Flying Pony Studios

Pen & Ink practice - adding various textures

2012-02-23T08:45:00.001-08:00

I've been enjoying this current round of pen & ink exercises very much. They've been encouraging me to practice varying textures and, almost more importantly, make good note of contrast. Contrast is key in the effectiveness of a pen & ink piece.

It's a beginner's mistake to make everything uniform in "color," that is to say, not show enough difference between lights and darks. I have made this mistake many, MANY times and know that it takes some fly by the pants courage to stand up and do it right. I think this piece, although a bit overworked, does show the required contrast. It also succeeds in shape and texture.

And so we proceed onwards to the next exercise...

As a postscript I wanted to add something about the pens I used in this exercise. I experimented with a number of pens as the small size (5"x7") required great delicacy of line. After much experimentation I settled on one of my Noodler's Piston Fill fountain pens filled with Noodler's Bulletproof black ink. I was surprised that this pen had a delicate enough line to pull it off but it was perfect for the job! The Piston Fill seems to have a line similar in width to the Lamy Safari Extra Fine. Pretty cool to discover that one of my favorite pens for sketching was also perfect for this exercise too! :-)

Now taking...credit cards!

2012-02-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

It's a big day here at Flying Pony Studios. As of today, I am able to take credit card payments for product and services! I felt that being able to take more forms of payments would make it easier and more convenient for my clients purchasing everything from greeting cards to illustration services.

Flying Pony Studios now accepts cash, personal checks, PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover.

As I begin my second coloring book, I can't help but think that the timing of the all is perfect. :-)

Horse Life #7

2012-02-21T07:48:00.001-08:00

Good morning and welcome to Horse Life #7. I can hardly believe that I've already done seven of the new comics! It's been really fun so far and I feel like I have so many more stories to tell. Food for thought for a lifetime! *wink*

I've left the comic on this page rather small to read but there is a much larger (and more readable) version on my website. Click the comic here and you'll be taken there.

Happy reading!

Daily sketches

2012-02-18T09:15:00.000-08:00

I have always been fascinated by the texture of trees, especially in the medium of pen and ink. There are so many ways to show the play of light and shadow using the pen. The key for trees is to put in the foliage first and then add the “solid” features like the truck and branches. That way you preserve the lightness of the leaf mass.

Bricks can be a big problem until you realize that you don’t need to add every single brick. To do so in an irregular wall is to make the wall uniform and uninteresting. By adding only a few, the play of light and shadow can be highlighted.

The interesting part of this fence drawing is that some of it is defined by dark (left side) and some by light (right). The negative space becomes as important as the positive. How do you show negative space? By defining what’s behind it. In this drawing the plants “create” the fence.

By the way, I am loving my new Stillman and Birn Epsilon sketchbook. Previously, I had been using the Bee Paper Company’s Pen Sketcher’s sketchbooks. Although that paper is good, I am finding the heavier Stillman and Birn paper clearly superior. I also like the heavier cover to protect the drawings inside and the fact that it’s spiral bound for ease of use. These things may sound inconsequential but it’s the details that help make a drawing experience even more pleasant.

Fun with Frank

2012-02-17T19:22:00.000-08:00

While at the University of Washington’s bookstore in Seattle recently I found a pen and ink book that I had never seen before. I was surprised to see it, since it was new to me and I am a huge bibliophile - especially for art technique books. It’s called “Step by Step: Pen and Ink Sketching,” by Frank J. Lohan and was published by Dover in 1983. After flipping through it, I realized that it could teach me quite a bit and so bought it. Once I got it home, I realized that it was the second book in a series and I set about finding “Pen & Ink Techniques” published in 1978 by Dover. I found that one at Dick Blick in Seattle. That was a surprise to the store's staff as they didn’t know they had it! ;-)

I have decided to go through Frank Lohan’s excellent exercises and absorb what he has to teach. I’ve set aside a 5” x 7” Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook to work in. The Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbooks have heavy, smooth paper and are perfect for pen & ink. For pens I am using Pitt Design pens (“S,” “M,” & “B”), Noodler’s Nib Creaper Flex pens, and a Noodler’s Ahab Flex Pen.

Here are the first two drawing exercises in my sketchbook.

Thus far I'm quite enjoying Frank Lohan's books. It's always nice to add some new techniques to my pen & ink repertoire.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

2012-02-14T11:19:00.000-08:00

I can barely believe that we’re half-way through February! Time seems to be moving particularly fast at the moment.

So what’s been up at the studio? Well, as you all know, I have been posting weekly horse comics in a series called “Horse Life.” This has been a true delight for me and now that I’m into the 6^th comic I feel right in the swing of things. Today's comic is a Valentine's Day special and you can see it here.

Ever since the demise of “Privateer Princess” a few years ago, I have missed cartooning. However, since more practical (and lucrative) things usually take precedence over cartooning, I tend not to do do it. “Horse Life” has given me both some well-needed closure from our failed web comic and a new focus for something fun to add to my repertoire. They say you should write/draw about what you know, and boy, do I know the horse world! I’ve been in it since I was 4 years old and have seen so many changes. It’s really remarkable to think about.

In other news, I have been doing some pen & ink practice based on Frank Lohan’s books, and have been having a wonderful time with it. More on that in a future post. But speaking of ink and pens, I recently caved and bought a Noodler’s Ahab flex pen.

My new Noodler's Ahab flex pen

These pens have been incredibly popular since they first came out a few months ago. I just had to try one. As I have mentioned here before, I have been loving the Noodler’s Nib Creaper flex pens and have been using them almost constantly for most of a year now. I was wary of the Ahab as it's much wider than it’s predecessor and I have small hands.

Comparison between the Ahab flex and the Nib Creaper flex pens.
The Ahab is on the top and the Nib Creaper is on the bottom.
Note the size difference in the barrels.

So far I am a bit torn about the new pen. The Ahab definitely has a superior nib and the pen holds much more ink in the chamber. But I need to use it unposted as with the cap on the back it’s too heavy for me for comfort. I also find it a bit awkward for detail work. Ironically, Matt loves it (he has big hands) and thinks he’ll buy one for himself pretty soon complete with fast-drying Noodler's Bernanke Blue ink. ;-)

Horse Life #5

2012-02-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

This is the first new comic to be added to my website! :-) I'm putting it up here as well, but if you have trouble reading it, just click on it to see a bigger version on the Flying Pony Studios website. :-)

Website Upgrades

2012-02-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

Over the past few days I have done a massive upgrading to the Flying Pony Studios website. Several pages needed to be added and a few existing ones needed face-lifting. Here’s a quick overview of what has changed.

The home page is now more fun and funky, and I hope, more user-friendly. With the added pages I felt that the old design wouldn’t present as well for viewing. I think the new one works better. Hopefully you will too.

Speaking of the added pages …you will notice that I now have a section on the homepage called, “Logos.” I have been creating logos and business identity packages (including packaging) for many years. As I have recently had the call to do a few new logos for clients, I thought I would add those skills to my online list of skills-for-hire. On the new logo page you can see samples of logos that I have done, as well as price packages for logos, business cards, and letterhead design. This is part of the Illustration section of the website, where you can also see samples of my illustration work, illustration rates, my CV, and other helpful information about me.

The next set of fresh pages are connected to my new online comic called “Horse Life.” I had been posting it in my blog but found that the images were really too small for enjoyable reading. This meant that I would need to host the comic on my website instead. So that’s now where you’ll find all previous “Horse Life” comics and all future pages. I have also designed an Archive page which has links to all of the existing pages. You can also navigate through the comic pages with the navigation buttons on each page. The most current page will always be found on the “Horse Life Current” page.

The last change that I have made is that I have a free gift available to all who sign up for my mailing list and newsletter. The gift is clip art created by me for your use. While it’s not copyright free, I do give you permission to use it for personal use. To get it simply click the “free gift” button on the home page. That will take you to it.

And speaking of my newsletter, “Flying Free”…I do realize that I have been shamefully lax in sending it out recently. But that will change very soon. Now that the move to our new house is over, I have great plans to get out more information out to readers on a regular basis. There are lots of new things in store in 2012, and I intend to write about them and share them with you.

Additionally, and this is not new news but bears repeating, you can get to my on-line store from the “store” button on the homepage. I have been finding that PayPal seems a bit daunting as a payment option for many people so…in the near future there will be the addition of credit card payments for all Flying Pony (and Sacred Touch Healing) products and services. Further news on this to come in the near future.

I think that about sums it all up for now. At this point Flying Pony Studios is up and running as a full-service design studio. Of course, I do other things too, like creating children’s books and pet portraits, but if you’re looking for illustrations or graphic design, please remember, I’m your gal!

Bye for now! - Sara

Horse Life #4

2012-02-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

And don't forget to look into the corners

2012-01-26T22:49:00.000-08:00

Norman Thelwell (1923- 2004) was a most remarkable cartoonist. Best known for his "Thelwell Ponies," it seemed he could draw nearly anything and make it funny. From a horseman's perspective it was clear that he knew the horse world very, very well. With a short series of pen strokes he could make a horse look guilty, or happy, or very, very angry. His detail and gesture work were incredibly expressive.

Tonight, while studying a few of his drawings, I noticed a particular sequence of pages in his book, "Thelwell's Riding Academy (1965). I had looked at these pages many times before, but this was the first time I took a really close look at the background figures that no one ever looks at. The closer I looked, the more impressed I got. Check this out…

For me this was a wonderful lesson. Leave out the detail if you must, but use the right gestures. We all know them and have seen them a thousand times in real life. The trick, of which Thelwell was a master, is to add just enough detail to make your point. But not too much or everything gets muddied and the impact is lost. :-)

Pen & Ink practice

2012-01-25T18:39:00.000-08:00

Practicing drawing trees at Chez Jacroux

I have already noticed a few extra benefits to doing a regular comic once again. The routine will improve not only your drawing skills but also your ability to observe the world around you. Secondarily, you will quickly find out what you are weaker at drawing and can then work to improve those particular skills.

