Monthly Sketch Project

Apples

By: Lori Talbert

10/03/09

There is a blog called Monthly Sketch Project http://monthlysketchproject.blogspot.com/ and reference pictures are posted each month for artists to use. The idea is to see how each artist represents the reference picture. The different ideas and mediums that are used.

One of the reference pics for October was this photo Apples by Leslie and above is my work from that picture. It is soft pastel pencils, 5x7 inches on Vellum Bristol Board.

I haven't worked that much with pastel pencils and usually work in graphite or colored pencils. One of the things I liked about the pastel pencils was the ease of application. This work took about 2.5 hours and if I had used colored pencils would have taken several hours. The things I didn't like about the pastel pencils was that the colors are not quite as rich and it is very easy to lose detail because of the ease of blending. I may not have used the best surface though.

I haven't done any art in months so a big thanks to the Monthly Sketch Project for getting me going again!

Weekend Trip / Update

My son in the Tweetsie "Jail"

My husband and son in the "crooked house" at Mystery Hill

Practice sketch with pastel pencils

Well I know I haven't posted in quite a while and I haven't been doing any art in quite some time but I thought I would just do an update in case someone is wondering where I've been.

My husband decided that we needed to take our son to the mountains of North Carolina to visit Tweetsie Railroad before he got much older. Tweetsie is located in Boone, NC and in case anyone is not familiar with it, it is a Western type theme park. There is a train ride that lasts around 20 minutes and cowboys and indians have a mock fight. All the kids on the train that have cap pistols they have purchased in the gift shops are invited to fire them at the indians as quickly as possible and make as much noise as they can. There are rides, shows, restaurants, gift stores with different themes, gem mining, gold panning and an arcade. In other words an exhausting day of fun!

Now, I have been to Tweetsie when I was a kid (and no, I won't say how many years ago that was). However, then it was only a train ride and some shops so it has really grown. My mother's ancestors came down from the mountains ages ago, I believe from around Banner Elk and my parents were always dragging the family to the mountains for weekend trips, etc. There are not a whole lot of tourist attractions in the mountains of NC or Tennessee that I haven't visited at least once. They also used to love to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a very twisty, narrow road with lots of scenery. I personally just do not like traveling in the mountains. I would get car sick on the Parkway and my ears would constantly pop. I was reminded of this when my ears began to pop as we ascended into Boone. I told my husband, "This is not my country."

I don't mean to run the mountains down, if you like them that is great. They are just not for me. I would much rather travel to the ocean any day even though it is a longer drive.

Anyway I am glad we took my son to see Tweetsie. We should have taken him two years ago when he would have enjoyed it more and if we had waited two more years I don't think he would have enjoyed it at all. And you know what? I was downloading the photos I took at Tweetsie and I didn't even take one of the train! Well, I'm not going back just to get a picture of the train, I'll tell you that!

On the art scene I have done one small thing with my pastel pencils for practice. I saw a photo on the blog Nikon Sniper and I though it was great so I tried it in pastel. It only took around 10 minutes. Steven I hope you don't mind, it was just for practice. Steven has lots of wonderful photos on his blog.

I am also looking at submitting an entry for an art contest. No prize, just recognition if your drawing is selected. So I am trying to get ideas for that. I am looking at entering another art show with the pieces I had entered for the last one. I've read the rules and it doesn't say the work cannot ever have been in a show before just not in this show before.

Anyway, I hope to be back in full soon, and hopefully will be back checking in and reading your blogs soon as well as posting!

Until next time!

More On Pastel Pencils

I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday! The weather is still a little cool here for this time of year. I hope soon it will be warm enough where the heat doesn't run at night.

In my last post I had a piece where I had tried pastel pencils. My set was only 12 so I was lacking many colors that I usually use. I have purchased a set of 48 pastel pencils from Ebay and received them Friday. Hope to put them to use soon and have something to post.

I heard yesterday about a juried art show for Randolph County artists at an Asheboro Gallery. The work can be any medium but must reflect a Randolph County subject. Unfortunately, works have to be submitted beginning April 16th and I don't have anything ready with a Randolph County subject that I can submit. I am debating on whether to give it a try to have something worthwhile ready. I am trying to come up with a good subject. There is a very well-known covered bridge here in Randolph County but many artists have used that in their work and there will probably be a few in this show. Oh well, wish I had heard about the show earlier!

Pastel Pencils

Acorn

By: Lori Talbert

3/31/09

I have heard a lot about pastel pencils from others and decided I would give them a try. I have several pastel sticks or chalks and while I like the way they blend and the ease of application, I didn't feel I had the control for finer details as I did in graphite or colored pencils.

So, I purchased a small set of pastel pencils at Hobby Lobby and looked through my reference pictures to see what I had. This picture is from a drawing challenge on a forum I belong to. The challenge is long over and I cannot remember at this time who posted the pic. But I pulled it out and sketched it on a piece of 4x6 bristol board and gave the pastel pencils a try.

As with the chalks I liked the ease of application and blending, (colored pencils take a lot of work) but I was frustrated by the lack of colors in my set of 12. In colored pencil work I use the white pencil frequently to blend and to change the colors to what I want. I had no white in my set of 12 so I resorted to pulling out the chalks to finish the piece.

I enjoyed the experiment and was surprised by the ease and quickness of completion in comparison to my colored pencils. Colored pencil work for me takes a lot of blending. I generally use a colorless pencil for this frequently going over the entire piece with it and once I'm through my hand and arm are tired as it takes some effort.

I would like to try more with the pastel pencils but I think I need to purchase a larger set with more colors. So I will shop around for the best price. Do they make a white pastel pencil I wonder? Also any pastel pencil tips would be greatly appreciated.