Before I start...
Thank you to all of you who have travelled in to see the 'Spoons' at the Medallion exhibition at AGRA. It has been great to catch up with a few of you, and my apology for anyone I missed. If you haven't yet seen the exhibition please do drop in and have a look. And if you would like to catch up for a chat I will be at AGRA again next Saturday Dec 12 from around 1pm until 3. Do pop in and say hello!
'Selfie' a the Spoons exhibition - that mask is too tight and makes my ears stick out!
Silke: Cherries
One of the many wonderful things about a Christmas in summer is the fabulous fresh fruits you can add to your Christmas pud. And what could say Christmas more than a cluster of bright red cherries? Created in her Stilman and Birn sketchbook with her various collection of coloured pencils. A nice composition with good use of negative and positive space - and the front cherry pointing to the left adding a bit of tension. Silke has allowed the white of the paper to show through to create the shine on the red skin. Touches of blue enhance the depth of the red colour and accent the green in the leaf. Luscious!
'Cherries' by Silke
Cursed Girl: Skates
CG has been exploring digital art and for this week she has taken one of her earlier photos, scanned it into her ipad and then colourized it in her PixelArt program. The result is quite effective! Unfortunately the image is fairly low rex and pixelized, but it works well all the same.
I enjoy seeing digital art and the things you can do with these programs is great fun. Super-duper paintbrushes on steroids!
'Skates' by Cursed Girl
MP
With a sensitive use of color and ink MP has drawn the red bottlebrush flowers she enjoys. It is a pity their flowering season is so short, but they are glorious when they are in bloom. MP has used Canson 300gsm HP with an HB graphite underdrawing. She has used Prismacolour watercolor pencils to create soft wash effects and then drawn on top if that with the Premier pencils to create the depth and intensity of color. A bit of Adel brown ink fineline 0.4 was added to enhance some detail.
Often people say you should not use just two objects in your composition, but work to the rule of odd numbers and thirds. This work proves the exception to that 'rule'. MP has very cleverly created tension and interest by allowing the taller bottlebrush to slightly bend and curve to embrace the very upright flower. The little added branch to the right helps the balance and creates further interest. This is a very nice composition, nicely balanced, well thought out and executed. MP's technique of using washes followed by dry media for detail has developed well over these prompts and I think this final work from her is excellent. MP hasn't told me what size it is, but it would make a lovely print and gift for someone this Christmas. Well done.
'Bottlebrush' by MP
Jean: Christmas Joy
Jean has used some Christmas decorations this week to create a charming festive scene that would look well on any Christmas Card. She has used a variety of mediums and techniques, so rather than reinterpreting her words I will quote her so you can understand the method used:
'This was done on Arches 300gsm Hot Press paper using mainly Derwent Inktense pencils, with layers of Sun Yellow, Tangerine and Poppy Red, finishing with Prismacolor Crimson Red, all blended with a colourless blender for the red decorations and berries and Inktense Deep Indigo for shadows. Tops of baubles were done with the Inktense Sun Yellow and Prismacolor Metallic Gold, whilst a mixture of Inktense Apple Green and Leaf Green & Prismacolor Grass Green were used for the pine needles. Finally, to add a bit of sparkle, I used some gold face paint, left over from a fancy dress party – not super successful, as there was a lot of glue and not much glitter and very difficult to control !'
I disagree with her when she says the gold was not very successful as I think it works well here. Glitter and gold paint is often overdone but this is just enough to give a subtle glint. Lovely work Jean. Take a good hi res photograph (try and keep the background whiter) and print out some copies to glue to a card, or else visit Officeworks online and use one of their card making options. I am sure your family and friends would treasure an art card from you this Christmas.
'Christmas Decoration' by Jean
EM: Christmas Banksia cone
Like Jean, EM has used the theme of 'Red' to embrace Christmas with this very fine work of a Banksia Cone that is finished off with a little holiday red ribbon joy. She has used a 110gsm Art Studio cartridge paper with graphite pencils in F, HB, 4B and 8B. To create the red ribbon she has used Prismacolor Premier pencils in Crimson Red and Raspberry. The white stitching and holes are depressions and indentation in the paper.
The apparent simplicity of the design belies the real complexity of this work. Each seed pod is carefully observed and drawn with great attention to tonal contrast and depth. The added red ribbon gives the piece a colorful highlight and makes the drawing a joy to look at. EM tells me that she will use this as her Christmas card this year, and her friends and family should be very pleased to receive this gift.
'Banksia Christmas' by EM
Although this is the final prompt this year, if you wish to still submit a 'Red' work please do so. I have enjoyed looking at all your art and hope to see you all at class in the new year.
