Well I'm feeling kind of pleased with myself and fairly mellow ..... must be getting demob happy.
The sun was shining in Whitstable today and with David packed off to 'play' with his ebay volunteer friends at the Hospice Shop I decided I would clean all the wood floors - I love the smell of the wood soap and really the floors have taken a beating during the recent horrible weather when we've been in and out with wet shoes/boots. I've even washed the doormats and they've come up a treat, although the washing machine was protesting loudly at the bulky load.
Now that I know both my entries have been accepted for the UKCPS exhibition I thought I'd sign Lulu and put her in her frame so I'm not tempted to tweak anything. But she looked dreadful in the frame. I hadn't planned on that - she was meant to fit (without a mount/mat) into a nice square wood frame and I'd actually drawn her to the size to fit that frame .....but it just didn't work. So a quick rummage round my stock and I came up with this rather nice frame/mat which I think will work well - overall size is 22" x 22"
The frame is just resting on top of the drawing just now - but it gives the overall idea
The gorilla is a different story. I need to buy a mount or get one cut although I do have a frame at home which I think will suit. That will have to wait till we're back home though.
I finished the Indian lady drawing - making her skintone darker/richer and, although you probably can't see it in this photo, I did go over all the veil material with tiny circular shapes in tan/brown to add some texture.
hmm ... looking at this photo I think the hair looks a bit 'weak' so I will need to sort that out later. The colour is quite true to the original (well on my monitor anyway). Her eyes look a bit weird here but I think there's some glare off the white highlights from the wax in the pencil - doesn't look quite as 'mad' in real life.
Whilst rummaging round my stock of frames I found this painting which was my one and only foray into watercolour art - its dated Jan 2009 - shows how long some of these frames have been hanging round my studio.
I'm not comfortable with a paintbrush but I do love the watercolour work done by some of my Blogger friends and just wish I could work in that loose style. Even here you can see I'm trying to make the watercolours act like pencils LOL
I think 'don't give up the day job' springs to mind
But with my pencils packed away, I actually got round to polishing some of the newly exposed worksurfaces in my room and hanging most of the pictures which have been stacked against a wall since I brought them back from my last local exhibition (embarassingly that was in December so its only taken me 6 weeks to clear them away - although we did have a trip to India in the interim)!
So tomorrow the bathroom flooring is being laid, we have a few jobs to do in Town then its just a case of packing some handluggage ready for our departure on Wednesday. I've never been this organised (which is worrying)
The sun was shining in Whitstable today and with David packed off to 'play' with his ebay volunteer friends at the Hospice Shop I decided I would clean all the wood floors - I love the smell of the wood soap and really the floors have taken a beating during the recent horrible weather when we've been in and out with wet shoes/boots. I've even washed the doormats and they've come up a treat, although the washing machine was protesting loudly at the bulky load.
Now that I know both my entries have been accepted for the UKCPS exhibition I thought I'd sign Lulu and put her in her frame so I'm not tempted to tweak anything. But she looked dreadful in the frame. I hadn't planned on that - she was meant to fit (without a mount/mat) into a nice square wood frame and I'd actually drawn her to the size to fit that frame .....but it just didn't work. So a quick rummage round my stock and I came up with this rather nice frame/mat which I think will work well - overall size is 22" x 22"
The frame is just resting on top of the drawing just now - but it gives the overall idea
The gorilla is a different story. I need to buy a mount or get one cut although I do have a frame at home which I think will suit. That will have to wait till we're back home though.
I finished the Indian lady drawing - making her skintone darker/richer and, although you probably can't see it in this photo, I did go over all the veil material with tiny circular shapes in tan/brown to add some texture.
hmm ... looking at this photo I think the hair looks a bit 'weak' so I will need to sort that out later. The colour is quite true to the original (well on my monitor anyway). Her eyes look a bit weird here but I think there's some glare off the white highlights from the wax in the pencil - doesn't look quite as 'mad' in real life.
Whilst rummaging round my stock of frames I found this painting which was my one and only foray into watercolour art - its dated Jan 2009 - shows how long some of these frames have been hanging round my studio.
