This piece was my introduction to colored pencils 28 years ago. I always chuckle to myself when I'm asked if I'm self taught. The answer is an ambiguous no... and yes. I have a four year degree in art but colored pencil was not taught in higher education because it's a newer medium so not traditional. More often than not it's not considered a serious medium although it can be an archival quality piece if the artist takes the time to use artist quality paper and pencils. I learned a lot working on this piece and in the time in-between then and now. This drawing won three Best in Shows and was retired to my own personal collection.

"Thoughts of Home"

16" x 20"

I rarely work in just colored pencil anymore because of the time intensive nature of the medium.  I sure love it but no one wants to pay for the time it takes to make artwork with a sharpened tip of a pencil.  These days you are more likely to find me painting in watercolor.  It's still all about detail for me. That's just my thing.

Small Business Saturday

We will be at the Small Business Saturday at
the Meriwether Event Center in St Helens, OR.
(across the street from Lewis and Clark Elementary)

I will have bonus freebies for every purchase made
on November 24th.   Stop by!

Get the set of St Helens postcards for $15 on Small Business Saturday (November 24th) - plus a bonus card

Get the set plus a bonus card for $15 on Small Business Saturday on November 24th at the Meriwether Event Center (across from Lewis and Clark Elementary). Normally $3 each.  

#postcards #etsyseller #smallbusiness #shopsmall #shoplocal #madeintheusa #makermade #supporthandmade #supportthedream #watercolor

Work in progress

Sketching pine cones for an upcoming project.  

A new print is available: Union Station: Los Angeles

Watching reruns of the old Perry Mason series I remember the seats in the lobby of Union Station where the drama unfolded. They are still there in the depot so I took advantage of the opportunity to sit in one and take in the area so often captured in the series. I noticed the covers on things like electrical panels were uniquely designed to complement the art deco decor of the station while obscuring what it was it was covering. They could have gone the easy route and put up a utilitarian metal grid as is often done in modern day design. I'm glad they didn't.

https://squareup.com/store/bonny/…/union-station-los-angeles

#unionstation #losangeles #newproduct #prints #etsyseller #smallbusiness#shopsmall #shoplocal #madeintheusa #makermade
#supporthandmade #supportthedream #watercolor

More sketches for the class

The course presenters wanted a basic sketch of a mammal. They hinted this will be part of the final next week so I went with what I know best - a Tan.

  

   

 Then they wanted a basic sketch of a bird.  This is an American Robin. 

Until next week...

Quick draw, slow paint

I'm going to call this process "quick draw, slow paint". This was started during the Beaverton Art Mix "Quick Draw" competition. I had walked the farmers market just a couple of weeks ahead of time to scope out what was there to give some thought to what I wanted to paint to develop a sort of game plan so I could focus on getting what I needed done finished in two hours during the competition. I had a plan A and a plan B. What I did not take in to consideration was if neither subject was at the market that weekend. Neither was. Buggers! I had to quick figure out a plan C. In the back of my head I kept thinking keep it simple. As you have probably figured out I apparently don't do simple even though at the time I thought I was. :p 

By the way, I now realize there's NO way I could have painted fast enough to finish this in two hours. But I do like the end result so it was worth finishing after the fact.

#BeavertonArtsMix, #GatheringTogetherFarm