Posted May 09: done! I am REALLY happy with the way this work of art came out <sigh of relief>. It almost started to become a panic fest at the end <lol>... I KNEW that the face of the old man at the bottom wasn't supposed to be a simple drawing. THAT much was given to me, but here we were getting down to the nitty gritty ...and I still didn't know how the final act was going to play through. Silly me, I should have known better.

The path was there and I was able to come round that final bend (although NOT without some trepidation). I started laying out those final lines and then trying to second guess myself. Luckily, I was able to tune out the doubts in my head and tune into the muse. The ending surprised the heck out of me but I like it. A LOT. Very much a very surreal pencil artwork. hehehehe. Too funny.

Want to see the art from the start? Click here.
Too see the artwork ZOOM, click here.

Posted Apr. 27: I take photos of the artwork and make copies of each stage. I post these around the house so I can see them every day. Not to "think" about them. Thinking just screws things up -- it puts ego and agendas in the way. It's more like opening your mind and emptying it simultaneously ...and looking. A LOT. That's how I happened to notice some problem spots. It sucks to get artwork done and THEN notice perspective impossibilities, etc. You tend to not want to see that artwork EVER again because the mistake becomes ALL you can see <argh>. SO...it's good to see those things while it's still possible to correct. BIGtime.

That's where having copies comes in handy. I can REALLY get experimental. It's what Peg McCreary calls the "Painter's Hail Mary Pass". hehehehe.

Posted Mar. 28: something new added itself to the drawing the other day, leaves. At first it was just leaves, then they were falling leaves ...but then they started curling around her hand. Ok. I can deal with that. So I grabbed my camera and started taking photos of all the leaves around me (the orange tree, the key lime tree, the crotons, the canary date palms, the shrubbery, etc. etc.). The hibiscus leaves were the ones that won the prize <lol>. Very nice leaves indeed. Want to hear the funny part? I decided this late at night, way after dark. I grabbed my trusty flashlight and headed for the hibiscus bushes and started looking for the perfect leaves ...in the dark ...with a flashlight. I didn't really think anything of it until I noticed the cars slowing down as they drove past <roflmao>. Too funny.

Posted Mar. 28 (written: Mar. 20, 2007): I'm trying REALLY hard to work this drawing carefully and NOT smudge the pencil work. Traditionally you work down from the left corner. Easier said than done <laugh>. PLUS: you always want to work in the order of your passion, not the given descending-left sort of order (this is SO tedious). BUT, to preserve a crisp dark line... I gotta work it right or it's smears-ville baby. I'm also putting a piece of cardboard under my hand (to control smudging) rather than just plain paper. This way I can move my hand back and forth rapidly and the motion won't translate through the paper (and therefore smudge the artwork). All this contriving is a BIG pain in the behind, but... using the pencil is opening up nuances of detail that are missing in fixed width technical pens. Interesting.

p.s. Been super-dooper busy lately (as always), but am hanging in there. ART is worth the time! It just feels GOOD to do!

Posted Feb. 19, 2007: I made a pencil palette (a rough swatch of every pencil I'll be using) and then picked the five lightest pencils to work the background. This means that no matter how much I shaped the background, the darkest area would stay lighter than the rest of my pencils :) The extra time it took to make up the palette was worth it. I KNOW which pencils go HOW dark and which ones make a silvery grey at their darkest point <g>. It really is like working a painting, just in graphite :) I am really happy with the way this artwork is morphing. JUST pasting photos together is JUST the beginning. Interpreting the photos and emphasizing areas that direct the eye flow around the artwork, that's what's going on now :) For example, in the photo the face is somewhat ethereal and artificial (very flapper 20s). I wanted this face to be very earthy and REAL. Take a look for yourself, compare the original photo montage to the work in progress.

Posted Feb. 07, 2007: the freedom of pencil is awesome. My recent favored method has been pen & ink. The irony? I prefer working with a ballpoint pen, not the rapidograph art pens <lol>. Why? I can make a million different lines with that one ballpoint pen but the technical pens only make one kind of line. Unfortunately, ballpoint doesn't come in permanent ink so I've had to give that up. Sucks. But way before I became enamored of pen & ink, there was pencil. And pencil is as free as the ballpoint (technique wise). I don't like making careful little lines. I scribble and scratch and layer it up until it becomes what I want. Scribbles are not the kind of conduct that the proper art pens condone. They are much more precise and careful. It's a conundrum, because I REALLY like the beautiful blackness of an ink line against the white paper (and technical pens do that well). Pencil has a softness and a freedom and is more forgiving than ink. So, let's play with the pencil today <g>.

Posted Jan. 23, 2007: this one is just started and is already morphing away from the original setup <lol>. Curious? The original collage is posted below.

Starting a new work of art: a little voice says, "THIS photo. I don't know why, just pick it and put it aside. I have a thought about it, but don't ask questions now, just do it <lol>." I have a very bossy subconscious indeed. Once the pictures are picked and pushed around, then the drawing starts. That's when the pictures start moving around inside you. The drawing brings them out again and things happen. New things. Interesting things.

This is an all pencil artwork. I sharpened so many pencils that my electric pencil sharpener overheated. It might be dead <darnit>. The fine grained sanding paper has been put to the side and a pencil palette chart has been completed. It's go time.

Posted Dec. 30, 2006: So far I've had to start this one SIX different times. It was just SO FRUSTRATING to finally have some time to get this drawing started and not be able to draw anything. I felt like I was really loosing it! The drawing was insanely bad. Little things were giving me HUGE problems. It's like I'd forgotten how to draw.

DAY 3: After a LOT of cussing and intense frustration, Gary & I went to the park and walked and talked. Gary is wonderful. Since he's an artist too, he REALLY understands the frustration and can be VERY helpful. BIGtime. I came back and got back on that horse. AGAIN. You know what it was? The lighting. It's incredible how easy it is forget the little things that are so taken for granted that you NEVER think about them. Changing the lighting made a world of difference. An unbelievable universe of difference! I am going to keep the other drawing that looked like a 9-year old was working it. It's a badge of ...something <lol>. NOW, things are really starting to cook and I can FINALLY get this baby going!

At one point the joke was that I was going to name this one "Page 89" ....because it was looking like I might have to re-start it that many times <argh>.

Posted Dec. 30, 2006: most of my art starts with a photo (or two). An image will catch my attention and I find myself taping it to a wall or posting it on the fridge. The photo brings forward something that is already in MY head <g>. My subconscious is stepping forwards with a thought and this is how we communicate. It points to pictures and I try to listen <lol>.

Right now I'm gridding the image onto the paper. This idea has been in my head for about 6 months and this is the FIRST time I've had a spare moment to put it down <sheesh>. I'm not really sure what it is all about because I don't want to think about it. It's hard enough hearing that little voice inside of you without giving the head ammunition. Drawing is from the gut, thinking is for afterwards!