In the Deep

This is the one that started the passion for oil pastel in me.

I was trying to think of a good gift to get my best friend, Kim, for her birthday. I'm really bad at keeping track of birthdays so it was late but the look on her face was awesome anyway. She loves anything nautical. Stories of sea monsters and krackens delight my Caribbean history fan of a friend. (Shes a professor in the subject now at SU) Gifts you make for a friend out of love are always best.

I was at work (Wilson Tuscarora State Park) in the front booth. Bored. I always brought things to do so I had my pastels with me just in case inspiration should hit and man did it!!!

I didn't have a picture in front of me. I just drew from the image in my head. My creepy fantastical purple/pink octopus came to me. Its tentacles curling around and and stretching out and if you could be prey it was too late because your staring into its eye! I really enjoyed varying the textures in this work and playing with the colors. I'm a huge fan of the combo of fuchsia/purples and orange.

The "white" has its own texture in this work and for printing the purple was made darker. The original is on display in my other home away from home with Kim and her family. It still commands my attention when I visit. I can't tell you how much I loved drawing this octopus. So he may reappear in future work...

Maybe even in a short story/children's book? Hmm...

This is the work from farther away in a vignette shot by my favorite photographer Carolyn McAfee. Visit her blog at http://www.ccmcafeephotographytheblog.com/

Cardinal in the Rough

When I got my hands on oil pastels I drew for hours.

Cardinals are one of my favorite birds. So vibrant! I see them all year round. They are the bright cherry flutter of feathers that you see out of the corner of your eye while walking out the door. I can't help but smile when I see them. One of my favorite images of winter. They can move so fast you might miss them and all you see are the echoes of color behind their motion.

My cardinal is small and round, perched just so. I wanted the texture to describe the blur of movement; the pine branch bending so slightly before the cardinal releases it. He sits so proud and sure.

This was the piece that I recognized the potential of texture with oil pastel.

I hope you enjoy him as much as I do, my diamond/cardinal in the rough!

Charcoal of Choice

My husband's favorite!

Charcoal is a great drawing medium for realism. I find it to be soft enough for expression but workable enough for proper presentation. When I was in school I really appreciated charcoal. Vine charcoal for quick sketching and learning that your fingers can be herculean in strength, a little too much so. I can't tell you how many pieces I broke. My fingers were black a lot. I decided then that manicures would never be my thing. So here is some of my older work:

I will be doing a cowboy boot one at some point in the future. I love that the shoe still conveys texture. 

My favorite fall item! 

Our lovely lady model in life drawing class. I find portraits to be exhausting. I don't enjoy them. I would need 6-8 hours of completely uninterrupted time to give a portrait a real effort. I have met people that can draw a fascinating one in less than a half hour and I'm always blown away!

Skeletal fingers with hip and spine. I enjoy this subject matter because it is more abstract and you can create negative space. This one I'm particularly fond of and I'm not sure I could ever let go of. I just need to find a room that it isn't too creepy to live in for my future house. 

Tim asks me all the time if I would ever get back into charcoal. While I was visiting in Arizona a few years back I found my self drawn to more artwork that was charcoal and gave it a serious thought. There is just something about it that can really capture someone so perfectly:

I don't know the artist but there was an entire Western themed art collection that was free to the public to view. 

I will leave the black fingers and dust off my rental walls and space for now.

Ink It

One of my favorite mediums: Ink.
No not the tattoo kind.

I find black and white to be a dramatic statement. Texture even more so in black and white. What I enjoy are ink pads, stamps, and ink pens.

Ink Pens/Markers
No quills for this girl! Nothing is more devasting (with ink) after spending 5+ hours on a drawing just to blot too much in one spot and ruin it. I prefer stippling with pens-time consuming but worth it. For those who don't know, stippling is repetitive ink dots layered to create shading.

A couple of my nature study works with stippling:

Some flower power:

Rubber Stamp and Ink Pad
The stamp can be of anything but the stamp itself needs to be small. I usually use one that is the size of a nickle no bigger than a quarter. I have used a lady bug and a shamrock. The lady bug for the following:

That drawing was done on a 16x20. LOTS of ladybug stamping. For the sharp lines I used post it notes to create a border not allowing excess ink. The stamp prints are layered which also hides the obvious shape of a lady bug. Here is a bigger view:

I did a custom drawing of my father in-law's pug, Percy. I used a shamrock stamp and he loved it!

I actually find this method of ink drawing very soothing.

I have been thinking about getting back into ink. My Mom has asked for a custom ink drawing of her flat coated retrievers sleeping. I will be using the stippling technique. Its an 18x24-the largest stippling project for me yet. I have already drawn the basic outline and started stippling. At this point I'm 5 hours in. I will share my progress in another post.

