Pencil sketch - rodeo cowboy bullrider

My thing lately is pencil drawings. It's great not having to worry about colour......but light and highlights take on a whole new meaning when it's just black and white.

I decided this weekend to purchase a magnifier with light. Now I can't use the excuse "I couldn't see it" when I screw up. I thought I'd show you my practise run :)

The top photo is of my "start". I have my reference photo and another aceo I did to peek at as I draw. You will see that I have transferred my drawing onto the paper and have started colouring in. I decided to try charcoal this time and not graphite pencil. Both have good points but I really thought I had more control with the graphite.



Here it is looking through the magnifier. It is awesome seeing the fine detail so closely......you see the screw ups too!

This is the stage I left it at today. I have more work to do on it, but it's coming along. I'm still battling with the "shine" I get on the darker areas. I'm still not too sure what to do about this....but figure sooner or later I'll figure it out.

Rodeo Bull riding Broncos pencil sketches

"Bull Rider" 2.5" x 3.5" pencil

"Rodeo" 2.5" x 3.5" pencil

I'm not listing any pieces until after Easter so have been just fooling around sketching. Most of the pieces I did, I chucked (believe me they needed to go that way) but I did keep a couple and have been working on them the last couple of days. Interestingly I find pencil messier than paints....I have ended up with it everywhere. My fingers, my face, my clothes..... But I did learn that I could highlight this way by erasing where I had smeared LOL

WIP (work in progress) The Potter

This was the start of my new painting "The Potter" today. Just the basic rough shadows in this photo. I wasn't sure how to proceed. I knew how I wanted her to look, but didn't really know how to get it on the canvas.

"The Potter" 2.5" x 3.5" acrylic finished

I finished her this afternoon. I wanted some colour in an otherwise very muted piece. In keeping with the series I'm doing of women working at everyday tasks she is painting some jugs. I wanted her to be working alone. One person told me today that she imagined my woman working into the late hours of the night while the family was sleeping, getting her wares ready to sell at the market. I like that notion. You will find this piece listed on Ebay here

Grouse Hunter - ACEO

"Grouse Hunter" 2.5 x 3.5" aceo

Fellow artist "Char" (amarillo-choctaw)suggested while I was painting figures, to paint a Native American figure. I want to get the earth tones needed to portray plains people. So have been experimenting. This is how "Grouse Hunter" came to be. He has to blend into the prairie in order to get close to the prairie chicken.

round robin aceo group......

Another Round Robin piece. I think the last one but I'm not sure. I am working with 3 other artists. Each of us started a painting and then sends it to the next person with the finished piece going back to the original artist. This particular piece started out just a blank fireplace. The artist hand/brush was added next and then the octopus. When it came to me, all I could think was the Octopus must be getting sweet revenge, so 20,000 leages under the sea came to mind. I added the poster and the deep sea helmet (the mouse hole was an inside joke that developed during the round robin about octopus, mice, bubble dogs etc) I am not brave enough to finish the background so wimped out and am sending it back to the original artist to complete as she wishes.

Hauling Water - a new aceo

2.5" x 3.5" Day Break acrylic aceo

I did a very similar painting 3 or 4 years ago for a fund raiser. I decided to revisit this painting and see if I could come up with something similar but in aceo size. Here is my rendition of it. You will find this painting listed on Ebay here

WIP Work in Progress - Hauling Water - Finished

My work in progress finished and entered at EBSQart's online art show...one word concept "Beverage". What could be more important than the family's drinking water. We take our water for granted but there are plenty of places where they still have to haul water daily for the family's needs.

ACEO size (2.5" x 3.5") painted on 182lb canvas paper signed and dated on the back. You can see the show here at EBSQart.com

Spring Daffodils WIP (work in progress) finished

"The Daffodil Field" 3.5" x 2.5" acrylic

I finished this piece this afternoon. I didn't monkey with it too much because I didn't want to over work it. It is entered in the March Flower of the Month exhibition at EBSQart here

Spring Daffodils WIP (work in progress)

The Flower of the Month at EBSQart is "daffodil" this month. I started working on this today to enter it. This will be two children chasing butterflies in a field of daffodils (I hope) I have finished the background, the main part of the kids (you can see where I have pencilled in the nets) Now I have to work on the field, foreground, and the fine details of the children. (is he helping her or shoving her?) I am nervous about adding the daffodils and butterflies. I could screw the whole thing......

Spring Daffodils - fairy

Look who got caught napping when the sun came up. Titled Rise and Shine. The fairy is sleeping, but I can't help but wonder if she's passed out on too much nectar or something. She looks pretty comfy anyway. I have put her in EBSQart's flower of the month exhibition.

ACEO in size (3.5" x 2.5") signed and dated on the back. You will find her listed on Ebay here

fox pups or are they Fox kits? aceo pastel

Fox pups, or fox kits?? Which is right? I knew if I put fox pups I was going to get 100 corrections so I googled to see which was right. Turns out they both are. This is just a quick drawing using my pastel pencils. I finally bought some workable fixative yesterday and wanted to try it out. I have no idea how I was managing without it. draw some, seal, draw some seal and so it goes. Makes it a lot more manageable.

This is a little acrylic and ink drawing. ACEO size (2.5" x 3.5") You will find it listed on Ebay here.

dragon fantasy - aceo

More dragons, more fantasy. Still playing with the acrylics to see how watering them down effects the look. It seems that when I water them down my thoughts turn to dragons....I wonder why this is?????? Doesn't make much sense. So did this guy produce the storm, or did he show up in it? Or maybe he is too dumb to get out of the lightning and this is why they are extinct (along with unicorns)

Painted with acrylics, this aceo size painting (3.5" x 2.5") is listed here on Ebay