Sketchbook Sunday - December 16

Here's what my foreshortening assignment looks like right now. It will hopefully go in the mail this week.

And a page from my sketchbook. A quick sketch of a rodeo photo and some experimenting with how to do a black background behind the fur and whiskers of my mom's cat that may be my next drawing. I've always despised drawing light hair against a darker background.

Sketchbook Sunday - December 9

I worked more than usual again this week, but I still made some good progress on my assignment. Right arm, face, and torso are close to finished.

And a close-up of a horse's face that I did a quick sketch of.

Sketchbook Sunday - December 2

You won't be seeing any actual drawings that I'm working on for a little while. I've decided to take a little break after the last two projects. I'll probably start up again after Christmas.

In the meantime though, I'll still be working on my Art Instruction Schools lessons. Here's the current state of the assignment for the foreshortening lesson:

The hand and arm on the left are close to finished. The rest is just shadows and highlights blocked in.

And a sketch I did of my mom's cat, Bummer. She keeps nagging me to draw him for her. The black patch is just a test to see how he'd look against a dark background. With the white fur on his chin, I'm thinking that's what I'll have to do even though I don't look forward to it.

Bid on my photo and support our wounded veterans

I donated an 8x10 print of my draft horse photo...

... for auction to support Atlanta Horses for Heroes, an organization that provides equine-assisted therapy to wounded veterans.

Go bid on it and many other great items on the Draft Horse Owners of Georgia fundraiser page.

The auction ends Monday, Dec. 3, so hurry!

A new camera accessory

Look what I got in the mail the other day - a fancy new camera strap!

Besides being pretty and super comfy, it's got an attached pocket to hold my lens cap.

But best of all, it's got quick detaching straps for the 90% of the time when I don't want a strap attached to my camera while taking photos!

My only qualm is it's a little long, so I have the adjustable straps almost as short as they'll go, and there's all that extra strap just hanging around. But then, I'm pretty short, and it doesn't take a whole lot of strap to have my camera hanging down around my belly button! I had them cinched up most of the way on my Canon strap too.

Like it? Go get your own at Made By Meegz on Etsy.

On a side note, taking photos with my old FujiFilm REALLY makes me appreciate my Canon!

A look inside the photo titling process

I'll say this right up front - I am TERRIBLE at titling my artwork! I hate it! I'm not one that thinks a title will make or break a piece, but it certainly can enhance it.

Many of my drawings are untitled because I simply cannot come up with anything that I think is a good title.

"Untitled", 2006

Some have obvious titles that I tacked onto them just so I could call them something, but I would change them in a moment if something better came along.

"Newborn", 2005

Then there's the few where a good title has actually presented itself.

"Rear View", 2009

And the ones where my wonderful fans have suggested titles.

"Surrender", 2010

None of those situations would work when entering Ex Arte Equinus. I didn't want to send in untitled photos, the "obvious" titles were pretty pathetic, and no one had any suggestions for me. I was left with coming up with fantastic titles all on my own.

This was the first photo to name:

I decided to just write down a list of all the words that came to mind while looking at the photo. 

Literally, wherever my mind went, I wrote it down. Then I went back and looked over the words to see if any went together. I liked the "back door" idea, and the next word I wrote, "behind", inspired "Behind the Scenes". I considered "Behind the Scenes Look" and "Behind the Scenes View" also, but decided to go with the simple version.

The other photo I had to name was the one that really stumped me. I had absolutely no ideas. Again, I just started writing every word that came to mind looking at the photo.

At the end, I had an odd list of random words, but the treasure idea stuck with me, and I decided to go with "Buried Treasure".

So there it is - the method I'll probably use for naming most of my artwork in the future.

Sketchbook Sunday - November 25

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving! Due to the holiday week, along with working more this week (co-worker on vacation), and just needing a break after two drawings in a row with deadlines, it was a slow week in the studio.

So you get a special treat this week - a look into one of my old sketchbooks. This sketch is dated 8/29/02. It was my first sketch for my Intro to Studio class in college. We were taken outside and told to do a drawing combining a natural element with a man-made element. This was my interpretation of that assignment.

Black Friday Sale at MelissaLynnD Art on Etsy

Enter the code "blackfriday2012" at checkout at MelissaLynnD Art on Etsy this weekend for 25% off  your order!

Enjoy!

