Late Nights

Once again, it was time to call it a night but, of course, when the brushes are having insomnia, someone has to assist.

I was just messing around with various affects and tried to get the feel of the Serengeti with the trees and tall wildlife.

Motivation………. ¿si o no?

A friend of mine, a watercolor artist, E. Louise Graves, (she had some work displayed at a gallery in Santa Fe) recently asked me if I was planning to enter some small sized work into an art show in February.  I don’t have any recent work that would qualify for this show so it would require me to fire up the brushes and whip something out.

Firstly, I don’t really have much interest in art shows per se, probably because I’ve never been the sort that could win in “political” situations where I have to have the savvy to know what people/judges like and when they like it.

So, because the seed was planted, I’ve been thinking about what I might want to paint. AND what I could paint that was small. Hmmmmm.

I really like horses. They are probably the animal I most favor in the whole world.  A lot of southwest-type artists will paint horses and they are really good at it. Not interested in competing with that. And I like carousel horses although I haven’t thought of them until a day or two ago.

Tonight, as I am winding down to prepare for tomorrow which is going to be a busy day, I get this urge to………… start a painting. And I want to do a carousel horse. Okie dokie then.

I begin with an 8×10 canvas board and cerulean blue paint. Love that color. And then I leave this big ol’ white spot, semi-shaped like a horse’s head with a wild, flying mane. “Well, I better color in the white area with white paint”, I said to myself. “Can’t be leaving exposed canvas, now can I?” I create a jawline and a muzzle and where the eye and ear would be……

Ended up with a foundation for my carousel horse’s head and the desire to continue with the piece.

Perhaps it will be done in time for the show, or not. But at any rate, it will find its way onto this site when it is done. So, please come back and visit again soon and let me know what you think. Until then think in shades of teal blue… it’s a beautiful color.

…………progressing to………..

Stay tuned to see what happens next………

the above photo of this latest painting was taken on 1/8/2010…. so it has been right at a week since I started and I think that I might just have to leave it alone…………..

Puttering Around

I’ve been kinda puttering around with some landscapes. Not much to look at for the time being but here it is nonetheless.

Thank you for your continued visits!

Update

Here are better photos of the latest work in oils. I guess I should mention some of the motivation for the two.

The volcano…. it was the colors. The reds in stark contrast to the blues and greens really drew me. The still-life was another student work with the instruction from Eduardo Chacón. (Please go by his site and take a look at his work)

During the student work, I uttered (outloud) how difficult this medium is and with that in mind, I commend those who do it well.

Please stop by again and again, thank you for visiting!

 

Well…… I don’t know what happened

 

It was just brought to my attention that a watercolor work study painting that I once had on this sight isn’t there anymore…. hmmmm. I just don’t know what happened. Without further adieu……….

 

progress…. maybe

 

Well, here it is, another month has come and gone and not much has been done on this painting but I suppose that is just the way it tends to go.

I am hoping that eventually I will obtain the effect that I have in my mind. Sooooooo….. keep watchin’!

Grinding to a Halt

With so much going on this Spring and Summer, drawing has ground to a halt. The latest work has been put on “terminal” hold. Seems that the direction I wanted it to take has not manifested itself soooooo, it will have to go into the archives. I may have to start it again and take a different route. Oh well, sometimes it just happens that way.

I am contemplating some oil work in the near future, perhaps something a little abstract.

So please check back again and see what’s happening in my neck of the woods…….. never can tell, maybe something unique will start happening.

Questions and Progress

Tonight band practice was canceled so I was at a loss as to what to do. After a great amount of roaming around the house, stoking the fire and general shuffling around, I decided to get the pencils out and work on the latest project. I took a picture of it and as you can see, it continues to darken as the pencil strokes continue to add up. (Note: The actual drawing isn’t as dark as this photo makes it appear.)

I was questioned recently as to the reason I do the type of drawings I do rather than something that would readily sell to the general public. In a word, passion. When I choose a subject, it is because there is something that draws me to it. As I worked tonight, I studied the eyes of my subject so deeply that I found my face two inches from the paper, only separated by reading glasses and a magnifying glass. Every line, every shade of the skin I attempted to extract and place onto the paper. This drives me. To watch, almost from outside me, the unfolding of the image over time from a few lines to something that pleases my eye, to get lost in the image as it continues to unfold then coming to the realization that hours have passed, these are the things that soothes my soul.

On the contrary, to slap  something onto paper that would generally appeal to everyone holds no motivating power over me….. money or not.

Little Progress

Well, 2010 is done. I didn’t get as far along in this project as I wanted but then there have been other things that have demanded my attention, all of which really does take precedence over this. But I did do a little to it tonight and thought I would share it. Funny how long these things take………..

This was shot with the camera rather than scanned so the overall page seems a lot darker than it actually is. It’s gonna be fun when I really do get to the scanning part because this is one of the biggest pieces I’ve done. (I usually stay around a 17×14 or so…. okay, so I’m stepping out of my comfort zone.)  Hopefully, I will get crackin’ on this and get it completed in the next few months…… maybe before wintertime is over.

