colored pencils

After taking a break from my artwork in January and early February, I decided it was time for me to start painting and colouring again.


This piece is called A Partridge in a Pear Tree, designed by Audrey Bettin, and it can be found in the October 2000 edition of Lets Paint. The original design is on a dark green cloth vertical banner and, it has three pears and lots of leaves and berries. The instructions in Let's Paint call for fabric acrylics.
So, since I am not into acrylic or fabric painting, nor did I want to do a large piece, I decided to downsize and convert everything to coloured pencils.
I did not have any dark green mi-teintes paper, so I settled on a burgundy background - I really like the background, but I did find that some of the brown shades in the partridge did not really pop out on the burgundy. The original project had shiny metallic paint on the ribbon and wings, and I really liked the effect. So, on the partridge wings I used a gold metallic Prisma colour pencil, and I used gold metallic acrylic paint around the outside. When the light falls on these areas they shine. It was a fun project and I really enjoyed working on it, but if I do it again, I think I will use a dark green background.

I have already picked out my next coloured pencil project, and I am in the process of deciding on a new pen & ink piece.

Our spring art sessions start in April, so I will have lots of new pieces to share with you soon. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Weekly Art Sessions

I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful, cold, snowy winter - I am not! But, it is comforting to know that a good portion of the winter is over, at least the temps are starting to warm up, the days are getting longer, AND, I will be able to go to my cottage in about three months. Since I am not a cold weather person, I have been staying indoors as much as possible and I have managed to get a lot of cleaning and organizing done.

Although my weekly art sessions do not start until April, I do have several pieces from the fall that I can show you.

I absolutely love this one, which was done in coloured pencils by Nancy. The piece is called Vanna in Velvet and was designed by Tina Sue Norris. Nancy did this piece on a suede board, and you can see how soft and fluffy the fur looks when done on suede. She topped the piece off with some very flashy jewellery, and I think it looks wonderful.

This piece is called Kitty and was designed by Renee Mullins. Linda inked the design on a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" piece of wood, added oil paint, then glued the window pane on top. I love it! Wood is a wonderful surface to use pen & ink on as long as it is prepped properly.

Renee started working with pen & ink last year, and, I believe this is her fourth completed piece. This project was designed by Sandra Malone and is called Snowman. It is done on 11 x 14 canvas. I thought the lime green was a strange colour for the hat, but, when it was completed I thought it looked great.

Jackie is relatively new to pen & ink - she has done a lot of work with other techniques, particularly oil paint, but, I believe, she has only completed a few pen & ink pieces. This piece is called Covered Bridge at Dusk and was designed by Mary Owens. Jackie took the original design and added more deer and trees. I did not measure the canvas but it was VERY long!

This last piece was done by Ginette on wood (approx. 10" high by 8" wide). I don't know who the original artist was. The project was done using pen & ink with oils. She added the 'snow' with Snow Writer (by DecoArt) and then added lots of sparkles (glamour dust). Looks great!

I have a few more projects done by the girls in my art sessions, and I will post them over the next month or two. Our art sessions start again in early April, and, once everyone gets busy, I will have lots of new projects to post in the spring. Personally, I have been working on other projects (paperwork, housework, etc.), but plan very soon to grab my coloured pencils and get busy - I will post my new pieces as they are completed.

Happy painting!

Colored Pencils

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

Before Christmas I was very busy working on two projects I was giving as Christmas presents....and I would like to share these pieces with you.

My granddaughter, Jessica, loves everything involving princesses. So, for her Christmas present, I decided to do the Disney Castle. This picture is done on 16x20 mi-teintes paper (orchid colour), and the entire piece is done with coloured pencils. I had a lot of fun experimenting with the pencils to get the right look for the castle, but, I must admit, the bricks at the bottom did get a little tiresome after the first couple of hours working on them! It was a huge undertaking, and I was definitely happy with the results. I was also very happy to finally complete the picture! However, it looks like I have to do another one - my granddaughter, Abigail, now wants a castle for her wall.....

