Bichon Frise dog pencil portrait

One of my favorite portraits of this season, a Bichon Frise (non-traditional Bichon haircut though!)... I combined two photos of the dog to create this pencil portrait.

According to my client, his dog is always licking his nose, so that's why he's licking his nose. The client asked if there was something I could do to make the portrait more "Christmassy." It started with the box, then I had the ribbon idea, then I wanted the ornament with the year on it, so that meant putting the tree in. I get an idea and then I just run with it.

I wish more of the fur detail could show up, but the camera can't pick all of that up.

Unraveling the mysteries of Venus

"Konica Minolta has spent many years refining our knowledge of optical technology. Now, the new possibilities of this technology are preparing to make a major impact in the world of art. Behold the advanced technology of the Non-Contact 3D Digitizer, developed by Konica Minolta.

This digitizer uses a laser to scan the target object and then analyzes the reflected light to perform detailed measurement of the object's shape. This technology was used as the basis for a grand project in which the Venus de Milo was recreated in perfect 3D detail on a computer. View the true form of the beautiful Venus, a sight which no one has ever seen before."

See it here

You probably need to have high-speed Internet for this to load within a decent amount of time.
The computer-illustrated demonstration by Minolta covers: Venus, Venus: Goddess of Love and Beauty, Acquiring the 3D Data, Unraveling the Mysteries of Venus, joint hidden by drapery, strut hole in the left shoulder, the gold hair ornament, the eternal Venus, the bracelet, the missing arms, bringing Venus to the world, who created her?, dynamic pose, twining upwards, multiple Venuses, and the aim of our technology.

Who was the sculptor of the Venus de Milo? Konica Minolta's website says, "Among the fragments found on the island of Melos was a portion of a plinth inscribed with a sculptors name. A sketch of the plinth survives, but the plinth itself is lost to us." The inscription reads, "Made by ****** Andros, son of Menides, citizen of Antioch on the Maeander River." A "plinth" is a base or platform on which a sculpture rests. (Yes, I had to look that up!)

Where do you go to see the Venus de Milo in person? It's called Aphrodite Venus, and the sculpture is in the collection at the Musée du Louvre in Paris.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 2009, and I hope 2010 brings with it all your hopes and dreams!

Technical skill versus artist's instinct

Please don't take this the wrong way - I'm not meaning to criticize another artist's work, but looking at other artist's work helps me think about my own approaches to art.

I was looking at some art today (by another artist) and it was a portrait of a baby. I was surprised that my first reaction to the drawing was to wince - The baby was probably giggling in the photo, but the baby's hands were scrunched up and I could see the veins through the baby's skin on his head. Because of the drawn up position of the infant's arms and the veins through the skin, the portrait was disturbing to me. At first look, instead of a happy baby, I saw a suffering baby. It should have been a happy pencil portrait.

The portrait brought a realization to me that an important part of being an artist isn't just technical drawing skill, it's having the judgment to know what to put in and what to leave out. Just because the veins are there doesn't mean the artist has to draw them. Seeing the veins in the reference photograph works out okay, because it doesn't dominate the image. In a black and white pencil portrait, however, those vein lines bring too much attention to themselves.

Artists get taught to "draw (or paint) what you see." I think this was an instance where the artist should have countered his/her training and done what felt and looked right - sometimes you have to ignore some things you see in favor of a stronger portrait.

Pencil drawing of old general store and filling station

This is an old general store and filling station owned by a family. I used several old photos as references, and the client asked her grandparents, aunts & uncles for information I needed to complete this. (the sign looks a bit off-kilter, that's just a photography error by me - this is what happens if the paper isn't lying completely flat when I take the photo!)

Choosing a photo for a pencil portrait

When you are considering commissioning an artist to draw a pencil portrait for you from a photo reference, how do you know you are presenting the artist with a picture that would work well for this use? ... [more]

You ARE awesome

I love the cute things kids say. They always come right out of the blue.

Here's my conversation with my youngest son, age 4.

I guess it's hard to remember that the word 'awesome' is a good thing.

"I love you, Mommy."

"I love you too! I think you're awesome."

"I think you're...not."

"Huh?" I said, feigning hurt feelings.

"Oh, I mean you are."

This blog post is so random I can't title it

It's almost Christmas!

Here's what's going on in our neck of the woods -

• We got the tree up (nothing exciting about it this year I'm afraid, sorry.) Bought a few gifts and stashed them away, but haven't had time to wrap anything yet. I have some of that wonderful wrapping paper from the kids' school fundraiser though, so I'm all set when I have time.
  