Thanks for stopping by and please check back again.

progress

Well, since the cat is out of the bag on this little project, I thought I would share it from time to time to show the progression. It is beginning to take shape. I started with the basic outline of the subject and now am working on the all-important shading. For now it doesn’t look like much.  The image you see is not a scan but a photo and as you know they just don’t look like the real thing.

I’ll be back at a later time to get you an update. Until then, please keep coming to visit and feel free to comment.

Cat out of the bag

Well, I let the cat out of the bag (regarding my last post “ssssshhhhhh”). The new project is going to be of my favorite subject, Jess. I let him know of what I was doing this time (rather than sneak one in on him… heehee!).  Anyway, I will scan in the progress as it goes along and share it with everyone. Right now it is just in the basic framing and beginning of the shading stage.

Until I return, keep coming to visit!!

SSSSSSHHHHH!!!

Another secret is in the works! This one is bigger (and hopefully better) than before! It will be awhile but don’t stop visiting! Thanks for being here!

Pencil-interuptus

No, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth, just been suffering a case of pencil-interuptus. I’ve had some ask me if I’ve thought about doing a self-portrait….. since I take such lousy pictures, no. But because of the requests of some of my favorite fans here is what I am working on right now.

I’ll add a good scan to the site when this gets finished (and scanned). Until then, keep coming to visit!!

Been Busy….

Hi there! Sorry to be so long in writing a post. Since I finished the last piece, the one that I kept top-secret, I’ve been busy with other ventures. Hopefully, I’ll get the pencils fired up again and get something on here for everyone.

Until then, thank you all for your visits and as always, I welcome your comments!

The Secret Revealed

When I began this portrait, I had envisioned what I wanted it to look like. It started out rather slow and there were times I was in doubt as to whether I was going to be able to do it. But eventually it came together and I was happy with it.

The reason that I chose to do this portrait was because of  my love and respect for the subject.  He is my dear, dear friend and he was so kind as to allow me to adopt him as my Dad.

So, as I was completing the project, I had it all planned out on how I was going to give it to him as he had no idea I was doing it. He lives quite a distance from me but I wanted to present it to him in person and I looked forward to the surprise in his eyes when I unveiled it.

But things happened that threw a few monkey-wrenches in to my plans. Some were the results of poor decisions on my part but there were also sudden (and frightening) health issues for him. Eventually, I had to just ship the portrait to him as it appeared that I would not get to present it to him in person as  I had hoped. The day after I shipped it I learned that his wife was terribly ill and in the hospital. It sounded really bad. So instead of a wonderful surprise arriving at his door with sweet memories to enjoy later on, the memories that will be associated with that piece will be ones of tragedy and sadness.

So now I present to you, my readers, the revelation of the Secret.

Copyright Desiree Hodges, All Rights Reserved

Shhhh! It’s still top secret… but not much longer

At long last, the secret will soon be revealed. After much trouble and wrong turns, it is finally into the last phase of this hidden secret.

So, don’t give up! Keep checking in for the revelation of this secret!

Top Secret

I have been working on  a portrait, which is super-duper-top-secret. Okay, so not really but it is one that I can’t reveal until it is delivered. I’ve been working on it for about a month or so and I’m getting pretty close to being done now and it’s exciting.

The other side of this is that I am going to be really sad when I finish it. I get particularly close to my subjects when I do their portrait and it is as though when it’s done, then they (my subject) will go away, never to return. It feels like when a close relationship has ended…. quite painful.

I guess that is just my warped brain messin’ with me.

Check back soon!

Ah, the love….

Today has been mostly uneventful, just getting things done that needed doing then being a bum.

This evening, as I was trying to get some motivation, with music playing I took out the oil paint and tinkered with it a little bit. That lasted about an hour and I blotted out everything I did. I then got out my bass and tried hard to make some progress. After an hour or so of that it was time to do something else.

I got a call from my dear friend, Jess, and visited with him a few minutes. After getting off the phone, I picked up a piece that I had been working on and began working on some fine detail, magnifying glass and all. Before I knew it, two hours were gone. This is going to be one of those pieces that I will be sad to finish.

Just shows me again that my love is still for the pencils.

Credit to Where Credit is Due

This is just a quick note of thanks to Mr. Adam Schallau, a landscape photographer, who has made many contributions to this site. Please pay a visit to his sites and enjoy his work.

http://adamschallau.com/

http://acrossthesouthwest.net/

http://www.recapturephoto.com/

In Oil

Yesterday I had the pleasure of working with a still life artist, Eduardo Chacón. He has work in various parts of the world as well as in this area of New Mexico. He has been telling me that I should do some work in oil. Now, I’ve been resistant because the last time I worked in oil has been about thirty years ago and I didn’t much like it then.

Yesterday I did a still life with him. I still don’t much like oil but it was fun and I’m sure that I will do it again, perhaps doing a landscape. Below is what was produced by his fine instruction.

Copyright Desiree Hodges, All Rights Reserved