Sketchbook Sunday - November 18

This past week, I finished the bison commission. After showing him to the client, she requested I add a tail, and I really like how that balances him out.

In my art lessons, I'm working on the final assignment for the lesson on foreshortening. In order to follow the instructions, I have to work up from the line of action, skeleton, basic shapes, muscle structure, etc. It really goes against the way I typically work. I know it's kind of hard to see. The lines are so light at this point that even upping the contrast doesn't do a whole lot. I'll have better photos next week.

I didn't do much sketching this week since I was working on finishing the bison. In fact, this flower was the only sketching I did this week.

I also have been playing around with Photoshop Elements that I got for my birthday last week. Here's one of the photos that I worked on editing this week. There were just little bits of another horse in the background that were kind of distracting, and I took him out - love being able to do that!

Sketchbook Sunday - November 11

The bison is coming along well I think. I'm considering extending the front legs more and having them fade away below the tufts of hair. I'm hoping to meet up with the client soon to get her opinion.

Working on exaggerated foreshortening in my lessons. Only one more practice drawing before finally starting the assignment.

 And since it was a bit of a frustrating week, I decided to play with some color in my sketching. This is from a photo of a beautiful stained glass window.

These will be the last photos you will see from Picmonkey.com. I got Photoshop Elements 11 this past week and am excited to start editing photos with that!

Sketchbook Sunday - November 4

Sorry for the lack of post last week. I was completely consumed with choosing, editing, and naming photos for the Ex Arte Equinus competition.

It was back to drawing this week. Drawing yet more figures for my Art Instruction Schools foreshortening lesson.

Sketching from a photo I took of a group of hay bales covered with snow.

And continuing to work on the bison.

I'm really excited because this past week, I got a great deal and ordered Photoshop Elements 11! No more editing with Picmonkey.com. As great as it is, especially for a free site, I'm ready for something more advanced. Elements will be arriving just in time for my 30th birthday!

Sort of Sketchbook Sunday (on Monday)

No, I didn't get a Sketchbook Sunday post up yesterday, and I honestly just don't want to take and edit photos of my work right now, so I'm going to show you the photos I'm entering in this year's Ex Arte Equinus competition. They need titles before I send them in (by tomorrow), so if you've got any ideas, please throw them out there! Enjoy!

Sketchbook Sunday - October 21

Kind of a busy week again - didn't spend a whole lot of time in my studio, but I made a little progress.

Still working on feet in my art lessons. This is my final foot practice - drawing my own feet in a mirror.

I'm happy with how the bison is coming along. Doing the eye always makes the drawing come to life.

And some of this week's sketching. I'm thinking about doing a rodeo drawing next, so I've been sketching from photos I've taken at rodeos. The art lessons must be helping if I'm even considering doing a drawing in which I have to draw a human face and hands!

This week, I'll be working on knees and elbows in my art lessons, and I think it goes on to faces after that if I really make a lot of progress.
Hopefully, I'll get the face done on the bison and start working on all that long hair around the neck. I'm feeling a little intimidated about that - wish me luck!

Sketchbook Sunday - October 14

I've actually got something to show you this week since I've gotten my rear back in gear.

Drawing feet now for my art lesson. Artists always say how difficult hands are. I think feet are worse!

This guy I had a start on and then abandoned for the draft horse, trying to have something done for the fair. He's a commission, and I'd like to have him done by the end of November.

And some sketching from a book a neighbor told me about with lots of hands and faces in it. Wish I'd had more time to sketch from it before it had to go back to the library. It was a great book for reference photos!

Celebrate Art! Celebrate Coffee! report

First off, sorry for not putting up a Sketchbook Sunday post this week. I typically take a week or two off after finishing a drawing, plus my co-worker was out for the week which meant I worked five days last week, so I didn't have much of anything to show you.

I finally got all the stats worked out from the Celebrate Art! Celebrate Coffee! show a few weeks ago, and it's not real pretty, unfortunately. I had a great time at the show, but it just didn't work out profit-wise.

Entry fee: $80.00

Gas: $33.71 (154 miles divided by 18 mpg times $3.94 per gallon)

Expenses: $113.71

Sales: $90.00

Sales tax: $6.12

Profit: $83.88

So, after all that, I lost $29.83.

