Graphite Drawing

Old Wheelbarrow

By: Lori Talbert

10/10/09

For some reason I have a fascination with old farm tools and machinery. Whenever I have a chance I take a photo or if I see a good reference photo I save it for future use. I found this photo on Morguefile where you can get royalty free photos. I pulled it out the other day and created this graphite drawing of it. It is 5x7 (the subject didn't seem to warrant a larger size to me) on smooth bristol board and I matted it. It took around 5 1/2 hours total to complete. It was fun to do and good practice for some future projects I have in mind. Just trying to get back to drawing and creating again after a summer spent not doing much art.

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!

Just A Pet Peeve

Do any of you have children or other family members that get into your art supplies?

The other day I came home from work and found my color pencils all over the place. I asked my son why this was so and he said he had a homework project that he was supposed to color with colored pencils and he had used mine. I asked him what happened to the color pencils we had purchased for him before school started and he said they were at school.

Now I am not a stingy person and I don't mind if others use my things as long as they don't damage them, but I really expect them to be put back where I had them and not left out where they finished using them. That really bothered me.

Does this happen to any of you and does it bother you?

And The Results Are In!

Well first of all my computer is on the blink and is in the shop so I am posting this at work which I am not supposed to do, but I did come in early.

I posted earlier about the two shows/contests I was going to enter this summer. I entered two works in the Central Carolina Fair. They were the same two works that were entered in the spring at the Randolph Arts Guild show. They did not place there, nor did they even take an honorable mention, but this time I received a second place prize for the drawing "Ready to Work" in the category of Pencil and I received a third place prize for the double portrait of my husband and son in the category of Portraits, Other medium. The money prizes were not that much but I do get to keep the ribbons which will be my first but hopefully not my last!

I was extremely pleased! I am so glad I did not let myself get discouraged by not placing at the other show. I had researched the judge of that show and she was an abstract artist. I noticed all of the ones that won, placed or received honorable mentions, with the exception of three works were all abstract. Just goes to show that art is in the eye of the beholder. I have learned not to be discouraged because the judge may just not like my type of art and to try again if I believe in myself. So..... if you are thinking about entering shows and contests please do and don't become discouraged!

The other contest was for a postmark cancellation. We have a town not too far from where I live called Star. This is a designated Christmas Town by the Post Office and they have a contest for local artists to enter a design. There is no money prize, just recognition and this will be the 23rd year they have had the contest. The requirements were: simple line drawing, black and white only, and certain words required in the design which were the address of the Post Office there.

I came up with a design and rendered it in pen and ink and got it ready to send off. I had not read the rules close enough because I remembered it saying must be postmarked Sept. 10. When I re-read the rules prior to mailing it actually said must be received by Sept. 10. I mailed mine on Sept. 10 anyway but I don't know if it will be considered.

I have been reading everyone's blog and I hope to get back into my art soon. I noticed I am not the only one that has slowed down in posting. I guess it is just the summer and having lots of other things to do.

Sorry no pictures! I had some but my computer is on the blink!

Art Appreciation IQ Test

I just found an Art Appreciation IQ Test on the internet. It was fairly short and fun to do. The test would show two works of art (Most of them well-known) and ask you to choose by selecting on the painting which was bolder, more realistic, etc.

At the end of the quiz it would place you in a category. I was placed in the Master of Arts category and the quiz told me I was the first to be placed in this category out of thousands that have taken it. Don't know if this is true or not but it was kind of fun:

If you want to try your luck here is the link: http://www.goneglobal35.com/iq.html

Let me know where you placed!

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!

An Award From a Fellow Blogger!

My good friend and wonderful artist Jan at Pets to Posies http://petstoposies.blogspot.com/ has given me this blog award. Thanks Jan, especially since I haven't been as active here the past couple of months. I appreciate it and love to get the blog awards and pass them on. If you haven't viewed Jan's blog please check it out.

I am supposed to tell seven things about myself and pass the award on to seven other bloggers so here goes.

First seven things about myself that I haven't told before:

1. I've gotten hooked on the cable show Clean House. I just love seeing houses that are more cluttered than mine. It makes me feel so much better!

2. I've told on here several times that I love the beach but I don't think I've told that I love to walk the beach and hunt for fossilized shark teeth. I try to beat the ones I have found before and am accumulating quite a collection!

3. I am terrified of mice and snakes. Apparently while we were at the beach for 8 days a mouse moved into our house. I spent most of Sunday night screaming and scaring it as bad as it scared me. I practically moved out of my house. Thankfully we caught it last night and none too soon. I think I was driving my husband crazy!

4. Spiders don't bother me at all.

5. I wish I had more time / motivation to do my artwork.

6. I really want to start painting again (I haven't painted in many years) but keep putting it off due to not wanting to deal with the mess. Drawing and colored pencils are so much cleaner.

7. I love to take Sunday afternoon naps.

Well, now that you know more about me than you probably ever wanted to know I will pass this on to other bloggers:

Jenna at Color Conscious http://color-conscious.blogspot.com/
Michelle at Following My Muse http://followingmymuse.blogspot.com/
Jill at Pencil Portraitworks http://pencilportraitworks.blogspot.com/
Robin at The Midlife Artist http://themidlifeartist.blogspot.com/
Teresa at Tresses Art Blog http://tressesartblog.blogspot.com/
Dave at Wildlife Art http://davelarsonstudios.blogspot.com/
Laure at Painted Thoughts Blog http://paintedthoughtsblog.blogspot.com/

These are wonderful blogs and artists that I enjoy very much. If you haven't seen their blogs please check them out!

Hopefully I will get back to my art soon!