New Work Completed

Red Wagon Wheel

By: Lori Talbert

5/25/09

8x10 Colored Pencil and Graphite on Bristol Board

Just completed the most recent piece I have been working on for the past couple of weeks. I found the reference pic on morgue file when I was browsing and saved it for future use. Something about this pic fascinated me and I thought it would make an interesting subject.

I started in in graphite and realized it would not be as interesting as I once thought completed all in pencil. So I decided to take a chance and add some color with the colored pencils. I chose the wagon wheel and then that stood out too much so I also colored the ground.

Its works pretty good for me. Not nearly as difficult as the last piece I completed but good to get me going on my artwork again.

Now I don't know which one to use as my third entry for the art show. This piece or the last one entitled Millboro Post Office / General Store. What do you think?

Drawing Completed (For better or worse!)

Millboro Post Office / General Store

By: Lori Talbert

10/07/09

I have completed the drawing I have been working on for so long now. I must say it was the most difficult project I have ever tackled. I thought the portrait of my husband and son was hard but this one really took the cake!

I was definitely out of my comfort zone! The foliage was extremely difficult for me and I spent a lot of time practicing it and finally decided just to go ahead and do it. The perspective did not bother me that much as I have taken a class on this in the past that was pretty involved. I don't remember all of the class but I do remember how to find the vanishing point to get the building angles correct. Even so I realized at one point my perspective was off and had to go back and correct it. This drawing is on the verge of being overworked and may possibly be considered overworked but I was determined to finish what I started.

It definitely tested my abilities and was a learning experience and I know the next project of this type will be easier and better for the effort.

The reference pic can be found in an older post from April if you want to look at it. This is 8x10 graphite on bristol board.

There is another juried art show sponsored by the Randolph Arts Guild coming up in June. The deadline for submissions is May 29th. For an entry fee of $25.00 each artist can submit up to three works for consideration. My plans are to enter this show. All three works can be selected, two works, 1 work or no work and you just lose your entry fee. I figure nothing ventured, nothing gained. The works must have been completed in the last two years. I hope to enter the double portrait of my husband and son entitled "A Good Time" and the drawing entitled "Ready To Work." Both can be found in older posts if you care to look or in the slideshow in the upper right corner of my blog. All work will be matted and framed.

Do you think I should also enter this work as my third submission? Would it be worth my while to do so? Please comment and let me know what you think. (Your family always tell you everything looks terrific).

Thanks guys!

Update

Well I am still working on the drawing of the Millboro Post Office/General Store. The foliage is really proving difficult. I have practiced and practiced on other pieces of paper/bristol board and just was not satisfied. I finally just went with the best I could do and will hope for the best. I will post an updated WIP soon.

My idea on the blog award did not pan out. No one commented and collected the award. Everyone is just too modest. So..... I will list some blogs to collect this award:
Stephen Baird at Nikon Sniper has the most wonderful photos:
http://nikonsniper.blogspot.com/
Doreen at Dors Art:
http://dorsart.blogspot.com/
Martina at Pencil Love:
http://dreamsun-fine-art.blogspot.com/
Jan at Pets to Posies:
http://petstoposies.blogspot.com/
Teresa at Tresses Art Blog:
http://tressesartblog.blogspot.com/
Karie at Pet Portraits and Wildlife:
http://artbykarie-ann.blogspot.com/
Michelle:
http://followingmymuse.blogspot.com/

Please collect your awards and play along!

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.

Sunflower

Sunflower

By: Lori Talbert

3/21/09

I've had some other things going on lately that maybe I'll talk about later if it works out, so I haven't had a lot of time for artwork.

However, I did manage to produce this. It is from a drawing challenge on a forum I belong to from a couple of months ago. I just had not gotten around to working on it. Flowers are not my strong suit but that is what a drawing challenge is about, getting out of your comfort zone and stretching your abilities.

I think it came out pretty good considering I don't usually do flowers. I wanted to do something colorful as I am longing for warmer weather and spring. Even though yesterday was officially the first day of spring it does not feel like it here.

It is an OSWOA, 4x6 colored pencil on bristol board.

