Seated Figure Trois Crayons Drawing

Seated Figure – Trois Crayons on prepared charcoal paper –

half sheet, approx. 12” x 19” (30.5 x 48.3 cm)

On Fridays I attend a figure drawing class taught by Robert Liberace and on Monday I signed up for it again. I started taking this drawing class last winter term and with only two more classes left of this term I feel it is close enough to call it a year. My goal in attending this class was to improve my drawing abilities by following the classical academic methodology of drawing that Robert teaches. And I am very happy with how the year has progressed. Here are some previous drawings {reclining figure, seated figure, profile, and seated figure}

This drawing is a method Robert developed where you use verithin colored pencils to create the sense of trios crayons of yester-year. It is now very difficult to find quality artist grade red chalk, so by using terra-cotta verithin pencils on prepared paper you can almost create the same effect. For the three colors I used terra-cotta and black verithin pencils and a white pastel pencil for the highlights. It is a fun method of modeling and using warm and cool tones to develop the shadow shapes. This drawing was completed over three sessions.

Tomorrow in class we are working with silverpoint. I think it is my favorite drawing medium next to charcoal (which to me is more like painting) where with silverpoint it is all about the lines. It is all about draughtsmanship and integrity of line and form, and that is what I admire about it so much. Here is a link to a modern artist that works predominantly with silverpoint. I think the current pose is for two more weeks and once it is done I will share it with you.

Until next time, have a wonderful evening.

Liz

Mangos Diptych

Mangos: Ripe and Almost Ripe {diptych} – both together 4.5” x 11” (11.4 x 27.9 cm) –

Oil on Linen Panel

Available in my Esty Shop

Hello~

I am happy to say that today rained and thus the construction was unable to move forward today, so I had a somewhat sane day. The weather predicts it will rain tomorrow as well, so I am hopeful that the construction will not be able to go on tomorrow as well. So I can spend some stress free time in the studio.

Here is a painting I completed a little over a week ago. It is of one of my favorite subjects, mangos. I bought a box of them and I liked how there was varying ripeness found with the fruit. I have since diced them up and pureed them for future snacks and recipes.

I have had a busy day and ready to call it quits. Until next time, thanks for sharing time with me : )

Liz

More to come during the week... I hope....

{Slim curled up in a new spot}

Hello~

During the weekend Slim found a new place to nap, my knitting basket, she especially loved curling up on a finished side of a sweater for S.

How was your weekend? Mine went by too fast. Minimal time was devoted to art making instead time was spent on focusing on prepping canvases and organizing and picking up my studio space. I now wish I had spent more time painting and enjoying the quite as you will see...

I am not sure how this upcoming week will progress as today was a pretty pitiful day. The building I live in started some heavy duty façade repairs today, where from 9:30 to around 4pm the sounds of jack hammers and concrete saws reverberated through my apartment, I was forced out of my home around 1pm today because the sound got so bad that headphones would not cancel out the noise. When I returned around 4pm the crew looked to be packing up.

This bodes evil as I use the day to paint, I think a new schedule will need to be sorted out so I can work around this, as management has said this project will go on until February. UGHHHH!!!!

S. recommended that I work into the night and sleep late until the construction starts up in the morning, so I may have to try that out, as nothing art related got completed today and I have a few paintings that need some finishing touches.

Well, I will let you go now and beg to defer posting any new art until tomorrow or Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing with my woes,

Liz

Persimmons {a daily painting}

Wild Persimmons – 5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – Oil on Linen Panel
Available in my Etsy shop

While out on a walk I passed by an old persimmon tree that was quite wild. Instead of having large opaque skinned fruit like found in the grocery store the fruit was small and berry-like with translucent skin and chalky-white areas of the natural yeast that will be found on some fruit.

As I have been gathering items when out on walks, I brought a branch home and completed this painting.

Reminiscing about Photography…

This morning I was reading one of my favorite blogs Little Augury, where she had a wonderful post about the photographer Ivan Terestchenko. In reading the interview about him and then subsequently visiting Terestchenko’s blog I was inspired to reminisce how photography has been an important aspect in my life and how it formed my early sense of design and form. This post particularly is expressive of how I sometimes think about a composition.

{architectural details of bas-relief carvings in Spain}

Before moving into the art of drawing and painting I was a photographer. During my mid-teen years I started using my mom’s old Olympus manual SLR, at 17 I took it with me to South Africa for the year I lived in Pretoria. These initial years were mainly me snapping images that caught my attention, looking at them and deciphering what turned out and what did not, experimenting and starting to discern my personal aesthetic sense. Later I took photography classes, gained a lot of darkroom experience and continued to snap photos and record my surroundings.

