hiking in the valley
snow squalls then sunshine
over the last hill
I thought, considering I was away last week, I would give you two haiku this week. The first one was inspired by a hiking trip we took with the a group of girls from my daughter’s class on the last day of our field trip. Everyone was tired after a morning of digging out the quinzhees (a shelter made of a pile of snow that’s been allowed to settle and then the center is dug out - yes, this is just one of the things we Canadians do for fun in the winter) but the afternoon activity was either skate or hike. And I’m not sure which was more “mercurial” the weather or the girls’ tempers, but everything seemed to brighten when we made it back to camp.
winter-killed spruce
juncos still flock
in its branches
The second poem is from something I observed this week at the day job. In the center of the University of Regina campus is a green space called the “Dr Lloyd Barber Academic Green” (named for the University’s second president) that features an oval walk lined with trees. Unfortunately, this winter a few of the transplanted spruce didn’t make it through the cold snap and have turned a rusty brown. But that hasn’t stopped a small flock of dark-eyed juncos from using the trees as a convenient place to catch their breath on their way through the campus from a nearby residential neighbourhood.
Koala, work in progress. Scratchboard, 14 x 11 in. Copyright 2008, Tania Nault.
I’ve set aside my Polar Bear and put off colouring my chipmunk for the night to engage in some “productive procrastination.” I’m having some second thoughts about the background on the Polar Bear and because I prefer doing my colour work during the daylight hours I decided to start a new board. (I think this makes four I have on the go right now?) The photo is quite wretched - artificial lighting and too much glare from the overhead lights, but the board itself is a good start. Here’s a close up of the little guy’s face:
Isn’t he cute? The fur texture is quite different from what I’m used to: it looks somehow fuzzy yet prickly at the same time. And although the reference photo (from WetCanvas! by a member named “colliedog”) doesn’t have a catchlight in the koala’s right eye (on our left) I think I’m going to add one, it seems slightly off without it. Also, I’m using two different photos for this one: one for the head and another for the body, it’s something I do fairly frequently for pet portraits. My plan is to have this one in RFA show at the end of March.
Sleeping In: Chipmunk, work in progress. Scratchboard, 7 x 5 in. Copyright 2008, Tania Nault.
And just when you thought I’d forgotten about my poor, tired, little friend, I finally give him a nest to sleep in. I know a chipmunk’s nest is usually a lot bigger than this - they typically build it over a cache of food in their underground den - but for the sake of artistic license I thought less would be more. Next step is colour. This one will be going into the Regina Federation of Artists Spring Show & Sale, March 28 - 30, Wascana Place, 2900 Wascana Drive. So if you’ve always wanted to snuggle up with a chipmunk…
Week before last I started a tutorial series on getting started in scratchboard art. Today I’m back with my take on hatching. I know I’ve done an egg today, but it’s not that kind of “hatching” I’m talking about a series of parallel lines. As you can see from my egg, if you’re trying to depict a round surface, it’s important to keep your changes in value very smooth and gradual or you run the risk of making the object look like it’s been created from a series of shifting planes, rather than one smooth curving line. When scratching hatch lines it’s also important to either make them either all freehand or all with a ruler because using a mix of the two will look uneven. Placing the marks close together will create highlighted or lighter colour areas, while hatching lines spaced farther apart will leave areas looking shadowed or darker in colour.
Hatching is best used to depict smooth, hard surfaces up close. In the scratchboard below (done three years ago - it’s not a great picture, sorry) I used hatch lines to depict the smoothness of the piano keys and the wooden surfaces. To create the illusion of woodgrain, I made the lines much closer together for the lighter area and farther apart for the darker areas.
Silent Night. Scratchboard and acrylic ink, 9 x 12 in. Copyright 2005, Tania Nault. Private Collection.
But hatch lines can be used to make background items appear to be some distance away, as I did with the sky and cloud pattern in this landscape:
Smith Point Sunset II. Scratchboard, 14 x 9 in. Copyright 2005, Tania Nault. Collection of the artist.
And here’s a detail shot of the area above the left-hand trees to show the variation in shading obtained by varying the space between the lines:
Smith Point Sunset II, detail.
And that’s how I use hatching. Go out, give it a try and if you do, leave me a comment to let me know how it’s going! Next Tuesday, cross-hatching.
Polar Bear, work in progress. Scratchboard, 24 x 18 in. Copyright 2008, Tania Nault.
And I’m back. Last week was a whirl-wind of overtime at the day job, trips out of town, kid’s homework (ah, the joys of French verb conjucation) and being sick. Actually I’m still sick, but I was anxious to get back into the swing of art-related things.
One of the out-of-town trips involved me helping to chaperone my daughter’s school field trip. Six adults and 42 grade eight kids aged 13 - 14 on a two-day winter outdoor education trip. It was fun, no seriously, I really enjoyed myself. Although my throat was so messed up from this cold/flu that I sounded a lot more like one of the boys than the girls: my voice periodically wavering between squeaking and gravelly grumbling.
As you can see, I’m made some progress with the Polar Bear. I thought this time around I’d give you a shot of the whole board - gives you a better idea of how the bear fits into the composition. I think I’m going to start working on some of the background before I get too much farther with the bear. It occurs to me that I’ve got just a month before the Regina Federation of Artists Spring Show (March 28 - 30). Yikes!
I will admit, I did have some worries about working at this size: would I lose the sense of intimacy for the subject I feel when I work at smaller sizes? But if anything, working this large has made me feel closer to the subject because I feel like I’ve been combing over this Polar Bear as I go. I’d love to travel to Churchill, Manitoba some November when the bears gather to venture out onto the sea ice. And hey, if any of my readers happen to be independently wealthy art lovers who’ve dreamed about becoming a patron of the arts…
