"Keeping Watch"

Finally back to painting.  We've decided to design our family room in a bit of a rustic style reminiscent of a cabin so I thought I should create some artwork for the walls that would help bring the theme together.  I have been thinking about bears and wolves mostly.

This guy was fun to paint.  Usually I leave the background for last and then struggle with what to do with it. This time I decided to jump right in and lay in the background first.

The background was done in two wet-in-wet variegated washes, with an emphasis on the brighter gold green in the front near the wolf's face.  When both washes were completely dry I laid in the first washes of the trees, letting them fuzz and blur just a bit.  The small tree on the left will need to be muted a bit to push it into the distance behind the wolf's body.

Close up of the eyes.  I really wanted to keep the warm glow and intense gaze as this is my focal point. The colors I used for this painting are Winsor Newton Artist Watercolors, Green Gold, Olive Green, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna and Paynes Gray.  I also used a little Titanium white for highlights.

"Keeping Watch"

Watercolor 14" x 20"

Arches Cold-Press Watercolor Paper

Border Collie Commission - Fundraiser #3

I just started this commission piece this evening.  It's fun to be using charcoal again.  One of the things I like is that you can get really nice darks and a lot of variation in tone with just one color.  I use a "ugly" brush from Cheap Joe's to help spread the charcoal, it really gives it a nice delicate tonal quality and you have a little more control than using your finger.  Then I just continue building up the laters until I'm satisfied.  These two photos show the very early stages that I did tonight.  I start with the eyes and nose because I feel that starts to bring the animal to life right of the bat.

New Facebook Page is up and running

My Facebook page is now up and running!  ART BY WENDY SPRAGUE

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Art-by-Wendy-Sprague/190690334452047

Blue Jay

This little guy is enjoying a little winter snack.  He was pretty easy to create in colored pencil, but the blues, especially the light cyan doesn't seem to pick up on the scanner well at all.  The original has a nice light hue of feathers on his tummy that don't really show here. I used 4 different blues on the bird plus white to help blend the various layers to create a more "painterly" effect.

Showing My Work

If you missed the chance to attend Guglielmo Winery's Art and Wine Faire a couple weeks ago you can still come and see a few of the artists starting Monday at the Morgan Hill (CA) Centennial Recreation Center (Senior Center area).   The show runs from November 18 through January 2, 2014.  I will have several pieces displayed.

Lilac-Breasted Roller

Now, that the art and wine faire is over it is back to business, which means catching up on my on-line class with Val Webb, drawing birds.  This colorful little guy is a Lilac-Breasted Roller.  I decided to do a different view of the bird and add a tree for him to rest in.  Working in colored pencil is a much longer process than working in watercolor.  The bird has at least 5 layers of color and the background has 4, including a layer of clear pencil to help blend and smooth the color.  Because the main subject is so colorful I decided to add a simple plain background so that it wouldn't compete with the bird.

Lilac-Breasted Roller

8-1/2" x 10-1/2"

Colored Pencil on Bristol Vellum

Red Glasses 2

As soon as I finished Red Glasses I immediately decided to try just the eyes.  I thought it might make a fun composition and cute cards.

"Red Glasses 2

Watercolor

7 x 12

140# Arches Cold-Press Watercolor Paper

Red Glasses

I've become enamored at the idea of doing a series of "eyes", specifically my daughter's.  This is from a photo taken during a camping trip. Yes, her cat does come camping with us.  This cat, Rozie, is practically another limb! :)

My intention was to try to paint this very loose in imitation of artist Stephie Butler's style.  Obviously, the finished painting didn't quite stay "loose" but I wanted to complete it anyway because, well, practice makes for a better artist.

"Red Glasses" 

Watercolor

11 x 15

300# Cold-Press Watercolor Paper

Bearded Iris

I started this painting of a bearded iris several years ago and left it unfinished in my closet.  I decided to pull it out the other day and finish it.  I had the flower done but it was just floating there on the center of the white paper.  I put in the stem rather quickly, no problem, but what to do about the background?  Plain white seemed boring.  I decided it needed to make a bold statement with lots of color.  I drew and painted in a few surrounding leaves but it still needed more.  In the end I decided to fill the foreground with leaves just as you would see in a garden but I wanted the background totally different.  I decided it needed to be big and bold and DARK!  I wet the back of the paper quite liberally and let is soak a bit and then laid the wet back onto my gator board letting it stick to the board.  I then wet the white areas of the background with clean water and laid in the blues and purple found in the flower and the leaves. I wanted the background to really contrast with the white portion of the flower.  The reason I wet the front and back of the paper before laying in the color was because I new it was too much area to cover quickly because I had to work around the white shapes and the tips of the leaves.  Pre-wetting it gave me more time to work because the paper held the moisture longer (tip I learned from my artist friend Pattie Foxhoven - thanks Pattie!).

