Stylin'

I've been working a bit differently lately but have not made a conscious decision to do so. It sort of just happened! Does that mean I'm (finally) developing a style?

Take Lucky (below), for instance. His photo was posted as a challenge at the Let's Make Art site and I knew immediately that he should be painted on black paper using the hated pastel pencils. He only took a little over an hour and more or less drew himself! I love it when that happens but I wish I could remember how I did it when I finish! I just get into a painting and the world fades and when I return to the real world, there's a painting lying on my drawing table! Cool, huh?

"Lucky2"
pastel pencils on paper
copyright
Jan Gibson

The next painting also dictated it's own style, this time sort of whimsical. I don't claim this is a work of fine art but it's more in the illustrative style - certainly not a specialty of mine. My sister, Bev, took a photo of a goat when she was visiting in Mexico. I saw it when I was in Kansas City visiting and knew I had to paint it. Bev gave me the photo and this is the result. I just loved the expression on the goat's face! This is aceo/atc size so I wasn't able to get much detail but I hope the almost obnoxiously curious expression is captured!

"Bev's Goat"
watercolor with ink on paper
copyright
Jan Gibson

I was also experimenting a little more with the Yupo synthetic paper (see yesterday's blog entry) and have found that watercolor pencil works well on it. I drew on the paper with the pencil then dampened it. The color stayed where I put it down with the pencil & I wasn't able to move it around much with the damp brush so a little different technique may be called for here. I also plan to try the acrylic inks on it - I have a feeling those would work well and give a brilliant result.

I'll keep you posted on the results!

In The Waiting Room

Waiting Room Sketches
Jan Gibson

These sketches are the result of the long wait at the doctor's office the other day. This is not all of them and I also read for a time and visited with other waiting patients! It was a very long wait!

I seem "drawn" to sketching shoes in situations where you have to wait. I guess that's because you don't have to really focus on someone's face and make them feel uncomfortable. This shoe belonged to a somewhat older lady who had the most beautiful tattoo on her foot! I liked her shoes also but the tattoo was a highly detailed, fully shaded drawing of a vining flower. It seemed a bit out of place on a lady in her late forties to mid-fifties and since it twined about her foot into the arch, I'd imagine that it hurt like the dickens to have it done!

The ball cap was on the head of a very elderly gentleman and it was a challenge to sketch both it and the lady's foot. The man kept looking around the waiting room and the woman kept tapping her foot so that neither stayed still long enough to get a very accurate sketch! I think I need to seek help from Jeanette Jobson at her Illustrated Life blogspot. She's the master of quick sketches in waiting rooms, airplanes and cafes!

The little fish was just a quick doodle out of my imagination and out of frustrated boredom! The vase took quite a while. It was also out of my imagination and I was trying to figure out the shading without a reference. I finally gave up on it and added some tulips. I'd come prepared for a wait and had a sketchbook, pencil and some watercolor pencils. I also had a couple of waterbrushes that I'd bought before I left my last temp assignment and have hardly used. I'd filled the water reservoirs at home so I was all prepared.

If it hadn't been for these art supplies, I think I might have gone a little bonkers just sitting there for hours on end. From now on, my motto is the same as that of the Boy Scouts - Be Prepared! lol