Post #101!

I just discovered that I have published 100 posts on this blog!  Sounds like a milestone, doesn't it?  For a project that I wasn't at all sure I'd stick with, I'd say it has been a success.  Thanks to all of you who have followed me thus far!  No telling where this thing is going . . . I'm open to suggestions!

So it seems appropriate to post a dog theme on day 101.  It isn't dalmations, but it is cute, nonetheless.  This is the finished portrait of Ginger, biscuits and all.  Enjoy!

Dog biscuits galore!

If you were a dog, wouldn't you love to have your portrait surrounded by a pile of crunchy treats?  Ginger is the sort of dog who is completely and totally motivated by food, even at her advanced age.  She's always been easy to train, as long as there's a biscuit waiting at the end of the task to be performed.  Every time we look at this drawing, we're going to say to ourselves, "Good girl, Ginger!"

Dog Doodle

Hello people!  I'm back!!  Both sons are officially graduated from their respective institutions and our daughter is safely ensconced in her study abroad program in Morocco.  Whew!  So I'm starting out with something easy.  Sort of a warm up, if you will.

I know.  You are thinking, wow, she's hit the bottom of the botanical barrel.  Drawing dog biscuits.  OK, so it isn't in any remote sense a botanical drawing.  Even if it is organic dog biscuits!  So why draw them?  Well, I'm finishing up my little project for Katie which was a drawing of Ginger, our dog (see May 7 post).  I thought it would be fun to draw some dog biscuits on the matting before I have it framed! 

Actually, it is a great drawing exercise for several reasons.  First, it is easy because it is practically impossible to mess up the color.  Dog biscuits are brown, after all.  The ever present worry of turning something muddy from incorrect color mixing just doesn't apply.  Also, the shape is very forgiving.  Dog biscuits are hard, crumbly, rounded, toothsome, crunchy things and so a precise, steady hand is not required in order to draw one successfully.  In fact, if you are a novice at drawing, I highly recommend trying to draw one!  Finally, whenever I get to draw something easy, I like to let the pencil do its thing and not think too much about it.  I can get in to a sort of zen state of non-thinking, which is really very refreshing.  I become the observer, watching with curiosity as the biscuit takes shape on the mat board.

In choosing my projects, most of the time I like to undertake a great challenge and then muster the perseverance and fortitude to see it through.  But at times like this, when my mental and emotional energy is flagging a bit, I find it satisfying just to color within the lines. Enjoy!

Artichoke - final

I'm off to the framer's with this one . . . I ordered the mat and frame last week, knowing it would be a tight turnaround.  It will be done just in the nick of time for the charity auction next Wednesday.  (If you are interested, check out Piedmont Council for the Arts.)  Working under such a hard deadline has been a good experience.  No time for messing about with this piece!  I'd say the result is satisfactory, wouldn't you?

Hope all moms had a very happy Mother's Day yesterday!  I sure did :)

I am heading into several weeks of nonstop family activity -- the two graduations are upon us!  So I will sign off for a bit.  Please check back in once June rolls around!  My next project is sure to please!

Artichoke - day 5

Well folks, what do you think? I have a few minor touches to do here and there, but I think it's pretty well done! 

When Peter took a look at it, he was wondering about the little slits at the top of many of the leaves. Does it really look like that? In his mind, he didn't imagine those notches and slits. And truthfully, an artichoke fresh off the produce truck will have leaves more uniformly green and packed tight to the core. But this artichoke has been around a while. It had some age on it when I bought it. Such character!

Well, now that I'm almost done with the painting, I can tell you a little bit more about the humble artichoke. This funky thing that we eat is actually the unopened immature flower bud of a large plant that can grow to four or five feet tall and wide!  The spiny, pointed, green bracts (they look like leaves, but they are not technically called leaves) surround the hidden flower parts. The base of each bract and the large fleshy base or receptacle (artichoke “heart”) on which the flower and bracts are borne are fleshy and edible, as you well know. If the buds are allowed to mature and open, the resulting flowers are quite attractive, large, and fragrant.  They look like huge purple thistles (not surprising, since they are related!).  They are native to the Mediterranean, but they can now be grown in many regions, including Virginia!  Thomas Jefferson grew them successfully at Monticello, by the way.

Before I race off to have it framed, I will add the latin name, Cynara scolymus.  I think that adds a certain sophistication, don't you?  Enjoy!

Artichoke - day 4

It's amazing what a little red can do.  Until today, I was painting with lemon yellow, ultramarine blue and a touch of phthalo blue.  Just two thirds of the color wheel.  By adding red to the pallette, I can now get the full range of color, and a fuller depth of field.  You know and I know there is no red in an artichoke leaf really, but if you study the shape and shaddows, you'll see that actually there's a lot of red!  Red is the complementary color of green, which means it makes a terrific shaddow color for green, and also has the effect of intensifying the appearance of green next to it. (The opposite is true too, by the way, which is why the butcher puts parsley next to the steaks at the meat counter.)  Back to my artichoke, I've used some washes of red to suggest the roundness of the leaves, and indicate where one leaf tucks in behind another.  It is coming along!

Artichoke - day 3

I made some nice progress today.   Once this painting is done and at the framer's, I'm going to explain why the artichoke is such a cool thing to paint.  The way its leaves are arranged is a perfect example of the Fibonacci sequence.  It is a mathematical explaination of why the leaves grow in perfect opposing spirals in order to maximize the number of leaves that can grow from the stalk.  Sadly, I'm in a pinch for time but I will explain more about this later.  It is the coolest thing and one of the reasons I was drawn to botanical art in the first place!  In the meantime, enjoy!