Where do Your Edges Meet? Painting and Drawing Tips

NEW WORKS FROM THE STUDIO OF ART BY WENDY

PEANUTS, MY FAVOURITE  - Matted  to 8x10 $130

Painting/Drawing is like preparing for a Trip to parts unknown.  Lots of pre-trip planning: researching the destination; visualizing the journey; and of course building up GREAT Expectations for the results!!

Then THE Day comes. . .   
The Trip begins.

In your studio you have finished all the pre-planning and your new Adventure begins.  Your canvas is out, the paints are mixed and the brush/pencil begins to dance.

WOW!!  So exciting!  It feels like the moon and starts are aligned and life is perfect.

Suddenly disaster!

Well really is it a disaster?  So you missed the bus, there's others.  Your reservations are lost, you will find another spot to stay.  Every adventure has its challenges, solving them is part of the adventure.  It's what makes it.

Your painting/drawing adventure follows the same path.  Pleasure.  Excitement. Pushing Forward.  Then . . .Oh. Oh!  Things are not working. It's wrecked!

Hold it!!  

When I hit this wall, and yes, it seems most artists hit this wall at some point in the process.  I find it is not a disaster, it is a time to step back and rethink.  My first questions: What do I like? Why? What do I not like?

Your good friend, EDGES is often the culprit.  You read some of his stories in my last post "6 Stories your Edges Tell"  but there is more.

Where do your Edges meet? 

Edges are the sides of any shape in the painting: a beck, a shadow, a petal.  Where an two or three edges meet are important intersecting points.  There is a lot of information shared there.

The petals on this Black-eyed Susie are rolled and curled, full of life.  

Take a look at these Black-eyed Susies in the Big Picture and the small one on the left.  The petals appear to have life: they are rolled and curled as they emerge from the center and yet connected to the center.  The story is told in where the edges meet.  The little curls in the edges as they emerge from the center give that information to the eye.  Cover the center and petal tops and see if they have the same fullness.  Now look at the second close up on the right.  Here those little curves are flatten.  The petals do not dance and bounce, they are flatten as well.  A tiny little change in the line, just at the point of intersection and a different story is told. 

Note the places marked where the Edges meet

Check out my Little Stellar Jay, PEANUTS, MY FAVOURITE.  I have pointed out a few places where Edges meet and very subtle stories are being told. 

Note the subtle changes to him when I flatten out those MEETING Places

The edges of my little Stellar Jay hve been flatten out at those Meeting Places.  The stories are now quite different. 
1.  Feet no longer look like they are 'in' the grass.
2.  The downy feathers are no longer at the top of his leg.  It has a very hard look
3.  The Feathers tucked in no longer have the sharp edge of the flying feathers
4.  The slight rise on the back is gone making that top feather no longer look like it is sitting on top of his back.  And I removed those light shadow points on his back.  That whole layer of feathers seems to have disappeared!
5.  That slight bump is gone at the side of his head making the crown feathers lose their fluffy, feathery texture. 

I know, these are just tiny points but combined they take away from your work.  Not everyone wants realistic work but even loose flowing work has edges to watch for.  On your next painting/drawing check out those meeting points and see if you agree with me.  I would like to hear your thoughts.

I am really interested in shapes right now, more painterly ones coming up next post.

Great Art needs Good Marketing to Move it out the Door

1 -Day Marketing Workshop for Artist - Let's Get Your Art Out There! with Wendy Mould, AFCA 

Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018 10-3pm $84(Tax Incd)

During the day you will learn what the main focus of your marketing materials should be, see  effective ways to promote your work and find a path that is right for you.  It is a full day and the synergy generated from the experience will keep you on track for 2018. Turn your Art Making into a Business. Maximum 8 people so register early. 

I look forward to working with you.  

 REGISTER  Contact Wendy               Gift Certificates Available

Good Follow-Up Session to the Marketing Workshop: 

April 9 - Building Your Online Presence 6-8pm. Federation Gallery, Vancouver, BC. $20 nonmembers $15 members.


Looking for more Drawing Tips, check out these popular posts from the latest Drawing Series.  

How to Find Your Starting Point in a Drawing - here

4 Ways to Grow the Sketchbook Habit - here

Get Those Values Working for you - here

 Be sure to like and share my posts.
 You won't miss a single one if you Follow by Email or Like my Facebook Page.

