A Whole New Point of View

As an artist I’m always searching for different ways to look at the world around me. In my latest piece, “The Lightness of Being“, you can see how simple poppies transform into ethereal creatures when turned upside down.  What do you do to get a whole new point of view?

The Lightness of Being

18″ x 24″ – Wax-based Media (Colored Pencil & Artist Crayon)
Created with the Icarus Drawing Board

The Icarus Art March 2010 Newsletter was just sent out. If you’d like to register for the newsletter, you can go to the homepage of Icarus Art and click the sign-up button on the top right corner.

I’m happy to announce that “The Butterfly Effect” received First Place in the San Clemente Art Gallery Spring Judged Show, Other Media Category (Colored Pencil on the Icarus Drawing Board). If you’d like to find out how I did the background, you can click on this blog link.

The Butterfly Effect

When using oil-based colored pencils with the Icarus Drawing Board, make sure to combine them with a wax-based medium. As you can see below, a thick layer of wax-based colored pencil is necessary to make the oil-based one as blendable as its wax counterpart.

Oil-based and Wax-based Colored Pencils

Flying High From Happiness

My artwork “Above and Below” (colored pencil and oil pastel on the Icarus Drawing Board) has been awarded the Expy Best of Show and Prismacolor Award in “Explore This! 6″, the Colored Pencil Society of America’s online exhibition. The juror, Dr. Barbara Grazul Hubbard, has selected the work of 55 artists for this annual prestigious exhibition which will run until January 31, 2011.

Edit (2/4/10): Katherine Tyrrell  wrote a post about “Explore This! 6″ on her blog Making a Mark. You can read her wonderful comments on my artwork by clicking here.

My art studio has a high cathedral ceiling with a wooden beam running across the middle. Several months ago I had the brilliant idea to install a swing which has become one of the most useful features in my studio. I discovered that by taking 3 to 5 minute breaks on the swing every few hours or so, not only do I get re-energized but my concentration level increases. The motion of swinging is also very relaxing and soothing and it seems to foster creativity and right brain thinking.

Swinging in My Studio

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Above and Below

I’m so thrilled that my artwork “Above and Below” (colored pencil and oil pastel) was accepted into “Explore This! 6″, the Colored Pencil Society of America’s online exhibition. This annual exhibition, which opens on February 1st and runs until January 31st, 2011, is for artwork where colored pencil is combined with other media.

The starry sky of “The Butterfly Effect” could not have been accomplished in colored pencil without the Icarus Drawing Board. The choices would have been to painstakingly draw the blue sky around the white of the paper or to paint masking fluid over hundreds of stars. Instead I came up with the following technique:

Step 1: I laid down several different blue Neocolors II on the warm zone.
Step 2: I used a gray paper stump to thin and blend the crayons on the warm zone. This is accomplished by making small circles with the paper stump while cleaning the excess wax with a paper towel.
Step 3: I kept on working until the colors were evenly blended.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4: I grated a blue colored pencil on a sand paper block.
Step 5: I shook the blue speckles over the crayon background.
Step 6: I grated a white colored pencil on coarse sand paper.

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7: I shook the white speckles over the crayon background.   
Step 8: After placing a sheet of tracing paper over the colored pencil speckles, I pressed down with a brayer on the warm zone.
Step 9: The speckles melted into the blue background and created a starry sky effect.

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

For another example of “speckling” see Snake River Pebbles.

Happy New Year, everybody! Buon Anno a tutti!
My 2010 resolution? To pay attention to what is small, unassuming or overlooked. One never knows – sometimes the smallest action can have GIANT consequences.

The Butterfly Effect

21″ x 26″ – Wax-based Media (Colored Pencil and Artist Crayon)
Created with the Icarus Drawing Board
Look for a post next week where I’ll demonstrate how I did the background.