Baby Orang in Color

Baby Orang 2

By: Lori Talbert

3/11/09

I did an earlier version of this in graphite and posted it on my blog last month. At that time I said I would do a color pencil version and post it for comparison. I had a couple of things come up and had not done any art for awhile but I finally got back to the drawing

This is from the same reference pic in color pencil, 4x6 on smooth bristol board. Although I love graphite, for this drawing I would have to say the color pencil version is better. The nose was very difficult and it doesn't look as good on the scan as it does in real life, but for the most part I am well pleased with the results.

My son asked me why I made the background yellow. I didn't have a reason I could put into words so I just told him I wanted to. For some reason the drawing just seemed to call for a bright yellow background. I like the way it plays with the browns and it seems to make the subject "pop" for me. I think it works well anyway.

So this is the color pencil version of the Baby Orang. On to the next project and hopefully I will be able to do some art soon.

Better Than I Expected!

This Little Piggy

By: Lori Talbert

2/08/09

I usually draw something, anything a few days per week to satisfy my creative urge. I don't have a lot of free time so the majority of my projects are small and something I can complete in one or two sittings. A lot of times they are simple and quick as the last OSWOA I created but sometimes you get pleasantly surprised when something turns out better than you expect.

When I get time I use the internet as one of my sources for ideas and reference photos. I use Morguefile a lot and look through the copyright free pics. When I see something I may want to use or is interesting, I save it to look at when I have more time. When I am ready to create I look through my references to see if anything appeals at that time.

When I saw a photo of a pig I knew it would be easy to sketch and possibly something to do for a quick, fun project. The pig in the reference pic was black and white and there was the edge of a wooden structure under it's head. I suppose it was a feed box, due to the pig's eager posture and food was coming at the time the photo was taken.

I pulled this photo out the other night for a quick, fun sketch, figuring I could complete it in less than two hours and satisfy my urge to draw. I quickly sketched the outline and then pulled out my colored pencils. I always start with the eye because if that doesn't work for me, nothing else will. Eye completed, nothing complicated there and then I started on the pig's ear. I felt large areas of black would not work so I changed to a deep brown color and I wanted to keep the underlying hint of pink skin showing through. Using the brown, pink and white I began to work. Something happened and I took as much time on the ear as I usually would on the entire drawing. I lay in my areas of color and use a colorless pencil as well as white for blending. I completed blending the ear and was surprised to see that it came out pretty nice. I put the drawing aside and completed it the day. I am very pleased with the results, it's always nice when something works better than you expect. It is an OSWOA 4x6, colored pencil on bristol board.

Difficult Week

This past week it just seemed more bad news followed bad news. I work with individuals who are unemployed and looking for work and this past week around 200 people in our county lost their jobs. We also learned of over 50 more that had lost their jobs in the previous week that we had not heard about. January has been a bad month in our county.

Our unemployment rate for December was 8.9 percent and I wouldn't be surprised if it topped double digits for January. It is hard to hear all of the stories these people tell and very sad. We offer all of the assistance and referrals we can but what they need most is employment and unfortunately there is just not much available.

I know the entire country is being affected, not just our county but these are the people I interact with and am working with on a daily basis. I can only hope that things begin to improve soon but I fear that will be a long time coming.

With all of this going on it was hard to get into the mood to produce any art work but on the other hand I knew I needed to do something because creating art is good therapy for me. It relaxes me and improves my mood and I always feel better after I create.

One of the artist's forums I belong to had a drawing challenge for January. I selected a photo and used that. It is an OSWOA (original small work of art) 4x6, colored pencil on bristol board. It did not come out quite as well as I had hoped but it is OK.

I have become addicted to this form of art as with my busy schedule of working and raising a family I can complete one of these pieces in an evening with very little mess. I believe this type of art work is becoming more popular as more and more works show up on the internet for sale. When I first began researching this type of artwork, there would be around 90 works for sale on Ebay. Now there is continuously over 130 offered on Ebay at any time for sale and many more on other places on the web such as Etsy.

Anyway here is the latest:

Butterfly

By: Lori Talbert

1/29/09

I have also been searching for other artist's blogs on the internet, especially artists from North Carolina. I have made some new friends this way and have viewed some really great works of art. I hope to add links to these blogs on my site soon so stay tuned!

Recent Works / Snow Tonight!

It has been extremely busy at work and when you work full time and have a family it is sometimes hard to work on your art like you want to. I haven't taken the time to post recently but I have completed a few things.

