Preparing Illustration Boards

It's damp, cold and drizzling here today. No sunshine to draw me out of the studio. An excellent day to catch up office work and get the next painting going.  Got the drawing almost finished of the neighbors, "The Hardheads", so now I need a surface to paint them on.  I prefer a very smooth finished surface and so I am preparing some illustration board in the workspace I have set up for that purpose as well as for stretching canvas.  I give both sides of the illustration board, which is cut to the size I need a coat of gesso.  You have to wait for each side to dry before doing the other side (obviously) and then, the side I will paint on gets two more coats of gesso.  When it is absolutely bone dry, I will sand it with very fine sand paper to a very smooth finish.  All this takes a good amount of time.....so I will move on to another project while I wait..

New Art Underway

If you follow this blog, then you are familiar with my nextdoor neighbors, Mr. & Mrs. Hardhead.
I have posted photos of them while they were excavating the nesting cavity and eating at my feeders.   I have some excellent reference photos of babies, that my brother in law, Craig took for me at our old home in Marshall.  So I have combined three different shots to form this compositional drawing today.   I have applied gesso to illustration boards today also and as soon as they are dried and sanded, I will transfer this drawing and begin the painting.  I think I will name the kids, Knothead and Knucklehead.  Unfortunately for the Hardheads, a real severe storm hit here a week ago and the tree was snapped off right at nesting cavity level.  I now have to locate where they have moved to.

Back in the Studio- YIPPPEEE

Well, I finally have the studio cleaned up from all the bath renovations mess.  Dust from the tile cutting and concrete work in our leaky bathroom was everywhere out here.  Also, it has been too cold to work out here this winter.  All that will change now.  We are getting started on putting in some heat and turning this garage/studio into a year round studio.  You can see, I am already working on two pieces.  The lighting is excellent.  YIPPEEE!

Studio Improvements

After an extra harsh winter here in Gore, I am finally moving back into the real studio.  I had no heat in the large garage/studio and so I used the extra bedroom here for the winter.  Small and dark, it was not a good substitute for what is slowly becoming a grand studio.  We are about to begin construction of a wall of windows and front double door where the roll up garage door now is.  Once that is done, we are going to add heat and air conditioning.  In the meantime, I have a glorious open air studio at my fingertips.

Outdoor Studio

Being an artist means you spend a lot of time indoors, unless you are a plein air painter, which I am not due to health issues.  Mr. Sunshine can make me very sick in large doses.  But, I am an outdoorsy sort of gal, love to garden, bird watch and in younger days, avid hiker.  I often stare out the studio window daydreaming instead of painting.  So, the weather was so inviting, I took my drawing board and a TV tray outside to the porch.  I have a small iron and tile table beside the bench and the porch roof keeps Mr. Sunshine from making me feel bad.  It's so peaceful here, nothing but bird sounds and the gentle breezes through the acres of oak trees.  AAHHHHHH

Another Ender drawing

Another of my preliminary drawings for the Ender piece.  You can see my different styles, the Trois Crayon being totally different from what I usually do in Graphite.  And then when it is taken to the oil stage, a totally different look.

Ender's Game

Here is the final piece for Ender's Game. 

Lost and Drifting

Yesterday was my last class with Donato Giancola.   Today I am feeling lost and drifting.  I started another Sci Fi/Fantasy piece and it is in the drawing stage.  Once the drawing is complete, I will post a picture.

My first Illustration in SmArt School classes

This was our first assignment at SmArt School with Donato Giancola.  We were assigned the story, To Build A Fire, by Jack London. 

Study for Ender Wiggin

A new portfolio piece is under way.  This is a trois crayon study for Ender Wiggin, the main character from the book, Ender's Game.  I saw the movie recently and read the book, years ago.  I envisioned Ender as a much younger and innocent character than was portrayed in the movie.  But that is a mother's point of view.