While studying architecture, photography was the predominant means of gathering research information in the field while at the same time I began to support the photos with drawings. I was especially fortunate to receive two separate traveling fellowships to study vernacular architecture in Spain, providing the opportunity to travel and complete independant research for my Master's thesis. I always consider these trips to be the pivotal moment in my career where my interest in photography began to support my artistis pursuits versus being my only outlet for creativity.

{scenes that always evoke as sense of peace and serenity in my heart}

{architectural sketches in pencil on canson paper}

As the years have moved by I started to turn more and more towards drawing, then painting as a means of personal expression. I found the feeling of really understanding a place or an object after I would draw it to be more rewarding and deeply emotional versus the experience of taking a photograph and then later finding out how it would turn out after being processed and printed. In reviewing the pencil drawings above I can still feel the dry heat of the afternoon sun falling on my back and then sliding away as the time passed by while drawing, the hard dusty surfaces I would sit on, and with the most right drawing that my back was leaning against the stone wall that surrounds the Mezquita courtyard in Cordoba. While with photographs a sense of moment, of capturing the fleeting moment when my eyes would rest on something and the thought that I wanted to record it for future observation but the memory of the experience is not as strong.

This morning has been a wonderful trip down memory lane and looking at some of my archived photographs I begin to realize that what peaked my interest then, does so now, I just now use different mediums and view photography as one of many interests.

Thank you for sharing this experience and reading my thoughts. I really appreciate it.

Liz

{Visigothic column in mosque courtyard
now attached to a Baroque church in Carmona, Spain}

{detail of carved marble in-floor door hinge}

{hammam in Granada}

Simple Roses Still Life Painting

Roses – 8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – Oil Canvas Panel
{Flower Project 2009 – No. 4}

Available through my Etsy Shop

Hello ~

This week I am inspired by English literature and on the beauty of roses. I really believe that what I listen to while painting has an effect on how I go about setting up a composition. I often listen to audio books and my favorite resource is librivox, where you can download unabridged open source audio books. Currently I am listening to “The History of Tom Jones” and yesterday I noticed words like “forbear” and “opprobrious” were peppering my speech.

Autumn Leaf {a daily painting}

Autumn Leaf – 7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – Oil on Linen Canvas Panel

On Saturday this leaf was picked up and carried home. I have a fondness of picking up oddments and bringing them home as momentos. This leaf was so beautiful, I was inspired to capture it in paint.

Thanks for stopping by today : )

Liz

Lemon Wedges {a daily painting}

Lemon Wedges – 5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – Oil Canvas Panel

Hello friends ~

I am pretty beat today and hope you had a nice one. It is at times like this that I realize how important sleep is for keeping creativity up. So will I will keep it short.

See you soon, Liz

Lemons & Folds {a daily painting}

Lemons and Folds – 5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – Oil Canvas Panel

Over the last two weeks I have worked and reworked the lemons in certain paintings. This is because I sometimes get hung up on the subtleties of the colors in the shadows, is the shadow really that green or purple, or a compilation of the two, or maybe something totally different. So today’s painting is also lemons as I continue to work on discerning these slight changes in color and value.

Before completing this painting and the previous one I did some 10 minute studies of each setup on some gessoed watercolor paper. I got this idea from Carol Marine’s blog where she had her recent workshop students complete various 10 minute sketches. Working with a timer really gets the blood pumping and enhances focus. Once I got down to painting the real painting I felt familiar with the subject and had some experience exploring some different variations of how to apply the paint and accomplish what I wanted to.

Lately I have been using cremnitz white more often than the other whites on my palette, titanium white and zinc buff white. So for the drapery folds I decided to only use titanium white and to play with its fluidity.

{10 minute studies}

Pomegranate & Plate Still Life

Pomegranate and Plate – 8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) – Oil Canvas Panel

In July my friend, Chrish, generously lent me several Moroccan and Turkish pieces of pottery to paint. Over the last few months I have been working on the two paintings with some of the pieces, and then later I created this painting as a gift for her.

Mexico Series

{Mexico Series}

A Place in the Sun – 5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – Oil Canvas Panel

Scooter – 5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – Oil Canvas Panel

Mexico Cruiser – 5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – Oil Canvas Panel

These paintings are scenes from Isla Mujeres, Mexico. In June of 2008 our friends, Craig and Yvonne, were married there and S. and I were lucky enough to be invited to join in on the festivities. While there I took tons of photos with the goal of completing some paintings. So far these three paintings and this one are the only ones completed to date.

In lieu of receiving a wedding gift within a year of their wedding, Craig and Yvonne were patient enough to let me work on some paintings for them without a specific time schedule. Thank goodness because I needed all the time it took!

