More OWSOAs!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving Holiday! I enjoyed mine even though there was the usual family drama that I won't bore you with here. It seems there cannot be one family holiday that there is not some type of drama occuring. However, I did find time to complete a couple more OSWOAs over the Thanksgiving Holidays. This is the first one:

Yellow Bird

By: Lori Talbert

11/26/08

I also was not satisfied with the Bluebird drawing I had previously completed. The bird faded into the background unless you were looking at it under very strong light. So I took another try at it and came up with this version:

Bluebird 2

By: Lori Talbert

11/29/08

I am more satisfied with this version. I made the bird a little rounder so it looks less predatory, darkened the colors of the bird and lightened the colors of the background. What do you think?

Second OSWOA Completed

I finished my second OSWOA (original small work of art). It is of course 4x6 on smooth bristol board. I wish I could find another firm surface that accepted the colored pencil better. It almost comes out like watercolor. I cannot get the colors as dark and rich as I would like. If anyone has any suggestioins please let me know.

This is the piece:

Bluebird

By: Lori Talbert

11/24/08

Completed First OSWOA

Definition: An OSWOA (original small work of art) measures 6" x 4" or 4" x 6" and fits into a standard 6" x 4" photo album sleeve or can be matted and framed and can be any medium.

Anyway I have been looking at some of these on various websites and wanted to try creating an OSWOA for myself. It would be bigger than an ATC but not as large as the last work I created.

This is the result:

Owl Portrait

By: Lori Talbert

11/22/08

It is colored pencil on smooth bristol board. I wasn't that happy with the bristol board. It made it really hard to blend the colors possibly due to the slick surface. However I wanted a firmer surface than regular drawing paper.

I am currently working on a second OSWOA and should complete it soon. Hope you like it!

First Artist Trading Card Exchange

I recently participated in my first artist trading card exchange from Let's Make Art. An artist trading card is the same size as a regular trading card; about 2.5 x 3.5 and is supposed to be traded with another artist. Although many of them are sold on Ebay, etc. the original purpose was trading among artists and not selling.



Anyway, I created my first one and sent it off in the mail last week. It is colored pencil on watercolor paper. Since the recipient has acknowledged that they have received it, I will now post it here.

Fall Fruit

By: Lori Talbert

11/2008

Can't wait to receive mine and see who it is from! I really enjoyed doing this and hopefully another trade will begin soon. It would be nice to eventually have a trading card from all members of the forum.

Graphite Drawing Completed!

Finished the graphite portrait of my husband and son. I put a lot of hours into this but I really enjoyed working on it. Just needs a couple of touch-ups, spray fixative, matting and framing and it is ready to wrap for Christmas! Below is the completed result! I'm satisfied with my efforts on this portrait and I believe my husband will like it also! Hope so anyway!

A Good Time

by Lori Talbert

10/2008

Finally Drawing Again!

Well, I have finally started drawing something of note again. I have a photo of my husband and son that I love because I think you can really see the love between them. I planned to do a graphite drawing from it for my husband for Christmas last year but never got around to it. Portraits are not usually my best subject and I was a little afraid of tackling the project. I purchased a book by Lee Hammond "How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs" and studied it. I guess I have been drawing the portrait in my mind for a year and that helped. Anyway this is the reference picture:





I am still working on the drawing but this is what I have so far:




I am pretty pleased with the results. The scan didn't quite do it justice, a lot of the shading did not show up. I plan to mat and frame the portrait when finished and give it to my husband for a gift this Christmas. Will post the finished results!

Don't anyone tell him!

A Lost Classmate

I wrote earlier about the high school reunion I attended where I learned of a classmate that had cancer. I had not thought of this classmate in years as I have not thought of many of my classmates in years. I do have some memories of her from that time and I had added her to my prayers after I heard of her illness. Yesterday I was sorry to hear that she had passed away. Although we were not close in school we shared years of the same history. My thoughts are with her family. Rest in peace, Carmen!