I have always been a bit wary of drawing trees and plants. Not that I can’t, but that I try to illustrate sometimes when I should interpret instead. You don’t always need to draw “that particular tree over there.” Instead, it is frequently more valuable (unless you are doing a study of an individual plant) to merely interpret the shape, light qualities and texture of the tree. Often that is enough information to make to tree look “real.” Too much detail can distract and, in some unfortunate cases, destroy the final drawing or sketch.

Tree drawings

Today I was practicing drawing trees in pen & ink. I was also breaking in a new Noodler’s Flex Pen (regular size not Ahab) in the Ivory Darkness color. It was filled with my favorite Noodler’s Lexington Grey ink. The new pen’s nib seemed a bit broader to me than the nibs on my two other flex pens. More like the nib on a Noodler’s Piston Fill but with a flex. Despite my initial surprise at the broadness of the nib, the new pen behaved itself well. I think it’ll be a fine edition to my working collection.

Breaking in my new pen

Noodler's Flex pen in Ivory Darkness color.
The pen color is striated in black and white.

Horse Life #3

2012-01-20T17:32:00.000-08:00

Snowbound

2012-01-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

My last two posts have been about “Horse Life,” my new comic. I’ve been enjoying getting a jump on it while being housebound during the first big snowstorm (in WA state) of the Winter of 2011-2012. Here are some pictures to show what I’ve been seeing out my window for the past couple of days in Snohomish, Washington

My street

Another street shot

Pokey goes for a walk on the deck
(Note: this is an 8" Pokey)

Horse Life #2

2012-01-16T19:12:00.000-08:00

It's snowing outside and that makes a perfect excuse to contemplate Summer trail riding.

Happy trails everyone! ;-)

Horse Life #1

2012-01-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

I was going to say something very elaborate and “Frasier Crane-like” to announce this but have decided not to make such a big deal of it. Basically, starting today I’m going to begin posting a brand new comic I’m been creating called “Horse Life” here in my blog. It’s all about the horse world and what happens in it. I’m yet not sure how often I’ll post, at least once a week for sure and hopefully more.

The comic starts here today! I will put a category in the blog sidebar so that you can see the whole run listed.

Hope you enjoy it.

-Sara

2011 Wrap-up

2011-12-30T13:48:00.000-08:00

When one looks back on a year recently completed, it seems difficult or even impossible to encapsulate all the profound feelings experienced in just a short series of words. The discrete events are easier, but not easy. Things that seemed hugely important in the past, seem to quickly lose significance through the backwards lens of time.

2011 was a profound year for many, many people and I am no exception. A year that started off still in heavy mourning for my deceased mother and which was quickly followed by the unexpected death of my father-in-law. This led to many profound moments of stress between Matt and myself. Much needed to be re-thought in our lives without the comfort of three of four parents who were now gone.

We weathered that series of storms and, as the year progressed, somehow came back much stronger. A miracle surely and one that I am truly glad of. By November, and our 21st anniversary, we had just bought our first home together and we were in a remarkable place of peace, happiness and tandem purpose. Truly a joy.

On a further personal note I decided to make some major changes to my diet and lifestyle this Fall and to date have lost over 28 pounds.

In the world of business, my dual businesses continued to work smoothly together. In my massage practice, I found myself working at the racetrack for the Summer season and that proved to be incredibly fun. I have to admit to being a bit weary of massage after 27 (soon to be 28) years of practice, however.

My new art business continues to grow and had some wonderful successes this year. I felt brave enough to enter four art contests with three of the pieces created in colored pencil and one in pen & ink. I did several commissioned portraits, experimented with some new art techniques in water-soluble media, created 15 new greeting card designs, designed professional logos for clients, and created five Kindle book covers. I also opened a web store of my own, started a newsletter (you can sign up here), and published an E-zine art article. Phew!

Oh yes, I also created a coloring book.

My coloring book was a huge deal for me. My first real product for sale (besides the greeting cards) it came out in time for Christmas and is now being carried by three large, nationally recognized saddleries. It is the first of a series of eight that I have planned. I loved creating it and am eager (as soon as I finish unpacking at the new house!) to get started on the next one.

Plans for 2012

I’m excited about the coming year. I have plans to create several more coloring books and start something very new art-wise in my blog. (Shh, it’s still a secret ‘til after the first!) I look forward to doing more design work for clients, as well as snagging a few more portrait commissions. I have plans to practice my watercolor painting rather religiously, and continue losing weight.

Matt and I have house renovation plans that should keep us busy for most of the year, and my father is trying to get me to take several trips, including one to Paris to visit with my sister, who currently lives there.

It promises to be a busy year. Most likely different than expected but then, who wants everything to be expected anyway? That takes the fun out of everything!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

-Sara

Merry Christmas to all!

2011-12-25T13:32:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a very Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and a Bright and Merry New Year!

Percy2 completed

2011-12-09T08:21:00.000-08:00

"Percy2" 12"x16" Neocolor II and Inktense pencils
on canvas board prepared with Daniel Smith watercolor ground.

Christmas Card Designs for 2011!

2011-12-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

I realize that posts here have been in short supply lately. That's mainly because of my great moving adventure to our new house. But in the meantime, I wanted to let you know that I have 5 Christmas card designs available this year. You can buy them from me directly and you can also find them at the Gift Horse Saddlery in Woodinville. Each regular-sized greeting card features a glossy 4x6 image on the front and comes with matching envelope and in a cellophane sleeve. They are $3.95 each.

Here is the 2011 collection:


"Dream Big" Because who doesn't want to be a cowboy?

"Candy Cane Pony"
For all those who still have visions
of sugar-plums dancing in their heads.

"Joy"
Doesn't everyone know a pair like this?


"Peace on Earth" At this festive time of year we all seek peace & harmony.

"Merry Christmas"
Share your Christmas with this cute little Shar Pei puppy.

Exciting news!

2011-11-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas a bit early!

As of today you can buy both the EBook (digital download) and spiral-bound (physical) versions of “My Day at the Horse Show” in my web store: www.flyingponystudios.com/Store_home.html.

Hurrah!
I’ve been getting a lot of requests lately for the physical version of the coloring book and now you can get your very own for $10.00 + tax. These cute coloring books make perfect stocking stuffer gifts for all the junior horse lovers in your house (along with anyone else you know who loves to color!) As an added plus, if you’re local, you can get a copies directly from me without needing to pay for shipping. Wow! So stock up today!

In case you’ve not seen my video about the coloring book…you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/user/cresciangirl?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/AV8lR4eEm3Q

Happy Veterans/Remembrance Day everyone!

Our new house in journal form

2011-11-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

We have bought our first house! Although a bit late to the game, I feel that Matt and I will do well with the sea of new tools and handy-person projects. It's easy to forget that I have been nailing up boards on horse farm fences for most of my life and even wielding a machete when the occasion calls for it! So I think we’ll be OK. ;-)

I have decided to journal our house move-in preparation and moving process. (Hopefully this will be our last moving event for a long while!) I started my journal today. Although in black and white right now, I may very well move to color.

These sketches were done with a Noodler's Flex pen with Lexington Grey Ink and Pitt Design pens in shades of gray in an old ledger book.

What a relief!

2011-11-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

So you may have been wondering where I've been lately. Perhaps even believed that I had dropped through some hole in the universe from which there was no return. Well...not quite. Although it is true that we have been quite busy lately buying our first house, that was not the real reason for my absence here. Nor was it that I have been marketing my coloring book quite heavily and haven't had time to do much else - art wise, including writing.

Nope.

Only tonight did I realize that I really didn't like the new dynamic template here on Blogger. I just didn't find it writer-friendly. Weird but true! So anyway...I have finally switched back to the old template and voila! here I am back writing again quite happily within minutes! It was easy and boy does it feel good to be back.

To quote Meredith Murphy..."Expect Wonderful" And I do! :-)

Card Design

2011-10-31T20:22:00.000-07:00

Percy2 update

2011-10-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

While it is true that I seem to be moving steadily in many different directions lately, I haven't yet given up on this painting. But there's been so much going on! I tell you it feels like a whirlwind surrounding me each and every day! There's our new house to consider - it's about to close, my coloring book to promote, several holiday cards to complete, and what(!) I also seem to be making Kindle book covers! Not to mention working on several logos and editing old short story collections! Phew! But I am still working on "Percy2," albeit slowly.

It may take me a while to finish this one but it will get done. Maybe it'll even be the first piece I finish in our new house. Now wouldn't that be something?

One more Kindle cover

2011-10-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

Because they're like tasty snacks...once you start in on them...it's hard to stop! ;-)

Kindle and Creativity

2011-10-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

Kindle book cover in the style of
the pulp covers of the 1930's.

I am a fiction writer! There I’ve said it. I’m out of the closet at long last. *phew* Now we can move on to other things…

I have been writing and publishing non-fiction for many years. I have been writing fiction for easily as long. But to me, fiction is very personal and written as part of my own process of play. I have been asked many times to share my stories (sometimes for group critique) but I rarely agree to do so. There are some pieces you do just for yourself.

My sister gave me a Kindle for my birthday this year. I had been wanting one to skinny down my book collection (especially future purchases) as I am an avid reader. Once I got it I realized that I could upload my own stories to read whenever and wherever I wanted. *Squeee!* So that first night I couldn’t resist enlisting Matt’s assistance in reformatting my stories into Kindle-friendly documents and uploading them. The first one was one I had recently finished called, “The Witch Queen of Algiers.” It takes place in the world of our web comic “Privateer Princess” and even has cameos by several of the PP cast. I uploaded it and then thought…it doesn’t have a cover!

At that moment I decided to put together covers for the four volumes I have added thus far. All are different genre covers and Matt and I had a great time designing them. We laughed and laughed and laughed! It was great! We have two more to do, another shared story collection and a novel of Matt’s. Great fun!

All of the covers have been created to be best viewed in black and white, as the color Kindle isn't out yet. Good black and white design presents it's own delights, like black and white photography. One of the tricks is to make the viewer see the fullness of the "color" in the black and white contrast alone.

In the style of a "University Press" book cover.

In the genre of humorous history a la
the "Uppity Women" series by Vicky Leon.

The least genre specific cover, I just
thought the design fit the book.