 

"Bearded Iris"

Watercolor

15" x 22"

Watercolor on 140# Arches

Feruginous Hawk

This serious guy is called a Feruginous Hawk and is a predatory bird as you can tell by his beak.  The hooded area over his eye helps to keep the sun out of his eyes and gives him that fierce look.  This drawing was very challenging for me.  Trying to get his head proportions correct and then trying to get the overall feeling of the pattern in his feathers.  Colored pencil does not erase very easily at all and the work is slow,  gradually building up layers until you get the look you want.

I am very satisfied with the outcome but I have not decided if this piece is finished or if I want to add some additional features like cutaways of his feet, wing feathers, etc.

In my initial drawing you can see that I have the head proportions a bit off.  The back of the head and body are much to narrow.  You can see how much better it looks after I corrected it in the final version below.

"Ferruginous Hawk"

11x14

Colored Pencil on Bristol Paper

Birds, Birds, Birds

Taking a little break from dogs and cats, I have started working on birds.  My first efforts were simple timed drawing and looking at the directional design of feathers.

Quick little sketches, I set the timer for 8 minutes and made a game of it!

Looking at different types of eyes and comparing the highlight and encaustic areas to that of a human eye.  I'm also adding a bit of color for fun.  In the drawing of this bird of prey and the picture below I'm realizing how a birds jaw hinges much farther back than it would seem, it actually hinges below the eye, even if the beak itself doesn't seem to go back that far (see below).

Angle of lower jaw where it connects with the beak and the location of the jaw hinge.

A couple more timed sketches, deciphering the "egg shape" of the body and playing around with the directional design of the highlights of feathers.

Terrier

This cute little guy is an exercise in drawing white fur which is quite challenging.  This was done on Bristol paper which has a very smooth surface and using a regular 2B graphite pencil.  The easier and preferred method (for me) would have been to use white and black charcoal pencils on a toned background but, as I said, this was to be a challenge.  To help separate the white fur of the pup from the  white background I added a little tone with graphite and a little smudging with my fingers - kind of reminiscent of Kindergarten and actually fun.  Because the graphite tends to smear easily if your hand brushes against the drawing I finished the drawing by "cleaning" it up with my trusty electric eraser.  I love how you can restore the bright white of the paper.

"Terrier" 

11 x 14

Graphite on Bristol Paper

Snorkeling Maui

This painting was inspired by a photo that my great-niece, Amanda, shared of her snorkeling adventures in Maui.  I knew right away I wanted to paint it.  I knew I wanted the look of wild hair floating and swaying in the current.  I also wanted to show the light filtering down from above and onto her outstretched arms.  I added bubbles from the movement of her hair and waves above her head but chose to leave the lower portion of the painting rather static because I envision her floating, bobbing with the current while looking at the menagerie of fish around her.  I also didn't want to detract from the eyes and mask with too much movement.

Reference photo

Pencil drawing directly on 140# Arches cold press watercolor paper

To be honest, I actually really like this cropped version.  As you can see, I took a lot of artist license here.  I wasn't trying for a portrait of my niece but rather the wonderful feeling of floating and moving with the gentle current but with some excitement in the colors.

Snorkeling Maui

Watercolor

8-1/2 x 12

Arches 140# Cold-Press Paper 

Pet Portrait - Fundraising Project #2

Commissioned Piece "Kate"

Charcoal on Charcoal Paper

Private Collection 

*To find out how you can get a custom portrait of your pet and participate in a random-act-of-kindness project, scroll down to my post on June 30th, 2013 for the details or contact me via email.  I am offering 10 pet portraits pro-bono.

"Indy" (Flat-Coat Retreiver, 8 weeks old)

This is my friend, Mylou's, new puppy, Indy.  Isn't she adorable.  I just had to draw her.  She is a Flat-Coated Retriever, just like her sister, Luna.  Mylou and I met in puppy class nearly 4 years ago and have been friends every since. :)

Drawing Indy was a bit of challenge in that she is all black, not a speck of white anywhere.  I used my new favorite method of black and white charcoal on Bristol Vellum.  Even though she is entirely black I needed the white charcoal to help pick out the highlights.  I generally use both hard and medium grades of black charcoal, white charcoal and an "ugly" brush to help work the graphite powder into the paper, giving me a smooth and rich undercoat.  An electric eraser is used for picking out tiny highlights in the eyes and the toe nails.