I'm not comfortable with a paintbrush but I do love the watercolour work done by some of my Blogger friends and just wish I could work in that loose style. Even here you can see I'm trying to make the watercolours act like pencils LOL
I think 'don't give up the day job' springs to mind
But with my pencils packed away, I actually got round to polishing some of the newly exposed worksurfaces in my room and hanging most of the pictures which have been stacked against a wall since I brought them back from my last local exhibition (embarassingly that was in December so its only taken me 6 weeks to clear them away - although we did have a trip to India in the interim)!
So tomorrow the bathroom flooring is being laid, we have a few jobs to do in Town then its just a case of packing some handluggage ready for our departure on Wednesday. I've never been this organised (which is worrying)
I love all these paintings, Sue!!
ReplyDeleteI especially LOVE Lulu...She's beautiful and I love the frame and how she's cropped...Wonderful work!!!
Thank you Hilda. I'll have a few weeks with no artwork now but will be looking at fellow Bloggers' artwork from time to time whilst away.
ReplyDeletecongrats on getting 2 pieces in the exhibition :) well deserved
ReplyDeletei thought the horse was done with pencils ;) i do like the look tho :) have you used watercolour pencils before?
Beautiful portraits and congratulations on acceptance into the show . Interesting posts about India on your other blog :)
ReplyDeleteI'd be so thrilled if I painted that horse, Sue. I think it is a gorgeous watercolor. Love the crop and mat on Lulu. She looks fabulous. I used to know a little girl who looked a lot like her too.
ReplyDeleteHello Meera. thank you very much for your kind comments. I'm now a follower of your Blog as I'm very interested in Indian lifestyle and customs and love the way your portray these in pictures and comments.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jennifer. I was very pleased to get them both accepted - you know what it's like when you have pictures hanging around for months, you get fed up with them and begin to dislike them after a while lol.
ReplyDeleteNo the horse was done with some very old watercolour paints that were given to me but used almost dry (if that makes sense) as I don't have the courage to work 'wet' I'm too much of a control/detail freak which is why pencils suit me better.
I do have watercolour pencils but only use them dry.
I like the way you'll frame Lulu. The narrow frame and wide mount puts the attention on her plus the wood color goes well with her skin and hair color.
ReplyDeleteThe Indian lady turned out beautifully. Hope the bathroom floor did also.
Don't be too hard on yourself with the w/c. They are very difficult to me but it appears that you've got the idea. I was told that the old masters used them practically dry for their studies so you're in good company there.
Did you ever paint your river stones? If you can paint on stones with acrylic then you can paint in my book!
For some reason your comments are coming through out of synch ... joys of Blogger I guess. I wish I had the facility to reply to each of your comments individually (as can be done on some Blogs) but I think that must be a format option that I don't have with this layout. So I have to do my best and respond to your comments in batches LOL
ReplyDeleteThank you for the vote of confidence Sherry ... still think that w/c is not for me though.
Jan - I'm pleased with the mount/frame for Lulu as well. It means I don't have to spend a fortune at the framers - particularly as I've just entered the 3 Indian Studies into another juried exhibition (only one, if any, of the three can be accepted but it will be interesting to see how a coloured pencil work is viewed by the jury in an exhibition that traditionally favours 'painters')
No I haven't painted any stones yet. Having collected, washed and dried them I then went to India and then got the urge to draw Indian folk ...the stones will still be there when I run out of enthusiasm for the pencil work.
Congratulations on the show! That would be an awesome exhibition to see! Your two portraits will be well-received, I'm sure! They are awesome! I know what you mean about the strangeness of a paintbrush in your hand, as opposed to the comfort of a pencil... I feel that too. But you are a wonderful painter. I'm envious of the new flooring... I would love to have my whole house floored in rich beautiful wood. Can you post a picture?
ReplyDeleteThank you Katherine. Coloured Pencil hasn't been around so long in the UK as in the USA but the Society is growing rapidly and the exhibition entries get better each year I think - so its an honour to have made it past the jury LOL
ReplyDeleteWe have woodfloors throughout the downstairs of our house already (apart from the kitchen which has tiles) The downstairs bathroom is the one we are having refloored but only with vinyl I'm afraid. The fitters were supposed to arrive this morning but now it is past 1pm and no sign of them ... fingers crossed they'll be here soon