On Amazon I have seen some of the slapdash and poorly designed Kindle covers that are available for some very noble books. That makes me sad. A good book should have a good cover. That’s just right and proper!

Because who doesn't want a pony...?

2011-10-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

I've been working on "Percy2" a bit sporadically this week. But here's the latest update. I have been adding layers of Neocolor II to the horse but have thus far left the background as an underpainting done in Inktense pencils.

Here's a close-up showing the smoothing process of the Neocolor II crayons with a q-tip.

I'm pleased with the amount of realism that I have been achieving with the crayons. Here's hoping the rest of the piece goes as well. :-)

Percy comes into further view

2011-10-04T17:36:00.000-07:00

I have decided that this is a very fun piece! I've been working on it a bit further and am really enjoying the larger size (12"x16"). The DS watercolor ground-treated background is lending itself more to the brush than the q-tip thus far, but I expect to be using the q-tips more when I start adding Neocolor crayons pretty soon.


I've started adding the background with dry Inktense pencils.

I've wet the top part of the background
and added dry Inktense to the bottom section.

At this point all the Inktense pencil has been wet
in the background and I've done some more
detailing on the horse's eye and the rest of
his face, also with Inktense.

Back to painting

2011-10-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

Now that the coloring book is officially launched(!!!) I get back to painting while I promote it. For my newest piece I have returned to the world of Inktense/Neocolor II painting. This will be my second piece in these media, the first being my “Chickadee” which I finished over the Summer.

“Chickadee” was painted on Aquabord which I found to be quite a nice "toothy” surface to work with. For this piece (which has a working title of "Percy 2") I have treated a 12" x 16" piece of canvas board with Daniel Smith’s watercolor ground and am trying that out as a surface. So far so good, I think…but we’ll see how it holds up for the finished piece.

Here is the palette I have chosen.

Derwent Inktense pencils for the under painting: Fuchsia, Leaf Green, Beech Green, Oak, Sepia Ink, Bark, Willow, Saddle Brown.

Caran d'Ache Neocolor II for the over painting: White, Salmon, Pink, Mauve, Light Blue, Light Olive, Moss Green, Venetian Red, English Red, Cinnamon, Burnt Sienna, Sepia, Ochre, Light Ochre, Orangish Yellow, Light Beige, Mouse Grey, Dark Grey, Greyish Black, Payne’s Grey.

My palette

1. Here's the progress thus far. We start with the line drawing.

"Percy 2" part 1

2. Then add Inktense (still dry) to start the under painting.

"Percy 2" part 2

3. Here is the Inktense wet with brush and q-tip.

Now that it's officially on it's way, please check back and follow this piece's journey along with me. :-)

I have created my very first video for YouTube!

2011-09-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

OK, OK, I do feel somewhat behind the times, but all the same...today is the day! Here is my new video which presents a tour of my new coloring book. I hope it makes you smile!

Are you ready to color?

2011-09-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

“My Day at the Horse Show: A Tell Your Own Story” coloring EBook is now available for digital download at my web store.

It’s been a long road. It’s taken a lot of faith. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve done a children’s book, and even though this one is self-published, it was no less work. But as the process of creation is completed I realize that I have really missed doing books for kids. A lot. Now that I’m back in the swing, I have several more coloring books, paper doll books, and a cartoon book in the design phase.

So what’s so special about this coloring book?

I put a lot of thought into how to make this coloring book a little bit different. I decided to make it an EBook because I wanted to give colorists a chance to re-use the pages. If you don’t like the way you’ve colored a page you can just print out another one and start again. Or, you can color different pages in different ways. It also allowed me to charge less per book. At $5.00 I felt that it would be approachable even in these tight economic times.

More features

One of the things I’m particularly excited about in this book are the fill-in-the-blank captions on every page. This allows everyone to make it their story, told their way. I have also included a helpful list of horse show terms to give you further ideas for your horse show adventure.

Too old to color? Think again

I believe that many artists have been set up for success in art by their early experiences with coloring books and crayons. The simplicity of the crayon is so non-threatening that even art-shy adults can use it with confidence. With fine art crayons you may feel the specter of “making a mistake” looming behind every corner. Not so with Crayolas. Try them for yourself and see. With crayons come a sense of artistic freedom plucked straight out of childhood.

You’re invited

I invite you to visit my shop and take a look at the new coloring book. If you like it please give it a try. If you really like it please recommend it to friends. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to play with and I hope that many will. After all, what else is a coloring book for?

Cheers to all!

Sara

P.S. I have put up a new information page about the coloring book here on my blog. You can find it under the "Resources" tab on the right hand column. While you're there you'll also see pages that collect my How-to and Art Supplies product review articles. Check them out!

Flying Free Issue #1

2011-09-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

I have just posted the first issue of my newsletter “Flying Free” on my website. Each month Flying Free provides simple art and design tips for artists of all ages and skill levels. This month’s topic is Clip Art: How to use it to enhance your documents and DIY projects.

The topics covered in the first issue are:

Terrific Ways to Use Clip Art
Colorizing Clip Art
7 Easy Steps to Adding Clip Art to Your Word Document
Getting Personalized Clip Art Made For You

You can read the newsletter here.

If you’d like to sign up for future issues of Flying Free (and download some free clip art while you’re at it!) just go to my website and follow the directions. By signing up you will not only get lots of art and studio tips delivered to your mailbox monthly but you’ll also gain access to special subscriber features like limited release clip art and other fun stuff.

If using clip art interests you and you’d would like to read a more detailed article about using clip art for your craft and art projects I have also written “How to Use Clip Art - 8 Terrific Ways to Use Copyright Free Images” for the website Ezine articles.

And don’t forget…the My Day at the Horse Show coloring EBook will be available for purchase this week in my web store! Stay tuned right here for all the details!

My Day At The Horse Show

2011-09-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

Here is the cover of my first coloring book, "My Day At The Horse Show." It will be available as an EBook for digital download next week from my website store. More details to follow... *happy smile*

Coloring Book Facts

2011-09-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

A coloring (colouring) book is a type of book containing line art for a reader to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media. Although coloring books are generally used by children, coloring books for adults are also available.

According to Wikipedia, the McLoughlin Brothers are credited as being the inventors of the coloring book in the 1880's. The Little Folks' Painting Book was produced in collaboration with well-known children’s book illustrator, Kate Greenaway.

Another coloring book pioneer was Richard F. Outcault, creator of Buster Brown. Although today most people associate “Buster Brown” with the Brown Shoe Company, Buster was actually created in 1902 as part of an independent comic strip. Buster Brown was a young city-dwelling boy with wealthy parents. His strip featured the first talking pet to appear in American comics, a pit bull named Tige. Buster's Paint Book came out in 1907.

As a predominately non-verbal medium, coloring books have seen wide applications in education in some cases where target groups do not speak and understand the primary language of instruction or communication. This can be seen in the use of coloring books in Guatemala to teach children about hieroglyphs and Mayan artist patterns.

Since the 1980's, several publishers have also produced educational coloring books intended for studying graduate-level topics such as anatomy and physiology, where color-coding detailed diagrams are used as a learning aid.

More Crayon Facts

2011-09-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

Crayola LLC started as “Binney & Smith” in 1885.

There are 133 regular colors in the Crayola line.

Crayola is probably the most famous brand of crayons on the market today. But it’s not the only one. Prang and Sargent also make scholastic crayons for kids.

Fine art crayons are made by Alphacolor, Caran D’ache, Conté, Cretacolor, Lyra, Koh-I-Noor, Steadler, and Yarka to name a few. You can find them wax-based, water soluble, and for use on fabrics.

Caran d'Ache Neocolor II fine art crayons

Crayon fact

2011-09-21T19:05:00.000-07:00

According to Wikipedia, a Yale University study rated the scent of Crayola crayons to be one of the most recognizable scents for adults (#18), beating out cheese (#19) and bleach (#20), but falling well behind coffee (#1) and peanut butter (#2).

Who knew?

Why coloring books?

2011-09-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

By the end of this week I hope to have my first coloring book up for sale as an EBook on my website. The creation of this coloring book is the culmination of many years of process for me as a children’s illustrator and writer. Coloring is an activity that brings us all back to the time before many of us stopped enjoying the creative and expansive delights of making art. To a time before we experienced the frustration of not being able to portray the world we see around us accurately.

According to Betty Edwards, author of the landmark book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, “The majority of adults in the Western World do not progress in art skills much beyond the level of development they reached at age nine or ten.” This is the stage when children become fascinated by realism. This is also the stage of development where if correct and useful artistic guidance is not received by the child, their art skills stultify and eventually go into a permanent state of artistic crisis.

The beginning of adolescence creates a conflict for children between their increasingly complex perceptions of the world around them and their current level of artistic skills. They simply don’t know how to draw what they are seeing, correctly. Before the age of nine, children are less interested in realism and more interested in portraying feelings in their drawings. As any parent knows, these earlier drawings are not realistic, but certainly prolific. After the age of nine, children become desperate to capture the world as it actually is.

As an educator, I have always felt strongly that children can and should be taught how to draw accurately. They want it and we owe it to them as teachers to provide that education to them. But as many art teachers do not have a great deal of confidence in their own abilities to teach the art of seeing, they may have trouble assisting the child as required. I believe it is of benefit to every artist and teacher to look back into their own past and see if they still carry any of the blocks that may have been put there by careless comments and poor teachers. Once the blocks begin to loosen, we can begin to experience the boundless creativity and fun associated with expressing the world confidently through art once again.

Visual Acoustics

2011-09-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

"Post Modernism is to architecture as female impersonation is to femininity." - from Visual Acoustics

Two years ago an intriguing independent film came out called, "Visual Acoustics." It was about the life and works of architectural photographer, Julius Shulman. As it was a small, art film, once gone it was really hard to find. We didn’t know if it would ever be marketed as a mainstream DVD.

The other day I saw that it was playing on the Sundance Channel and taped it. We watched it today. It proved a most remarkable movie about a most remarkable photographer. Shulman made an enormous contribution to 20th century photography (architectural or otherwise). I highly recommend this film if you can find it. It, and his works, are things of beauty.

