Cross-Country Clearprint Journal Project

As part of a Chartpak project called "Cross-Country Clearprint", I received a blank journal in the mail
the other day.  I am to sketch, draw and/or paint whatever I wish on one page.  I chose to fill that page with sketches of Peptalk, a horse I rode in my riding lessons for almost three years.  He has since passed over the rainbow bridge.  But I will always remember him.

I did the sketches from photos I took of him at liberty and in his stall.  Some of the photos were blurry due to low light and I did not want to use the flash.  (The flash can wash-out colors and flatten details plus create odd shadows.)  However, I was able to "un-blur" the pictures in the sketches due to my knowledge of horse anatomy and close familiarity with the subject.

The sketchbook is 6 x 8 and is called a Clearprint Vellum Book.

Images from all of the Cross-Country Clearprint project participants will be available online at www.clearprintpaperco.com.

Sketching Idea: By the Square Foot

I got my first chance to put a fun sketching exercise into practice this past weekend that I suggest in my Field Sketching classes.

I spent a few hours plein air painting with the Central Florida Watercolor Society.  We were at Lake Lily Park in Maitland, Florida.

As usual I got to the park and was immediately overwhelmed with all the choices of where to set up and draw or paint.  So, I practiced what I preach!  I found one 10 x 10 square foot area and sketched everything I could see.

I did not know what some things were, but I sketched them anyway.  With some notes written on the side I can research these items to find out more about them.

You can practice this at home, too!  Find a 3 x 3 or 10 x 10 square foot area in your yard, neighborhood or even inside your own home and sketch the things you find in just that area.

The Fate of Cursive Writing

A friend and I were discussing the fate of cursive (script) writing recently.  I lamented on how I had to teach my son how to sign his own name in cursive because he was never taught to do so in school.

Here is an interesting article about what one North Carolina school district is doing about this and the comments from some parents and teachers.

Learning Cursive Writing: Is it worthwhile or a waste of time?
by Jacoba Urist

How many people today can read the Declaration of Independence?  When only a few to no one can read it because it is written in cursive they will have to depend on others to translate it for them.

Personally, writing in cursive saves me a lot of time when I have to write quickly and legibly.  I enjoy having the option to print or write in a more beautiful, cursive style.  If nothing else, learning to write in cursive gives one more options.  One day cursive writers may stand out in a crowd of thousands that can only write and read printed, disconnected letters.

Sketching Is Not Just For Artists

In Laura Busche's blog post "Hand-Sketching: The Things You Didn't Know Your Doodles Could Accomplish" she explains how sketching on *paper* takes her designs to the next level.

I met with another artist Saturday morning (10/13/13) who worked as a line illustrator.  She learned most of her skills while on the job.  Today she is retired but continues to draw and paint.

We spoke about how sad it is that today there are many graphic arts students who cannot fathom why on earth they need to learn how to draw on anything other than a computer screen.

I found Laura's blog article through Dave Kelley's blog post where he is collecting resources before, during and after the upcoming DevLearn2013 event.

Field Sketching and Gesture Drawing - Birds

Draw enough to recognize the subject.

Do a gesture drawing.

Gesture drawings are done mostly in life drawing classes.  Little did I know they come in extremely handy when you are trying to draw a flitting bird or a flighty squirrel.

Try it on your own!  You can go just about anywhere and find lots of birds and squirrels.  If you can’t get outside, try watching a nature documentary.  You can practice gesture drawing all types of animals while they are on your TV screen.  If you feel like adding more details, wait for the commercials and add them then.

If you need more information about gesture drawing and how to do it see the following links:

What is Gesture Drawing?  By Helen South, About.com Guide

Examples of Gesture Drawing curated by aed303 (class board for pre-service elementary teachers taking art) on Pinterest.

Tools for Self-Educating Artists at Figure and Gesture Drawing
This a cool website where they provide timed photos (you choose the timing) to practice a gesture drawing!  Start with the standard session and be brave!  Work down from 10 minutes to the 30 seconds time interval!

This post was modified on 9/28/2015.

Newest Completed Works

This past summer and fall, I completed one oil painting and one pencil drawing.  The pencil drawing was a commission of one of the horses at Freedom Ride named Ivan.  (When I took a snapshot of the drawing I didn't realize I'd caught some glare on his shiny nose!)

The poem says:

Ride upon the white
horse and a sense of
peace will come; for
the white horse is an
angel with wings
disguised and soon you
will ride as one.  Anon

Pencil is my favorite medium for drawing horses.

The oil painting was done via a reference photo as a starting point.  I originally thought the background was going to be very dark.  However, as happens so many times while painting, it decided it wanted to be a lighter picture.

If you happen to be interested in buying this painting it is available unframed.
 

Book Review Apples for Cheyenne

Rachel is a little girl with autism.  The story is about one of her weekly visits to the barn where Cheyenne lives.  He is one of the therapy horses.

