One Hundred Faces In Three Hundred and Sixty Five Days

I have joined a group on Facebook where we have each committed to draw or paint 100 faces in 365 days.  Most people are drawing and painting people faces.   But, you know me....  My first face is, of course, a Siamese cat.

This drawing was created with Derwent Tinted Charcoal on a Strathmore Toned Sketch Journal.   *A note on these toned journals:  They are beautiful.  There is a grey one too.  I love the colors!  But... Strathmore, Please make some toned papers with tooth.  I suggest Bristol Board Vellum.   Pretty Please!  These colors cry out to be used with the tinted charcoal.  But the paper makes it quite a challenge to accomplish.

I have decided only to use journaled faces for my 100.  That will force me to play around with it and not use the more serious portraits I am working on.   I think this will be fun and will prompt me to draw many different kinds of faces.   I might do a camel, a donkey, and maybe some sheep.   Oh!  Maybe a rooster!  And maybe.....just maybe, I'll even do some people.

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Creative Pencils - Online Drawing Lessons

Pastel Workshop Opening

I am very excited to announce the opening of Panda In Pastel on January 15. This online video workshop is for students at any level. Even beginners can have fun with this cute guy. I used Derwent Pastel Pencils but any brand of pastel pencils can work.

I created the original panda drawing for a gift. A friend wanted a panda for her new baby's room. But when my local students saw it, many asked me to create a workshop teaching how they might create their own panda friend.

 

And so, here you go. You may enroll in Panda In Pastel at CreativeWorkshops.me. Enrollment will remain open so you may sign up when it works best for you. And, as always, you may ask me questions or show me your work for positive and helpful critique.   I hope to see you there. 

Here is a little teaser......

 


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Creative Pencils - Online Drawing Lessons

Quiet Tones on a Journal Page

I have been nose to monitor for 3 weeks now as I have been learning web designing.  This is not something I aspired to do.  But the Ning system is failing me and the necessity to move our Graceful Artist site became evident.  And, of course, the need arose just when it necessitated immediate action.  So, with no time to spare, I've been learning a lot.  But I am very proud of how lovely it looks.  I hope you will pop over and take a look.  The instructors are working so hard to present a wonderful and enriching experience.  They deserve a great site to feature their work.  Click here to see.

This year I have focused more on working in an art journal than I have in the past.  I've learned some ways to work around the need for paint and lots of elaborate supplies and have enjoyed expanding the thought of what my pencils can do on those pages.

But this week I enjoyed just a simple approach.  I have a Strathmore toned sketch paper journal.  I've not done much in it as the paper is so thin that it seems less than ideal.  But the colors call to me!  We had to be out of town the other day and had a block of time with no particular plan and not many options for filling that time.  So, I took along my toned journal and my Derwent tinted charcoal.  I took nothing else so I wouldn't be tempted to take another approach.

This drawing of Kenya was the result.  The toned sketch paper is not the ideal texture for charcoal but it worked and I enjoyed the process.  Now, if they would make some vellum bristol board in these toned colors, I would really be a happy girl!




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New Workshops Are Coming!

New workshops are on the horizon. Yea!!! I have 2 new workshops opening at Creative Pencils next week.  Both were created in response to the requests of students.  And both are using less than common pencils.   It is your opportunity to expand your pencil knowledge.  Double Yea!!

Panda in Pastels

Panda in Pastels is a drawing of a beautiful panda among the bamboo.  I drew the original as a gift for a new mother.  She had especially requested a panda bear.  Some of my students saw it while in progress and asked that I teach them how to draw one of their own.  I know you will love joining in.  In this workshop we use Derwent Soft Pastel pencils and I will take you through your drawing one step at a time.  Remember you can always ask me questions and show your work to me so that I can help you along the way.  I love looking at your work.  This colorful panda is a project that is suited to students of any drawing level.  

Lovely Wren

Lovely Wren started as a drawing I did at home just playing with my pencils.  One of my students saw it and requested a workshop so she could also draw a "lovely wren".  This drawing was created with Derwent Drawing pencils (sometimes referred to as Soft Drawing).  These pencils are very soft and layer in a very different way than regular colored pencils.  I think you will enjoy this new process and certainly your skills will benefit by expanding your knowledge. 

