I thought now would be a good time to take a peak back at my artistic goals for 2008 and see how I’ve progressed thus far:
1.) Daily drawing: while I haven’t posted many results here (which I may decide to do from this point as part of “Wordless Wednesdays”) I’m really pleased to look back at my sketchbook to date and see all the drawing I’ve done over the past three months. I think one of the positive side-effects of the daily drawing has been exposure to a wider variety of subjects (other than my usual “fur/feathers/fins”) and I think you’ll start seeing this influence my work very soon.
2.) Blogging: I’ve found keeping the Monday - Friday posting schedule has been a bit of a challenge on some weeks. I’ll continue to work on a pattern of themes for the days, e.g. Mondays and Thursdays - easel check, Tuesdays - tutorials, Wednesdays - wordless (sketches?) and Fridays - haiku.
3.) Website: I did overhaul my main website in January and have continued to make alterations, but I think I could improve this by adding new work to the site as soon as I’ve finished it. I’m also seriously thinking about adding some form of e-commerce to my site: first step, research! (My favourite step of any project.)
4.) Networking: The RFA Spring Show was the first run on my new mailing list and I think it went pretty well. I do have some improvements to make in two areas: be more aggressive about what names I add to the list (one artist at the show introduced me to her pharmacist. I don’t have a regular pharmacist, but if I did it never would have occured to me to put her name on my mailing list!) and send e-mail reminders to as many people as possible about three - five days before the show (I had a few people show up on Sunday saying they’d almost forgotten).
5.) Entrepreneurial: does using my new mailing list count? ’cause otherwise I think I forgot about this one entirely - eek. I’m gonna have to get back to you on this one…
6.) Paperwork: I’m very pleased to say, except for the two sales over the weekend, I’m completely up-to-date with my business books. I’m hoping this earns me enough karma to excuse my sales/marketing research goal… probably not.
7.) Creative writing: I’ve done 10 Haiku Fridays and am looking forward to more. I think the state of mind one enters into to write haiku is the same one enters to make visual art and I’ve found the process a satisfyingly creative one. Maybe there’s a connection between making art and writing haiku?
Did you make any artistic/creative goals for 2008? If you did, how about you post a comment and let me know how it’s going so far?
No haiku today. I’m on just long enough tonight to let you know that “Up Close and Personal: African Lion” and “Waiting for the Sea Ice: Polar Bear” took first and third place respectively in the People’s Choice Award at the show opening!
I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself tonight, well, I think pleased is now running a close second to exhausted - too many late nights this week. But here’s a couple pics from the show (I’ll post final shots for each on Sunday):
Up Close and Personal: African Lion. First Place RFA People’s Choice Award.
Waiting for the Sea Ice: Polar Bear. Third Place RFA People’s Choice Award.
Today is hanging day, tomorrow opening, and I’m not quite finished framing yet (new frame moulding and I’m finding it hard to match the corners on them). Here’s what the lion looks like fully scratched:
Up Close and Personal: African Lion, work in progress. Scratchboard, 24 x 10 in. Copyright 2008, Tania Nault.
Because this is going to be coloured with acrylic inks, I’ve scratched the values brighter overall than I would if I was leaving this in black and white. I’ll post the colour version tomorrow, for now I’m off to fight with some framing.
Only two more sleeps until the Regina Federation of Artists Spring Show & Sale. I thought I’d show you another board I’ve been working on for this show:
Up Close and Personal: African Lion, work in progress. Scratchboard, detail. Copyright 2008, Tania Nault.
The reference for this board comes from photographer Scott Liddell and is used with his permission. I was drawn to the lion’s intense gaze and play of light and dark - which I believe I can push even further with scratchboard and turn his daylight photo into an evening or night hunt scene.
This week we’ll take a look at varied hatching - the type of line making I use the most because it’s used to simulate fur. My egg-sample below:
As you can see the lines are similar to cross-hatching in that they overlap, but they do so at a very acute angle to each other (probably five to 15 degrees). As with other types of hatching, the more lines you lay down, the lighter the area looks. Darker areas, spots, stripes or shadows are created by leaving more area of the board untouched. If you’re trying to depict short, straight fur you would use shorter, straightish strokes; long strokes for long hair; and wavy strokes for wavy hair. It’s very important to make each stroke in the natural direction of the fur growth and to be observant of whorls (where the fur radiates out from a central point, e.g. at the center of a horse’s head), breaks (where the fur either grows or is seperated in two opposite directions, e.g. along the neck as it bends) or ridges (where the fur grows towards itself from two opposite directions, e.g. under the inside corners of the eye when the fur growing around the eye meets the fur growing up “bridge” of the muzzle.
Shorter, spotted fur:
Camouflage: African Leopard. Scratchboard with acrylic ink, 5 x 7 in. Copyright 2007, Tania Nault. Private Collection.
Range of short, straight fur and longer, wavy fur with stripes:
Sleeping In: Chipmunk, work in progress. Scratchboard and acrylic ink, 7 x 5 in. Copyright 2008, Tania Nault.
You can also use this stroke for downy, fluffy feathers:
WIP: Catch Up! Mallard Ducklings. Scratchboard and acrylic ink, 11 x 4.5 in. Copyright 2007, Tania Nault.
That’s how I use varied hatching. And, as usual, questions and comments are always welcome.
