Hannah's Portal

Hannah, a 20 year old  tuxedo cat, was my walking companion during a visit to Harpswell Maine a few summers ago.  She and I strolled the shore early in the morning. I was amazed at both her agility to manage the rocks and her acuity for such a wizened cat. Returning from our exploration of the nearby cove, we passed beneath the bows of an ancient apple tree reputed to have a strong spirit residing within.  It was a bit creepy and I felt compelled  to give it a nod of respect as I  snuck under the gnarled limbs. Hannah has passed on since that summer.  I wonder if she has joined the spirit of this enduring apple tree. I wish my little friend well. I drew this 22x 30" image with 4-6B graphite pencils on a sheet of beautiful BFK Rives 140# cotton paper.  The furry surface adds to the diffused feeling of this drawing.  This was a study with the intent to eventually to make a colored pencil painting. But I love this graphite so much, just the way it is.  And it has been filed away for almost a year now, so I get to experience it objectively. I doubt a color rendition would improve the message.  Mean time, it remains in cue for one day. Enjoy!

Finished and accepted portrait commission

Ha ha,  Just kidding!  My recent post of the "finished" commission was about two more full days and a lot of erasing away from being finished. My client was happy with first edition, but not completely.  She asked me to make the bangs more "blonde" and soften the bags under the eyes.  And if I didn't mention it before, she asked me to change her teeth a bit from the photograph.  She never liked them.  So this is what doing commissions is all about! And this is why contracts are a good idea. Changes take time. In this case though, I couldn't charge her for my extra efforts.  The changes were too subtle. And the teeth were part of the initial agreement.  Unfortunately, working this small, forced me to erase back almost all of the cheeks and face in order to lighten the bangs and find the correct over all values. Once completed, this little graphite drawing took as much time and effort as a full color 8x10"!  It was very difficult, but worth the tricks learned.  At one point I was terrified that I would have to start all over again.  But, the Fabiano Artistico 150 wt Hot Pressed paper, which was recommended by an amazing artist friend of mine Alan Woollett, turned out to be quite forgiving. So here is the really, not kidding, for sure, finished 7.5x 8.5 graphite commission of a small girl.

Colored pencil commission takes a surprising tack.

This is a first!  While working out the composition for a full colored pencil commission , I sent a picture of the pencil sketch to my client.  She immediately shot an email back asking me to "STOP!"  She liked the pencil sketch so much, she wished to buy it as is. Of course I'll "clean" it up a bit before I let it go.  Here's the most recent photo.  I will continue to darken a little here and there and  brighten a highlight or two. The piece started out as a horizontal, but the client wanted  me to show pool water, so now it is square.  Interesting development, wouldn't you agree?

Graphite Study and decision making.

When I start a commission project, I often create a preliminary sketch. Here, my client provided several photographs, with lighting so interesting, we could not agree which was our favorite. Hence, the vertical triptych idea came to be. This drawing, though time consuming, was critical in making  compositional decisions. It also allowed practice rendering. And as much as I love the concept, the piece ended up too big for my client, who preferred to go with the central cat shown in the sketch. Good thing I didn't just jump into the project without exploring options first. Now I'm left with this 11x 28" graphite on watercolor paper, just waiting for a frame.  Should I make the investment?