Your Commissions, Jill

I am working on the last piece and hope to be finished with it on Sunday, then complete the mat cutting and mounting of all thirteen. Here are the 12 others that you asked to be done... ready for inspection. If there are any matters you would like changed just ring me or send an email. I am working graveyard shifts the next two nights. 

I promise I am working

You have gotta love Christmas season. I am keeping up with commissions while starting a new job at Big W and still doing some hours at the service station. Household duties and blog have been taking a step back. Just a catch up on some of the pieces I have completed.

Western Australian parents of a friend:

Client's mother in law:

Client's father in law:

Client's son-in-law's Jaja:

Now working on a client's father in law twice, then her mother twice and sister in law's mother. Then a family of 7 people. When I can get a sit down time I photographed the mother in law's hair as I worked in stages to show build up and did the same with the sun spots of Jaja. I will write up the posts soon.

Day 3 and Finished 1945 Portrait

Adventurous is trying to work on a drawing while everyone is home and still demanding on your time. I may have to look into finding my own space away from home.

Anyways....

Here is the first few layers of hair, adding the razor marks that will be lightened during the finishing stages of shading. 

I then start shaping the face with the dark shadows around the cheek area down to the chin. This will also take several layers with 2H and B pencil.

 Progression of the shading across face. Always curve your lines around like you are sculpting the face with pencils. Feel where the bone structure will be strongest.

 Then start shading in the shirt in tie. Shirt is done with the same pencils of the hat, tie is a build up of 6B and 9B to get the correct darkness and hit of light. Curve the strokes to build up depth, short soft strokes for smooth surfaces.

Then we have a finished product...well it will sit for a day or two then I will go back over where I think more shadows and detail need to be inputed. 

Compare with the original photo, and I already see areas that need darkening. It will be left until I am refreshed and have good light to produce right effects.

Day by Day Portrait

I have received 5 portrait commissions of 3 people, so I thought I would try to give a blow by blow build up of what I do to complete one. 

Set up your area with paper, pencils, etc.
Have husband come home and have you run him to Scotts Auto for work truck parts and find out son has killed your car battery.
Sit down to the drawing board and sketch up a light sketch wit the F pencil. I use this grade because it doesn't scratch up the paper and is easy to erase as your work over your photo.

Answer the door 3 times for people and answer 2 marketing phone calls. 

Enlarge the photo with any photo program that will allow you to zoom in and out for detail. I zoom closer to the hat for detail of the badge using 3H and B pencils work up some resemblance to give the impression of depth and detail. 

While close up I notice there are ribs in the band. I use the B grade to show indent of ribs while following the shape of the hat around the band. Then fill in with "C" strokes over each rib varying the pressure. This can be tedious so I switch to the top of the hat using the 3H and start filling in shadows. This is purely a feel and look exercise. Look at the shadows and follow the shades using varying pressure strokes, then blend with paper stump lightly as if it is going across the surface of the hat. Blend up layers to darken and feel your way across the shape of hat. Then back to the "C" strokes.

You are not trying to duplicate the photo. Why draw it if you just want the same image. You are capturing an essence and spirt of the subject. 

Now hubby is making another entrance to the house with work truck and I have to start dinner. In between I will continue working the band then brim. 

Until tomorrow's update.

End of USA Travel

We are finally home and trying to settle back in. The boxes have piled up of my household goods finally sent from Mom's house to here. It will take lots of time to sort where to put it all. In the midst of Daniel moving back in and suitcases built up from our 2 months away.

I did make some great discoveries while away.

In New Orleans there is inspiration for painting in every direction, but in a dark corner at the French Market my husband found an artist busking his works. He bought me an autographed print called the "Birth of Jazz" and the man's name is Donald V. Williams. I went back to watch him at work. It was amazing watching the detail he was putting to paper without so much as a reference photo.