Planning and catfish

2011-09-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

This was my week to write up my next set of 90 day goals for the business and for myself. I find this process somewhat stressful, as creating specific/time-bound goals is always tricky. Not only do you need to get things done by a certain time but you also need to be willing to succeed. For many people, the fear of success is a constant challenge. I am one of these people and I need to monitor my progress carefully in order to make sure that I’m not dismantling my progress even as I make it. The same is true for my health and fitness. I know what is most healthy for me but do I make that a way of life? Not hardly. *chuckle* But I’ve been thinking that it may be time to do better. After all, there’s no downside and every reason to recommit to health. So why not?

Taking a little break from my planning sessions, I did a pen & ink drawing for the Noodler’s company's 2011 art contest. I think it’s quite cute. I don’t want to show it off yet, as they should be the first to see it, but here’s the little guy I drew on the envelope.

On the envelope he said, "Please...no folding or bending! OK?"

The Busiest Week!

2011-09-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

I realize that I haven’t written here in a little while. When I last posted (about two weeks ago) all was proceeding along expected and “normal” lines. That is to say, my coloring book was nearly completed, but for the captions, an introduction, and glossary of terms. But the artwork was done! Yeah!

Then, out of the blue, a whirlwind picked me up like a mystical sandstorm and flung me up into the air!

With extremely little effort we found a house to buy (our first!), I moved my horse to a lovely new farm (after 3 years at the old one), suddenly my class on Flower Essences for Pets (which I had thought canceled due to lack of interest) was ON and with only about 12 hours notice to prepare. Not to mention the regular coordination of my weekly animal massages, business meetings for design projects, and, did I mention that we’re BUYING A HOUSE?!?

It was crazy!

Amazingly all went beautifully and smoothly. Yesterday I took a little time off and rode my pony around the new farm. What a delight!

Thumbs up for my first ride at the new farm.

Today, with my feet back on the ground at last, I am finally able to start thinking about my coloring book again. As a prequel to seeing the actual completed book (to be unveiled here VERY soon) I thought I’d share a coloring book image that I completed today for a friend who has a very cute dog named Bella. Here are both the pen and ink and colored images (colored in Crayolas of course!)

Bella as a pen and ink image ready to color.
Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011.

Bella colored with Crayola crayons..
Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011.

Who ever said you can't do a portrait in crayons? *smile*

Coloring book update

2011-08-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. In the past three weeks I've gotten a strained knee, replaced my windshield unexpectedly, replaced all four tires, again unexpectedly, replaced my cell phone (broken speaker), added new massage clients, been working on two logos, advertising a flower essence class, AND deciding to buy our first house (second attempt since the crash of 2008 when we last tried). Phew! What with this and that, my coloring book has gotten a bit of a bum rush. But no longer. I just finished illustration #10 today and that means 2 more to go. I'm glad because I'm really liking the process. I think I could spend great deals of time creating pictures to color. I hope to do just that! ;-)

Visiting Obstruction Island

2011-08-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate to visit the home of premier watercolorist, Caroline Buchanan, last weekend on the San Juan Islands. It turns out that Caroline was a very dear friend of my recently deceased mother-in-law, Kim Waller. I remember Kim telling me many times that I should take some classes from Caroline, but in typical “child” fashion I didn’t take the suggestion too seriously. After all, Kim never even told me Caroline’s whole name!

Caroline was a gracious hostess and we had a wonderful visit. Besides talking poetry (Kim had been a published poet) we spoke a lot about art. It was really amazing looking at her artwork and gleaning wisdom about painting at every turn.

Although there wasn’t much time to draw in the short time we were there I did do a few quick sketches. Funny to think of such fast sketches as representative of time spent with a watercolorist like Caroline, but they will always remind me of the details. Matt worked the camera on this trip and me the pencil. And that worked out just fine!

So will I take a workshop with Caroline in the future if I get the chance? Yes, absolutely! Thanks Kim for the suggestion. ;-)

Knick nacks on high shelf

Cabin panorama

Window view

Ferry moments

Adventures in Pen and ink: it’s all about the line.

2011-08-10T00:10:00.000-07:00

As I inch towards the completion of my first coloring book, I wanted to stop and reflect for a moment on the importance of good ink. I have already talked a bit about the fact that I’m a pen fiend, always looking for a pen that can perform well in pen & ink work. I am VERY picky. For my coloring book images I have been using my Noodler’s Flex pen (bless its little split nib!) and a couple of Pitt pens for heavier lines.

Having found a couple of pens that I like, the next thing to discover was a good ink to put in them. I have used Higgins Black Magic ink for dip pens for a long time but wouldn’t dare put that in my fountain pens. I don’t even want to guess what that ink would do to them! Instead, I've gone for proper fountain pen inks. I have tried both Noodler’s and Platinum inks so far. I really like Noodler’s Lexington Grey ink for drawings. It’s not as dark as black but still pretty dark. It’s waterproof and doesn’t have a terribly long drying time.

I also keep a little “stable” of pens on my taboret filled with a variety of colored inks. Sometimes, I'm testing the inks and sometimes, I just like having certain pens available with certain inks in them.

Here’s my current line-up.

Parker Sonnet with Noodler’s “bulletproof” Black
Flex nib #1 with Noodler’s Lexington Grey ink
Flex nib # 2 with Noodler’s Blue Nose Bear (I haven’t really put this one through its paces yet. But I'm excited about it.)
Piston fill # 1 with Noodler’s Lexington Grey ink
Piston fill # 2 with Noodler’s Polar Brown ink (A good brown so far!)
Platinum Preppy fountain pen with Noodler’s Nikita (I like this ink – it’s fun.)
Platinum Preppy fountain pen with Noodler’s Squeteague (I LOVE this blue-green ink. It's very pretty.)
Platinum Preppy marker with Noodler’s Whaleman’s Sepia (Too dry for my fountain pen I like it in the marker. Also, it turned the chamber of my Flex nib clear demonstrator neon green. :-( No one knows why.)

For those who don't know about Platinum Preppies, they are pretty decent cheap fountain pens. Sometimes they will give me a drip of ink but they are great for testing ink samples. I like having them around and for the price – they’re really great!

Ink sample sheet

8 Terrific Ways to Use Clip Art

2011-08-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

Clip art image copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011
Get it free at www.flyingponystudios.com

Clip art can be a fabulous way to personalize cards and gifts. How? Read on and learn eight great reasons to have clip art on hand.

Eight terrific ways to use clip art

1.      Greeting cards
2.      Bookmarks
3.      Invitations
4.      Flyers & Business Cards
5.      Scrapbooking
6.      Decoupage
7.      Enlarge it and use it as a coloring page for kids.
8.      Dress up your Word documents with it.

Greeting Cards

Using clip art is a fun and rewarding way to make personalized greeting cards. You can create your card on the computer using Word, Photoshop, Illustrator, Paint, or any other program. Or, you can create a card by hand by cutting out a clip art image and gluing it onto a folded card or card blank. You can hand color your image using watercolor, ink, or colored pencils. Add some other doodles and/or decorations and you’ve got an original and totally personalized greeting card.

Clip Art used for greeting card, copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011

Bookmarks

Bookmarks make great giveaway gifts. Using techniques similar to the greeting cards suggestions above you can create personalized bookmarks to share with friends and family. You can even make collectible ones and trade them between friends.

Clip art used for bookmarks, copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011

Invitations

Some clip art really lends itself to invitations. Making a hand-made invitation can be extremely easy to do. Start by typing up your event information in Word and then add an appropriate illustration to the bottom corner. An easy way to make a very personalized invitation.

Victorian Image from Dover clip art book

Flyers & Business Cards

When creating a simple business flyer or a business card it is not always necessary to ask your designer to produce or procure artwork for you. Many times clip art will work splendidly.

Dover clip art used to create business flyer

Scrapbooking
Scrapbooking always requires a lot of photos but sometimes you want to illustrate a specific event with another sort of picture. Whether you need an image of a baseball player for a Little League page, or a set of balloons for a girl’s birthday party page, having a few pieces of clip art on hand can be just the ticket.

Clip art image from Dover clip art book

Decoupage
Decoupage is a perfect use for clip art. There are a great many clip art books available with wonderful color clip art in various themes ready for any sort of decoupage project.

Clip art image from Dover clip art book

Enlarge it and use it as a coloring page for kids

Many times clip art can be enlarged on your computer or at a copy shop and then used as a coloring page for kids. Think of it! An ongoing supply of low cost coloring pages! J

Colored clip art from FREE clip art available at www.flyingponystudios.com

Dress up your Word documents with it
We use Word for so many things nowadays but most of the time we write our documents without pictures. Why not add some clip art to spruce up a personal letter? If you’re writing a professional document you can also use clip art (only appropriate images, of course!) to create a professional logo or letterhead. Clip art used in a document can be as simple as a small image of a heart or it can be much more complex, like an image that fits with the name of your business. (I use a cartoon image of a small pegasus for my business Flying Pony Studios.)

Flying Pony Studios logo. Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011

Where to get clip art

Dover Publications is probably the best known source of books on a wide variety of clip art subjects. You can find them at the Dover website.

Get some FREE Clip Art

Join my mailing list and download four pieces of professional clip art for your use. Go to www.flyingponystudios.com to get your free clip art today.

If you have a specific desire for a piece of clip art but you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can commission me to make it for you. You can see prices for "line illustrations" here.

Have fun expanding your creative experience with clip art!

Even Cowgirls Sing the Blues

2011-08-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok I haven’t been a cowgirl for some time. But “Even Dressage Riders Sing the Blues” just doesn’t have the same ring to it! So I’ve sprained my knee and am taking the week off to let it heal. Unfortunately, because the injury is to overworked flexor muscles, sitting at my drawing table doesn’t help. Instead I need to elevate it in extension. But I can draw with a board on my lap and that’s ok. But not for fine art. So it’s reading and resting for me for a few days. *sigh* I hope later in the week I’ll feel well enough to work on my coloring book. But we’ll see. So close and yet so far.

What about coloring books for kids?

2011-07-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

Like so many other kids, I grew up with coloring books. I did love them. It was my first venture into art! I still have a healthy collection of Dover coloring books (http://store.doverpublications.com/) on my shelves to use as reference of historic scenes and certain natural subjects (like hawks, for example.)

