Reef Dreamer: February 2009

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Blend, I MUST BLEND!!!

So, I sat here looking at this pic of Bas, I just had to make it softer...
Now for some detail...

I'll keep posting as I go:)

Here it is done....I cannot get his foot right!!!! But, the rest is ok. It's been a good "refresher" for me...:)

I finally got the Conte Pastels that I've been wanting. I used these in High School and for years after, to do portraits. Well, I haven't used them in like 20 years, so this is my first attempt with them. It is a portrait of Bas, my baby boy. But in this one his eyes are too close together, and I think his nose is too small.

Can we say "waterhead retard" here???

This is my second attempt. I did this one in an hour. The eyes are MUCH better. But I am having the hardest time with his foot!! It looks like a "club foot"...but it's hard to get right since he does have more toes than most cats. And in the picture there is no separation from his leg and his neck. It's all just blended together. I know I'll try it again!!LOL

Normally when I would use pastels the colors would be blended together for a very smooth clean look. But as I was doing this, I liked the loose feel of the strokes, it made it more like fur and is more like I would do in pencil.

Next I think I'll do a portrait of a person, so I can do the blending and see if I can make it more realistic, like I used to do.

Oooo, after looking at it on here, I need to fix the left side of his nose too!!:)

Friday, February 20, 2009

I LOVE EBAY!!:)

Let me start by actually posting some art. This is a drawing I did of Kayla when she was 2!:)

Well, the BrickFish campaign for Artist's Choice Round 2 ended w/ my entry in 2nd. Now the BrickFish people pick the top 2. I don't know what this means, if there's another contest for these 2 to be against each other, or what. I guess I will find out in time. I have some amazing friends who did some serious voting and reviewing for me!!! THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!!:)

Now, about EBAY! George has gotten me hooked on it!! I have gotten some great things from there lately. I now have, totally by accident, 2 Paasche airbrushes. I still have to learn to use them. And I found a set of 48 Conte a Paris, Conte crayons (Pastels) on there for $11!! I used these in high school to do portraits, and that's how I made $$ back then. I don't know what happened to my sad, wore-out set of 24 that I had back then, but I've not been able to find these anywhere. Well, I found them on EBAY!! And a beautiful brush holder, made of wood, that should be arriving any day now. Right now I use this cheap plastic brush holder, and if you bump it slightly, my 100+ brushes go everywhere!! I hate that thing! Because I keep my brushes all in certain places by size. If they all fall, I have to try to get them back in order, or I can't paint right!LOL

Well, now that I have all these great things and my studio is looking like a FABULOUS place for an artist to spend the day, maybe I'll start doing that and posting some art on here soon!!!