 Have a great artful day,
Wendy

6 Stories your EDGES Tell! - Painting & Drawing Tips

NEW WORKS FROM THE STUDIO OF ART BY WENDY

PERCHED BUT READY - $225 Matted to 11 x14

Whether you paint or Draw you worry about your EDGES

Should this one be Soft or Hard?

Do I make it Lost or Found?

Maybe it should be Darker . . . Lighter . . .?

My work is about realistic wildlife so you think, no problem.  Animals are soft so soft edges.  But what about the sun and the shadows, the leaves and branches in the foreground, background, mid-ground. The outside edge and the inside edges.  Decisions are everywhere.

Yes, sometimes the photo references is clear and can tell you some of the story but other times you have to make the call.  This is where the challenge is.

Working on my Stellar Jay, PERCHED AND READY with washable graphite pencils on illustration board, many little edge secrets began to percolate. (See last post for more on Washable Graphite) What happened is the illustration board really grabbed the graphite when I did my wash.  Hard edges happen fast. My poor little Jay looked hard and spiky. I was constantly having to go back and soften things.  It made me realize how important edge were.

First of all what is an edge?
The edge is where two shapes meet.  This can be separate objects but in practice it is often the gradation of colour or the changes in shading within an object.

My little Jay is just full of EDGES!!

Some of the secrets that emerged:

1.  Shapes often had one side hard and one side soft - I find this happens a lot in animals: where sharp feathers and downy feather areas meet; folds in the fur; hooves and claws bordering fur and feathers. Take for example the dark collar on the neck of my Stellar Jay.  It is hard where it means the shoulder but soft as it moves up his neck. The sweep up the neck is soften by the gradual change in tonal value.

2.  Crisp, hard edges hold the focal point  - this is what grabs your attention.  The sharp, crisp lines of the beak and eye, the head contrasted with the background.  They are designed to grab and hold your attention.  This type of edge definitely needs to be done in modification.

3.  The lost edge slips and disappears in its surroundings - The shadows on the leaves and the branch on the left side have those soft, lost edges in them.  I wanted them to give habitat information and interest.  But not steal the show. Your eye should slip over them and move on.

These edges are just full of texture information

4.  Edges speak about the texture of the shape -  The crisp edge of the legs tells me they are smooth, the fluffy edge of the belly feathers says soft and the crisp lines of the wing feathers tell a different story.  Hard to believe so much information captured in such a small area.  And of course, don't those different textures make for interesting eye candy!

5.  Edges talk about the lighting - My Stellar Jay is definitely not in the bright sunlight. No sharp shadows, no dramatic light changes.  His shadow edges are soft, speaking more to our gray skies.  (No surprises there for this time of year.)

6. The edges lead the eye  - The Stellar's eyes grab your attention, as all eyes do but then the shadow below the beak draws the eye down and over the belly.  The dark line of the branch moves your eye down to the folded leaf.  Just when you are in danger of leaving the picture, the dark line of the tail grabs your eye and leads you back up the bird.  The crisp edge of the wing creates another line that points you back to the head. Even if you move your eye sideways instead of down, you will find it follows this path in reverse.

What secrets have you noted with edges?  They have so many stories to tell.  I find another interesting part of Edges is where they meet.  I am working on another Stellar Jay to tell that story.

Great Art needs Good Marketing to Move it out the Door

1 -Day Marketing Workshop for Artist - Let's Get Your Art Out There! with Wendy Mould, AFCA 

Sunday, Feb. 25, & Sunday, March 4, 2018 10-3pm $84(Tax Incd)

During the day you will learn what the main focus of your marketing materials should be, see  effective ways to promote your work and find a path that is right for you.  It is a full day and the synergy generated from the experience will keep you on track for 2018. Turn your Art Making into a Business. Maximum 8 people so register early. 

I look forward to working with you.  

 REGISTER  Contact Wendy               Gift Certificates Available

Good Follow-Up Session to the Marketing Workshop: 

April 9 - Building Your Online Presence 6-8pm. Federation Gallery, Vancouver, BC. $20 nonmembers $15 members.


Looking for more Drawing Tips, check out my previous posts in this latest Drawing Series.  