The best coloring book artists do a wonderful job producing very clean and easy-to-read line drawings. There’s a great deal of technical skill in those drawings and I have always admired them. So much so that I have decided to create my own line of e-coloring books for kids. The first one will be called “My Day At the Horse Show.” I hope to have some hard-copy prototypes ready to present at one of the largest Hunter-Jumper horse shows in the area next month.

I'm quite excited about using an e-book format for coloring books. Not only will it be economical to produce but it'll also be a great way for parents to get multiple uses out of each page. Mistake…? More than one child? No problem! Just print out another page! ;-)

Here is a detail from one of my images. What do you think?

Image copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011

Step-by-Step Inktense/Neocolor II Painting: “Chickadee”

2011-07-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

One of my readers asked me to do a more in-depth description of the process I used to create my latest painting "Chickadee" in Inktense pencils and Neocolor II crayons. I hope that by sharing my process here I will encourage others to try out this fun technique too!

Picking tools

I have been fascinated by Inktense pencils since I first heard about them. I have been most pleased to see how well these ink pencils integrate seamlessly into ink artwork. Unfortunately, some of the Inktense colors aren’t very lightfast and to avoid fading I decided to choose the colors for my piece based on lightfastness ratings of 6 and above (on a scale of 1-8, 8 being the most lightfast.)

I have been taking an interest in water-soluble pencils and crayons recently and was curious to try using the Caran D’ache Neocolor II crayons in a fine art piece.

On one of my trips to Dick Blick's a while ago I picked up a small piece (8” x 8”) of Aquabord to experiment with. I liked the idea of using it here as the surface is rather rough and I thought it would work well to show the roughness of the tree bark in my picture.

Picking a palette

In starting a new piece my first step is always to choose a palette. Although I may add additional colors later on, I think it's best to do some planning before you start. Flying blind with color can lead to some awkward color passages and disharmonies later on.

I use hole-punched pieces of white watercolor paper (nice and heavy) to match little pieces of color in my reference photo with the Inktense and Neocolor II swatches in my swatch book.

Once the palette is chosen I'm ready to start the piece. Here is a look at my workspace with palette swatches, brushes, a sponge, and q-tips for applying and softening color, pencil sharpener, Inktense pencils (in cup), mechanical pencil, and some of my Neocolor II crayons laid out and ready to go.

Here is the reference photo I chose to work with in this piece.

I used graphite transfer paper to transfer the basic image shapes to the Aquabord.

The Painting

To begin the painting I laid down color with Inktense pencils to create the out-of-focus background. After applying the color I smoothed it with q-tips wet with a moderate amount of water. The Inktense pencils create very bright colors that will be enhanced and softened by Neocolor crayons later on.

Here is the Chickadee with Neocolor II crayons added over the Inktense pencils in the background. Fairly opaque in nature, they helped create more variation and richness to the background as a whole. At this stage the background is nearly complete.

Next I began working on the darkest darks in the tree branches in the middle ground with Inktense pencils. I have also colored the bird’s eye for tonal reference. The eye will remain the darkest dark in the entire piece.

I have developed the branches a bit farther here and added a tiny bit of work on the bird itself. At this stage the colors you see in the middle and foreground are still in Inktense only. I have not yet started adding the Neocolor crayons to the branches.

Here we see the main branch completed after adding several layers of Neocolor II crayons. I have also started adding Neocolor to the other branches.

With more detail (Neocolor II) added to the other two major branches and a bit of color (Inktense) added to the bird, the painting is beginning to come together.

The piece is almost done now. Just the final details and some smoothing of the color is left to do. At this stage I like to leave the piece for a few days so that I can contemplate what still needs to be done after a break. Sometimes, I’ll turn the painting upside-down and look at it next to the reference photo (also upside-down) to see if the shapes and colors are matching well. Turning a piece upside-down can help remove your ego from your thought process and simply analyze the shapes and colors for accuracy.

Chickadee 8" x 8"
Neocolor II crayons and Inktense pencils on Aquabord

Well, here it is! The finished Chickadee painting. I am most pleased by how this new medium worked out for me. It was satisfying in both a tactile and a visual way. High marks for enjoyment!

Here are some close-up images from the painting:

Close-up of the main branch

Close-up of the bird

I hope that this tutorial has been helpful and even inspiring. Creating this painting has certainly been the most fun I’ve had using crayons since the second grade! Why not try this technique yourself? If you do, I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to send me a link too so I can see what you've created! If you liked seeing my step-by-step process here please let me know and I'll post more how-to's in this style in the future. :-)

Who says a crayon can't be used to create art? Chickadee finale

2011-07-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

Chickadee 8"x 8"
Neocolor II crayons and Inktense pencils on Aquabord

Well, here it is! The Chickadee painting. I am most pleased by how this new medium worked out for me. It was satisfying in both a tactile and a visual way. High marks for enjoyment! I am looking forward to trying some other subjects in this style. I have a really good feeling about it. :-)

Here is the entire sequence of the piece from start to finish.

Cheers!

Chickadee Part 6 and nearly done!

2011-07-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

Almost done! The final details are left to refine but after that...it's done!! :-D

Chickadee Part 5

2011-07-20T00:07:00.000-07:00

With more detail (Neocolor II) added to the other two major branches and a bit of color (Inktense) added to the bird, the painting is beginning to come together. I am really enjoying the play of Neocolor II crayons on the rough texture of the Aquabord. Together, they create a really nice, textural, harmony. :-)

Chickadee Part 4

2011-07-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

The main branch is now looking much more complete after adding several layers of Neocolor II crayons. The Neocolor crayons are really lovely to work with, very tactile as only crayons (or maybe oil pastels) can be. For me this makes the layering process quite enjoyable!

Now to get working on the bird herself... ;-)

Chickadee Part 3

2011-07-15T15:50:00.000-07:00

Here is the chickadee today with more development on the branches and a tiny bit of work on the bird itself. At this stage the colors you see in the middle and foreground are still the Inktense base. I have not yet started adding the Neocolor crayons. I will deliberately leave the bird's eye in Inktense only as I like the shininess of it.

Chickadee Part 2

2011-07-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here is the Chickadee with the background mostly completed. Since the last update, I've added Neocolor II crayons over the Inktense pencils in the background. This created more variation in color and a bit more richness to background as a whole.

At this point, I have just started working on the tree branches in the middle ground with Inktense pencils.

Yes, you can use q-tips and crayons for fine art! Chickadee Painting

2011-07-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

I have recently started a new piece in Inktense pencils and Caran D’ache Neocolor II water-soluble crayons. What a delight! I took my cue from Mona Majorowicz and her Squidoo lenses about using Inktense with Neocolor II crayons in her wonderful animal paintings.

I simply had to give it a try! Although Mona frequently uses Suede Board as the support for her paintings, I decided to use Aquabord for my test piece. The Aquabord surface is quite rough and I felt this would be appropriate for the woody subject I had chosen.

In starting the piece the first step was to choose my palette. I used hole-punched pieces of white watercolor paper (nice and heavy) to match little pieces of color in my reference photo with the Inktense and Neocolor II swatches in my swatch book.

After choosing my palette, next I assembled my tools. Here is a picture of all the pieces laid out. And yes, those are q-tips. I quickly discovered that they were the best choice to smooth the Neocolor II crayons. Brushes work too but dilute the effect of the opaque crayons. On the rough surface, the crayons have been giving me really wonderful textural effects.

Here is stage one of the painting with the background laid in, mostly in Inktense pencils. The brightness of the Inktense provided a wonderful base for the Neocolor II crayons.

Please come by again and watch how the painting progresses. :-)

Fun Recycled Crayons!

2011-07-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I went to the Saturday Farmer’s Market in local Redmond, WA. As I wandered, I found myself thinking about an upcoming project (creating a series of themed coloring books.). While strolling, my eye caught on a sign that read, “recycled crayons.” I noticed a series of baskets filled with a plethora of bright shapes including ladybugs, motorcycles, and fish made from crayons.

I was drawn in like a magpie! I had a delightful conversation with the shop owner, Chelsea Johansen (of CheyLoCreations) and her mother and decided that I had to have one of the cute, vermillion ladybug crayons. The only problem is that I’m not sure I can bare the thought of disfiguring it by drawing with it! All the same, what a fun idea! If you'd like to pick up a few recycled crayons for yourself, Chelsea has an Etsy store, www.etsy.com/shop/cheylocreations, where you can see not only her recycled crayons, but also some of the her other wonderful products.

Chelsea tells me that she's at the Farmer's Market most every Saturday, so if you're in the area, do stop by and say "hi."

Recycled crayons with an undersea theme

My ladybug crayon 2"x 2"

Seven (7) Reasons Why Crayons Make Great Art Tools

2011-07-06T23:58:00.000-07:00

"Pansies" 6.5cm x 9cm, crayola crayons

Most people like crayons and aren’t afraid to use them.
They are really inexpensive – you can get a 120 count box for under $10.
You can share them with your kids and color together.
They create very rich colors.
You can layer them, lay down flat color with them, or use pointillist techniques to create art that looks really good!
Coloring outside the lines remains fun even when you’re grown up.
They are non-toxic (but you still probably shouldn’t eat them!)

New sketch kit

2011-07-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy (US) Independence Day! I hope you all have had a good and safe holiday. We had a really nice day cruising around the area looking at homes for sale, baking cookies for a nice elderly couple next door and finally going to a wonderful party at a neighbor's home. :-)

This past weekend I decided to redo my current sketch kit. The old one just wasn't feeling quite right any more. Here’s my new configuration.

My new sketch kit - so far, I'm pretty happy with it.

I have added all new half pans to my old Winsor & Newton Cotman travel watercolor box and filled them with a new palette of Daniel Smith watercolors. Here are the colors I’ve chosen: Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Gold, French Ochre, Transparent Red Oxide, Transparent Pyrrol Orange, Quinacridone Coral, Cobalt Blue Violet, Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine, Venetian Red, Sepia, Serpentine Genuine, and Payne’s Grey.