The positives were that it was a gorgeous day, a super fun event with artists and music all over, lots of people, I had lots of really good conversations, and it was really fun to have the name-the-drawing contest set up and watch people participate in it.

Here's a photo of me in my booth at the show. I formatted it to finally fill up the empty spot that's been my Facebook cover photo.

Looking Back in Time

I'm quite disappointed that I don't have something better to show you. Apparently, the scanner didn't pick up the subtle shading in the white areas, and since the drawing has been mailed off for a contest, I can't have it rescanned. The print shop has been trying this week to darken those areas without compromising the rest of the drawing, but it's impossible to darken pixels that just didn't scan.

Here it is, the bad scan of the finished drawing.

The title chosen for the drawing is "Looking Back in Time". I thought it was appropriate both since it's a portrait from a time gone by and because the horse is looking back over his shoulder.

Most of the suggestions were names for the horse himself, and I almost went with that instead. My three favorites were Goliath, Samson, and Titan. Big, strong names for a big, strong horse.

The original drawing is now in Minneapolis awaiting judging for a contest. Unfortunately, prints will not be available until the drawing is returned late winter/early spring. Hopefully, by then I'll have found a place able to scan it properly.

Sketchbook Sunday - September 30

Good news! I finished the draft horse this past week in time to get him in for the contest!

Bad news - I took him in to the print shop to get scanned, and I haven't gotten the file emailed to me yet, so you don't get to see him today.

I started doing the drawing activities in my art lesson. I had to put my own hand in a foreshortened position and draw it starting with the see-through basic shapes (hence all those ugly extra lines). This was quite difficult as it's in a bound book that didn't want to lay open flat, so I was trying to hold the book open and draw with my right hand while I held my left hand perfectly still.

And a sketch from this week. Yet another of the photos I took for the county fair.

I'll post the scan of the finished draft horse as soon as I get him from the print shop. At that time, I'll announce the name I chose for him.

This may be your last chance!

As you can see, he's getting close to being finished. Suggest a title for this drawing now for a chance to win a free print! I'll choose the winner as soon as I finish the drawing, so don't wait!

2012 County Fair Photos - Special Effect and Any Other Subject

Here's the last of the fair photos.

Special effect

1st place! My first entry in the special effect category! This photo is from the water fights at Hat Daze in Canby, MN, this past June. I still cannot believe I got the combination of the wonderful sunlight on the firefighters, the rainbow resulting from the spraying water, and the reflection in the water on the street all in one photo! And this is the raw photo - nothing done to it except cropping.

Any other subject

1st place! This shot is from our vacation in Door County in July 2012. We were hiking in Peninsula State Park along Green Bay and found these carefully stacked rocks along the beach. Someone spent a lot of time putting up these creative towers.

2nd place. This photo was taken in May 2012 at my grandpa's place near Cumberland, WI. He's got a few trees in his yard that drop hundreds of pinecones. I had fun playing with aperture and manual focus on this one.

2nd place. This shot was taken last October with my Fuji FinePix S700. I was checking on the cows in our pasture just before a storm rolled in. This was the spectacular view of the clouds shortly before it started raining. I boosted the colors a tiny bit to bring out the yellow highlights.

3rd place. I actually really like this photo (a lot more than the judge apparently). I took it in January 2012 on my first outing with my Canon Rebel T3. This weed was just hanging out on the side of the back road I was driving down a few miles from where I live. This was the first time I ever played with aperture, and I was immediately hooked!


Hope you enjoyed all my fair photos. You can see the others at these links:
Animals
People
Landscape
Sport Action
Still Life

Most of them are available for $5.00 each plus shipping. They are 5x7 prints and have been matted, displayed at the fair, unmatted again and have their class and placing written on the back. There is nothing wrong with any of them, but their price reflects the fact that they aren't "new". Email me or comment here with your email if you're interested in purchasing any of them.

Sketchbook Sunday - September 23

Another busy week. I'm losing hope of getting the draft horse drawing done in time for the contest, but I'm still going to try. I finished the blinker, did the eye and that big section of his face, and am working on the bridle again.

And a sketch from this week - from another of my county fair photos. I really like how it turned out.

I'm working on my lesson on foreshortening. I've read through the lesson book but have no drawing to show of it yet... next week.

Don't forget to enter the name the drawing contest for a chance to win a print of the draft horse drawing when it's finished.