How to Find Your Starting Point in a Drawing - here

4 Ways to Grow the Sketchbook Habit - here

Time to Meet Your Drawing Friends - here

Ready to Start Drawing - Get Your Materials Together - here

Get Those Values Working for you - here

Blenders the Secret to the Soft Touch of Graphite - here 
Values and Colours in Action - here

 Be sure to like and share my posts.
 You won't miss a single one if you Follow by Email or Like my Facebook Page.

 Have a great artful day,
Wendy

Want to make that Pencil REALLY Sing? Painting and Drawing Tips

NEW WORKS FROM THE STUDIO OF ART BY WENDY

Isn't she a Beauty?  

PRETTY LADY - Graphite 5 x 6.5 - $130 Matted Unframed

I know, it is just another Stellar Jay, there is probably one squawking at your bird feeder looking for a treat right now . . .
But I loved the lines of this little one.  It must be a Lady.

You are probably saying what's different?  Isn't this my usual graphite drawing?  Actually it has quite a different twist.  Take a closer look.  It is very soft and blended but not in the usual way.  PRETTY LADY is done with washable graphite pencils on Illustration Board.  Neat eh?!

I tried the washable graphite pencils on Illustration Board as I wanted a very smooth surface and I knew I wouldn't be using much water.  I had also read that the colours would be more intense.  They are certainly that.  The darks are darker and very easy to get.  Now the lights, that is a different story.  Things can get away on you very easily.

But First - Here's the materials.

Derwent Sketching Wash Pencils, a brush, bit of water and Arches 140lb paper Cold Press

Not much eh?  You can probably see this as being another one of my small packs to take on sketching trip.

How to work with the pencils

You can draw with the pencils as you normally would do, lay out with the light wash pencil.  However when it comes time to shade that is where the fun starts.

Sample of each pencil with a portion activated with water.

I have laid out an area with each of the pencils, from Dark Wash 8B, Medium Wash 4 B and Light Wash HB.  Then I took a brush and water, and activated a portion of each.

Things to note: 
- graphite floats on the surface and can be dragged beyond the shaded area
- the more graphite you put down with any of the pencils the darker it will be
- the Dark Wash 8B can get very dark
- the texture of the paper shows through after it has been washed with water

Practice Drawing - left half has been brushed with water and the right has not

A close-up of my little drawing. 
As you can see the part on the left has been activated with water and the part on the right has not. Don't you just love the roughness on the post from the texture of the paper.  I couldn't do that with Illustration Board. I love the smearing of gray tones that can be done with the brush.  Similar to smearing charcoal to get different tones.

Other things to note:
- the graphite can be lifted if you wet and pat it with a cloth
- the graphite can be dragged across the paper (this can be good and bad)
- your brush picks up the graphite so make sure you want it in that spot when you put your brush down
- another layer can be put on top and activated once the first layer is dry
- graphite can be left dry, no water to activate it, for a nice contrast of texture
- your other pencils can be used for different effects but of course they will not change with a wash put on them.

Lots of Possibilities, Eh?!

I am definitely going to play around a bit more with these pencils and I can see ways I would want to mix them with my other pencils. A nice softly blended bird on a rough post, the mixed textures would be very neat. 
Have you tried working with these pencils? Any secrets to share?  I think everyone would like to hear your experiences.  There seems to be very little out there with washable graphite.

Special Note: 
February is Marketing Month for Artists.  This is when we have the time to plan our marketing strategies for all those January Resolutions.  For the last 8 years I have been running this full day workshop, it is an awesome way to get your Marketing Skills up to Speed and Focused for Success.  Come Join me.

1 -Day Marketing Workshop for Artist - Let's Get Your Art Out There! with Wendy Mould, AFCA 

Sunday, Feb. 25, & Sunday, March 4, 2018 10-3pm $84(Tax Incd)

During the day you will learn what the main focus of your marketing materials should be, see  effective ways to promote your work and find a path that is right for you.  It is a full day and the synergy generated from the experience will keep you on track for 2018. Turn your Art Making into a Business. Maximum 8 people so register early. 

I look forward to working with you.  

 REGISTER  Contact Wendy               Gift Certificates Available

Good Follow-Up Session to the Marketing Workshop: 

April 9 - Building Your Online Presence 6-8pm. Federation Gallery, Vancouver, BC. $20 nonmembers $15 members.