Also in my kit I have two Noodler’s Flex pens (one filled with Platinum Carbon Black and the other with Noodler’s Fox Red), two waterbrushes, a ruler, pencil, tiny eraser, and a tiny travel brush (that I may yet replace with a better folding brush.) Add to this some paper towels, a pencil case and my moleskin, and I’m ready to go.

Here are the first two sketches I made with this particular kit.

Another thing I’m working on right now is simplifying the pen work in my sketches to make more “room” for the color. I’m pretty happy with these first two attempts. Using simpler pen lines makes the entire drawing seem more peaceful and I like that. I'm looking forward to some sketching time this week for more "road testing." ;-)

The Fine Art Shop at Flying Pony Studios is now open for business!

2011-07-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

For many years I have served the public as a massage therapist and a fine artist/illustrator. There is always a lot of pressure when one is in business for oneself. You always feel that you have something to prove to the world. This creates (at least for me) the feeling that you’re pushing against yourself and trying to force your will upon others. Some people don’t seem to mind this feeling of imposition but the truth is that you can never “get” anyone to buy your services or products. That is a false assumption. What is real is that the world is full of very creative and wonderful souls who desperately want to share with others what they have brought into this world with great care and joy.

I have met many of these folks on Facebook, Yahoo groups and other forums, and sites such as LinkedIn. I am astounded and grateful for the amazing creative souls that continue to pop up in my life every day.

As I was designing and setting up my new shop I realized that I had changed in a profound way. I no longer wished to try and “convince” anyone to buy my products and services. I no longer had anything left to prove. My desire is to share my work with the world. In doing so I hope that some people will find resonance with it and want to buy it. We as artists (or service providers) can hope for no more than that. Do you like my inner vision? We ask through our art. *smile* We can only hope that for some, the answer will be “Yes!”

Please come and share my visions. You can find the BRAND NEW Flying Pony Studios shop here. While you’re there, please take a moment to check out my home page where you can download some FREE clip art when you sign-up for my mailing list. In the future I will be adding more cards, fine art prints, clip art CD’s, and a line of kid’s coloring and paper doll books all based around a very cute, very fat, pony named Basil. My mailing list will keep you up-to-date on all my newest products and you’ll also get my newsletter which is packed with how-to art tips, free clip art give-a-ways, and other amazing things that I haven’t even thought of yet.

I hope you will stop by and take a walk through my new shop. It’s been a long time in coming!

Peace,

Sara

PS. Oh! There’s one more thing. Please let me know if you find ANYTHING that’s not working in the store so that I can fix it. After all, the paint is still wet on the walls. ;-)

Drawing With Pen & Ink - Part 3

2011-06-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

The Unique Qualities of Pen Drawings

Pen and ink has some distinctive features. The first is the pen itself. Unlike a pencil or crayon, the pen gives off no color or tone by itself. You have to add ink. The pen point is pretty fine, so, unless you have a brush to deliver it, ink is laid down only a little at a time. Covering large areas with ink produced from a single fine delivery point becomes impractical. For this reason, pen & ink pieces are generally smaller than other artwork mediums like watercolor.

Wildly varying values that exactly mimic nature tend to be difficult to create in pen & ink. For this reason a lot of mental editing is required by the artist. Much information may need to be left out or simply implied in order to create a pleasing piece that makes sense to the viewer’s eyes.

Tonal values are frequently under-used or even disregarded in pen drawings. The lack of values are replaced by the use of outline. No other art technique uses the outline the way pen drawings do. The use of the outline, along with the particular method of tone building using lines and dots to build up “color” are two of the distinctive characteristics of pen drawings.

Lovely Lines

The suggestive nature of good line work leaves much to our imaginations. The crispness and directness of pen drawings make them full of light and life. The very expressiveness of the lines themselves can become the focal point of the piece.

It is the graceful suggestion of form and shape through line work that makes pen drawings so effective. They are at once restful and graceful to the eye. As the beginning pen and ink artist learns quickly, it takes practice to see and understand what to leave out and what values to reverse in order to suggest a shape in a pen drawing. These are necessary steps in creating an effective image. Like any skill, it takes practice. But like most skills, it is well worth practicing. :-)

Drawing With Pen & Ink - Part 2: Line vs. Tone Artwork

2011-06-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

In this article I want to share some of the concepts from a classic pen and ink book by Arthur Guptill called, “Drawing with Pen & Ink.” (This book is out of print but I believe it has been reprinted as “Rendering in Pen and Ink: The Classic Book On Pen and Ink Techniques for Artists, Illustrators, Architects, and Designers,” written by Arthur L. Guptill and edited by Susan E. Meyer.

Line and Tone Artwork
According to Guptill, pen drawing as a separate and complete art form is comparatively recent, only appearing in the last quarter of the 19th Century. The pen was, of course, used in art much earlier, you have only to look at the illuminations of the Middle Ages or the studies of various old masters to see that. What Guptill is describing are pen drawings as pieces of fine art in their own right, not as adjuncts to calligraphy or as parts of preliminary studies for later finished paintings.

Photomechanical reproduction techniques played a large role in the popularity of pen drawing as a separate and distinct art form. Before the advent of computers, scanners, and digital separation techniques, artwork for reproduction was divided into two basic categories: “line” and “tone” artwork. Color artwork that needed to be separated into several colors for printing was “tone.” Graphite pencil, as well as other techniques using graded shades of gray or color, were also considered “tone.”

"Rose Horse," mixed media, an example of a "tone" drawing. (copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011)

Pen drawings made up of black lines or dots were considered “line” artwork for the purposes of reproduction. Line artwork was easier to reproduce. There was little needed in the way of proofing by artists and printers. It was either too light, too dark, or just right.

Although a complex pen drawing may look like it has many shades of grey within it, it is still, strictly speaking, only black and white. The skillful use of shading with lines or dots is what makes black and white “line” artwork appear to look like graded “tone.”

"Armored Horse," pen, an example of "line" artwork. (Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2011)

Nowadays, with digital reproduction techniques, all of these old forms are no longer important. What remains important is to understand why pen & ink became so popular in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Simply put, it was cheaper and easier reproduce. It also usually reproduced well. What about that isn’t good?

Next up in Part 3 – The Unique Qualities of Pen Drawings

Horse Art: “Two Roans”

2011-06-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

"Two Roans" Polychromos pencils on Rivers paper

I finally finished “Two Roans” today. What a long delay, eh? The last post about it was here. I put this piece out of sight for a while as I wanted to look at it with fresh eyes. I was trying something experimental with the black and white portion and wanted to see if I really liked it. I think I do. I thought about adding an entirely black and white background behind the horses. But as I hadn't planned for it ahead of time I was too nervous to try it with this piece. Next time I’ll plan for it we'll see how it looks.

What do you think of the color bleeding off the horses?

Free Clip Art! And other new additions to Flying Pony Studios.

2011-06-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

For the past few months I’ve been working diligently to expand Flying Pony Studios into some exciting new directions. Here are some of the products and services I can now offer you.

•    Free CLIP ART. Sign up for my newsletter and receive four (4) pieces of high-quality clip art for free!

•    The Flying Pony Studios Newsletter – includes instructional art and design articles for every level of artist or do-it-yourself maven, monthly drawings for limited release clip art images offered only to newsletter subscribers, and so much more!

•    The Flying Pony Studios Blog (you are here) - features a variety of articles targeted at artists. Topics include: professional-level instructional art articles, art supply product reviews, the use of color in art, and all the newest information about Flying Pony Studios’ fine art releases and other new products as they become available.

•    The Flying Pony Studios Shop – is filled with all sorts of yummy things. Greeting cards, fine art prints, and coming soon, paper dolls and coloring books! Something for everyone.

•    Pet Portraits and MangaPets - Our pets are important members of our families. We wish we could keep them with us forever but sadly, we can’t. The creation of a personalized pet portrait is a timeless way of keeping your beloved animal companion with you always. Whether the style you choose is formal or funky, a Flying Pony Studios pet portrait is a very personal and special way of remembering your very best friend.

•    Freelance Illustration Services – looking for illustrations but can’t find the right ones to suit your project or job? I’m your gal! With over twenty years of experience as a freelance illustrator, I’m sure I can assist you with the creation of that perfect image for your project.

My goal is to be of service to you as an artist. Whether that means helping you learn a particular art technique, creating a personalized illustration for you, or painting a large and lovely portrait of your beloved animal companion, I am here for you.

Please visit www.flyingponystudios.com to download your free clip art today!

All my best,

Sara

Noodler’s Flex Pen Review

2011-06-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

Today's sketch done with my new Noodler's Flex pen with Fox Red ink

Well, here’s the short and sweet…I’m a fan. A big fan. I’ve been looking for my two new Noodler’s pens (Piston Fill fountain pen and Flex pen) for some time and didn’t even know it. Well, I did know it, but I didn’t know I’d find them in a Noodler’s pen. (I didn’t even know that Noodler’s made pens a few months back!)

I was able to get two clear demonstrator Flex pens from Goulet Pens this week and both seem to have their own characters. One, that I currently have filled with Noodler’s “Swan in Australian Roses” ink, has a stiffer nib and is much less wet than the other. I like the drier feel of the first pen and so took the other pen apart to reset the nib and feed. That helped quite a bit but the second pen still remains a bit more wet in its feed than the first. Funny thing is, I like actually like that pen better. It’s just a bit messier to use. That pen is currently filled with Noodler’s “Fox Red” and I’ve had red ink stains on my hands since I got it. Now I do take pride in that, but people have asked me about it. And the tissue I’ve been using to wipe off the nib does tend to look like I’ve just gotten a pretty bad bloody nose.

Noodler's Flex pen tests

The nib is medium/fine and seems to be the perfect width for my drawing style. You can get a reasonably good amount of flex out of it, although you have to press pretty hard. Of course too much pressure and you get undesirable “railroad track” marks. I’m still figuring out the exact pressure ratio.