All over New Orleans are prints of Don Davey illustrations for sale. I bought his 1976 "Royal Street: New Orleans" whose detail of the ironwork leaves me weak at the knees and "French Quarter Nights: New Orleans" 1987 whose sax player on the side street made me hear the music there all over again.

But there was also works every where in Florida to make my eyes dart with wonder. The Shady Oak Gallery in Micanopy had several graphite artists to choose from, but Marita Parish stood out about the rest. Her detail to the animals with a slight addition of colour was highlighted by the beautiful mat work to accent and embossed seal placement on the drawing. If I had room and money I would have brought every print of hers home. 

Then there was the unusual... Brooke Olson caught my mother's eyes as well as mine. She has resurrected the ancient work of silverware jewellery. We have attempted this with some old pieces and tools, it is not easy to achieve the beauty she accomplishes. There are rings, watches, bracelets, pens and more...each have a personal touch and character. Her webpage: www.etsy.com/shop/ForkingQueen. I found her work at a Russell, KS antique shop. 

I could have followed the art trails for years with the availability in each state. We visited the Hummas House in Baton Rouge that had beautiful paintings by Gougain, Degas and more. The Edgar Degas House in Creole, New Orleans is a B&B with more to offer. The building is run by Degas' nieces and apparently where he lived while painting in the USA. The Fairhope Artist Gallery in Fairhope, Alabama gave a distinct look into the local artist's flair. The House of Blues in Orlando, Florida gave a different direction for colours with music paintings. In Memphis, TN the shops along Beale Street had more to offer than booze and music. The colours of the paintings, local artists on the street busking with portraits in pastel, stain glass windows showing the history of the people of blues in that area and Memphis Music Shop has prints so colourful your aura will fill into rainbows. 

Wherever you go on your travels near home and afar look where you would not ordinarily seek art and you will be surprised with what you find. As for me.... I have two months of travels to fill my soul and hope to relieve their magic onto my own canvas. I wish I had a year off just to fill the paper with what my mind found to dance with in imagination. 

Study of the Human Figure (when you don't have a body)

A lot of people, like me, cannot have the pleasure of live models posing at their whim. I know it is better to have that practical experience, but they are not lining up at my door yelling "draw me". There are some apps that can help with those days no one is around:

For my iPod I downloaded the free version of Randompose. The full version is only $4.49 at the app store and is made by Art and Mobile. There are over 15000 images of nude reference poses for drawing study that were taken from posemaniac.com archives. They are the muscles of the human body and the poses are challenging. I try to pick a random one each day to study some sketch ups. The screen is really small on the iPod for my eyes...so for my pc

I downloaded Kindle and bought the "Art Models 6: The Female Figure in Shadow and Light" by Maureen and Douglas Johnson. There are several version of these type of books, but this offers shadows and a good variety of body types. This is another daily exercise of picking one figure to work out.




The more practice you get at working out how the body moves and is shaped the better you can work out your compositions and figures for paintings/drawings/whatever. One day I use pencils to work on lines, and another charcoal to develop shadows and be loose with the composition. There will be a day I can proper studies, but there are at least alternatives for us busy artists to enlist.

As I said, I am practicing - never said I was good at it.


My hubby and I are researching about becoming one of the growing numbers of grey nomads roaming the roads in a caravan working when needed. I want more time to draw and sell, he wants to be able to fish at least once a month. The more we look into buying a home the more we know it could never be paid off in our lifetime to enjoy it. We have joined the Workabout Australia Club and looking into what type of "home" would serve our needs. The hardest part is figuring out what we can and cannot have in such a smaller space when my art gear already overpowers a bedroom. This may be my opportunity to put my toe in the art market, weekend markets, etc. I will definitely have more time for developing possibilities. It will be discussed more while we are on holiday in the USA, but this seems to be more a planning time than a question of doing it.

Don't forget about my new merchandise store...new content added daily.
www.cafepress.com/shops/CroftAngleArt
Any help to get us on the road would be greatly appreciated.