• Sweet Sasha was attacked in the early morning hours a few days ago by another dog that wasn't on a leash. Luckily, during the attack, the leash worked loose from her collar and she ran all the way down the street to home and waited on the porch. We were very pleased that she ran home and knew which house was hers! She's okay, it's us humans who need therapy now!

• I am getting over my cold, but lost my voice - I am slowly getting it back.
  

• Checked one of my daughters out of school due to this illness. Ended up making a second trip to check the other daughter out. Her case of illness wasn't as severe. At least she only missed one class.

• The high school art instructor wants my daughter to take Advanced Placement Art in 11th and 12th grade.

• Our house is a chorus of coughing.

• My sister and her husband celebrated 34 years of marriage on December 6th. I was a junior bridesmaid in their wedding.

• I have a pencil portrait ready to be mailed to Ontario, Canada. I have another portrait I'm tweaking, one I just finished today, and another one just in layout sketch phase. I want to finish them all by Wednesday. Ok, maybe it will be Thursday, but I'd rather be done by Wednesday.
  

• The Facebook fan group for Darla Dixon Portrait Art and Illustration has more than 200 fans now! I'm really surprised and grateful.

• Voting is going on for the Best DIY Lens category on Squidoo. My page on How to Draw Hair in Pencil is doing really well in the competition. Last time I checked, it had over 60% of the votes. Maybe I get a T-shirt if I win?!? I'm not sure. It's fun to win anything, though. Thank you if you voted for my page!
  

• I've been following Dr. Oz's diet advice since I read his book, YOU: On a Diet. Since November 23, I've lost 5 lbs and haven't been hungry. Not too bad, considering Thanksgiving was during this time, and the girls' birthday at the end of November. I haven't been exercising enough, but I'm working on that.

Well that's it for now, or else this will get too long. I hope to not wait so long to post another entry to this blog. I hope you have a good week!

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

This is a cool site, all you do is upload a front-facing clear photo of yourself and it will match your features to celebrities they have on file. I pulled my glasses up on my head so they wouldn't match me with Michael Moore!

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity

Walking

I read a newspaper article recently about a man who lost a lot of weight by using a grabber tool to pick up trash on his walks. He ended up taking very long walks. I decided this might be a good way for me to get some exercise, because when I exercise, it has to have a purpose - I just can't do monotonous repetitive movements on workout machines.

So I bought a reacher/grabber tool [similar to this] from Home Depot today ($21 after tax) and took my dog for a walk along a road near my house. I took a kitchen sized trash bag along, and within 10 minutes, I needed another bag. If you could see the sheer volume of the stuff, you would be shocked. The bag was so heavy, I had to hoist it over my shoulder to walk home with it.

What I found:

Many Styrofoam cups, lids, and straws
Cigarette butts
Fast food paper cups (Mostly Burger King, some McDonald's, 1 Starbucks)
1 tube of lip gloss
Bojangles chicken box (yes, this is the south!)
Paper and styrofoam plates
Clear plastic cake containers
Clear plastic 8 oz cups with lids
Many types of plastic bottles
Many types of aluminum cans

It looks like people just hurl their trash out the window as they take the curve. The aluminum can that irritated me was the one for an energy drink. I ask you - - If you drink an energy drink, wouldn't it give you enough energy to hang onto the can until you got to a trash can?

It was an interesting exercise - and that's what it was mainly - exercise. I need to exercise but it needs to have a purpose. I can't walk just to walk, if you know what I mean. So I'm not posting about this to get praised that I picked up trash. I needed to walk and walk the dog anyway.

I think that maybe, once people see trash in an area, then people don't feel bad about throwing their trash on top of it. It looks like "everyone does it."

I'm going to get my 6-year-old son going with the grabber stick tomorrow. He'll enjoy picking out the cans and plastic bottles from the bag to put them into our recycling bin. What seems like work to adults can be really fun to a kid with a grabber.

(If you want to get a pick-up tool, you can find the Unger "Nifty Nabber' or "Pik-Stik" tool in the garden tool department by the rakes. It's really easy to pick up stuff without bending, and you don't have to touch it with your hands.)

You don't have to do this on a busy roadway either...you can do this in your own neighborhood. The surprised and pleased looks from the neighbors are pretty motivating.

All in all, we walked about forty minutes. I usually only walk ten.

Blick Art Supply Printable Coupon

This is a printable coupon for 30% off, but it's only valid in Dick Blick retail stores, can't use it online. LINK

To find a Blick store near you, visit the Blick Art Materials website and click on the link at the top that reads "Locate Stores."

You can also get free art supply catalogs sent to you! Click here to get your free art supply catalog.