Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas

copyright Valerie Jones
Colored Pencil
8 1/2" by 5 1/2" on Stonehenge

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas this year!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Graphite Completed

"Laremi" copyright Valerie Jones
Graphite on Strathmore Bristol Smooth 100lb

I seemed to have this little jewel on the drawing board for quite awhile per the calendar. It only took 11-15 hours to complete, so that's a plus. I used the following pencils, give or take a few. Staedtler 4B, 2B, B, HB, H, 2H, Sanford Design Ebony, and a Grumbacher Willow or Vine charcoal stick. The Ebony, 4B, and 2B was used in the darkest shadows. I used the B for normal shading and the HB, H, and 2H for smoothing out the skin tones. Everything was blended using blending stumps of various sizes. At the very end, I used the charcoal stick in some of the darkest areas. To finish this off, I sprayed the work with Krylon Workable Fixative, Matte Finish. This is a surprise gift for a friend, so in the mail it goes this week for its 300 plus mile journey.

It's snowing and very cold here today. We had a high of 17 degrees F today and the low is supposed to be 15 degrees F. The wind chill is 3 degrees F. Brrr. I know it's a lot colder in other parts of the country but this is cold for us where we live.

I probably won't be posting much over the next several weeks. That's not really anything new, is it? My sister is coming for a 2-week visit beginning next week. We can hardly wait!

I'll leave you with a quote I found the other day.

The best thing is the feeling you get when you’re inspired. ~ Penelope Dullaghan

I hope you all have time to be inspired over this busy holiday season.


Sunday, December 7, 2008

Colored Pencil Work In Progress

"Colors of Fall" work in progress
on Stonehenge Paper 5x7
I had a colored pencil demonstration at a local gallery yesterday. I worked on this leaf painting and have a long ways to go to completing it. I have to complete it because some of my students said they'd be looking for the finished piece to show up at class. It's a fun piece so I'm looking forward to finish it.
I'm still working on the Little Baby graphite drawing too. Life has been busy with little time for drawing or blogging.