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This was the highlight of my Christmas projects. I can’t tell you how fun it was painting a portrait of this precious little girl, while expecting my own baby. This little jewel is MacKenzie, and her little sleeping self is sure to warm your heart as she did mine.

The reference photograph was taken by the extremely talented Kahlia of J. K. Mitchell Photography. If you think that this photo of MacKenzie is gorgeously cute, than you will love all the other work by Kahlia. From the beginning of memory photos in maternity moments to your infant to your children’s happy moments to the whole entire family, Kahlia is diversely skilled in documenting all the different and precious stages of your life. You can check out the variety of her amazing work HERE.

I’m honestly super picky about canvases, therefore, I result in making my own. With the help of my wonderful husband, we got this tightly stretched and extremely smooth canvas surface.

After making my own crop of the reference, I sketched the painting out in charcoal. The charcoal properties won’t bleed to the surface of the painting like pencil will overtime, preserving the quality of the painting.

This is the first layer of paint with the second layer going on the background. I mapped out the colors and shapes of the baby, hat, and ribbon. Don’t you love those lips?

As the second layer is applied, I focus on the gradation of colors and detail of the hat. The ribbon begins to shine. I try to paint as much detail as possible, without overworking the paint.

Portrait finished! The third layer of paint and such creamy skin. The eye lash, lips, hat, and ribbon detailed are set in place. Don’t you want to touch those cheeks? I’m so happy with how this painting turned out! This commissioned portrait was a Christmas gift for MacKenzie’s family. Thank you, Kirsten, for believing in me and letting me be apart of this special time!  Here are some close ups for you to enjoy.

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My relationship with the Milton family goes all the way back to when I was six and younger. We were living in Bremerton, Washington, at the time, and they were a family who attended our church. Since I was so young, the memories are foggy, but I know they were good, fun, and wholesome times with the wonderful, loving family. Several occasions us Kettell children even had the exciting time of staying over at their house while my parents were packing for our move to Connecticut. It wasn’t until my wedding in 2010 that I was so excited to be reunited with them again!

Ever since, Mr. Milton had his mind set on commissioning me to make art for him. But when he came to me this past summer, he had the whole plan ready and knew exactly what he wanted. From a portrait of him and his wife, the idea turned into a whole family treasure for his wife’s wedding anniversary present.

This is the photograph he sent me. For a better composition, I moved the family around into a close knit arrangement. Mr. Milton had also mentioned having artsy foliage in the background, and I put it in suggestively.

Stage One – The painting is 18″ x 24″ and it was an interesting task fitting seven people into those dimensions without making the everyone too small.

Stage Two – I feel like how one would write on paper from left to right, up to down, is how I paint a pastel. I work from the top left and over because I’m right handed. Also, the pastel is delicate and this allows me to keep the pastel from spreading around too much.

Stage Three – First facial hair I put on a painting! And the glasses are always an interesting whammy as I try to smooth the face and not wash out the glasses.

Stage Four – Many of those who know how I work also know that I love using my fingers to smooth and blend the pastel. This is one of the few mediums where I really get dirty!

Stage Five - Almost there! What do I have to finish besides the last subject? The background and my sig go on last.

Finished! I love the way it turned out and am so excited how they all came together as family in the photograph and I still have that unity and love portrayed into the portrait. That is how I know I was successful.

This was my work area once the portrait was completed. Because of how I like to keep my art supplies organized (it always makes it easier when you have to go back and look for something), I had to put all of those pencils back in the exact spot they came in. And yes, if the pencil was out of its slot I used it in the portrait. So many colors…still boggles my mind on how many colors go into my colored pieces.

Mr. Milton very cleverly setup the surprise by telling Mrs. Milton that they were coming to a place to get an oar for their daughter (the one in the bottom left corner), and coming to the Kettell farm was a huge surprise. Yet on top of that when I brought the portrait up to her, that just put her through the roof with excitement! Happy anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Milton, and thank you for letting me be apart of this very special time of your life! I’ll always be honored as friends, family, and patrons give me the chance to be apart of their lives. It’s what makes the artwork I do have so much meaning.

Have any questions about the process? I’d love to answer them!

