery in good time - to discover the tape measures had been left at home ....  so a quick dash back in the car then we were all set.   My piece of wall wasn't quite the size/shape we'd expected as it has a corner so we had to do some juggling and it looks a bit uneven ... never mind - they're up and thats how they are staying.

I've hung 13 here and have one very large pastel in the Main Gallery window which faces out onto the street - so quite a decent number.

For the first time I am offering photoprints of some of my originals - in presentation cellophane envelopes with mount and backing board, or in a selection of frames I had at home - it will be interesting to see how they go.  It was Peter (Mighty Fine Art) who recommended doing these to appeal to customers who perhaps can't afford an original piece of art, or want something smaller.

Here are a few I've put in frames, stacked against the wall at home this afternoon

and a few pics showing the work of some of the other exhibitors - This exhibition is being staged by the Made in Whitstable Group .... open to anybody from Whitstable who is creative.  So we have knitters,  felters, jewellers, glass workers, photographers and artists sharing this exhibition which offers a diverse range of products to the visitors.

I love Alma's glasswork - especially these little fishes and birds, each one is different (so cute)!

 

and just to keep me on my toes, my Polychromos coloured pencils turned up today (I had a bit of a 'spend-up' on eBay at the weekend).  I have mainly Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft coloured pencils (hundreds of them it seems) but I really wanted to try the Faber-Castell Polychromos and I got a set of 24 and a set of 12 for very good prices at auction.

Can you see what it is yet????   :-)

This is a reference from my 'to-do doggy list' - its a standard poodle I photographed at one of the many funfairs/dog shows on Tankerton Slopes (close to my house) - It was a very bright sunny day and a lot of my dog photos were a bit 'bleached' but I got a few of this poodle where the sun has created some interesting shadows.     I don't know the dog's name but have seen her in the area frequently.  If Vic is looking in (Pencil Wizard) she will probably be able to help as she knows so many of the dog owners who frequent the beach path.

Anyway this is on dark grey pastelmat using polychromos.  Must admit I'm struggling to get the white to look as bright as required in places - but I'll persevere.  Here I've just put a few squiggles in to suggest hair length/direction.  She has such a mass of curls and frizz it will be fun to portray.

Apart from the very quick drawing I did recently of my Grand-daughter, its been a while since I've used coloured pencils so this is not going as quickly as a pastel picture would ..... but I find that using coloured pencils on pastelmat does speed the process up a little as I use fewer layers but do more blending with a cotton bud (I am not using solvents on this picture as I know that will really dull the white too much).  Its a very different way of working than when I use coloured pencils on (say) Fabriano watercolour paper where I use many more layers of pencil to achieve the colours/depth I want.