Trilobite II , 7 x 10 inches, watercolor
I had so much fun doing the trilobite watercolor the other day, that I just had to do another one. This is a different trilobite, stylized again. I decided to give this one a more watery color scheme. I've got an idea for a similar one, but with a different animal. The planning has been as fun as the painting.
I've always been fascinated by trilobites, the prehistoric extinct arthropods, ever since my zoology professor brought a trilobite fossil into class. So this weekend I got my own trilobite fossil out to sketch. I wanted something colorful, not your typical scientific publication drawing. So I muddled around with some colored pencils for a while until it came to me. I like using colored pencils to work out ideas, especially when color is an important part of the idea. Since trilobites were segmented, why not make a stylized version with the segments separated. So after much drawing, this is my watercolor version. I like how it turned out. It has a lot of potential.
I've been traveling to conventions and vacationing and just being busy. Now I've just got to get my muse back on track. Sometimes my art focus feels disjointed, often brought on by people asking what I paint. (Answer: Whatever I'm in the mood to paint.) There are things I don't often paint or draw, people for example. I've been trying to work on that more lately. Otherwise, it's mostly what stirs me. Robert Genn's recent letter on Working Your Muses and Jeannette's post about What Warms Your Soul got me to thinking about focus again. So I made a list of all of the things that have interested me and stirred me. There's art and museums of course but there's also nature, water, geology, science in general, cityscapes, moonlit nights, and plants. I keep adding to the list but it's all starting to come together into something (what I don't know). It's getting my muse anxious to start. In the meantime, since I've been working on sketching people, this is a sketch from a photo of Rick while he's waiting to do a magic show. It's not a perfect likeness but it's not bad. We were at the mall and it was one of those moments when the light was perfect. So I snapped a photo before he caught on so I could sketch it later.
Work in progress. Acrylic on masonite panel.A while back I bought a couple of small gessoed panels. Normally I use canvas, but panels seem to be convenient and easy to store. So the other day I decided to try them out. I also wanted to experiment with colors and glazes and such. It was a real struggle at first. I was totally unprepared for the slickness of the panel. Add in my other experimentation and I almost tossed it. Now I'm glad I stuck with it. Once you get the first couple of coats of paint down, it gets much easier. This is an old, oddly-shaped building in town. I've always wondered about its history. I've still got a lot of work to do on it but it's coming along.
I decided this morning to try this month's Virtual Sketch Date. The reference photo for this month was provided by Leslie Hawes. This was probably a stretch of my colored pencil abilities but I had fun and I learned a lot. It's about 5.5 by 3.5 inches in colored pencil in one of my sketchbooks.
Otherwise, I've been struggling with a painting lately. It's a new surface (gessoed masonite) and somewhat of a different subject matter for me. It's still at the ugly stage but I think I'm getting it whipped into shape.
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See all of my Virtual Sketch Date posts.
Since Saturday was Drawing Day, I decided to spend most of the day with my art. Usually I have things I need to do around the house, but yesterday I put them off. It seems like I seldom have an entire day to devote to art lately. It felt great. I started a painting. I did a quick sketch of Rick while he was napping, or at least part of him. I also did this little watercolor sketch of some lilies from the yard. I think the buckling of the paper in places made the color wash out a bit in places. Otherwise it's close.
There was a lull of blooming things in the yard for a few weeks, but now the second wave has started. Plus I was out of town at a conference so I'm just now getting back in my groove. I was sitting outside sketching this right after a brief rain shower so there was an occasional raindrop falling on my head and on the book. Then I plucked off one of the flowers to do a closeup sketch. Dozens of almost microscopic insects fell out of the flower onto my sketchbook, so I was brushing them off and inadvertantly smashing a few. Somehow the page ended up not too worse for wear. The hazards of sketching outside. In real life the flower portion of the stalk is much longer, probably about twice as long as what I have here. I just ran out of room on the page. It was a nice afternoon for sketching outside, even if it was somewhat drippy.
I like hidden discoveries. Last year was terrible for plants of all kinds. First we had the late season freaky frost. Then we had a terrible drought all summer. Even the trees struggled. This spring has been completely different. We've had plenty of rain so far. (We could still use more.) Apparently all of the plants were working their magic in soil. They look very healthy. I was afraid my lilies of the valley didn't survive last summer. They did survive though. I found my flourishing bunch under a bush.
On another note, the Illustrators' Partnership has sample letters discussing the Orphan Works Act that you can send to your members of Congress. There are letters for almost every category - visual artists, photographers, illustrators, friends of artists, businesses, the image-making public, and international artists. Some are editable and some are not. You'll find more information and copies of the bills at the Illustrators' Partnership web site.
This is a Japanese Iris from the garden. I several bunches of them and they've been blooming their hearts out this year. They're doing so well that I think I'll have to divide them this year. I decided I would try to paint or draw each type of flower in my garden this year. Usually I mean to do that but time gets away from me and I miss them. It shouldn't be that difficult since I don't have that many types of flowers. Besides, I could use the practice. Now if I can do a little more weeding so they'll have a chance to grow, I'll be set.
I'm back from being immersed in taxes, some short trips, and a boatload of work for the past couple of weeks. I've been focusing on doing quick pencil sketches lately. Katie is a good subject since she sleeps a lot, like most cats. I've also been sketching from the Sunrise Earth show on HD Theater. It's not like sketching in plein air but there's subject matter that isn't readily accessible for me. I'm also stuck in planning mode for my next painting. Sometimes I do too much planning, trying to achieve the perfect subject. So I'm determined that I'm going to just start something this weekend. In the meantime, here's something interesting I found.
Explaining Science Through Drawing
Since I have a degree in science, I get a lot of science-related email in addition to art-related and knitting-related email. This article from the National Science Foundation came as a pleasant surprise. It turns out that the act of explaining scientific concepts through drawings helps the illustrator understand the underlying concepts. The next step of this project is to get design students together with science students so they can learn from each other.
Spring Daffodil
We've had spring-like weather here this week, and we had snow just the past weekend. The first set of daffodils are blooming. Some of the trees are getting flower buds on them and I've seen some bird activity lately. So I just had to draw one of the daffodils. It's done in ink and colored pencil. I've been on a colored pencil kick lately. I'm not sure why since I've haven't done much with them until now. Maybe I'm just feeling lazy. I don't have to worry about water. I just grab a few pencil and go.
My Foot
copyright - Sydney Harper
My husband had to get some work done on his car this week. If possible, we try to make a day, or at least an evening of it, and do some things around town. We still have to deal with the time spent in the waiting room at the auto shop though, so we go prepared. He brings his computer. I bring my sketchbook and my knitting. We had a longer than usual wait this time so I knit a little, sketched a little, knit a little again, and sketched again. I practiced sketching some of the people in the waiting room. Then when I ran out of subjects, I drew my foot, which just happens to qualify for EDM 1 - Draw a shoe. I usually carry a copy of the Everyday Matters (EDM) Challenge List in my sketchbook in case I run out of ideas. Having time to just sit and sketch makes car repairs a much more pleasant experience. Things have been so busy lately that I seldom have such a large block of time to just sit and sketch.
I've been intrigued by Kate Johnson's sketches on colored paper so I thought I would give it try with a pencil sketch I had done of Katie. I like the way it turned out, especially since I haven't had much experience with colored pencils. I may have to try this again sometime. Plus since she's a blue-grey cat, it works well for her.
Also I've added section on the sidebar called "SydneyH's shared items" with interesting blogs I've come across. This list will change over time. If you find something interesting, make sure you save the link.