This is a wonderful book for both able-bodied children and those with special needs.  It is a nice way to teach those who do not understand autism  about the way autistic children perceive the world.  Both the author and illustrator of this book are familiar with autism as one has a son with autism and the other has autism.

I got a free copy of this charming book from a friend of mine because he knows I love horses and that I work with/for therapy horses once a week at Freedom Ride.  It was written by Elizabeth King Gerlach and illustrated by Kim Miller.

If you would like to purchase a copy of this book I have provided links to it at both Barnes and Noble and Amazon for your convenience.  I am not associated in any way whatsoever with either company except as a fellow customer.  Happy reading!

My Friend Sy

Here's a picture of Sy Rosefelt painting at the docks behind the Cornell Museum of Art on the campus of Rollins College in Orlando, Florida.  We were there with Rudy Drapiza and Paul Peters painting en plein air.  Rudy, Sy and I stayed until dark.  I got one evening painting done.  No pic of it yet so I thought I'd post this one in the meantime.  It was taken with the camera on my old phone.  It kinda looks like an old polaroid picture, doesn't it?

As darkness enfolded us Sy and Rudy told me a story about how one time when they were painting at a dock in Sanford, the wind blew Sy's palette with all his paint into the water!  He said that "it sank like a stone."  Rudy valiantly tried to rescue it but was smart enough to test the water first with a very long pole to see if he could walk out into the water to retrieve it.  The pole kept going down and down and down and they said it must have been at least 20 feet deep right off shore.  No rescue was possible.

Once a week I've also been doing some life drawing where artists paint or draw from a live model at the Crealde School of Fine Art in Winter Park, Florida.  I'll post some *discreet* pictures of those later as the models pose nude and I wouldn't want to offend anyone!

And I'm working on a couple of commissions of horse portraits for two people at Brookmore Farms.  I just have a sketch right now that I need to send to the client's for approval.  That's one great thing about the internet and art these days that I like.  Back "in the old days" one had to either schedule and meet in person or mail photos via snail mail *or* (gasp) complete the entire portrait, meet the client with the finished product and hold your breath as it was unveiled before them for the first time!  That was very nerve wracking!  Now it is less so as I know the pose, leg and head positions are already approved.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Pet Portraits

I was contacted recently via email to do a portrait of three pets, a dog and two cats, all on one sheet. It was specified to do the portrait in watercolor so I got right down to work! Below are two pictures. One is of the work in progress about half-way done and the next one is completed!

Lookin Good!

What is the most significant thing I did since my last post? How about saving a little bird? I found him behind the building where I work near the loading dock. It was lunchtime and I was on my way to the library. I don't know what made me look down but I'm glad I did! There was this cute little bird staring straight up at me. He didn't try to get away or anything. He just kept looking at me. So I got a friend who is a birder to help me. He told me it was an Oven bird which is a type of Warbler. I went to find a small box. Then he found a local bird rescue lady and took him there on his way home from work. She told him the prognosis was good. At least now he is comfortable instead of trapped on a hot sidewalk with no shade, food or water. And he now has shelter from the afternoon storm

The painting is the second in a series of three 24x48 works. Actually, I painted this one simultaneously with the third which I will post later. While painting the first one (Hello, There!) I had worked out a lot of the colors (palette), methods and design issues. Then I went to one of Elin Pendleton's official "Color Bootcamp's" and learned more about using color in a painting. There are just some things you can't learn from reading a book or watching a video!

Hello, There!

And now some more paintings of horses! I have to say it. These paintings are cool. For awhile they are going to be the center point of any venues they fit into -- literally. Here's the story of how they happened.

When another horse or horses were in the show arena others are prepped for the next act in their stalls. As I was walking around looking for pictures to take I noticed how this was done. The stall doors were partially open so you could see inside while the horses peeked out. In my minds eye I immediately saw the potential for several vertical paintings. When I saw that some large 24"x48" canvas on sale at Michaels I bought three of them.

Each of these paintings is $1000 USD. They are done in acrylic and are unframed but ready to hang. When they were hanging in the main room at the University Club they looked magnificent. The one pictured here is the first one I started painting back around February 2009.

Decadent

This is the third in my newest set of paintings inspired by Herrmans Lippizans -- but just from head shots I got at some of their shows while they were at Freedom Ride. The entire set of 3 was available for $250, but Tasteful (below) sold at the opening. If anyone is interested in the last two as a set I offer them together for $200. That would be this one, Decadent, plus Delicious (below). They are each acrylic on 12x12 canvas with no frame, but ready to hang. Speaking of hanging ... I thought I might add a piece of advice I recently gave to a friend of mine.

Pop the hood of your car once-in-awhile and take a look. You don't need to be a mechanic to see a potential problem in the making. In this case, one of the battery terminals was completely corroded. It finally got so bad the car would not start. I advised my friend to pour some Coke on it. Sure enough, that's exactly what the tow truck driver did. Then he jumped the car and it started right up. My friend didn't even know how to open the hood of their car. The bottom line is this: Dare to take a peek and try to learn how thinks work under there. You never know when a little bit of knowledge will come in handy.