Faithful Companions #4

Here is the fourth installment in the "Faithful Companions" Series. I started it at 10:00 pm last night.  Beginning a drawing that late in the evening is NOT good for my sleep schedule.  I finally finished it at 2 am.  Since it is such a different pose than the other drawings, I wasn't sure how it would turn out.  I am quite pleased with the results.  Now on to another drawing...

Border Collie

Here is the third installment in my "Faithful Companions" series of dog illustrations.  It is a Border Collie.  I am enjoying this series more than I anticipated.  I can hardly wait for my studio to get completed so I can devote more time to developing some additional series. Hmmm... wonder what the next series will be?

"Faithful Companions" - Golden Retriever

This is the second installment of my new "Faithful Companions" Series.  We had a golden retriever when my daughters were growing up.  Buffy was the most loving and loyal dog we have ever had.

Cocker Spaniel 1

In response to a local request, I have decided to start a series of dog portraits in pen & ink.  This is my first one.  It took about an hour yesterday afternoon for the initial drawing, and then another 5 to do the inking.

I am quite pleased with the results.

Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace

I will participate in an art show on July 10 and August 14 at the Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace in Weaverville.  In an effort to create more marketable merchandise, I completed this pen and ink this evening.  I am printing it as notecards and limited edition numbered prints.  

I am certainly enjoying doing pen and inks again.

"Art in Bloom" event

Our local Black Mountain Center for the Arts has an annual event called "Art in Bloom".  There are several facets of the event - a tea party and fashion show, a gallery full of floral arrangements inspired by specific pieces of art. (The floral arrangements are on display with the art that inspired them.) There is also a garden tour.  This year the gardens were those owned by various artists.  In addition, other artists, including myself, were invited to come to the gardens and paint during the 2 days of the tour.  On Sunday afternoon our paintings were on display at the Art Center.  I found out this afternoon that mine sold.  Whoohoo! It was purchased by the owners of the house where I was painting.  I am thrilled that they bought it... I think it belonged there.  Here it is for you to see:

Eventful Weekend

It has been an eventful art weekend.  The fun started on Friday when Lorelle and I went to the Vance Birthplace to do some plein aire painting.  I chose to paint the smokehouse.  I was standing in the full sun, and thought I had the colors right.  When I brought the painting home, it seems so dark... not sure how much I like it. I still have some tweaking to do on it.

I have also been working on another pen and ink. 

This one is from a photograph.  I wasn't sure, but thought I may have messed it up when I put in the road. 

It is looking better now.  I still have to complete the front field.

On  Saturday Lorelle and I attended the River District Studio Stroll in Asheville. . . 150+ artist studios open to the public for 2 days.  It was amazing.   Having seen about half of the studios, I realized that my work is comparable to many of them, and I can really refer to myself as an artist now.

I can hardly wait to get my own studio completed.   So much has happened to me artistically this past year - I can hardly wait to see what God has planned for next year!

Worn out

This is the pen and ink that I started on the last day of the Pen & Ink Workshop that I took last weekend. I used a sharpie marker to fill in the large areas of solid black.  Needless to say, the result was not what I wanted.  I plan to go over those areas with a brush and india ink.

Pen & Ink Workshop

Today was day 1 of a pen & ink workshop with Lorelle Bacon.  It was a lot of fun.  My hand and arm are tired from the constant drawing, but I think I learned a lot. We did a traditional pen & ink drawing, then a more stylized drawing with watercolor accents.  It was interesting to see how different eash person painted the same daisies.