Dog Portrait in Graphite

One more bit of news is that the time for the Dog Portrait in Graphite workshop has been extended.  Due to my move, I am giving extra time just in case that complication was an interference for anyone else.  So, come on!  You've still got time to join in! 

Have a great weekend and remember to spend some quality time with your pencils.  I'd hate for them to get lonely.  Haha!


**CREATIVE PENCILS WORKSHOPS HAS MOVED TO CREATIVE WORKSHOPS**


Wind and Honey Creations

Its A Lovely Sunny Friday

 

I would love for you to join me for this Siamese Portrait in Tinted Charcoal workshop.  I am teaching this workshop at the One Little House online event.  Enrollment is currently open and the workshop begins March 29, 2013.   The workshop will run through May 24, 2013.  But enrollment will close on April 18.   While a beginning drawing student can accomplish the workshop, it also offers information a more experienced drawing student can glean.  If you have not used the Derwent tinted charcoal pencils yet, you will love using them.  They have such lovely colors and are a dream to work with.

 

Remember you can learn to layer colors and blend them with a blending solvent in this lovely Spring Tulips workshop.  This workshop is offered through my Creative Pencils teaching site.   You will love working with this solvent for your layers.  You will love the rich look it lends to your drawings.  Tulips in Colored Pencils is currently open and will remain so through May 24, 2013.  Enrollment closes May 1.

 

Recently, I won this Lottie pin from Manon of Manonpopje's Art.  We were both participating in the GYB event from 2BagsFull.   It took a while for my pin to arrive as it had to swim the Atlantic Ocean to get here.   I just love Manon's art.  She just makes me smile!  The bonus for me was the card that was included.  How cute!  It will have to be posted in my studio in a spot where I will see it often.  Than you Manon.  

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On My Worktable Today

Currently I have two projects on my worktable.   I have been working on this lion for a couple of weeks.  He is drawn with Derwent Graphic Pencils on Strathmore Bristol Board.  He has taken so long because I've had other responsibilities that have kept me from working on him as steadily as I'd like.   He and I have to share stolen moments.  : )  I think that just makes our relationship stronger.  I know that sounds a little funny.  But I do feel I know an animal after I've finished studying every nook and cranny of their face and looked deeply into their eyes.  I do feel this particular lion and I are special friends now.   He still needs a few hours of work to be finished.   When he is complete, I'll also share with you the incredible site where I found the photograph.  I do have permission from the photographer to use his work as my model.  It is always better to work from a live subject rather than a photograph.  But I have the hardest time getting those lions to climb the stairs to my studio and lie down so I can draw them!!

 

The other project I've been working on is this workshop example for using Zest-It solvent with colored pencils.  I have used Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils on Strathmore Bristol Board paper.  I will be recording that workshop this week and offering it soon through my online teaching site, CreativePencils.  We are longing for Spring in my part of the world.  These tulips seem a bright promise that there will be color outside my window once again soon.  This will be a fun workshop for those that like to play with colors to create the shading and play of light on a subject.  If you would like to learn more about working with colored pencils, you will love this opportunity.   **More on the workshop in a few days. 

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A Tiny Little Artbar

 

 

A few months ago Derwent sent me a set of their new Artbar. They only sent me the set of 12 which was such a teaser!  Of course I was sure I needed more.  I was very busy at the time they arrived and I was not able to find time to play with them.  I watched the demonstration videos and found them intriguing but not really in line with the art I usually produce.  I did find some interesting uses for them in my art journal pages.  But not much else.  I did purchase the set of 24, though.  Because even in the art journal backgrounds, I was pretty sure I needed those soft pastels in the set of 24.  

I was happily surprised when the set of 24 arrived and I discovered that there were only a very few duplicates from the set of 12 I already had.  And they were basics like black and browns - colors you will use up more quickly anyway. 

Then recently, in the Tiny Masterpieces Studio Group on my Creative Pencils site, we were discussing the fact that it had been a while since any of us had worked on any artist trading cards.  So, on a whim, I pulled out a tiny Strathmore canvas precut to just the right size for an ATC, and I opened up my newest set of Artbar.  

