From 3-4am

I know, I know -- it's been a few days since I've written an entry but I've been busy. Maybe it's the impending tax deadline (yes, we owe a bunch) or it's the fact that I'm doing more flowers (a comfort zone for me) or maybe it's all the commissions I now have (about 12!), but I've been working a lot more lately. And so, I haven't had a lot of extra time to do this blog, update my website, clean the house, or even read.

Working more does mean I'm getting stuff done. For example, I just finished up 2 nice alpaca and people portraits for a client.

This 11x14 pencil drawing was an interesting challenge to get the overall look right. The boy's jacket was so dark (dark navy blue) that it could dominate the entire drawing. The alpaca was pure white. And the photo was taken outside in bright sun, which is why the boy is squinting. I ended up lightening the jacket a touch and darkening the alpaca a bit. Overall I'm pleased with it, but I do wish the boy had had a more normal expression on his face.

Because of the size of this portrait (16x20), I took a temporary photo of it with my cell phone, so it's not the best photo. (I'll take a good photo of it with my camera before I send it. Now if someone wants to donate a digital camera to me, I'll be grateful!) The main challenge with this portrait was the composition -- all those little alpacas in the background! Not only did the alpacas need to be arranged in a natural manner, their colors had to not compete with the boy and cria he is holding. The other challenge was the size. While 16x20 is wonderful for a portrait which includes the shoulders and hands, it's a bit small for a portrait which includes the entire body. The head is only 3-4 inches high -- tiny details with large chunks of chalk are difficult to get right. As with the first portrait, I do wish the boy wasn't squinting in this one either.

Presently, I'm working on a pair of small portraits (one done, one to go), and then there's only be about 10 left. I really don't understand where all these commissions came from all of a sudden, but it's nice to have work to do.

The one problem is that I need to keep doing florals and botanicals for eBay and the Montrose Art Walk. And I also want to do some new relief prints. Maybe I could do them from 3-4 am? (Why waste that time just sleep?!)