Ella Sharp Museum- Jackson, MI

My piece "Locally Grown Still Life " was included in the Ella Sharp Museum's 2010 Statewide Fine Arts Competition which is on display from January 16 through March 20 in Jackson, MI.

This show includes 60 pieces of art selected by juror Richard Rubenfeld, PhD. and Art History professor at Eastern Michigan University. It is a very diverse show with many forms of 3-D, 2-D art in abstract and realistic styles. Several colored pencil pieces were included in this show! This medium is being taken seriously by the art world, and we are lucky to have a very talented group of colored pencil artists here in Michigan.

How I work

I was recently asked by Ann Kullberg to write an article about my art for her online magazine. I had to step back and analyze my methods. Here is a small excerpt from my submission.

I keep a small digital camera in my purse in case I see a scene that would make a great colored pencil drawing. I work from life and from digital photos. I will often shoot digital pictures and combine elements from several photos to form a composition (like a collage) for my reference photo. I draw my composition on tracing paper either freehand, or utilizing a grid. Then I transfer that drawing to my support using transfer paper or backlighting it from a sunlit window. I choose my colors intuitively. Occasionally I use a grisaille technique (value drawing under local color) but most often I will combine colors and values from within the “local color” family . I like to work with bright colors. I vary techniques depending on the piece. If I use a solvent, I choose odorless mineral spirits and use a Q-tip to liquefy the pigment of colored pencils. I will do this to provide a base for a large area of color. I will burnish with a colorless blender pencil when the texture needs to look shiny. Most often I will layer many colors with a very sharp pencil. I love the process of creating a detailed piece of art.

Golden Pear Still Life

Happy New Year!

New classes are forming and you can sign up for Colored Pencil Drawing at the Rec and Ed website.

My New Year's resolutions include the usual: I want to get more organized, exercise more, nag less, etc..

But back to art>> I am looking forward to being more productive this year, and will continue to develop new colored pencil projects for my classes. Here are pictures of a step by step project from the fall session. The students in my fall class did a very nice job on this one. The reference photo is from the image library and Wet Canvas. We used solvents to help create the wood texture on the table

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