Meet Sasha

We adopted Sasha today from Bliss Animal Haven rescue of Loganville GA. She is such a love bug! We think she is a Shetland Sheepdog and Spaniel mix. She's very calm and sweet. I'm going to love having her around. It already feels like she fits in just fine! There are so many available adoptable animals right now - because of the economy, people have let their dogs go. Please give an animal a home.

Dick Blick Art Supplies sale

Blick Art Supplies is having a sale with sliding discounts, based on what you buy.
However, they also have $4.95 shipping with no minimum purchase for that low shipping price.
The reduced shipping fee expires at Midnight. I know I will be taking advantage of this! I love Blick art supply.

Portrait Art Show

Want to go to an art gallery with me? Yesterday, my daughter and I went to the Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth GA for the Fall Juried Exhibition of the Portrait Society of Atlanta. Here are some of my favorite portraits in the show (but to be truthful, I really wanted to photograph every one of them!) I must apologize in advance for not getting the artist's names. That is an oversight I really regret.
This one was (obviously, as you can tell by the blue ribbon) the Blue Ribbon winner. I tried to imagine what it would be like to judge this show. All the work was so good, that it would be very difficult to pick. I think what made this one a stand out was the way the art almost seems lit from behind the canvas...it appears to glow, as you can see in this photo - and if you can see that in this photo, you can imagine how wonderful it is in person! The framing is perfect, with the gallery-wrapped canvas recessed into the modern frame - the frame didn't distract from the artwork. A too fancy frame can sort of compete for the viewer's attention sometimes.
Ballerinas are a favorite of portrait artists (I think because Degas was known for his ballerina paintings) but I think the layout of this painting is wonderful, and as you can see, painting white isn't just white - the artist has to have an eye for all the different iridescent colors that are reflected. The frame is ornate, but just the right touch to complement the art and subject.
It was hard to photograph some of the portraits, because of reflections. This is a pastel portrait that was really breathtaking. Unfortunately this photo doesn't do it justice. I was blown away by the baby's eyes especially. I wish I could show this better to you. Of course, I am kind of partial to dry media (dry media is stuff like dry pastels, graphite pencils, colored pencils) and wet media is stuff like watercolor, oil paints, acrylic paints - makes sense, right?

This was a small artwork for a pastel, only about 11x14 to 14x17 which made the amount of detail even more impressive (because pastels tend to be large, it's hard to get small details). This probably would have gotten a ribbon of Merit at least if I had been judging - just for the wonderful eyes if nothing else - but people do tend to dislike a composition that "cuts" a person in half, I've found it's even more disliked if it's a child's portrait. Framing it so that the frame ends the image, instead of the baby floating in the middle would help that. One hand is covered by the mat, that hurts the composition. Regardless, clearly the artist is very talented!
Here is a view of the gallery. Isn't it beautiful?

I urge you to try to visit an art gallery this month.

Portraits of buildings as gifts

I received an email today from someone asking about a portrait with several homes on it. It's a great gift idea to have a drawing (or several drawings) showing different houses someone has lived in over the years.

That reminded me of this custom pencil drawing I did for Parrish-Hare Electrical Supply, located in Dallas, Texas. They wanted a work of art for their company lobby that would portray the company's various locations. I was a bit intimidated by drawing the logo at first, but once I started the logo, it wasn't as scary as I thought, but it did take a lot of time. This was my largest artwork ever - measuring about 3-feet by 3-feet at least, if memory serves. I ordered a huge roll of Strathmore paper so I could do this art commission.

One of the difficulties in this project was trying to train the paper to stay flat. I usually work with paper that comes in pads - this size paper of course didn't come in a pad, so once I cut the paper to the right size, I used painter's tape to tape it to my wall for several days. ( I know the more obvious solution would be to put the paper in between stacks of books on the floor to flatten it...but that doesn't work for someone who has young children!)

So up onto the wall it went. I still had to fight the paper's tendency to roll up unexpectedly and bop my hand as I worked. Again, the painter's low-tack tape came in handy. I loved working with the folks from Parrish-Hare. It was a great experience and everybody I dealt with was very nice.

But back to house portraits - I can do drawings of buildings together on one sheet of paper as I did in this case, or I can do them separately. If you want to honor someone with portraits of their previous homes and there are several to be done, you could order one or two to be done each year - for a birthday or for Christmas gifts.

It's still very thoughtful, no matter how you decide to do it.

Child pencil portrait special

NOVEMBER 15TH IS THE LAST DAY!

I'm opening up this child pencil portrait special to everyone now (previously I just shared with my mailing list and Facebook followers) but now it's being shared everywhere...if you are interested, get in touch now so I can "pencil" you in! Excuse the pun!

This is my lowest price ever in years for this special size (9"x12") pencil portrait of one child subject. I want you to be able to get a portrait for your children and grandchildren!
Click here for details

House portrait in pencil

Here is a house portrait I recently completed in graphite pencil. This artwork is 14"x17" on Strathmore Bristol paper. The portrait will have the address and the dates the client lived there handlettered and centered in the grass area. It really had a lot of details - stonework and bricks.

The more house portraits I draw, the better I am getting at drawing plants, trees, bushes, etc. It's always a quandary what to do with the sky. I don't worry over that so much anymore. I have learned to just use the side of the pencil and a soft touch, gradually building up graphite. Then I use my chamois to blend it so it's soft, followed by the kneaded rubber eraser to lift out the clouds.

You might wonder why someone would want a pencil portrait of a house...I think people just love the look of architecture, and some clients like to create a wall full of art of all the houses they've ever lived in. It's a nice housewarming gift, and a nice momento for people of the home they lived in as a child. There are as many reasons as there are people :)

Click here if you'd like more information about my house portraits. Every house is different, and I'll be glad to give you a quote without any obligation to order anything. Maybe you're just curious what I'd charge. That's okay. Email me anytime.

Ott light discount

I love my Ott-light! I just found out that Joanne Etc online has Ott lights for 40% off retail:

40% Off OTT-LITE Lamps & Accessories