In my collection of pictures I had one of my granddaughter, Abigail, with this wonderful, crazy hat. It was a picture I just loved. So, I decided to try my hand at doing a coloured pencil portrait from the picture. Although, I had done some portrait work using patterns, I had never attempted one from scratch. It was an interesting undertaking. I did the hat first - it was fun, - I had a great time and was very pleased with the way it turned out. Then came the face, the eyes, nose and mouth - it wasn't nearly as much fun as the hat! I made several corrections along the way, and I really had to do some experimenting with the various skin shades. I finished off with the shirt, which was very easy, and did not take much time at all. For my first portrait I am pleased.....I learned a lot, and I am looking forward to doing more portraits in the future. I gave this portrait to my daughter, Jill (Abigail's mother), for Christmas, and she was very pleased with it.

For the next month I will be taking a break from my art work - I will be working on other projects that I need to complete. However, I still have lots of pictures that the girls in my art sessions completed, and I will be posting them every month or so. So, please check back in a few weeks.

Weekly Art Sessions

The girls in my art sessions have been very busy, so I have lots of wonderful artwork to show you.

Cecile decided to try pen & ink with oil rouging, and, for her first project she chose October Pickins (designed by Mary Owens). The painting was done on 11x14 canvas. This was Cecile's first pen & ink project, and she really enjoyed it - she did a great job....love the colours.

Nancy has been very busy working with coloured pencils. The little girl with Bonnet was designed by Helen Barrick, and Nancy completed it on 11x14 mi-teintes paper. It is a tricky little piece, but, as usual, Nancy did not seem to have any problems - she whipped it up in no time.

Nicole is one of our experts in oil painting. She brought in this picture of a marsh she had completed. I do not know who the original artist was. There is a lot of work in this piece - and a lot of detail. I think it looks great.

This pen & ink with oil rouging project was designed by Mary Owens and is called Kiss of Sunlight. It was completed by Renee - it was Renee's third pen & ink project. When she started she said she wanted her sunflower to be VERY bright. So, we adjusted some of the instructions, and she ended up with her BRIGHT flower.....great job!

Ruth decided to do something different (although when she started I don't think she knew just how different this piece would be). Original artist is unknown. Ruth started by stippling the background (11x14 canvas) with acrylic paint, then she painted the objects with acrylics. After spraying she switched to pen & ink and inked in the details - then she used oils to rouge on the final details. She was very pleased with the result, and with good reason - I think it looks wonderful.

This beautiful piece was completed by Darlene - it is called Let it Snow and was designed by Mary Owens. Darlene did this on 11x14 canvas and used pen & ink with oil rouging. The colours just seem to jump off the picture, and the big red bow seems to set the whole piece off. Creating 'snow' on a pen & ink project can be somewhat challenging, but Darlene did not seem to have any problems. Great job.

That's it for now! Our fall art sessions are finished this week, and I will have a lot of finished projects to post over the next few months. In the meantime, I am busy with my coloured pencils completing several Christmas gifts....I seem to have a lot to do - hope I get everything done!

Please check my blog early in the new year - I should have some new projects to share with you at that time.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday.

Colored Pencils and Pen and Ink

This is the last day of November! I can't believe where the time has gone.....it seems like yesterday that I was closing my cottage.

We have been very busy at our weekly art sessions and I will be posting some of the WONDERFUL artwork by the girls shortly.

In the meantime, I have completed a few pieces I would like to share with you.

This is a coloured pencil project called At the Beach and was designed by Pat Lentine. I absolutely love this design! I did the project on 8x10 sand colored mi-teintes paper. When I started this piece I thought the little girl's dress and hat would be the hardest part, but, it turned out the water was the most difficult. I really enjoyed working on this project.

Since it is the Christmas season, I decided to complete some decorations, so I got my pen and oil paints out, and this is what I came up with. The designs are by Jamie Mills-Price and are called Gingerbread Angels and Snow Angels....the patterns can be found in Jamie's book titled Between the Vines 10. These projects were done on wooden cutouts - I inked on the pattern then rouged on oil paint. I used acrylic paint for the dark blue dress, and also for the berries and other dots on the decorations. I think the angels are really cute - have to decide now whether to give them as gifts or keep them myself.