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I got to meet the crafty diva, Danielle Spurge, at an art and crafts fair in D.C on the first weekend of this lovely October month. Spurge is the owner of the needlework empire, The Merriweather Council, in Boston, MA. She’s got a thriving shop on Etsy full of what Spurge often describes as “happy things” from colorful embroidery hoop art, embroidered necklaces, patchwork hoops, and even Christmas ornament hoops! You can tell she’s got a true love song for the needle and thread as she puts care and quality into her craft.

Walking away empty handed  from Spurge that day at the fair was not an option. I’ve had my eye on one of her necklaces for quite sometime. After looking through almost all of her necklaces and coming up stumped on which one I wanted to adorn my neck, I finally came to the one pictured above. You want to know what I saw when those three hearts came into my view? My husband, baby, and me. The little threesome of a family that we’re going to be, and with that, I instantly fell in love with the pendant. (My mom laughed at me later that evening when I told her how I picked it out! But I promise, this is a true story.)

And now what have I been up to at the home studio? What do I do with my life when I’m not posting posts that so few, if anyone, read? Here’s a little list…

1. Working on a seven people pastel portrait.

2. Illustrating and developing new characters either digitally or tangibly (– which will be showing soon on the blog!).

3. Designing new cards, books, and making other preparations for the opening of my dots2lines shoppe this weekend!

4. Amongst all of these art things, I do have a day job as a web design assistant….and we’ve been getting a new website up.

5. Trying to be a good little wife… not letting our little room turn to havoc! I can’t think in a mess.

6. Taking care of myself, because, if I don’t eat or get enough sleep, the little baby inside me lets me know!

Well, that’s it for now! Be sure to stop by The Merriweather Council to pick out some happy things for you and your loved ones!

Turning dots into lines, I’m GP and have good night!

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Here’s some progress of the digital painting, cg art, that I’ve been working on. It’s of a species of people from the trilogy that I’m writing. There’s more to theses magical creatures, and magic hardly describes the genetic structure of these little Wittles.

If I had to pin point what medium digital painting felt closest to, I’d say pastels. The sense of layering and blending is very similar. Secondly, I’d say it felt also like a distant form of sculpture. My hands aren’t pushing and pulling, but I’m using the tools to do it.

Now if any of you say that computer art is super easy, you are wrong. It takes just as much work, just different sense of technique and understanding. Just because you can take certain stuff away and maybe accomplish certain aspects faster, you still have to deal with being distant from the artwork and learning how to make what you want with the tools of the program and tablet. Different way of thinking and can definitely be a puzzle. It deserves it’s own respect, separate from traditional art.

The pictures, (which are only half the size of the original artwork) are just close ups of the face, the area I’ve been focusing on the most.

This is the first layer of skin. I started working on the eyes and adding lashes. The lips, eyebrows, and hair have not been added.

Here I’ve worked on the eyebrows, eyelashes are added and the skin is smoothed out. Nose is shortened and chin is made smaller. The face is rounder.

This state I’ve worked on the hair, ears, lips, neck, shoulder. The skin has more detail; eyebrows are shaped; eye highlights have more detail. Face is reshaped again. Nose is reshaped.

I did this yesterday: Reshaped the eyebrows and face, added more depth to the face and the skin. I plan to shift the lips around. The ears need some more work, as do the neck, shoulders, and the hair isn’t finished. Also, all that I’ve shown you so far is the face. There’s her torso, body, legs, and wings, yes, wings that I have to finish. But the process is awesome. While I don’t have to worry about the artwork taking up space or cleaning up a mess, a digital file can be very nerve wrecking at times. Backing up your work is extremely important. As of now, I have the digital online and on two separate pc’s.

Yea, there’s lots to do, but this baby ain’t done till I say she is!….Five years from now…. Ok, let’s hope not.

This wasn’t really a post geared toward answering questions, but more about of sharing the  progress. If you have a question about any of this work, feel free to email me or leave a comment!

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Several years ago, I would have told you that I’d never do any digital painting. Not in Adobe Photoshop, or Painter, or Sketchbook. That wasn’t even an option. I strongly believed in traditional art and materials. They were what I knew and what was most comfortable. I’d probably even admit that back then.

When I started talking to my friend, who is now my husband, he teased me about doing digital painting. He told me I’d like it and that I’d be surprised. Puh-lease! I told him I was not going to go there. Not a chance. If you were going to be a classical portrait artist, then why would you need to digital paint?

I should have just shoved my foot up my mouth and chewed off my toes, because the other day I started my first digital painting. This was no easy feet to conquer, and pun quite intended (to be so clichéd). A lot of mental preparation took place to even get me going in that direction, as well as figuring out the tools I would need.

That is when I bought the Intuos 4 Wacom tablet since you need digital tools to work on a digital painting. Secondly was the program that I would use to paint. Fortunately with having to use Photoshop for my photos that I used in my other artwork (talk about being traditional…goodness), I already had the program thanks to my husband. Yippee.

Ok, I had the materials, but what then? I looked at other artists work. Read magazines, blogs. (Yes, I’m doing this self-taught.) And I still….waited. Procrastination? Maybe, but I think a lot of it was fear. What if I don’t live up to the realism and high standards I have for my traditional work? What if it stunk? I wouldn’t know until I tried. But I really didn’t know what to start painting on my computer. What would be a good basic idea to get going with digital painting?

Five years ago I developed a fantasy species (drawing on left), and I have been incorporating this species into my book. Last week I revisited drawing this character (drawing on right).

While taking the second drawing (above) as my foundation (something I’ll probably enjoy doing the most when working digital), I started the digital painting. And would you know it? Digital painting is better than I ever imagined.  I could make the canvas bigger, smaller, making bigger ideas, adding backgrounds, foregrounds, details. I feel like I’m at the best roller coaster park ever.

Here’s a little preview of the digital artwork below. It’s only a segment of the work. It’s going to take me some getting used to. I feel so bashful, like I did when I first started drawing.

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A project has been resonating in the back of my mind since the Irene photo shoot, and I breifly discuss it in that post. In preparation for the artwork, I am studying the photographs and drawing out some sketches.

Here is the first one. I used 2H and 2B pencils only to keep the application process simple and clean. The lower half and upper half I combined in my mind and drew it from the computer since I liked the facial expression and hand position from separate photographs. While I still see the flaws in it, I recognize the purpose of sketching is to internalize what the feeling and mood I want the main artwork to give off.

Her character I think is a subconscious reperesentation of certain characters in my book. But only slightly. Still figuring that part out. But do not think of her as an elf, as the character is the farthest thing from it.  I’m still developing the species’ visuals. I noticed that the “hero” of a book will always possess a particular strength that is greater than the other strengths he/she may have as well as one weakness that may be their temporary downfall in the book. What could be the most intriguing weakness of a hero? In the Samson and Delilah story the weakness was his love for women and trusting them with his secrets, while for Superman it was the substance  kryptonite.  For Frodo in Lord of the Rings he always had that inner struggle to put on the ring, and if he did (and didn’t have a friend help him get through it), the story would have ended sooner.  I like that most situations in stories are unique to the character and the character of the story.  The resolve of the weakness is what makes the story or breaks it.  But what do you think?

And here is the Photoshop version. This is also a form of practice in digitizing my artwork, and definitely see room for improvement. But while I itched and wanted to make endless tweaks to the sketch, in the end the sketch is a sketch.

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I had some vague ideas stirring in the back of my brain, but not until early September when I was getting my haircut by my hair stylist, Jo Cohen of Changes Hair Salon in Woodbridge, Virginia, and we discussed the possibilities of an art project. My three wonderful friends volunteered to add their skill to the first element of the project — the photo-shoot.  Jo graciously volunteered to be the hair stylist for the production while Gina Cohen, Jo’s daughter, was the cosmetician and applied the make-up beautifully on the model, Irene Johnson.  I applaud these fabulous ladies in their enthusiasm and efforts to help my vision reach the next level. Thank you.

This project was inspired by movement, abstract design, and realism portrayed differently than my normal or traditional methods.  I know the techniques of making a nonexistent subject appear real enough to touch has been around for centuries, but the idea has been fascinating me more, while technology advances and as the meaning of art deepens for myself.

These photographs are the first step of the new project, however, I still have two paintings to finish before I start the execution of the artwork, which means follow up pictures won’t be for awhile.  But either way, I’m so excited about where this is going and how it will look in the end. The photos are just a reference, and not the final look of the artwork.

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________________________ ___________________ ________——— ——————- ————- ————– ———– —————

Yay.