The ATC nest full of eggs with wind blown feathers that you see above is the result.  I used a tiny paintbrush and the scraper tool to help the process.  I loved doing this.  In fact I was almost late for my afternoon class because I found it difficult to stop.  I loved the soft gentle look I was able to create quite easily with them and I delighted in the way I was able to embellish it with the scraper tool. 

The Artbar are compact and, based on this project, I believe they will last a long time.  I predict I will use them a lot.  I love that I could take them along with me so easily should I choose to.  Perhaps that will be a way to keep me from being late for class.  I'm looking forward to trying them on a number of surfaces.  I'll share them with you here when I do.

Wind and Honey Creations

This Could Be Yours

Imagine this hanging in your home.  You can draw this beautiful owl when you take my Portraits of Beauty and Wisdom Workshop in Artful Gathering 2012.  This drawing is done in graphite pencil and Derwent Graphitint pencils.  The workshop is being offered during session 2.

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New Pencils That Are Like Coming Home - Derwent Tinted Charcoal

Many years ago an artist friend of mine, Sharon L Bell of Windom, TX, gave me a stubby charcoal pencil and a much weathered paper blending stump. And she sent me on my way.  I had it in my head that there might be an artist hiding inside of me.  So charcoal was my first experience and first love in the world of drawing and pencil art.  I was inspired by Clare Turlay Newberry who often drew in charcoal and who, like me, loved to draw a beautiful cat.

With time I moved on into paint, graphite pencils, and colored pencils of many different kinds.  As I got busy I left my charcoal pencil sitting alone in the drawer for a long time.

Three times each year my local students and I order supplies.  Each time I order some new colors or I try a completely new set of pencils to feed my addiction to pencils.  I've looked at the Derwent tinted charcoal several times.  But I really thought they were either just like a muted soft pastel or just another version of the graphitint pencils.  However, after reading a favorable review about them, I decided to add the tinted charcoal to my order this time.

Well, when the package arrived I sat right down and opened them and began to doodle.  Oh my!  About 20 seconds into it I knew I was in love with these pencils.  They go on very smoothly. And the colors!  Oh what beautiful colors they are!  These charcoal pencils were like coming home to me - only better.  I remembered those early days with that stubby charcoal and how much I enjoyed it.  As I marveled at the beautiful colors Derwent had created I began to wonder just what I could draw that would do them justice.  One of the fun things about these charcoal pencils is that you can set them with water.  So, when I had the pupil of this cat done, I could set it and then as I worked on the rest of the eye, the pupil did not bleed onto the colors.  How cool is that?!  And unlike the graphitint, who get much more intense when water is added, these do not change in appearance with the water.

This feline face was created with the Derwent tinted charcoal pencils on Strathmore 400 series vellum bristol board.

I will be going today to my students and encouraging them to purchase the Derwent tinted charcoal pencils.  They will love them too!

Want to learn more about drawing and creating your own pencil art?  Try out my online pencil art learning community at Wind and Honey Classes  We are having a great time there and my students are progressing so well.

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Christian the Lion

I spent a week in Missouri recently.  I took along with me the book A Lion Called Christian by Anthony Bourke, John Rendell, and George Adamson.  I've loved the story of Christian as shown on Youtube for a few years now.  And I've watched each version of it many times.  So the story in the book was no surprise.  But there were many details in the book that I had not known before about Christian's relationship with his two legged friends.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  It inspired this journal page created with watercolor paint and Derwent water soluable sketching pencils.

The story of Christian the lion is set in the late 60's in England where two Australian young men purchased a lion cub from Harrods Department store.  Can you imagine?  They raised him for many months living in their home with them. The three of them loved each other dearly.  When Christian was around a year old, John and Anthony (Ace) transported him to Africa where George Adamson, of the Born Free story, helped Christian learn how to live free and wild as was appropriate for him.  The video shows the reunion when John and Ace visited Christian a year later after living as a wild lion.  He had not forgotten them.  Rather, he greeted them with hugs and kisses.

Here is one of the many videos about Christian.  There are better ones but this one tells the story well, and I love the addition of the Whitney Houston song.

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Zest-It! You're Going To Love This!

For all of you that love the look of blended Colored Pencils - Prismacolor or Derwent Colorsoft, or Faber-Castell Polychromos, or any of the other quality brands... For all of you that love it when your colored pencil looks like paint... And for all of you that have hands that ache when you are finished blending with the blending pencil...  Well, I've got great news for you!