The first is an ATC (Artist Trading Card) for an exchange on a forum I belong to. The theme was the new year and after turning over many ideas I thought of the Chinese calendar. A little internet research revealed that 2009 was the year of the Ox so I decided to work with that. The first Ox I tried was a realistic representation but it didn't seem to work out that well so I went with a cartoon version. It didn't take very long to complete and although not a work of art I thought it was cute and decided to send it to my trading partner. I received my card from my partner and I felt kind of bad because theirs was very detailed and intricate and obviously took a lot of time. Mine took less than an hour to complete. Well, that is the fun of a trade, you never know what you will get and you are always surprised. My partner liked their card so that is what is important.

Year of the Ox (ATC)

By: Lori Talbert

12/27/08

I also completed a couple of OSWOAs (Original Small Work of Art) that I haven't posted yet. The first was a still life that I had originally done as a digital work. It came out very well in digital but not quite as well in this version. Some parts of it I am pleased with such as the glass vase the flowers are in.

Still Life with Flowers

By: Lori Talbert

1/01/09

I also revisited the cardinal sitting on the fence and completed another version of it as an OSWOA.

Cardinal 2

By: Lori Talbert

1/13/09

All works are in colored pencil on bristol board. The ATC is 2.5 x 3.5 inches and the OSWOAs are 4 x 6 inches. I am thinking about another larger work in graphite probably 8 x 10 and am turning over a couple of ideas in my mind.

On another note the weather forecast is calling for 1-3 inches of snow tonight and early tomorrow morning. That probably doesn't sound like a lot to many of you but here in our part of North Carolina we sometimes go all winter without any snow at all. If we get bad weather during the winter it is usually freezing rain or sleet which is no fun at all. When we do have snow virtually everything closes down as we see it so rarely southerners do not know how to drive in it and slip and slide all over the roads. I have a 4-wheel drive but I usually stay home as well because the 4-wheel drive does not guarantee that someone will not slide into me! My son is extremely excited! When he was almost 2 years old we had a whopping 13 inches in one night! We were without power or telephone for practically a week but he doesn't remember that. He will soon be 11 and has only had enough snow in his life (since the 13 inches) that he remembers to build two snowmen. He is hoping for the 3 inches so maybe he can build one.

Ready To Work

I finished the piece I was working on. It is a different type of work for me. I usually do animals and this is more of a landscape. It was definitely a learning process for me as I had some problems to work out but overall I am pleased with it. 8x10 Graphite on smooth Bristol Board.

"Ready To Work"

By: Lori Talbert

12/16/08

First Sale!

I have been creating artwork for many years but have never actually sold a piece. I have given many works away, created artwork by request, and have had people ask me what amount I would sell a work for, but something just stopped me from charging for my work. I would think of all of the hours of work I had in that piece and even if I charged minimum wage I believed they would be shocked at the price I would have to name so I just told them it was not for sale. Usually, I actually did not want to sell these pieces as I had put so much time and effort in them. However, it has always been a secret dream of mine to actually SELL something!

I discovered the OSWOA website a few months ago, read the rules, decided to create a few and put them up for auction on Ebay. The ones I have created thus far have been shown on this blog. The website recommended a minimum price of $9.95 per OSWOA so I decided to start there, put four of the pieces on Ebay and last night I sold one! Not a fortune but someone actually wanted to purchase one of my works! I am so thrilled! Hopefully I will be able to sell more as time goes on.

I am also currently working on a piece now that will take awhile to complete. It will be 8x10 graphite on smooth bristol board. It is of a stone barn with an antique wooden wheelbarrow that has a metal wheel standing in the doorway. There is a pitchfork with one of those incredibly long handles that books used to call "widow-makers" because the user would have to "heave his guts out" to use it. The photo came from Morgue-file. I will post it when complete if it works out as I want it to. I also want to work on some more OSWOAs.

Until next time!

And Again!

I guess I have gotten on a bird kick as I have completed another OSWOA of a bird. This one is a cardinal. I keep working on something until I have it the way I want it and I am working on the colored pencils and bristol board. I experimented with illustration board but liked it even less. Anyway this is my latest:

Fence-Sitting Cardinal

By: Lori Talbert

12/02/08

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!