I am now working on a couple of large coloured pencil projects that will end up being Christmas presents. So, I won't be posting any new projects of mine until after Christmas. In the meantime, I have LOTS of very interesting projects the girls in our art sessions have completed - so, I will be posting these over the next while.

Weekly Art Sessions

I finally had some time to sit down at my computer and transfer some pics from my camera. The last few weeks have been crazy - I have been out of town a lot and, when I am home, there are so many things I have to do........however, I am finished running around for now, and I am now in the process of getting everything organized and up to date.

Our weekly art sessions run for four more weeks. I was reviewing all the pictures the girls completed last spring and realized there were quite a few I had not posted yet. And, now, all our new fall masterpieces are being completed! So, I am posting quite a few pieces this time to try and catch up with the rapid flow of wonderful art being produced.

This piece was done by Nicole on rectangular porcelain. It is so cute, I just had to post it! Although I believe there is a small amount of pen & ink work, most of the project was completed in straight oils. I do not know who the original designing artist was. I have posted another of Nicole's pieces below.

This is a Claudia Nice Design and can be found in her book titled Familiar Faces. The book is full of faces - people, dogs, cats, horses, etc., etc., and is a wonderful reference for anyone working on portraits in pen & ink. The book is out of print, but can usually be found on Ebay or Amazon. Sue decided to tackle this project and completed it on 11x14 canvas - it only took her a few hours to complete. There is no paint on it - it was all done in pen & ink.

Linda decided to try her hand at coloured pencils, and for her first project she chose this Sherry Nelson project titled American Goldfinch and Daisies (she is a brave lady - this is a difficult piece!). The project is in Sherry's book titled Painting Garden Birds, and all the instructions are for oil painting. Linda, who is obviously quite artistic, converted the instructions to coloured pencils and created this wonderful piece. Linda enjoyed working with the coloured pencils and plans to work on future pieces using them.

This project was designed by Susan Scheewe and was completed by Ruth on 11x14 canvas. The instructions on the pattern were for straight oil paints, but Ruth decided to do it in pen & ink with oil rouging. So, she had to convert the pattern. I think Ruth used every colour of oil paint I had - she was constantly adding colours and touching up everything. I think she was happy with the final result and I think it looks great.

This is another piece by Sherry Nelson taken out of the book Painting Garden Birds. The piece is called Western Bluebird and Morning Glories. Nancy completed the piece on 11x14 mi-teintes paper and used coloured pencils. Once again, the instructions were for oil painting, so Nancy had to convert all the instructions to coloured pencils. I love the colours in the picture - I think Nancy did a wonderful job.

I don't know who the original artist was for this piece, nor do I know the title of the project. This is an oil painting completed by Nicole. She is always showing up with very interesting projects to work on. I think she has done an amazing job on the fruit and I love the background. It is always interesting to see what Nicole brings to the art sessions to work on - always a surprise!

This is a coloured pencil pattern designed by Pat Lentine titled Ava Rose. I think it is a lovely pattern. Sue decided to do this on mi-teintes paper, and I think it only took her two nights to complete. I love the hat! Sue has now done several coloured pencil projects and, I think she is enjoying working with the pencils as much as I do.

This project was completed by Cecile. It was done with coloured pencils on mi-teintes paper. The pattern is called The Painted Lady and was designed by Janelle Johnson. There is a lot of fiddly detail on this piece, and I think Cecile did a great job.

I hope you enjoyed the above projects. The girls in my Monday and Tuesday night and Thursday morning art sessions are very talented and they are currently busy producing all kinds of wonderful works of art, and I will be posting some every few weeks.

I have been busy working on Christmas ornaments with pen & ink and oils, and I will post pics of those shortly. I am now starting to work on some coloured pencil projects, most of which will be Christmas presents. Christmas is only six weeks away! Can you believe that? It is my favourite time of year, so I better get busy and get all my projects finished so I can sit back and enjoy the season!