Long-necked

Long-necked, red-lipsticked woman.  

It has been way, way too long since I've done anything arty (besides photography), a complication stemming from moving, travel and a lack of self-control given access to cable TV.

I finally dug out a sketch book yesterday and played around with colored pencils.  I discovered I don't really know how to make good use of colored pencils, since they aren't all that amenable to blending.  But it felt good to draw and play with color in any case.

No idea who this is - imaginary woman from my head.  Her eyes are crooked and too large, and her neck probably longer than most found in nature (hey, Modigliani does it - why not?).  She lacks much attention to lighting or detail.

Still, I find something appealing about her cartoon-y self.  And any movement toward art is better than none.

For the Burn Pile

Yes, yes, I do know it's ugly.  But here is the good thing about taking a class: I know why it's ugly (at least in part).

Fugly Veggies with Apple
Oil pastels & pencil on paper

Composition failure: I was trying to go large with pumpkin (it was a small pumpkin, maybe 8 inch, so its relative height to the corn is more-or-less accurate), but somehow I didn't go quite large enough, so it's just floating *smack* in the middle.  Nothing quite anchors it to the edges of the drawing.  The lumpy little white squash, for instance, is more appealing in its corner as filling in the missing pieces gives the viewer something to do.  

Yes, that's supposed to be corn: I attempted drawing the corn at least 5 times, with lots of erasing ensuing.  What's the big deal, you say, it's just straight rows? Nope. Curved rows with all kinds of different shapes and colors, which was somehow made worse by the fact that the corn was tilted at an angle, and I was drawing the corn larger than life.  I don't know why drawing larger messed up my ability to see it, but it definitely did.  I was overwhelmed by details that didn't add up when I tried to connect them.  Eventually, I left the corn undrawn, and just went mad coloring with the pastels, which at least gave the idea of it, albeit a hideous one.  

Don't even get me started on the horrible stalks.  The corn was having a bad hair day.    

Did you really choose that background?: Umm, actually no.  I had turpentine on brush from smoothing out the pumpkin and it sloshed over into the straw-haired corn, and so I ended up just going with the odd orange. It doesn't work, and I don't like it, but I blame it on inhaling too many toxic fumes.  

Have you heard of contrast?: Heard of it, yes, but I clearly didn't apply it here.  Everything is lumped in the middle range, adding to that level of boredom. 

Rotating perspective aka Rotten Apple: That's a fold of tablecloth blocking the apple (yes, it's an apple -- trust me).  A fold only appears at the corner,  and the white squash on the other side is clearly seen from a different view.  Ugh.  

Pumpkin-y: Aren't pumpkins usually more uniform in color?  Yes, they are.  I just wanted to scribble with the pretty colors, so I did. And there is a mild attempt at working with light at the top, but its so mild it falls into the snoozer no-contrast look.  

In retrospect, I should have either avoided the corn completely, or only drawn the corn, since it was making me crazy.  I should have spent much, much more time drawing, and a lot less scribbling with pastels. More planning, more early sketches would have helped, and having some sort of plan when applying color would have been swell. 

On the other hand, some days, you just need to color like a cranky eight year old.  So here I am, tacking my masterpiece up on my virtual 'fridge.  We here in the land of Artful Mistakes believe in letting it all hang out.  

Sketch Fest

My father, based on a photo circa 1975.

For my father's birthday, rather than give him one more shirt that he doesn't need or particularly want, I decided to spend a few days trying to create a portrait. 

If nothing else, it was an absorbing exercise for me. Only in retrospect did I realize that perhaps the shirt might have been more fun for Dad.  By way of metaphor, giving Dad art is about the same as giving me football tickets. 

But in any case, he knows I spent time thinking about him and his birthday -- a good long time, given all that erasing. So at least that requirement was met. 

I've been working on sketching, off and on, for the last few months, and minor progress continues. Some other attempts are below.