I had read some about using solvents with colored pencils.  But my experimenting with the Prismacolor colorless blending marker yielded less than satisfying results.   And the other solvents I had read about have toxic levels that I prefer not to bring into my world.  One site said to use them with an open window.  Well, the seasonal opportunities for that where I live are very very small.  And then I found Zest-It products.  They have several products under this name including brush cleaners and oil paint mediums.  But the one I am so excited about is the colored pencil blending medium.  It is non toxic!  Well, they suggest you not drink it.  Oh.  Well, it does have a refreshing orange aroma.  But I don't think I'll be too tempted to drink it.  The other solvents I have looked at leave a residue on your drawing creating a non archival piece.  But according to the Zest-It representative, the Zest-It evaporates leaving nothing on your paper except colored pencil.  How great is that?!

Blended with a paper blending stump.

I was very pleased with the results I got when using the Zest-It and found it to be much quicker than the slow tedious process of blending with the pencil blenders.  And the icing on the cake was that my hand didn't even ache when I was through.

blended with the tortillion

I have posted my testing pieces here.  I used Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils for this experiement.  I first blended with a paper blending stump that I had touched into just a dab of the Zest-It.  It took very little for the whole project. I was pleased with the results with the blending stump.  It was smooth and filled the space well.  Then I tried it with a paper tortillion.  Although the results were not bad, it was not quite as smooth as the blending stump and it was more laborious to accomplish the blending.  Last I tried using a paint brush to dip into the Zest-It.  I expected this to be my favorite as I love using brushes with the Derwent Inktense pencils.  I love getting the color wet and then pulling it to create the effect I want with the brush.  However, I found that the color did not pull using the Zest-It with the paint brush.  It did seem to affect the overall color but did not create the smooth painted look that I prefer.  So I will stick with the blending stump, which is just fine with me.  I was quite pleased with it.  I have read the some artists like to use a Q Tip to blend it.  I think that would probably work well for large areas.  But it would not give as much control as the pointed tip of the blending stump in areas with more detail.

blended with the paint brush

I also piddled with the Zest-It with soft pastels and oil pencils and found it to work quite well with them too.

Zest-It is something I will definitely be sharing with my students.  They will love how it helps them advance more quickly in their colored pencil skills.

The only draw back for the Zest-It is that it is a company based in the United Kingdom and they do not, as of yet, have a distributor in the US.   (****See amended note below.  It is available in the US now)  The shipping I paid was a bit high.  But I ordered enough to last quite a while and decided that in the long run, it was still a good buy even after the shipping.  It took 2 weeks to get my package of Zest-It from England to Oklahoma.  Perhaps if there is enough interest shown in the US by colored pencil artists, they will establish a distributor over here.  That would be great!   Let me know if you try it or have any experience with it.  I'd love to see what you've done.

Want to learn more about drawing and creating your own pencil art?  Try out my online pencil art learning community at Wind and Honey Classes.  We are having a great time there and my students are progressing so well.   

****Note added 12-5-12   Zest-It is now available in the US.  You can see more about that in my post here.  Also I now have workshops at Wind and Honey Classes that demonstrate and teach the use of Zest-It.  Check it out.  There is usually at least one workshop current that utilizes this helpful tool.


Wind and Honey Creations

Learning to Draw with Wonderful Pencils

This fat little bluebird is the drawing I will be teaching in The Artful Gathering 2011 this summer.  The class is entitled An Enchanting Bluebird.  He was drawn and shaded with a Derwent Graphic pencil and then the color was added with both Derwent Inktense and Derwent Watercolor pencils.  Derwent has left their competition in the dust in recent years as they have repeatedly introduced new and wonderful lines of high quality art pencils.  There seems to be no end to what they imagine you can do with a pencil.  You will find that the Inktense are no exception to this.  The colors are intense and beautiful.  And the possibilities are wide.  I hope you will join me for this Artful Gathering class.  You'll see what I mean about these pencils.  Prepare yourself to fall in love with them!

This little girl and her friend the swan were also done in a combination of Derwent Inktense and Watercolor pencils.

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