I won't be stopping there and plan to introduce more ink artwork in my line up this June!

Logo

Hi friends and family,

I am happy to introduce my logo!

I have been drawing this heart design on everything for years. I never really knew why before, but I sure do now. The selection process with font was similar to what I did at NCCC. I just walk up to people and hold up two choices and they tell me which one they like better.

The photography shoot was this past Saturday. With Carolyn's encouragement we even photographed some of my other work. The charcoals and some of my media work will be posted in the future. I am very excited to see how the shoot turns out.

Moving forward some more. Little by little.

Handsome the Reindeer

My office decided to get in the holiday spirit with some friendly competition.

There is a cookie exchange planned as well as an ugly sweater contest. The one that I'm actually taking part in is the door decorating contest...because no one wants my cookies! We have several departments in our office so at least four doors are involved. I am the group department's secret weapon!

Meet Handsome, my reindeer.(Not a professional photo.)

There is a window in the door to my office. We had debated putting a scene from Rudolph where the Abominable Snowman puts the star on the tree but that didn't feel right...I looked up images of real reindeer for inspiration.

Reindeer are really funny creatures. Their tongues are all over the place when they run!

They have the cutest goofy smiles too.

I sketched out this smiling reindeer and decided it was too cartoony. Sometimes photos are the only way to do an animal justice when it comes to the spirit. Like this guy looks really happy pulling that sleigh of kids.

I have always considered Reindeer to have some sort of regal essence. They are the only animal that can fly a big guy in a red suit around the world in one night after all. They are like the special ops team for the animal kingdom when it comes to delivering presents.

Anyway, I wanted to create a look of a reindeer inside a stable which would utilize the door window.
I remember when I was a kid that there was a reindeer stable set up in the old Summit Mall. I thought it was so cool! The Hamburg Fairgrounds does something with real reindeer this time of year too...

Christmas A.D.D. I tell ya!

So the finished product: (Not a professional photo.)

I had created "wood" paneling. We have red glitter reindeer ornaments up there as well as glitter snowflakes. I had wrote all our names in glitter glue. I made the basic chemistry mistake of oil and water don't mix. So the glue wouldn't stick. I blotted and outlined the names with sharpie to salvage the paper.

My coworkers were certainly impressed.

Handsome took some time and major elbow effort. He accompanied me through four hours of doomsday specials on the History channel as well as the Shawshank Redemption movie. I had not seen that movie yet-it was good! I agonized over little details for two hours and then he was done. (There are about 6 hours previous in sketching and foundation color.) So around 14 hours spent? A way to spend a Saturday! This oil pastel was drawn on 18x24 paper-the largest one I have with oil pastel to date. I caved and used tissue to blend the background because of the amount of layering I had to do and the size of coverage. I usually only use my finger tips. I wanted to save those on this one. (I don't like paper blending sticks, there is something about connecting with the medium for me and getting the texture I like.)

Handsome the Reindeer will be posted on Etsy when its time to sell.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Jessie

Prepare to Launch

Hi everyone,

I have been actively finding ways to get my artwork out into the world! Etsy is now calling my name. So I am posting this little tidbit for my family and friends:

January 12th, 2013 
Professional photography of the artwork. I have 15 pieces to put on sale! The most recent work is a reindeer. Tis the season! I will blog about my handsome reindeer next since his story is fun and unusual. I believe in supporting the small businesses in my community. My photographer is the fabulous Carolyn McAfee from CCMcAfee Photographer. She has done portraits for my family members, my engagement shoot, and my wedding. I am so happy to be able to move forward with my creative career with such a good friend.

To Frame or Not to Frame
I have gone back and forth now for awhile on weather or not I will supply the frames for my customers. I know I want to photograph the originals in a frame for Etsy "other view" purposes while browsing my gallery.  The truth of it is that having a frame and glass is harder to ship and more costly. Also, half the time someone won't like the frame and pick their own anyway. Regardless of what I will do with them at the selling point I will be getting frame quotes at Sue's Frame of Mind (in Lewistion, NY) this week. She had done a plaque mount for a very large picture of Nick's Lake for me, it was used as decor during my wedding reception. It will now hang in my living room. I favor black matt and black wood frames. Nice and clean and provides contrast for my bright colors.

The Goal: Start selling on Etsy by the end of January.

Beyond January I will be drawing and painting again to release a new set on Etsy by June 2013 at the latest. I may end up doing more custom portraits for friends and family. These custom originals will not be sold online in prints. I may blog about them but they will stay special and a one of a kind to only be owned by the client who commissioned it.

Thank you to all my family and friends who have been such a support to me on this path in my life.

Stay tuned, I'm just getting started.

Love always,

Jessie