Lehigh River on the second day of spring

"Right Bank"
Nikon D300

On the second day of spring, I decided that I would go up to the highest point I could find to take a picture of Easton in the snow.  I got those photos, but while crossing the Lehigh River to drive up the mountain, I was struck by the calm beauty of the snow-laden trees reflected in the water.  For the first time in a while, I was driven by impulse to find a place to park and walked back onto the bridge for these shots.  It was cloudy, cold, and serene, even with traffic whizzing behind me.  I think that I will be listening to my intuition more frequently from now on.

"View from the Bridge"
Nikon D300

"Cory Catfish"- pen and pencil sketch

"Cory Catfish"
pen and pencil
small leather sketchbook

Now for something different- a cory catfish.  These are great aquarium fish that do best in groups no smaller than six; we have eight in our own tank, which is just starting out.  They are very active and enjoy schooling together.  This sketch is in honor of these cheery little guys.

"Gray Lusitano" graphite sketch

"Gray Lusitano"
graphite
small leather sketchbook

I've been on a Lusitano kick lately; these especially beautiful horses are similar to the Andalusian horse and possess large quantities of fire, grace, and spirit.  Their movement is high-stepping and smooth.  This is a movie-star breed.

I had a little bit of difficulty with foreshortening in the left hindquarter as he steps forward, and the right foreleg is just a little too long.  However, I did well in capturing the feeling of motion, the horse's proudly arched neck, and the degree of collection that he possesses.  

"Dun Lusitano" graphite sketch

"Dun Lusitano"
graphite
small leather sketchbook

I decide to return to a more realistic style after feeling inspired by talking horses with a friend of mine.  There's a dun mare who graduated from the Rutgers Young Horse research program available for lease in my area, and I am deeply tempted to meet her.  She looks like a gorgeous, friendly animal, and was the reason for my Google search "dun horse."

This horse's confirmation looks good and well-formed, except for the fact that his head is too big.  I actually began with the head, when it is usually better to have a rough drawing of the whole horse first.  The latter methodology can help you catch any disproportions and other mistakes.  I also began too low down on my page, and as I wanted to draw all of the horse or as much as possible, some subconscious shrinkage occurred from the shoulder back.  It's most noticeable in the hindquarters.  I did not have a blending stick, so I used a finger to lightly shade the horse and went over darker areas again with my pencil.  The drawing does not have a finished feel to it but retains its sketch characteristics.  I would like to heighten the contrast and tighten up some of the pencil strokes.  I have noticed that my pencil sketches of horses do have a similar style, although I haven't quite figured out how to describe it yet.

Chincoteague Pony- Pop Art style

"Pop Art Pony"
gel pen
small leather sketchbook

I originally went into this drawing with the idea that I'd create another one of my "swirly horses" as one of my friends has dubbed them.  However, my rendering of this horse's anatomy went awry in the area of its loins and hindquarters.  As I was drawing in pen (oh, how I love to live life dangerously!), the mishap was glaringly evident.  How was I going to solve this?  Enter clever cross-hatching.  The result is certainly not photorealistic, but visually appealing.  In fact, I can even say it's inspired by Roy Lichenstein and the pop art movement itself.  This is not entirely a conscious inspiration, but a few years of art school might have had some influence on my subconscious.

Because I grew up loving horses, they are a clear influence on who I am today.  Horses are a frequent theme in my work.  When I was 9 or 10, I was given Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague to read.  I became obsessed with the series and fell in love with Henry as an author.  Many of her titles still sit on my bookshelf.  As I've discussed in an earlier post, illustrator Wesley Dennis was also an important influence on my art and my passion for drawing.  While I appreciate the style and challenge to conventional art that pop art presents, I still love a painting or drawing that tells a story.  I only hope to capture the liveliness of spirit that Dennis' work does.

