Rain

If you are anything like where I live...you are flooded with water too.  The rain has been coming and coming....and coming!  Today, luckily we have had some sun so I am hoping that it will dry up the puddles that seem to be everywhere.  I hope you are staying safe where you are and if possible...dry too.

This weather has given me inspiration this week for the theme of my post.  How to draw a rain drop.  Now, I am using another blog as my source of pictures and information.  I have found this blog not as detailed as I would like so I will use their pictures with my explanation.

The materials she used were chalk, charcoal, and a stump.  A stump is a blending tool that is made up of tightly rolled paper.  It helps you blend when drawing.  It is better then your finger because it doesn't contain the oils your fingers do.  

Here is her step by step process of drawing a water droplet.  The problem is she didn't add any details so I will walk you through it.  

1. Draw a circle, no need for it to be perfect because not all water drops are.

2. Add black using your charcoal do one side.  Decide before you start this where your light source is.  If the sun is on the right side (like in the image) add the shadow on the left.

3. Now using your chalk, add the white.  Like I said before, if your sun is on the right, that is where your light is coming from so add it on the right.

4. This step is to help start making your droplet seem round and raised off the page.  So add a little sliver of white on top of the black.

5. Now we need to make the drop look like it is on top of the paper, making it look more 3D.  Add a little black on the outside of the circle to make it looked raised.

6. Final step is to help make the water look see-threw like water is.  We want to see the light shining through it.  So add a tiny bit of white on top of the black you added in step 5.  

Through out the process, make sure you blended with the stump tool.  

I hope your rain droplet looks good and real!  Now go out and find the many water drops and practice drawing them.  Have fun and remember to be the best artist you can be!

Re-Creation

Okay, I know I have been all over the place with my blogs but, summer has a way of throwing your usual schedule off.  Tomorrow, I will be a little busy, so I thought I'll write my blog and post it today.  It finally stopped raining here long enough to mow the yard and have some friends over which was wonderful.  I sure hope you get to enjoy the summer this week too!

In college I took this awesome class that combined my two majors....painting and photography.  It was a 5 1/2 hour class twice a week.  Which seems crazy but it was a lot of fun and we had breaks to get lunch and supplies, as long as we were working hard on our projects and getting them done.  One assignment in our class was to take a painting we enjoyed and re-create it in a photograph.  This was a way for us to figure out lighting and editing while studying a painting.  I loved using my friends as models for my artwork so I knew I wanted to ask my friend and roommate to model for me.  But the question was, what painting?  Then, I remembered my friend's favorite painting that hung in the Houston Art Museum, Kees Van Dongen's The Corn Poppy:

As you can see....this one would be hard to re-create because it isn't realistic.  But I knew it would be fun to make my friend into her favorite painting.  So we gathered up a brown sheet, a red shirt, and a white bathrobe and went to the studio to see what we could do.  This is what we came up with:

Fun right?  Now their are obvious differences but still close similarities.  This project was fun. Another student in the class asked me to be her model for the painting The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David.  Since I was pale and skinny like Marat in the painting...I was perfect for the job. 

So my fellow classmate gathered up some stuff and I kept a shirt on for obvious reasons and tied a white shirt around my head and posed.  I want to apologize for the photo I have of the finished work...I didn't get one with it that was better quality at the time.

I had a lot of fun modeling for this picture.  So let me give you an assignment (the teacher in me said that...) this summer re-create one of your favorite paintings as a photograph.  I guarantee it will be fun and you can learn so much about your favorite painting by searching for those little details to re-create.  I'll do one too.  I'll share mine sometime this summer and maybe you can share your's in the comments below or to me personally and I can share them in my blog.  Have fun re-creating friends and remember to be the best artist you can be!

P.S. Happy Birthday to my model/friend/roommate! 

A New Kind of Canvas

Have you been getting rain?  Most of the country seems to be and boy is it good!  Well....until it starts to flood and most people don't own a boat so, flooding can be a bad thing.  We have had tons of rain and luckily the last few days the sun came out for a visit.  We will have more rain coming so I have been getting what I can done around the yard.  Plant some plants, prune some shrubs, and check on my garden.   All is well here and I sure hope you are doing well and keeping safe there.

I always like introducing you to new artists I stumble upon here and there and this week I thought this artist was doing some really neat things.  Now...she doesn't use a canvas or paper but...PEOPLE!  Yes, people.  Her name is Alexa Meade and she has found a neat way to combine performance art and well art together to make some mind blowing work.  She takes a person and paints them into a scene she painted already to make a living person into artwork.  Basically, making a three dimensional person two dimensional that looks three dimensional.  Do you follow?  I know confusing but see the image below where Meade is working on one of her models.

Looks neat right?  It almost makes you question what you are really seeing.  Could it be expressionism mixed with realism?  But then look at the eyes of the model...you can see it is a real person sitting there being painted into the scene by Meade.  

Artists like Alexa Meade must have fun doing the art they do but we also have to remember that it takes a special eye to create such work.  There are tons of artists out there doing some great work.  So take some time and do a search on these artists to see what clever things they are thinking up.  Maybe, try something unique yourself.  It could be a lot of fun.  

Check out more art by Alexa Meade HERE!

Go out and be the best artist you can be!

Do not forget I have some artwork for sale at my Etsy Shop

Tools

Sorry again to miss Tuesday.  I was out shopping for clothes for my little one.  I just couldn't help myself....I just had to buy him some Hawaiian shirts for the summer.  My husband loves Hawaiian shirts so my son just had to have some to wear with him.

As you work on your artwork, you know that more often then not, you are using tools to create the work.  Some artist use recycled material to avoid high cost of tools but in the end...you always need something to create...well something.  If you paint for example you could choose to buy your canvases and frames or you can choose to make your own.  In college I had a whole wood shop at my disposal which I miss because there were tools available to me that I am still trying to acquire.  The quality of your own work when you build your stuff yourself....is so much better.  But sometimes when you are in a pinch and you still have yet to own all the tools you need...like me....sometimes buying pre-made stuff just has to happen.

But, this is not just limited to power tools, this can talk about the quality of your paint brushes.  I have a variety of brushes that range from the cheap craft brushes to the higher quality more expensive brushes.  I have found the difference is....the bristle. With a cheaper brush you will find some of your bristles falling off into your paintings which is just a pain in the bottom.  So sometimes owning a nicer brush makes all the difference.  But do not get me wrong....you can create art with just about any tool as long as you know how to use it.  One of my favorite brushes was this little tiny one that I used to add my detail and one day I was cleaning it in the sink.  Well, my hands were soapy and it slipped between my fingers and fell down the sink.  That brush is greatly missed but I recently replaced it with a simple craft brush.  I love it and it goes to prove that you can use a tool of any kind to create work.  Luckily, I have not had to pick out bristles in my paintings...so far.

So remember your tools and to take care of them.  With paint brushes clean them well....not with just water but a little dish soap really keeps those bristles soft and clean of any excess paint. If you are using oil paint, the best soap is Murphy's, it cuts the oils to get that brush clean.  Take care of all your tools to make them last as long as possible.  Tools can cost a lot of money so keep them clean, taken care of so they can last as long as you do.  Maybe my Hawaiian shirt wearing toddler can inherit all my tools one day hopefully to create artwork.  Take care and keep being the best artist you can be!!

Humbling (for sale)