The pen feels good in my hand and although it doesn’t have the heft of a more expensive pen, that really doesn’t worry me as I’m familiar with dip pens with cheap pen holders. The filling mechanism seems to work just fine and the pen is pretty attractive to my eyes. But the most important part is that it writes and draws well. I’m finding that the pleasurable experience of drawing with ink is definitely enhanced by a good pen. I really enjoyed my sketching experience today and realized that I hadn’t been having that sort of experience lately with some of my other pens.

Noodler's Flex pen tests page 2

So the summation is that I’m hooked! I’m looking forward to many pleasurable drawing experiences with my new pens. I’m going to do some experimenting with ink colors now as well. As you can see, I’ve been enjoying the red ink. I’m less enchanted with the “Swan in Australian Roses.” It’s nice but I feel ready to move on to another color. Next up for that pen is a nice brown. I am very fond of drawing in sepia ink

Many thanks to Rachel and Brian of Goulet Pens. They were so very nice and their videos have already been quite helpful. I’ll definitely be buying from them again!

Noodler’s Flex pen! Arrived safe and sound.

2011-06-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

I’m going to pause briefly before part 2 of my pen & ink article to boast that my Noodler’s Flex pen and ink samples arrived today from Goulet Pens! Yeah! There was a true “pen stampede” to buy them last Monday. I give huge kudos to the folks at Goulet Pens who handled the rush with so much grace.

I haven’t yet tried out the pen but will be tonight or tomorrow. I’m very excited to see what it can do! Loving my Noodler’s piston-fill pen the way I do, I can only imagine that the Flex pen will also become one of my favorites. I was able to get a clear demonstrator model which I thought was a great idea because you can see what color of ink you’ve put in it. This seems very convenient if you plan to change back and forth between two identical pens with a different colors of ink in each.

Goulet offers ink samples in sets or individually and they have many colors and brands of inks to choose from. What a great way to experiment with new ink colors without buying a whole bottle. I ordered a Noodler’s sample set of nine inks and two others, Noodler’s “Golden Brown” and Noodler’s “Fox Red.” The sample set comes with several inks I’m particularly excited about trying, “Black Swan in Australian Roses” and “Apache Sunset,” both of which look like lovely colors.

So here I am at once doing a massive business rebuild (mentioned in a previous post) while getting itchy fingers to play with my new pen. I suppose it’s a great incentive to work a bit more tonight and then let myself scribble to my heart's content! :-)

Drawing With Pen & Ink - Part 1

2011-06-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

"Jack" - pen & ink rendering done in a tight style.

Pen and Ink is one of my favorite mediums of expression. The feeling of quietly adding marks to a paper is very relaxing for me and always has been. Of course, this doesn’t apply when you’re in a hurry, but if you can get “into the zone,” you’ve got it made.

Many people have asked me over the years how I can work in a medium that really is quite unforgiving. Although there are ways to make corrections, by and large, pen and ink is a not an-easily-correctable medium. So how do I keep my stress levels down while working with it? Practice with a pen, first and foremost. Planning with a pencil before applying ink. Finally, a determined mindset that doesn’t allow space to think about my lines being wrong. If they are, well then, I correct them. If a piece goes too disastrously wrong, I start again. In that way it’s similar to watercolor. Planning can make a big difference in any medium that isn’t easy to correct.

For pen and ink work practicing “your hand” is very important. In other words training your hand and arm motions to be consistent. Having been trained as a draughtsman in the old school (pre-AutoCAD) I learned how to make pretty straight lines without a ruler and to make all sorts of other consistent and repeatable marks as well. This is so true today that my scrawly signature looks the same EVERY time. This is because I can copy the same hand and arm motions each time. Piece of cake really! I continue to practice making marks whenever I think of it. Buying my new Noodler's pen was a wonderful opportunity to catch up on my practicing last night.

Pen & ink practice exercises

Pen and ink illustration today (not cartooning which has always been stylized) is, by and large, pretty tight. That is to say, the popular rendering styles of the current day tend to be highly accurate and photographic. This wasn’t always the case. Classic pen and ink styles have also included looser and more stylized drawings, as were common in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

As an example here are two pen and ink drawings by well-known artists. The first one is by Henry Pitz from the mid-20th Century and the second is by Claudia Nice from the late 20th. Similar subjects but handled quite differently. Which do you like best?


By Henry Pitz

By Claudia Nice

In Part 2 of this article I’ll talk about a classic pen & ink book and some of the history of the field.

Falling In Love All Over Again

2011-06-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

My new Noodler's piston fill fountain pen
Did I mention that I got it in turquoise? I love turquoise!

Okay, okay I'm a pen snob. I admit it. I have many drawing pens and am constantly searching for “just the right one.” Recently I got so disgusted while working on salable clip art that I went back to using nib pens for my studio work. Thus far they're the only pens that have given me the line quality that I've been looking for. Of course, while they're wonderful for studio use, a nib pen is not a good choice for outdoor sketching. Not practical and extremely messy if your ink bottle finds a way to leak. So what to do?

I have a Parker fountain pen that I just love for writing and drawing too, although it has a bit of a heavy line. Recently I have been reading about the Noodler’s Flex pen and was interested in trying it out. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one reading the good reviews (including Nina Johansson’s, thank you Nina for the great review!) and the pen has been sold out all over the Internet. And though I have inquired in no less than four states at pen shops, no one has it stock.

A fan of Noodler’s ink, but with no previous knowledge of their pens, I went to the University bookstore in Seattle (a great store by the way, in case you ever are close by) and tried out another Noodler’s pen, the piston-fill fountain pen. It was love at first line! The nib is medium-fine and creates a wonderful line. The pen is lightweight and Matt says that it looks very good in my hand. (He’s even more of a pen snob than I am!). It’s true that it’s a single line width, but it’s such a nice pen that with a Pitt brush pen along for adding thicker lines, I’m all set. The barrel twists to fill with ink and it seems to hold much more ink than many pens with ink converters. The windows in the barrel let you know when your ink supply is getting low. After a weekend of drawing with it, I’m totally hooked. Kudos to Noodler’s for making a great pen!

Here's another sketch I made with my new pen and watercolor pencils. It's a canid skull from the "Wolves" exhibit at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington.

Canid Skull, pen & ink with watercolor pencil

PS. I did manage to order a Noodler’s Flex pen this morning from Goulet pens. What nice people! They also sell ink samples so I’ve got a few colored ink samples coming along to try out in the new Flex pen. After I’ve had a chance to try it out, I’ll let you all know how it stacks up against to my new favorite turquoise Noodler’s piston-fill pen. My hope is that together, they'll be an unbeatable pair.

Finally! A new post!

2011-05-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

This is just a hello post to let everyone know that I have not exactly dropped off the face of the Earth. It was close though...

Just kidding.

The month of May absolutely flew by with the end of the month punctuated by a 10-day trip to the East Coast for two Memorials (one for my Mother) which included a rather long and unnecessarily convoluted travel itinerary up and down the East Coast. Exhausting!

But now that I'm home with my feet actually touching ground, it's back to life, love, and art for me.

Soon I will be upgrading my Flying Pony Studios website with some fun new features and PRODUCTS at long last! It'll be an on-going process and one that I'm super excited about. When the relaunch occurs, you'll hear about it here first, but suffice to say that Flying Pony Studios is entering a brand new and really cool era. One that I'm certain will bring new ideas and opportunities for expansive play to many people. So please stay tuned!

Getting more colorful

2011-05-04T23:29:00.000-07:00


"Two Roans"

Here's the newest update on the heavy horses. I like the progress of the piece but I have to admit to some frustration over the soft finish of the Rivers paper. It's pretty paper but a bit too delicate for my tastes. I miss the harder finish of my usual Stonehenge or Canson paper. I'm finding the colors aren't sitting very firmly on this paper either, smudging easily. I'm also finding myself worrying about the paper surface being compromised when I lift off color. Sigh. The cost of experimentation! At least you learn what not to do in the future!

Beautiful day to sketch!

2011-05-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

Finally a sunny warm day! Ah Spring can it be you? :-)

I simply couldn't resist doing some sketching in the sunshine today while the horses ate lunch. It was so nice to see everyone with their blankets off - at long last. These sketches were done in my Moleskin with water-soluable ink and touches of watercolor. :-)

My new Caran d'Ache Neocolor II set!

2011-04-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

I just had to share my newest art supply purchase with you today - an 84 color box of Caran d'Ache Neocolor II watersoluable crayons! I'm pretty excited about them. I have had a handful of Neocolor II's for years and have recently started playing with them. I mean - crayons! At my age! How cool is that? I've been very inspired by Mona Majorowicz's work with them at Wild Faces Gallery. She's written some lenses for Squidoo about Neocolor II's that I've really enjoyed reading.

Lee Hammand also has a book out called, Amazing Crayon Drawing With Lee Hammond: Create Lifelike Portraits, Pets, Landscapes and More. I've just ordered it from the library and can't wait to take a closer look at it.

Whenever I get a new color art tool I happily record the colors in my black, hardbound sketchbook. Here is my newest Caran d'Ache Neocolor II color chart.

I'm eager to get start testing these crayons and the effects that I can get with them.

Adding Color to the Roans

2011-04-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

The big horses are beginning to have real horse colors! Yeah! Progress, progress. :-)

Horses of a different color

2011-04-27T13:44:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that this is a funny posting, It looks like I'm doing a St. Patty's day piece. Green horses...? What? I do have a method to my madness however. I have been working on creating grayed complements in my colored pencil pieces - in other words - creating more colorful neutrals by mixing complementary colors instead of just using straight (and therefore more flat) grays. This can make your underpainting look like you're painting Martian animals, but the results are really worth it! This is the same technique I used in my latest commission and in the peacock earrings and it seems to be working out quite well.

Here are parts 2 and 2.5 of "Two Roans." The first is shown with dry watercolor pencils and the second with the colors wetted.

Part 2 - Dry watercolor pencil

Part 2.5 - Wetted watercolor pencil

Next I'll apply Polychromos pencils and start neutralizing those greens and purples.

Starting a new piece today.

