Frenemies 9"x12"

So finally a piece with animals that aren't horses;) I saw this picture and thought it was so adorable that I just had to do it. I had a hard time getting the texture of the kitten's fur to look realistic, as well as accurately convey the color variations in its coat. The cat was grey, but each hair is a different value, and that's difficult to portray with pencils on paper. I think I did a good job of it though, and it doesn't look too flat. I love the puppy's wrinkly face being squished by the kitten's paw, and you can tell the puppy has an amazingly patient disposition, which I also tried to capture in this piece. 

This drawing will be for sale this week at the Amherst Famer's Market, so stop on by and see what else I have to offer or commission a piece of your own! Thanks for everyone who came out last week, it was nice seeing you and getting to chat! 

Pink Rose 9"x12"

Due to the inclement weather, I didn't get to set up my stall at the Amherst Farmer's Market, which was a major bummer. However, the day wasn't a complete waste as I dug out my oil pastels and got to work. This picture I thought was appropriate for the season and will make a great greeting card and prints; it's certainly a colorful change from the graphite pencils I've been fond of of late. It was certainly nice to get back to some of my older mediums to check my skills, and I had fun playing around with the oil pastels again. So, if you like what you see this piece, prints, and greeting cards will be available at the Amherst Farmer's Market (2:30-6:30 the Village Green) and also at the Golden Egg in Salzburg Square. Stop by and check it out! 

PS-The colors are more vivid in real life, I promise. 

Apple with Leaves 8"x10"

Another from my apple note card collection. I decided to add some leaves to this one and I really like how they came out. The stem also adds some dimension and character to the picture that the other piece doesn't have, although I like each of them for their different qualities. I'm making this picture into note cards as well, to be sold at both the Golden Egg and the Amherst Farmer's Market, so if you're interested in buying these stop by! 

PS-The photos I took of both of this and the Apples piece aren't of the best quality, so to get a better idea of their true beauty please come by in person and check them out. 

Apples 8"x10"

This is a piece that I plan on making into blank note cards in the hopes that people will use the simple but detailed piece as thank you notes or greeting cards. I'm planning on packaging ten cards with envelopes and selling them at The Golden Egg in Salzburg Square, Amherst, as well as at my stall at the Amherst Famer's Market on the Village Common. This was a fun little piece that really tested my skills with shadow and light, and I had fun making the still-life and photographing it up at the lake this past weekend. My career as a photographer isn't solid yet, so I'll stick to the drawing for now. 

Aunt Ronnie's Ski House

My first commissioned piece! Aunt Ronnie asked me to do this drawing of her ski house up in Maine so that she could always be reminded of her sanctuary. This piece was a little difficult for me in that there were so many straight lines! I don't have a lot of experience with architectural drawings so this was a bit of a new experience for me but I'm really happy with the outcome. I especially love the soft texture of the pine trees in the background to the straight, solid structure of the house itself. This was done on an 8.5"x11" piece of drawing paper and Aunt Ronnie asked me to make it into blank greeting cards, which is an option with all the pieces I create. My hope is that Aunt Ronnie will look at this picture and feel as though she's up in Maine enjoying her ski house! 

Oh Yeah, Right

Mom reminded me about this one when I showed her the blog:

I saw this picture as the cover of Equus and I absolutely fell in love with it, so I decided to recreate it. And to make matters worse, I thought I'd try my hand at acrylics. I've never really done painting, but figured it couldn't be that hard... Well, that heinous idea was soon set aright when I finished the preliminary sketch and started to paint. It was a great experience though, and I will certainly do more painting when I find the time. I'm calling this Snow-swept, and it's a 16"x20"? acrylic on canvas board. I had a very tough time mixing the colors on the horse's coat to get the right mix, as well as shading with paint to fill out the figure and give it depth and muscle. I don't think I really succeeded, as I'm particularly not thrilled with the colors on the horse, but I love the way the snowflakes came out--because the original was a photograph taken in the snow, the snowflakes in the foreground were blurry, which was a quality of the picture I loved, so I was determined to get that same quality with my rendition. I mixed water to varying degrees to the white paint in order to get the right transparent effect. Pretty cool. 

Something Different

So I can do things other than horses, so long as they're horse-related;)

Gathering Rust is a piece I started over Spring Break when I was at Mom's watercolor class and needed something to keep me busy. It's a 14"x17" graphite sketch that I took from an example in Mom's watercolor How-To book. When I saw the picture I knew that it was going to be a challenge, especially without color, because of the myriad of textures from the foreground to the background. I was concerned that the viewer wouldn't be able to appreciate the rust on the horse shoe and chain as it's hard to convey that texture with pencils. Overall I'm not thrilled with the piece, but I think I did an admirable job with the peeling, chipped paint and the textures on the horse shoe itself. And that's all I have backed up, so now onto some new things. Until then...