LIFE NTERTWINED

7/21/2015 This past weekend, I grew brave. I went down into my media storage bin. Yeah, the one that had a lot of dust on it. I have many pencils and since I have a great eye for photography and the use of oil pastels...I fear the PENCIL. Why? I am still a virgin when it comes to sketching, shading, and capturing the shadows of lead. So, I am self teaching. I figure practice makes perfect.  In the past few days, stress stopped me dead in my tracks. I all of a sudden got artist block. After sharpening my pencils, I decided to sketch what I love first; a woman's face. I think it helps me with learning shading and focusing on features of the human face. So, I began. During this process I will take a picture every step of the way. This is a short  blog so let's get started.   

I am just going to jump into the action on this one. Frannie started out as a regular No. 2 pencil sharpened just right. No special bells or whistles. I took two photo shots of her with a nice shadowy and silky look. I sketched her with soft edges and in the second shot her lines were defined more. Below, I began adding a little blue oil pastel in the background to have Frannie appear to pop out on the page. Frannie’s hair was taking on oil pastels in a shiny sharp black sheen with highlights of golds and reds. I worked the streaks in place. Then I started adding some florals under her chin to add to her beauty. The flower lines were traced in Fuchsia and hot pink oils and smeared to create the effect of pink petals. Sepia was shadowed lightly in the groove of the flower. Pink and purple oil pastel defined the whiskers in the centers. I used a black extra fine sharpie to give the center whiskers a defined look.     I darkened the royal blue, immensely, in the ...

I admit this piece was one the most difficult tasks I have come up with in quite a long time. I tried to make the subjects pop on the page rather than be flat and unappealing. This is my first attempt to a mystical oil sketch. It created quite a challenge for me. I hope to experience it again but with more aptitude. Blending posed the biggest challenge. Try blending, watching tv, talking on the phone, and eating at the same time. Aaargh! What I did on this last run was mix greens, yellows, siennas, sepias, and blacks to create a background. I didn't want to make the background too eye-catching. I didn't want to take a chance and distract away from the dragon. I created a stream near the base of the mountain, some rocks behind the soldier, and some gravel under their feet. With the appearance of different pinks, purples, and blues in the skyline and darkness behind the dragon, I wanted to give the look that the sun was setting and the night was approaching. ...

Working as hard as I can. Trying to get some kind of visual. All in all it's fun. I tried blending pinks, purples, and blues along with sun yellows in the sky. I also started forming the mountains in the background. I wanted to bring them to life with different shadows and burnt siennas. This is a work in progress. The dragon took shape with a green outline in the wing sections and firey orange and yellows for the fire. I started basic skin tones on my soldier and the maiden. To make the dragon pop, I incorporated some black behind him to produce a deep shadow. I traced him with a black sharpie. I used a flesh toned sharpie to the snout section and the knee portion of the dragon. Mind you, a fine sharpie created the scales on the legs. I used a sepia oil pastel crayon to darken the snout and the scales on the knees. When I think of mystical creatures, the colors green and blue come to mind. They seem to bring a subject to life. So, I delved as much gree...

I’m starting another project. This project is difficult for me since I don’t have a mystical bone in my body. I love looking at magical scenes but cannot create one. So, I dreamed up a fair maiden protecting a dragon in which she grew very fond. The dragon is far from needing her protection. Perhaps, it is the soldier who needs the protection from the dragon. I wanted to stray away from taking photographs and getting to use my oil pastels more frequently. To create the dragon I had to watch many videos on how a dragon should look. So, I drew my special dragon from how I saw him.  Remember, I am a self-taught artist. If this scene doesn’t come together, then I will keep trying until I reach perfection. Heehaww!

Hi, I am back with the finished project. I decided to make her part of the Candy Collection that I have started in Fine Arts America. Shes is #2. Her name is Tootsie Sweets and her hair is blowing in the wind. She is on fire. She is sporting her blue and green shawl with a blue bow. Her lips is voluptious. The original is on 18 x 24 drawing paper and will be mounted shortly. It is not for sale at this moment but the prints are being sold on my site  .

Hi, I used the markers to trace all the lines. I whipped out my oil pastels and stunts. It is certainly time-consuming. Now, I have to decide the color scheme. Coming along.....I do a little each day while watching tv. Don't you know I can multi-task? One more thing I would like to add....I drew her lying on my back in the dark. Whoaaa!!! :)

Posted by Cat Ratliff at 6:12 PM Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook