Remembering Bernice

I have not been posting for some time because of health problems, which limit my ability to do any art these days but I just found out that we lost a dear friend on March 7 of this year, a member of Artistic Avenues, a woman who was talented and artistic in so many different ways. I'm speaking of Bernice Snowden, who did some beautiful color pencil work, did many graphite drawings, did wood carving, was very musical, and was so kind and helpful in her gentle comments of others' works. It is so hard to believe she is gone, she was ill with heart problems and diabetes and my heart goes out to everyone in her family. One of my favorites of her work was a graphite drawing of her "Mom at 16" which is posted on her blog and is a loving portrait.

Black Cat

Haven't posted for a while but I have been working on some paintings and finished my black cat drawing. This is Tango, he belongs to my son and daughter-in-law, they rescued his mom from the wilds so Tango is half feral but so happy to be a house pet. His mom (Tami) was finally tamed also and enjoys pet status but still likes to get outside and roam the woods near their house. Tami was finally captured, after numerous attempts, and taken to the vet so Tango is her last kitten. She is quite domesticated now. In her wild status, she had several litters a year but always brought them to Tom and Judy for extra feedings. Those were always eventually taken to the humane society where, always so cute, the humane society never failed to find homes for them.

I didn't spray this rendering and I think some of the graphite has rubbed off, particularly around his nose.
2mm 2B mechanical pencil, on Bristol Vellum 9x12

Thanks for looking.

Something I want to remember

I found this on a website on the internet, someone had posted it in WetCanvas, and I want to remember it. Tho't this would be a perfect spot for it.

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplacable spark. In the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and the not at all, do not let the hero in your soul perish and leave only frustration for the life you deserved, but never have been able to reach. The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours." - Ayn Rand

Kind of inspiring, don't you think?

2 Black Dogs

A little update on my dog drawing--I think I have it now, finished the BG and very carefully sprayed it with a fixative so the darks would hold. I hope to get it framed this week so I can donate it to the Humane Society for one of their auctions. This was done to practice drawing black dogs. I think I 'll try a cat next, my son has a darling totally black cat, I've been trying to get a good picture of him so I can do a nice drawing for them.

It's working now, here is the image I was trying to upload earlier. Black dog from a picture posted in WetCanvas by "Stalksthedawn". 2b .5mm mechanical pencil on sketchbook paper 9x12. I think there is still some "tweaking" to do but it's close, I hope.

I love the journey, it's so good to see each layer adding to the whole, almost like painting but, in my disabled state right now, easier to do. I'm trying to lower the daily dose of prednisone so that eventually I can get right off it, but it always causes a lot of stress during the process.

Appreciate any comments and critiques.

Testing

Poly Myalgia won't let me paint for a few days so I'm concentrating on my journey in drawing. I've been trying to post a scan here of my latest effort (Portrait of a black dog) but Blogspot won't let me post it (frustrating) right now, I'll have to come back later and try again. In the meantime, I'll see if this will post.

I'm stressed!

Yesterday started out very poorly, to say the least. My 4 smoke alarms all went off at once for no particular reason. Two of them are in ceilings that are "cathedral" types--totally unreachable. The screeching was horrifying, poor Blitz tried hard to get into a closet, any closet. No one was home when I tried to call around to see if anyone could figure out what was wrong and take down the alarms. Finally a granddaughter and her husband arrived and he managed to pull down 3 of the alarms, luckily they all stopped screeching, even the one still in the ceiling. I didn't think the batteries had run down, the house was just built a year and 1/2 ago.

Anyway, I left a note for my neighbor who is a Portland City fire inspector. He came over later and checked the alarms and found that one was defective. Since they "communicate" with each other that caused all of them to sound off. So, I have to see if I can find a new alarm to replace the defective one plus he suggested I buy new batteries for all 4. He very kindly offered to place them back up when I get the batteries and new alarm since he has a 10-foot ladder. Thank heavens for neighbors (and granddaughters' husbands).

All quiet today, Blitz is catching up on the sleep he missed yesterday.

I think I have made some improvement to this--I punched up the darks a little more and corrected some problems with the jewelry. I also added more to her hair and braid. I feel better about the work and hope you all think so too.

Thanks for looking and commenting.

New Portrait

This is from a photo on the cover of Time Magazine 6/26/06. Rendered in graphite 2B .5mm mechanical pencil, using circulism, plus I did the jewelry in colored pencil. I wasn't too happy with colored pencil but I'm sure I need more practice with it.

All critiques and comments welcome and appreciated.