2011-04-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

"Two Roans"- line drawing

I am starting a new colored pencil piece today whose working title is, “Two Roans.” I have long intended to do a painting of these two draft horses. I took the photo several years ago somewhere in Arizona. Tombstone perhaps? I really love draft horses, though I have done precious little draft horse art. Perhaps that will change with this piece. I have always loved these big gentle giants with feet the size of dinner plates. ;-)

I am going use the same technique in this piece as I used in the peacock feather earrings. That is to say, an underpainting of Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils (in a limited palette of Dark Indigo, Delft Blue, Indanthrene Blue, Pine Green, and Manganese Violet. Then over the top I'll lay down Polychromos colored pencils. I'm using a new paper for this one, with a very soft, but not velour, finish. I think it's a Rives paper, but I'm embarrassed to tell to you that if I did write down the paper's name when I bought it, I've lost the note. Fortunately, I know exactly where to find more at Daniel Smith's! ;-)

EDM # 294 - Draw something that makes you smile

2011-04-21T23:06:00.000-07:00

EDM challenge #294 (Something that makes me smile.)

I love the EDM challenges. They help me make time to draw things I might not otherwise get around to drawing. For example, these earrings. My husband gave me these peacock feather earrings at Christmas last year. They are so fun and colorful! I really wanted to draw them but couldn’t seem to find the time. I was between projects this week and wanted something relaxing to draw. Enter EDM challenge 294 – “Draw Something That Makes You Smile.”

This drawing is rendered in Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils (for the under-drawing) and Polychromos colored pencils on Stonehenge paper. I’m getting a feel for the oil-based Polychromos pencils. They are so different in character from my usual Prismacolors that it's taken me a little while to get used to them. But they're worth it! The colors are quite rich making them quite the pleasure to work with. I also quite like the Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils. They have a wonderful feel to them. Both types of pencils are color indexed meaning that the same colors will match exactly between the Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils and the Polychromos colored pencils.

I haven't completely disappeared

2011-04-21T01:18:00.000-07:00

...although it might look like it. I've actually been working very hard for the past few weeks restructuring my other business, Sacred Touch Healing, a holistic multi-species massage practice. I hope to have the lion's share of it done by the end of April. In the meantime, I've doing some experimentation with Polychromos Colored Pencils underpainted with Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils. I'll post the piece in the next few days. It's EDM Challenge # 294.

Word has come in that I didn't win either contest I'd recently entered. Disappointing, but not really. There are a lot of wonderful artists out there and I was proud of the pieces I entered. Both pieces showed artistic growth and that means the experience was a success. :-)

White Dog Day

2011-04-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

White Shepherd (pen & ink highlighted with watercolor pencils)

I have always found white dogs to be tricky in pen & ink. My tendency is to overwork them and then they become too dark. Today I restrained my hand as much as possible. *chuckle* Here’s my white dog practice from today. Happy white dog day everyone! ;-)

The Intersection Between Art and Craft.

2011-04-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

"Two Dogs 1"

I have always loved art but also crafts. When I was little I made my own dollhouses out of shoe boxes and doll furniture out of defunct and then upholstered laundry detergent caps. As I became more of a fine artist/illustrator I tended to segregate the two interests, doing one or the other at any given time. Recently I’ve realized that people have begun to overlap the two categories very successfully. One of the ways I’ve seen this done is in art journaling. Writers like L.K. Ludwig and Traci Bunkers have been inspirational to me in my first steps in this rather freeing, cross-over endeavor.

Here are two pieces I’ve recently done in a series called “Two Dogs.” They’ve been great fun to do and I’ve used lots of different tools to create them including: pen & ink, tube watercolor, Neocolor II water-soluble pastels, Inktense pencils, Distress Inks, salt, and a bunch of handmade stamps and stencils. It's a really interesting and fun process!

"Two Dogs 2"

Here is the text of the “Two Dogs: story:

Two dogs went walking in a field. They were alone until they saw a deer standing alone, far off in the distance. One dog said, “let’s run after that deer, catch it and eat it.” The other dog said, “why should we bother when we have good food at home to eat?” The first dog said, “we are dogs, we are hunters, we eat deer.” The second dog said, “are we still?” Both stood and watched and did nothing. The deer looked back and after a moment sprinted back to the woods, unharmed. The second dog said, “we’re not hunters anymore.” The first dog said, “I’m glad.” Soon thereafter they returned home.

Thinking about business and art

2011-04-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

I grew up as one of those people who were taught that you couldn’t make money being an artist. Ironically, my father is an artist, an oil/acrylic painter, and has been for most of his life. But that was as a hobby only and he's always been very clear about that. It’s funny how our parents’ expectations have such insidious and long-lasting effects upon us. My father was a dentist and educator while painting on the side. I have been a health care professional (massage therapist and educator) for more than 20 years while also trying to have an art business. I have done so twice, officially, once in the early 1990’s in Tucson, and again now, in the greater Seattle area.

In between, I was doing various artistic things (and many times for commissions or sales) but my shingle wasn’t really up at that time. So here I am now, about to launch phase two of Flying Pony Studios – my freelance illustration business.

In the past few days I have broken through a long-standing barrier in my art business (massage too in truth). I have realized that the pattern of professional vs. hobby in my life has been there by virtue of training and inertia.

It's time to change all of that! I knew it yesterday in the way you know when you’re finally really ready to make a big change in your life. Today I began taking my business(s) into the realm of real, practical, business planning. I have given myself the rest of April to make my way through a chosen business workbook. I have made this an absolute priority! By the end of the month I will have made some significant changes to my businesses. And you know what…? I am delighted beyond words! It’s time to lose the old paradigm and create a whole new one. One wherein I will have a full and prosperous client list filled with people who I am thrilled to be working for. Time to make it happen!

Exhausted but pleased!

2011-03-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

“Woman Reading [Harper’s] Bazaar”

Well, I did it! I finished (and submitted) my piece for the Rock Your Inner Rockwell contest. I am very pleased with the results. Not only do I think it turned out well (and on time!) but I was also most happy with my process. I’d like to walk you through it today in case others might be interested.

With such a short deadline (see last post) I had to work fast to get this piece done. I started by taking a careful look at the composition and color palette of the original Rockwell piece I was recreating. In “Girl Reading The Post.” Rockwell used a cool color palette that was loosely organized into a split complementary color scheme. I decided to follow the master’s advice and also stick with cool colors in a split complementary palette. I didn’t choose the same colors Rockwell used in his piece, but since the scheme was similar, I knew that it would appear similar enough.

I decided to work a little smaller in size (9"x12') than I might ordinarily, again to save time. I intended to use only my Prismacolors for this piece but ran into some problems which encouraged me to expand my pencil choices. The biggest problem was that all of my pencil sharpeners started having major issues at once. I like to work with very sharp points and my good old Panasonic electric sharpener crapped out on me late yesterday. I then turned to several manual sharpeners and started having trouble with them too, breaking leads and chewing up casings. When I finally thought to dig up a few graphite pencils to sharpen between my waxy Prismas, things got better. But by then I’d so destroyed a few of my single pencil colors (see if I go into a rush piece with only one of any color again!) that I needed to pull out some Polychromos to fill in. (I do love the Polychromos colors, they are so vibrant!) I also got out my Verithins to use for some of the detail work on the magazine cover. I must say they handled the details fabulously.

It’s rare for me to do a slice-of-life urban scene like this. But it turns out that I really enjoyed the subject matter and process I used to create it. With this one done, perhaps I’ll turn my hand to other similar subjects. It’s a new and intriguing idea for me and one I’m most curious to explore. :-)

Another contest?! What???

2011-03-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

"Girl Reading The Post" by Norman Rockwell

I write this under another incredible deadline. What?!! Ok, let’s start from the beginning…

Last weekend Matt and I ventured down to the Tacoma Art Museum to take in a wonderful traveling show of Norman Rockwell’s art including ALL the covers he did for “The Saturday Evening Post.” That represented over 300 covers spanning more than 50 years. Wow!

I love Rockwell. He was a modern master and incredibly expert at what he did. It was truly amazing seeing so much of his work in one place. So very inspiring to me both as an illustrator and as someone who frequently works from photographs. He did both right, really right!

While we were there we also participated in an interactive exhibit called “Mighty Tacoma: Photographic Portrait” an exhibition to honor the museum’s 75th anniversary. You can see our picture (mugging for the camera in a very Rockwell manner) on my Flickr site. I really like that museum, it was really friendly and well put together. If we lived closer I would definitely be a docent for them, no question about it. :-)

I brought home a “City Arts” magazine from the museum and saw that the magazine and the museum are collaborating on an art contest wherein you are asked to update one of Rockwell’s pieces in your own voice. Then, as fantastic coincidence would have it, later that day I saw a woman in EXACTLY THE SAME POSE as one of the Rockwell pieces in the show. My mouth dropped open! I quickly grabbed my phone and took a quiet snapshot. And so here we are…

The deadline for the contest is this Thursday! My piece is now well under way and looks good so far. I’ll write a blog entry about my process later in the week but for now I’m am chugging along full speed to the music of Paul Simon. Here I go, with the wind filling my sails.

Walker and Cocoa

2011-03-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

"Walker & Cocoa" (16"x 20" Prismacolor pencils on Stonehenge paper)

I've been working on this portrait for a while but can finally show it off since I delivered it to my happy clients today. This is a portrait of Walker and Cocoa, two young German Short-Haired Pointers. They are brother and sister and as unlike as they could be. Walker (with the mottled coat) is a mellow male and Cocoa (mainly solid brown) is a very active female. They're each in training to be field hunting dogs and, as I understand it, Cocoa is a hunting star. Walker is good too, mind you, but Cocoa is fast and sharp-eyed. Girls take note, this little dog has it all over the big guys! ;-)

Steampunk Journal

2011-03-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

Idea Ledger and bookmark

Today, I decided I needed a bigger journal (as opposed to a sketchbook) in which to keep my notes, ideas for new art and designs, and other catch-all-write-down stuff. I decided to spruce up a very old, hard-backed journal that's been sitting on my shelf for a while now.

I am really fond of Steampunk and couldn't resist giving this journal a Steampunk theme. The card on the lower left is a bookmark, made large because the journal is large. I had such fun doing this one that I'm thinking I may do a few more to sell on Etsy. Yeah!

Spring Equinox "Supermoon"

2011-03-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words