Lemon and Lime {a daily painting}

Lemon and Lime – 5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – Oil on Linen Panel

Hello ~

How was your weekend? My weekend went by fast, it was filled with watching movies, trying out new recipes, and working on some different art projects. I was fortunate enough to finish a few paintings which I am really excited about showing them to you, however they are gifts, so I will wait on sharing them until after they have been received.

I also started thinking about getting back into the daily painting thing. The last one was completed on Sept. 7, 2009, and the next day I left for a trip to Texas and when I returned, my focus was on larger paintings. Which was a nice change, working with larger compositions as I was able to fiddle with new ideas and painting techniques. The down side of this change in focus was that I got out of the groove in completing the smaller daily paintings.

During this time off from I spent some time assessing how I value my time and if it would be a good idea to increase the starting bid on these smaller paintings that go on auction. After thinking about it, discussing it with some valued patrons and friends, I realize it is time to increase the prices. This increase will cover my expenses and also the time spent on these paintings, which is necessary especially as I am now a professional artist. Prior to this point my goal with the daily paintings was to just cover the cost of materials, this was not a sustainable system. I want to be happy and excited when working on daily paintings not regretting the time that could be spent on other pieces. I also want my work to be valued, so after much deliberation today’s daily painting will be at the new starting price.

I want to thank you who have supported me so far and those who have helped me in making this decision.

Have a wonderful evening,

Liz

PS. I will be back soon with some of the gift paintings.

An October Afternoon

{Slim napping}

Hello~

Today was a quite day working on some smaller projects and prepping for the next in the flower series. Below is a work in progress, my friend Peggy named it "Lemons in Sunset".

Have a nice evening, Liz

Sunflowers in a White in White Composition

White on White with Sunflowers – 16" x 12" (40.6 x 30.5 cm) – Oil on Canvas
{Flower Project 2009 – No. 3}

With this painting I was interested in painting a scene that was set in a predominately white environment. Compositions with specific dominate color schemes has been a fascination for me since around 1996 when I took my first art and architecture history class and we studied the Russian suprematist art movement. Malevich’s White on White composition is a painting I often think about, something so simple can also be very thought provoking. The off balance square in a square format, the tension of the tangential corner on the top and near tangent on the right is stabilized by the large negative space of the bottom and left sides.

Even though I paint in a representational manner often the modern and abstract schools of art and architecture will inform my ideas for a composition.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As an aside, I often do not realize how reliant I am on certain tools to create a single blog post. Last night and this morning I could not get Photoshop to save files, it kept having a program error, so this morning three hours later after uninstalling and reinstalling Adobe Creative Suite I am able to complete a blog post with a saved jpeg of the painting! I am relieved to have my programs working well now. Without technology life would be so simple but not as fun because I would not know the wonderful benefits of blogging.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing the day with me,

Liz

Jefferson Memorial

Jefferson Memorial – 8" x 16" (20.3 x 40.6 cm) – Oil Canvas Panel

Here is the oil painting of the Jefferson Memorial, it was all painted in plein air over three sessions between 10am and 1pm. The quality of light as it struck the marble structure and how the shadows were cast was really important to me, I wanted to capture the golden pink tones of the sunlight sides and the cool purple and greens of the shadows.

I am finding that painting buildings with oil paint is a much more challenging endeavor than working in watercolor. It all has to do with the finessing of edges, not getting to many hard edges except where it is important and also getting the perspective correct. I also wonder if working on a larger canvas would help, to have more room for the more fiddly details. Here is last year’s painting of a nearby view.

Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary and I am taking off the day to spend with my love. This morning I made a banana nut loaf to have something special over breakfast.

Thanks for reading today :)

Liz

DC Sketchbook Entries

I want to thank you for all the kind comments and emails supporting me through this time of concern over my most precious Slim :)

My husband, S., has over the weekend has been helping me see the small steps of improvement in Slim’s condition which will hopefully continue to progress. During this time I have been focusing more on working in a sketchbook, something that is permanent and is going to be kept together, and something that is more informal than working on canvas. It is a personal journal of filled with images of DC and items gathered from walks. Once a week I go into DC with the specific purpose to observe and record.

9/24/2009

{acorns and leaves found in Dupont Circle}

10/2/2009

{Jefferson Memorial from West Potomac Park}

10/10/2009
{the oldest cherry trees @ the tidal basin}

I like many others that live in the DC region; I am not a native of the area. I have always considered myself from Texas and still have roots attaching me to the San Antonio area, however I have now lived here for over nine years and am truly starting to consider it home. I am beginning to value the differences of the seasons and the scenery, and I absolutely love the variety of cultural activities found in this region. This sketchbook journal is sorta like a love letter to the area, identifying what it is that makes it so special while also strengthening my ties to it.

