Drawing: Salad

I decided to draw a salad the other day. It will be an illustration for the story Someone To Call Home. I went to the kitchen and tore apart Romain lettuce leaves, added sliced red onion, feta cheese, diced apple and pine nuts. I topped it all off with some ranch dressing. I then sat and drew for three hours. I sketched out the bowl and a few "landmarks" with pencil and then began drawing with ink. I was getting hungry and happy to finish the drawing and eat the salad.

I know some artists who would gather every Wednesday night, draw/paint the food they were going to eat that night and then cook it and eat it. I joined them one night to paint a plate of shrimp that we then grilled. That was delicious, too. Food and art go together, don't you think?

Drawing: Frog Drawing

Here is a frog drawing I created quite a long time ago. It has been in storage for at least ten years. I used it in the story #3: Geraldine, from The Book of Bartholomew.  It looks just fine here as a digital image, but the paper which it is on is very thin and when I was shading in the area underneath his chin I pressed too hard.  This resulted in the paper buckling and puckering.  The lead is also shiny and different from the rest.  That is why it has been in storage.  BUT, it looks good here.  It was used as a background image behind the text in the story Geraldine. 

I have painted and drawn frogs over the years.  My interest goes back to a quote from a Flannery O'Connor book in which she describes a column of souls rising to heaven like an endless stream of frogs leaping over each other on their way to salvation.  I think humans are somewhat froggy.  We are uglier and more primal than we think.

I hope you all are having a nice holiday season, when we take time to see the beauty in those around us.

Oil Painting: Mangoes

This is a 16" x 20" oil painting of two mangoes.  These were originally painted for the second story in The Book of Bartholomew in which some kids get stranded on a deserted-island.  The question is what to do if there isn't enough food?  Thinking of what food might be found on an island, I opted for mangoes.  After all, I had to eat them when I was done painting them. I used red mangoes because there is murder in the story.  The pink background was a moment of inspiration.

Oil Painting: Boiling Frog

This is Boiling Frog, an oil painting based on the phrase "like a frog in boiling water."  The phrase refers to the fact that frogs are cold blooded and can, if you desire, slowly be brought to a boil without realizing it.  I find it an appropriate symbol for the world's current predicament, as we seem to have fallen on hard times without recognizing the warning signs.  I painted this piece for The Book of Bartholomew.  In the third story, Bartholomew falls in love like a frog slowly being boiled in water.

Oil Painting: Corn, Beans and Kale

Looking back I see that I have not posted the final image of Corn, Beans and Kale from the first story in The Book of Bartholomew.  This is a 16" x 14" oil painting.  Bon appetit!

Art Lesson: Vanishing Point

Vanishing points are a form of linear perspective that is used to create foreshortening or a sense of depth to an object.   Here are a couple of examples as to how vanishing points work.  With cylindrical shape, the seemingly parallel edges of the cylinder would meet at a point in the distance.  The front of the cylinder would be a circle.  The back edge of the cylinder should arc as if the back end was a circle also.  So what in 3-dimensions is two same sized circles connected by two parallel lines becomes in a 2-dimensional drawing two different sized circles connected by two lines that eventually meet at a point. These are two very different things, but one represents what is while the latter represents what we see.

The second example is that of a cube. This gets a little trickier because there are two vanishing points -- one on both sides of the cube.  Again, the seemingly parallel sides actually meet at a point away from the cube.  The vertical lines of a cube that is sitting on a horizontal surface will always be completely vertical.  Of course, if the cube is on a slope or some non-horizontal surface, the verticals will tip one way or the other, but they will always be parallel to each other. 

That's just a little tip about linear perspective.  If you are going to use angular geometric shapes, such as buildings, boxes, fish tanks, yoga bricks, desks, dumpsters (I think you get the idea) and such, in your composition, linear perspective can be helpful.  If your objects are biomorphic or non-linear, then linear perspective is not very helpful.  There are other ways to create perspective in those situations.  But that is for another time.

Art Lesson: Graphite Pencils

Here is a little history and information I have learned about graphite pencils.

History: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil

Important things to know about pencils:

Sharpening:

You can sharpen your pencils in a few ways. The easiest and most common is with a Pencil Sharpener. Like many tools, you get what you pay for. I like a pencil sharpener with a built-in container to hold the shavings. This makes it less messy. The problem with sharpeners is that they can loosen over time and get dull, thus being less effective. Electric pencil sharpeners seem to hold up well but if you are not near an outlet they are not practical.

Often I will use a knife to sharpen my pencils, especially when I work outdoors. Knives always give you a point that is sharp. For some people it is hard to work the knife just right without cutting off too much wood or graphite. This can also be a messy way of sharpening if you need a waste basket for the shavings. To sharpen with a knife you stroke the knife away from you, like whittling a stick.

Sandpaper can also be used to do fine sharpening of the graphite. I find this a bit messy and do not use this method much. I would rather spend my money on a decent pencil sharpener.

Problem - Graphite in pencil breaks often when sharpening

If your graphite keeps breaking as you are sharpening it, this is because at some point your pencil was dropped and the graphite inside shattered. Be careful not to drop your pencils on hard floors and surfaces.

Holding:

Your pencil should be held with what is called a dynamic tripod grip. The tripod grip means that there is equal pressure on the pencil from the tips of your thumb, pointer finger and middle finger. This grip gives the most flexibility while drawing.

I hope this information was helpful.

Keep using your Artist's Brain.