Looking for more Drawing Tips, check out my previous posts in this latest Drawing Series.  

How to Find Your Starting Point in a Drawing - here

4 Ways to Grow the Sketchbook Habit - here

Time to Meet Your Drawing Friends - here

Ready to Start Drawing - Get Your Materials Together - here

Get Those Values Working for you - here

Blenders the Secret to the Soft Touch of Graphite - here 
Values and Colours in Action - here

 Be sure to like and share my posts.
 You won't miss a single one if you Follow by Email or Like my Facebook Page.

 Have a great artful day,
Wendy

Putting Your Mark Down - Painting and Drawing Tips

NEW WORKS FROM THE STUDIO OF ART BY WENDY

 Drawing Is Mark Making.  Most people  Are fascinated with it.  

 

"I always wanted to draw but . . ." 

"I can't draw stick people".

"Wow! How long does it take to do something like that?"

"Have you always been drawing?"

WE'RE IN TROUBLE NOW - $225 Matted Unframed

Degas said “Drawing is not what one sees but what one can make others see.”

I totally agree.   Drawing is like magic.  You take a flat piece of paper and with a pencil or brush  you can make others see anything.

Is there a limit to what Mark Making can be ?

I think we define our limits through our preferences.  Each of us has our own personal preferences.  This is what governs our marks. Here is how my preferences influence my work. 

Texture is a Big One for me

Having a variety of smooth and bumpy marks on my paper attracts my eye and provides a sense of satisfaction for me.  This preference affects my choice of paper and also my choice of subjects.  I want a paper that has a strong tooth that I can leave untouched or flatten.  I like the the way my fur and feathers are soft and fluffy.  It seems to invite you to touch.

Polished Construction is a Big Draw for me

Loose flowing lines, running across the page are okay for my sketches but quickly tighten up when I get focused on my subject.  Again this preference affects my choices in medium and methods.  In graphite I like my subject fully developed but often leave the background blank. Working in layers, I sculpture the shape of my birds and animals letting the values give the feeling of mass.  My work in watercolour is very similar with a loose flow of colours in the background but with subjects that are build up with layers of paint until they appear alive and ready to move.

These little guys have soft fur that contrasts well with the rough wood they are standing on.  

Black, Sharp, Crisp Lines Fascinates me

As much as I love the soft grays of graphite I often rebel and pick up my pen.  I love the intricate marks that a pen makes and the smooth easy way it moves across the paper.  Again the choice affects my paper.  For ink work I want smooth bright, white paper and a black pen.  Although pens are available in other colours I don't feel the same attraction. 

Mixing Textures, Layers and Crisp Lines Excites me

I am not sure if any artist is a purist to one medium. As much as you are attracted to one or two main points your eye is often drawn to other things. The desire to mix things leads me to mix different mediums: graphite and pen, coloured pencil with ink and pencil and watercolour and ink. 

As you move further along your Journey into your Art Making do you feel the pull of certain things.  Are they shaping the directions you are going?   What things really hold your interest and keep you coming back. 

Up next week, Can't wait to show you a new approach with my old Standby! 

Looking for more Drawing Tips, check out my previous posts in this latest Drawing Series.  

How to Find Your Starting Point in a Drawing - here

4 Ways to Grow the Sketchbook Habit - here

Time to Meet Your Drawing Friends - here

Ready to Start Drawing - Get Your Materials Together - here

Get Those Values Working for you - here

Blenders the Secret to the Soft Touch of Graphite - here 
Values and Colours in Action - here

Time to Move Inside and Draw
Drop-In & Draw Sessions: 
Tuesdays: Jan 9, 23, Feb. 6 & 20, Mar 6 & 20, April 3 & 17 - 10-12pm or 1-3pm
Expressions Art Gallery, 227 & Lougheed Hwy, Maple Ridge.  
Choose a morning or afternoon session. Bring your sketchbook or your project and come draw.  I will be happy to give you a few pointers as you work on a drawing.  $15 Pre-Register Required. Contact Wendy Here

 Be sure to like and share my posts.
 You won't miss a single one if you Follow by Email or Like my Facebook Page.

 Have a great artful day,
Wendy