My First Artist's Retreat

Well, I didn't know I'd be doing this last week, but this Sunday, I'm holding a little Artist's Retreat! A young sculptor hobbyist contacted me last week; she is working on a SM size sculpture and wanted to know about resins, rubbers, mold-making and so on. We got chatting about the different types of materials and their characteristics and I said "wouldn't it be great to meet up and go through all these things as an experiment together"... So, this Sunday that's exactly what we're going to do! I've asked along another friend of mine so it's turning into a group event. I'm really looking forward to it now; I've ordered a good selection of materials (that I'd have ended up buying at some point anyway, so no cost implications there) to add to those I already have and given how I love to experiment, that's quite a few! I'm now doing a little research into Health and Safety, just to make sure everything is legal and safe for the girls who are visiting, as they are both 16. Just in case I've ordered some water-based non-toxic resin, so at the very least they'll be able to do a spot of casting. I hate to have to think this way, but I would hate it more if there was an accident! I shall report back after the event, and will try to remember to take lots of photos so you can see what we got up to, whatever it will be, I think it will be colourful!!

Happy 2009!!! Time to get creative!

• Hi all,
• Well, we're careering into 2009 at one heck of a rate, aren't we?! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a fun New Year! Mine was one for family and as always it was extremely manic! I think I'm about recovered from it all (now we're nearing the end of January!), so it's now time to get back to all things creative!
• Below are details on my current project; it is for a fellow member of the Model Horse community, Joan Berkwitz. Joanie is a ceramic artist who not only creates some of the most incredible glazed pieces, but also casts china models (a subject which mystifies me!). In particular, she has control over the edition of these models. More photos of this model glazed by Joanie and other artists can be found on Donna Chaney's Animal Artistry website here and here.
• I am quite an avid Animal Artistry collector, and have more recently begun to collect bone China and Earthenware pieces. This particular model has been on my grail-list, as due to the cancelled Pour-Horse run it has technically never been released! There are a number that have been sold, but those people who have them must really love them, as they very VERY rarely come up for sale!
• The reason I'm talking so much about china models and not drawings, is that Joanie has VERY kindly agreed to glaze a copy of this model for me, in exchange for a set of portraits of her three German Mittle-Spitz dogs; Casper, Bear and Yasha.
• I'm being very lucky with the portraits I've been asked to do, in that they've all been of incredibly gorgeous animals! These dogs continue that pleasant trend, so I would like to introduce you to:

Casper

Bear and Yasha

• These images show how I begin the portraits. As you can see they aren't perfect, but for the purposes I need them for, that's ok. What I've been trying to work out is the composition. I've always struggled with getting the elements in my drawings into a good composition, so taking this step saves me an awful lot of time and mistakes! So, I put the chosen photographs into a photo editing software, and then remove the background, add in a coloured background which I can easily change (these probably won't be on brown, but I usually start with this colour) and then I remove bits, add bits and generally "fiddle" with the images until I'm happy with the overall balance, and in this case, the harmony between all three images. As you can see, we've chosen three photos that can be displayed side by side, and as one dog looks slightly left, one slightly right and one mostly front-on, they should make for a nice arrangement whilst still looking balanced alone (should Joanie decide to display in separate places).
• I also get to play with the brief I was given, and with any effects or styles. If I mess up at this point it's easy to press UNDO, so now is a good time to play! The information I'm aiming to convey (in addition to as accurate a portrait as possible, and some other points) is as follows:

1. Casper is an "old-style" American Eskimo dog. He is smaller than the two younger dogs and his features are more pointed. Casper has tear-stains by his eyes, which although undesirable in the breed (they are hereditery), they are a part of him so these will remain and just be slightly reduced as this photo was taken at a time when they were quite strong.
2. Bear is the biggest dog, he is masculine and strong, but laid back. He has a more pronounced "ruff"(mane) than the other two dogs.
3. Yasha is a "new-style" Eskie, like Bear. She has more dainty features, and has very, very soft fur.
4. Casper is thirteen years old, whilst the two youngsers (brother and sister) are both about two and a half. I don't want Casper to look really old in his portrait, but he does have a glint of wisdom in his eyes that I really hope I can portray.

• I avoid making any changes to the details of the dogs; it's vitally important to make sure that I draw "Casper, Bear and Yasha", not just "three white dogs". Saying that though, at this point it is really handy to be able to remove any undesirable elements. I get terribly distracted by bits I don't want to draw and can get quite frustrated , so being able to clean up any little flecs on the picture, or unwanted tangles in the fur can really help me.
• So, this is where I'm at now. I have to admit this project has me quite worried as white fur is so very difficult to portray well. I just hope I am able to master it, or that precious little clinky horse always will remain a grail!

