Marker Monday - Caveman Paintings

I saw this idea from Thomas Elementary Art Blog but I was most excited there was a link to a virtual tour of the Lascaux cave paintings!! I had always wanted to go there but there are closed to tourists so this virtual tour is the next best thing. 

This was the perfect activity to do with the boys while their little sister was napping during spring break last week. They really liked the virtual tour; I was especially impressed with the cave painting that seems to be have painted right above a giant hole in the cave floor...crazy cavemen!! 

The boys and I taped up some crinkled brown paper on their walls and I dug out my pastels but only let them use caveman colors; red, brown, black, yellows. Then the fun part...we shut off all the lights, darkened the windows and lit candles! Yes, parent supervision is required for this part! 

I could have taken pictures with a flash but instead I opted to go with some long 1 second exposures and I'm so glad I did. The eerie lighting gives it a much more mysterious quality....more cavelike I would imagine. 

The boys found themselves holding candles up to the wall as they drew which made me wonder how the cavemen could see while they drew. Some of those paintings are way above a full grown adult's head and very deep in the caves. (Take the tour, it's awesome!) 

I'm very proud of my boys' works. Though they couldn't sign their work with painted handprints they tried to outline their hands or putting black all over a couple fingers to make fingerprints. 

The Lascaux site also had some pics of lamps the cavemen used which I think we might make next and use as holders for tea lights. 

Bowl of Sky; My Art Corner

My latest drawing, 18"x24".

An underdrawing in pastel with colored pencil details on top.

I don't know why but the photo has blotchy spots (in the middle dirt and green hills) that aren't in the real drawing. My favorite so far. This one and an old acrylic painting will be going into the Stauth Museum (here in town) in June for an art exhibit by Western Kansas artists.

So, comments? Critiques? Bring it on. Negative comments too are welcome....really!

My Art Corner - Mixed Media

My latest drawing, again inspired by Taos. I just loved that town.

This was a first for me; mixed media of pastel, colored pencil and paint. I am ecstatic how it turned out. I have a sketch for another one similar to this that, hopefully, I'll get started this week.

In the past my artwork has been much more realistic and the last few years I've definitely been leaning toward abstraction. I can't explain the shift but I am happy about it. The last time I tried drawing very realistically I was miserable. Not because it was bad or I couldn't do it (my theory is ANYONE can draw realistically) but I just couldn't see the point. Why draw realistically when a camera can do the same thing?

So, any thoughts on this one?

Hacienda in Pastel and Colored Pencil

I finally got back to doing some drawing after my mural was finished.

In Taos, we visited back in Feb., all the homes and buildings are of the pueblo style with the sand colored exterior and flat roof. DR wasn't sure he could live in a town where all the buildings looked the same, even the McDonalds, but I thought it was wonderful.

I loved how the buildings, especially the hacienda we visited, seemed to come from the earth and how the sky seemed extraordinarly large. As though the buildings weren't the town's focal point but the sky was.

So I did a drawing...here you go.

A woman in the foreground.

The sky. I wouldn't call the white things clouds; more like power....mmmm, that's not right.

Sometimes I find it very hard to put into words what I feel when I draw.

I love pastels but they are big and bulky and a bit difficult to use when trying to create sharp details. I got a brainstorm to use some colored pencils over the top and it worked really well. I think that's something I'll have to do again.

Lousy Pastel that can't be saved

I posted a couple weeks ago this drawing of the buffalo and asking for help. I knew it wasn't done and it needed something but I was stuck. Leigh suggested I was lacking a focal point. Exactly! You nailed it for me Leigh, thanks!

So, here it was before.

And here is after I did a bit of work to it.

I tried to move the viewers eye towards the buffalo and center. I'm still not happy with it though. I think the best I can do is just put it away for now and work on something else.

It's hard to find long interrupted time periods in order to draw since I have kids. Working in short time spurts makes it difficult to really get into a drawing and do quality work. Before kids I could work for hours at a time. Someday I'll get that again.

I've started some small colored pencil drawings on black board lately of yucca plants that I'll try to share with you sometime next week.

Buffalo Grass Pastel

Last night I finally had the chance to get back to doing some drawing. This one has been sitting on my easel since before Thanksgiving. I probably worked for a good hour on it and then felt I had to stop before I messed something up. Usually I can give it a couple hours and have an idea what I need to do next to a drawing but this one has me stumped.

It's an abstract take on some weeds I saw in a ditch a while ago with buffalo beneath them. As though the plants are growing from the bodies of the buffalo; circle of life type of thing.

Buffalo...

...weeds....

What do you think?

I like the bottom (dark buffalo areas) and I like the top (blue sky and weed tops) but I'm not feeling the center (weed stems and horizon line) but I don't know what I need to do.