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Here is the long awaited photo of progress on the current oil portrait in process.  It’s just a close up.  (The whole painting will be revealed once it is complete.) Spencer is painted with grisaille gray underpainting.  I changed some of his facial structure some. He looks older.  He’s going to change so much as I add more layers and sculpt his face. Sculpture with paint.  Haha.  Also what you see there is the application of the 2nd layer which is the first layer of color.  His hair has the complete second layer.  One thing I’m being a little to cautious of is that I’m afraid to add too much color and what that is doing is making him look very pale.  He looks washed out and almost dead at the current with the full 2nd layer of color.   Kind of creepy.  The gray undertone is coming through really well.  I need to kick up the color.  But I’ll talk more about that later when I can actually show you what I’m talking about.

The I applied the gray layer very thick for a wash.  Don’t know why.  I just decided to try it. Again, the more detail I start out with, the easier it will be to progress the painting, yet I find I’m still having some trouble.  He looks older than he is and I’m dealing with those issues.  The horse has the burnt umber wash.  With all of that hair, I don’t feel that there is a need to have translucency in the skin.

But one thing for sure, he’s coming across with the sense of honor, bravery, and c0nfidence that I wanted.  Bravo.

Constructive criticism is welcomed.

blessings,
Grace

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Pastel, painting, progression. Pastel, painting, progression. Try saying that ten times fast! Ha. Alright, moving on.

The pastels I work in are the soft pastel encased in wood, forming the pastel pencil.  Using a variety of brands – Derwent, CarbOthello, Conté, Faber-Castell, and Cretacolor – I have a large variety of different colors, which saves time with less layering when I have to find the right color.  Although, I still have to work with what feels like a gagillion layers to achieve the color match.   So, minus a gagillion layers of just mixing and trying to find the right color and that still equals a gagillion layers left of acquiring the correct perception of depth.  Phew!  Okay, maybe not a “gagillion,” but it is still a lengthy process.  Making the larger pastel paintings takes possibly three weeks to a month to complete.

Because of the messiness that always accompanies pastels, I work from left to right, almost completing the sections as I go.   With all of the colors that I’m constantly pulling up, there are always at least ten  pastel pencils between my left hand fingers as well as a pile of the pastels in a tray connected to the easel for quick access.

To learn about the sanded pastel papers I use, visit this blog post!

Now I’ll be showing you the progression of one of the pastels that exhibits extensive layering.  Again, no stencils, no grids, no projectors. Take note — these are just ten stages. They’re not actually the amount of layers that were applied.

Stage 1:

A light sketch in a similar color that of the helmet. No detail. Just a map to locate and position of the different parts.

Helmet Progress #1

Stage 2:

Applying the general foundation of the color, blocking the shapes in, starting in the upper left corner and working my way down. I chose a blue/black background, just using my artistic license, plus I think it will go very nicely with the red and white. It helps the helmet pop.

Helmet Progress #2

Stage 3:

Working my way over, blocking in more color. I haven’t applied deep detail yet. This whole helmet was a highly reflective object. Those yellow reflectors were really nice to have against all of this gray.

This is a man’s fire helmet and I decided that I was going to keep within shades of gray — no pinks, purples, or blues in the shadows!

Helmet Progress #3

Stage 4:

Aaaaaaaagh!!! The reflective surface of the medal was tough. It’s an eagle. Those tiny little black lines weren’t a piece of cake. Keep your pencils sharpened for tiny detail!! To a point!  Look at those tight little stitches.

Helmet Progress #4

Stage 5:

Now I start really cranking out that detail. Scratches on the medal, more stitches, texture on the reflectors, dents, and scratches.

Helmet Progress #5

Stage 6:

Originally, the photograph didn’t have the yellow neck guard and strap coming down. I had another picture of it and brought the two together in the painting process.

Helmet Progress #6

Stage 7:

The badge’s perspective, stitches, texture, and depth took the longest out of the rest of the helmet. It’s the “centerpiece.”

The helmet is coming to life!

Helmet Progress #7

Stage 8:

More letters. The numbers start feeling like leather. The badge is almost finished.

Helmet Progress #8

Stage 9:

All that’s left is the last portion on the bottom and detail touch ups.

Helmet Progress #9

Stage 10:

Completed! Detailed. Depth. Don’t you want to reach in and touch it?

Helmet Completed