More on this project to come, and also more on recent sculpting endeavours including the revealing of my "secret model"!

A week full of surprises.

• Happy December!! How'd that happen?? I think I'm still in August - where did Autumn go?!?!? I hope all those that enjoy Thanksgiving had a great day!!
• I'm back to the bullets today! too many paragraphs and not enough photos to break them up. Or maybe not given I've got 9 photos in this one! Please let me know if blog posts like this cause problems with inbox limitations etc, I'm still finding blogging a bit of a mystery with strange rotating photos (I didn't do it!) and paraghraph breaks being mysteriously eaten away!

• A bit of a shameless brag today I'm afraid, I have new things I want to show off!
• I've had a lovely week full of treats! Following the completion of the portrait of Flint last week, Sarah (who commissioned it), asked me if I wanted paying with money or goods. Well, given the financial climate and the fact that any money I receive for artwork goes towards paying things that need paying, and the fact tha Sarah is family and I never feel comfortable taking money from the folks; I thought I'd opt for the "goods" this time - heck, the day-job's for paying boring bills!
• Sarah knows me very well and understands how my mind works. I told her a few things I'd be interested in and she brought me some lovely goodies! The photo below shows my week's haul, although that silver case is a rather interesting one...

First (pictured below) - this is something I've been after for a little while; a table-top box easel. As my works always have to travel around with me, I often find myself carried any number of bags and cases, it can get pretty awkward. I wanted a box easel to a) help me get the items I need into one place and make them easier to carry about, and b) raise up any pad/canvas off the table, as drawing on a flat table is pretty hard on my back and shoulder (I'm sooooo old and decrepid y'know!). This Easel has a few extra treats supplied with it - a nice canvas, a set of acrylic paints, some brushes, pencils and paint trowels. I've not yet ventured into painting portraits, but now I'm well equipped to give one a go! In actual fact the paints will eventually be replaced with pencil crayons/blu-tac/paper pads/pastels etc. Sarah also presented me with this small, simple little box (not sure why the photo has rotated or if it will be rotated in the email blogs, but if it looks odd tilt yur head to the right) his little box is actually a brilliant piece of engineering! It opens out like a toolbox, and has two built in legs which hold it steady and level. I knew what I'd use it for as soon as I saw it... ...Pastels!! I have one box of 36 pastels which have their own wooden case, and a lovely wooden set of 12 Caran D'ache pastel my Dad bought me about 16 years ago (I was rather unimpressed att eh time, shame on me!! They my most cherished materials now!) but the other individual and smaller sets were all kind of loose and awkward, so I completely demolished their packaging and arranged them into the new box. I don't know what wood it is constructed from, but it has a beautiful grain (I took the pics with a flash last night so haven't done it justice), and a lovely simple but beautiful brass inlay. The box is also lined with a velvet type material, but as I'm using it for pastels I've added some foam lining so I don't ruin it. Finally, this one is a rather unusal story with a great ending - this aluminium case and it's contents were a gift from Sarah and her partner. Her partner works fixing machinery, I don't know exactly what he does but he travels around a lot and mends broken machines. Turns out that some of these machines are in tanning salons. In a previous job of his, he was given some items and this had been sitting around gathering dust so it was kindly offered to me. Yep, you read it right - it's an airbrush tanning system! Now, I'm not really into the body beautiful. I try to look respectable but have never really been into tanning, especially spray-tan; so was a little confused when offered this. BUT, on opening it up, suddenly it made sense - can you see what caught my eye in the photo below? THIS did! It's a small, pink compressor! Also in the box which has me intrigued is this item:

• So, I'm now the proud owner of a delightfully girly compressor and airbrush! Ok, so perhaps the airbrush might need replacing (I know nothing of these things yet) but suddenly my horizons are widened; not only with the (oh so tempting) possibilities for painting models, but also for casting - if I can finally get my hands on a pressure pot I will have all the equipment I could need for excellent casts!
• I still don't know much about this fabulous new arrival, I don't know what pressure it will push out, I don't know if the airbrush works and even if it does it's missing some mixture pots (the pots that attach to the airbrush, that hold the paint mixure - whatever they're called).
• I don't know if this is normal, but I always find "trading" (ie taking goods instead of payment) so much more satisfying than taking money. Of course, money never hurts, but I like a good old-fashioned goods exchange!