The only compositional change I made was to swap the leaf Indy had in her mount with a daisy.  I thought it added a little whimsy and I like the contrast of the white flower against an all black puppy.

"Indy"

8x10

Charcoal on Bristol Vellum

Private Collection

Practice Piece "Husky" in Graphite

I've been flat on my back for several days, today is the first day I'm really up and around.  Walked the dog around our little court this morning and finished my practice piece.  I found this book on Drawing Cats & Dogs and picked it up for about $8 bucks.  I've learned three things: 1) I do better on my own than trying to following someone else's directions, and 2) I like drawing with charcoal better than graphite.  Who knew?  :)  Lastly, I learned that perhaps Bristol Vellum is not the best ground for graphite, but I still think it came out okay.

"Husky" Study

8x10

Graphite on Bristol Vellum

Pet Portrait Commission "Coco"

I am working pro-bono to raise funds for a friend's surgery.  Brian Wetzel is a long-time advocate and key-note speaker for NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness).  He uses his own life experiences in his one-man show and his musical to educate people about depression.  This is the first commission piece so far toward my goal.

"Coco"

8" x 10" 

Prismacolor Pencils on Bristol Vellum

Private Collection

Zoe

I'm having such fun getting re-aquainted with charcoal and the Drawing Cats & Dogs class that I decided to draw my friend's new puppy, Zoe, while I waited for the next on-line lesson.  I've actually drawn out the entire body but now think I should have kept it to a head and chest view.  Here she is, I think I want to adopt her myself!  Just teasing. :)

"Zoe"

8x10

8-week Australian Shepherd

Charcoal pencil on Bristol Vellum

Private Collection

Designer Gouache & Charcoal

This week I'm working on something totally new.  Our Drawing Dogs & Cats class is still working in black and white, but this time incorporating black gouache.  My first piece is a black and white border collie - you might have guess from previous pieces that I'm partial to this breed :)    After doing a sketch of the BC I filled in all the dark areas with black gouache and let it dry thoroughly.   I also started a cat so that I could let that dry while I continued to work on the details of the dog.  I thought this was a really fun project.  I really like the look of the first step, it reminds me of project we did in design class in college using black sticky "tape" to create an image.

Here he is with just the gouache.  I didn't put it on the eyes because I wanted to be 

able to shade them with the white and black charcoal pencils.

Young Border Collie Study

8x10

Bristol Vellum, 100#

For the tongue I chose not to smooth the charcoal out so that I could 

get the appearance of a rougher surface.

 They eyes took many layers of both black and white charcoal.

You can help!

Would you like to participate in a random act of kindness AND get a custom portrait of your pet at the same time? You can order as many portraits as you like but, please, only one animal per portrait. Completed portraits will measure 8x10 inches and be matted (white), backed and bagged with archival artist-quality materials. Cost is $100 and includes shipping (continental U.S.). All monies will be donated to a member of our community in need of surgery. (see note at bottom). Payment via PayPal please. I'm offering two different styles (see attached). Send me a private message if you are interested and I will work out the details with you - you can also find me on Facebook to send private messages. Please provide a quality, well-lit photo of you pet and will create a portrait of his/her head/chest.

Border Collie Pup (Study)

Charcoal on Tinted Pastel Paper

Head/chest portrait of your pet in charcoal pencils. Finished portrait will be matted in white with backing board and clear bag, all archival materials.

"Ginger - Cat Lady"

Watercolor

Arches 300# Paper

Private Collection

If you prefer your name or your pet's name in watercolor I can create a piece like this. This is watercolor on watercolor paper and will be shipped with a mat board backing and an archival bag (no matting with this format as they will all be different sizes)

More info about the beneficiary: His name is Brian Wetzel, he lives in Santa Rosa, CA and is a comedian and advocate speaker for NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness). He puts on a one man show to bring awareness about depression. He needs three different parts of his shoulder operated on and doesn't have insurance or money to pay. He gives to the community at large and I would like to find a small way to help him. I believe if you google NAMI you can find him and maybe even buy a DVD of his show. I am doing random acts of kindness throughout 2013 and I personally have experienced horrible pain so I understand how he feels. I also think that NAMI does a tremendous amount off good for people . Lastly, I just love dogs (and cats)!