As the time goes by I will continue to share some of the entries on this blog, and I am hoping that some larger paintings will also result from these informal investigations. Tomorrow I will post one such painting, once I get a good photo of it.

See you soon,
Liz

A little down lately...

{Slim napping in one of her favorite places}

Hello,

You may have noticed that there has been reduced posting last month and so far this month, this is due to my overall funk and concern for my kitty, Slim. She is eight years old and last month we found out that she is pretty ill. A lot of my energy has been dedicated to taking care of her and trying to find some balance. She really means a lot to me and I am pretty worried as we are trying to solve the mystery of what is causing the condition.

As you can see she still is pretty agile as she is able to jump up to her favorite spot, move around, play, and overall be her normal self. It was only when talking with a friend last night about Slim’s condition and my friend’s thoughtful observation that I seemed pretty stressed about it that I realized how much I am. Thank you Marie for helping me see and feel.

As we continue to monitor Slim, I feel confident we will figure it out and find a way to take care of her so she will have several more years in our life. I will also try to find more balance and direction with my art, staying on track with some projects I am working on and get back into the grove of everything. As today's drawing class is canceled I am going to focus on organizing for winter and maybe cooking a nice meal. Extra cleaning and picking up always helps clear my head and regain some focus. Maybe I will be able to salvage some inspiration and work on a new painting I have in mind.

Until next time, have a nice weekend.

Liz

Sugarbowl and Dahlia Buds Still Life Painting

Sugarbowl and Dahlia Buds – 10" x 8" (25 x 20.3 cm) – Oil Canvas Panel
{Flower Project 2009 - No. 2}

Available through my Etsy Shop

One of the reasons I started the flower project is because painting flowers really requires a rigor in studying small distinct changes in color, value, and shape, something I want to develop further. Betty Edwards says in The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain that when one engages the right side of the brain you lose track of time and the ability to focus on shapes, values, and relationships increases. It is when the left side is dominant that one fatigues quickly of these activities and it limits your ability to draw or paint in a realistic manner.

Over the summer I have made the commitment to move more towards a representational style of painting, with smoother transitions and a keener sense of value and form. I still admire the impressionistic style of painting and love how they are full of energy and color, I am hoping to develop the skill of handling paint where I can use strong brushstrokes alongside the more delicate and controlled painting of realism.

With this painting I really wanted to go into detail overdrive, seeing if I could harmonize the complexity of the dahlias with the embroidered tablecloth and the sugarbowl. Conceptually I also shortened the depth of focus of the painting to the foreground and middle-ground, while the background blurred to an indistinct edge between the vertical and horizontal surfaces. The color palette is also predominately a complementary color palette of red and green with large areas of neutral tones.

Dahlias with a Mexican Platter Still Life

Dahlias with a Mexican Platter – 16" x 12" (40.6 x 30.5 cm) – Oil on Canvas
{Flower Project 2009 - No. 1}

Available through my Etsy Shop

I started this painting the day after Susan Abbott’s workshop finished, a little over two weeks ago. The setup started out with the dahlias I had picked up at the farmers market in Old Town. While the backdrops and accompanying items were chosen for the colors. During the workshop we had a color exercise where we selected complementary color pair and then the neighboring colors of this pair, playing with warm and cool color choices. This painting is a play off of the magenta/violet of the flowers and the complementary color yellow that appears in various areas of the painting. I then selected greens and blues to be the second most common colors that connect the two complementary colors.

For the first three days of the painting I only worked on the flowers, as they were changing fast and would soon wither. After the flowers were pretty much developed I then focused on working on the other areas of the painting trying to incorporate all the lessons learned from Danni’s workshop. The biggest bit of insight I am still getting used to is the need to slow down and absorb what I see and take the time to really work to capture the image without overworking it. It is a fine line and I also have to fight against some levels of impatience as I want to get to the finish line, so I have been having to let go some and just enjoy the process of each brushstroke and new evolution the painting took as I would refine different areas.

After all it is the journey and the present that mean so much.

This is also the first of the 50 flower paintings I set out to complete in 12 months.

Friday Inspiration {No. 19}

{my growing acorn collection}

I have been thinking about drawing this week, and the various methods and styles people use to capture the world through line and mass. Here are some of the blog posts I have visited to get some thoughts moving...

} Nina Johansson's People in Airports - I love the way she creates a boarder around her sketches

} Ester Wilson's Blankets - Her ability create depth and folds through hatching is wonderful

} Via Algarviana, Dia 5 (2) - the use of gestural and cross contour lines that form the tree is simple and captivating to me

} Kevin Wueste's Three Chalk Drawings - the tonal qualities of the drawing are beautiful

} Geninne's Cosmos are wonderfully simple and graphic

} I like the thick lines and use of color in these sketchbook entries