I thought maybe I need to develop the stems. Or maybe I need to work on the horizon line and background. Now I'm not sure if I want the buffalo to look as though they are below ground or above ground. I do know I like the rough sketchy style going on. I don't want anymore realism here, just abstraction.

Thoughts? Opinions? Any ideas would be most helpful.

Monument Rock in Pastel

I'm really happy at the way this one turned out. In fact, I'm even considering getting it framed! Even though I didn't plan it, it just happened, I love the limited colors in this one. And look....no black!! Every time I pick up black I am reminded of an argument between the artists Gauguin and Van Gogh. Gauguin was strongly against the use of black at all while Van Gogh threw it in all over the place. There's your bit of art history trivia for the day!

Do You Doodle? - From my Art Corner

I remember back in college and during my pre-kid days I would doodle a lot. I would doodle the same shapes over and over again. My doodles always involved circles with other forms wrapped around them. So I did a drawing of my doodle in a more 3-D form.  My husband thinks this looks like a gourd around a sun!Do you doodle?

A drawing I really like...

It's been a while since I posted a drawing because of time issues and also just taking more time thinking about my drawings' compositions. Technically, these drawings aren't anything great but I've enjoyed them and I like to share. I love the Kansas sky and sometimes feel there is more going on "up there" than "down here". That's what I was trying to say with this one.

Okay, you are just going to have to cock your heads to the left. I don't know how to fix this. I've tried loading this photo three different times and it always turns it sideways. Okay BlogWorld! Anyone know how to help me on this one? It's right side up on picnik.com and on my computer! What am I doing wrong?

A rather horrendous drawing....

I've been working on this drawing for the last couple weeks on and off as I worked the Milo Pastel.

All I can say is this drawing is horrendous...but, I'm not going to censor my progress for you all. If I'm going to draw again I'm going to share the successes as well as the failures because I can learn from them both.

I love the sky here but the windmills weren't planned. I had originally planned on putting a lone tree where the largest windmill is. Long story short; it didn't work and I had to disguise some mistakes....hence the ugly black windmills. There isn't anything else I can do to this drawing but start again. The thing about pastels is you can only work so many layers before the paper won't accept anymore and the surface gets slick. Well, at least on this paper. I'm sure some higher quality stuff would be more forgiving of my mistakes.

Any hoo, chalk this one up to a learning experience and then forget about it and move on.

Milo Pastel

A drawing inspired by this scene.

A recent pastel I did on 9x12 watercolor paper which made for an interesting surface to work on that I really enjoyed. I'll have to buy some more of this paper sometime, it has a rougher texture that what I'm used to working with. I also finally remembered to buy hairspray (a cheap fixative) for my pastels. A layer of hairspray over the drawing glues the pastels on so they won't rub off when being handled.

This is definitely one of my favorite drawings. I might even frame this one!

Pastel - Morning Tree

One beautiful morning last week, I woke up and saw a tree being hit full by the sun. It seemed almost to glow gold, quite breathtaking. I decided to draw it and this is actually my second attempt...the first an utter disaster! (I've learned I can't draw without black! HA!)

And here's a closeup of the tree.

Looking through some old paintings I've noticed I am very fond of trees as art subjects. I'm not quite sure what interests me so much about them. Maybe their texture or their height? I do notice that I've portrayed trees in all seasons which is rather interesting. Maybe I should have an online show of my "Trees".

 

Pastel Drawing, Sand Dunes

Pastel I did this week, obviously inspired by the Great Sand Dunes.

Honestly, not sure what I think of this one. There is parts of it I'm happy with but I'm not satisfied with the entire outcome. For some reason, the whole thing doesn't seem to work together....or maybe it just doesn't feel finished to me, as though its missing something.

What do you think? Any suggestions?

A plant? dirt? hhmmm, not sure what i'd call this....

Another pastel drawing I did this week.

If I had to matte and frame it, I'd probably crop it like this...

The artist Wassily Kandinsky wrote;

The artist must be blind to distinctions between "recongnized" or "unrecognized" conventions of form, deaf to the transitory teaching and demands of his particular age. He must watch only the trend of the inner need, and harken to its words alone.

Even though I've never been a fan of Kandinsky, I agree with what he wrote. Lately I've been drawing a lot and I draw what I feel and I follow a need to draw. They are abstract and I couldn't even definitively describe the subjects for some of these drawings and that's okay. I don't need to clarify it because creating these drawings makes me happy and that's all that matters.

However, I do like your opinions because it causes me to think why and what next. So feel free to add your comment, good or bad, I like em' all!

My little corner over the weekend

Over the weekend I drew this in pastel. I won't tell what my goals or intentions were for this drawing because when DR looked at it he saw meanings and objects I had intended to include.

I want your opinions, good or bad, what do you think? What do you see?