Red-winged Blackbird

"Red-winged Blackbird"
gel pen and red Sharpie
small leather sketchbook

I heard the "konk-a-ree!" of a red-winged blackbird as I walked my dog in the morning.  It was thirty-six degrees Fahrenheit, warm enough for me to wear a hoodie instead of my winter jacket.  The sun actually felt warm on my face.  Starlings, cardinals, finches and sparrows sang and called.  When I heard the redwing, I was transported back to one of my childhood homes, which had a small wetland ecosystem in the back yard.  Each spring, hundreds of red-winged blackbirds would nest in the cattails and puff out their feathers as they called.  I loved to look for the stately males on the tops of the reeds, trees, and telephone poles.  Wings and tail are fanned, beak opened wide, as they claim their territory.  They are one of my favorite harbingers of spring.  Shortly after I heard the blackbird, I saw yellow crocuses about to bloom on a sun-drenched southern slope.  Warmer weather and the growing season are indeed almost here.

My drawing's proportions are a little off; the body of the bird should be a little more slender and his beak shorter and thinner.  I was very pleased with the hatching effect of my pen, but the shoulder patches were too white and flat in comparison.  There happened to be a red Sharpie marker on my desk, so I took a risk and used that to shade in the bird's namesake.  I'm pleased with the overall result.

Bay Arabian- 30 minute pen sketch

"Bay Arabian"
gel pen
small leather sketchbook

I'm trying to pull myself out of this winter funk and begin publishing a new blog post 3x a week.  Today I came across a stock photo of this exuberant Arabian.  Despite my sleepiness (c'mon, it's in the lower fifties and sunny!  So much better than the negative temperatures we suffered in February!), I managed to dredge up enough motivation to do a quick sketch.  I worked with quick, gestural strokes of the pen.  There is a certain beauty to sketching that I haven't quite managed to translate to more formal work.  This particular piece showcases that beauty in its expressiveness and use of suggestion.  The viewer is allowed to speculate more about the horse instead of being given a  representation which leaves little to the imagination.  Perhaps the loose lines and wild energy appeal to me so much because it represents the churning thoughts of my subconscious, which are often masked by my practical and precise outer personality.

Landscape drawing and small acrylic painting of a fox

"Landscaping"
gel pen
small leather sketchbook

It was pointed out to me that I tend to focus on details or single subjects in my work, followed by the suggestion that I try to branch out and experiment with landscapes.  I have done a couple of small landscapes here and there, and while there are many possibilities within the scope of landscape painting, it just isn't something I have really gotten into.  Many landscape paintings are large, grand affairs.  This sketch was somewhat tedious for me.  Leaves were agonizingly difficult to represent to my liking, so I settled for suggestions of leaves.  I remember several years ago when I had recently gotten my driver's license, I took my paints and even an easel out to do a little plein air, but once I had arrived at my destination, I realized I hadn't brought a single scrap of paper. 

As a viewer of art, I find myself attracted to more impressionist landscapes in the style of Monet  than those devoted to capture every detail.  Tight, realistic brushwork is impressive, but it doesn't stir me the same way loose strokes and a sense of effervescent light do.  Maybe I'll hit the road with brushes and paints again, and this time I'll remember to bring a canvas or two.

"Vulpes Sienna"
acrylic paint
4"x5"

Yet another snowy day gave me some time to break out the acrylic paint again.   I've been considering re-reading His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, and I've always wished for a daemon of my own.  Sometimes I like to wonder what my spirit animal could be, even going so far as to take some of those silly online quizzes out of boredom.  The answer points strongly to wolf or bear, so I originally was going to do a spirit-wolf painting.  Then I made the face of the canid too pointy.  Oh well, I had been reading about foxes lately, so I pursued the vulpine subject matter.  This was just for fun, and I wanted it to be a simplistic representation of the animal.  I've seen foxes hunting in the winter snow.  They leap straight into the air, back arched, tail looped, and come pouncing down forelegs first.  This behavior is what inspired this fox's pose.

Floral studies- pansy and crocus

"Crocuses"
gel pen
small leather sketchbook

Dreaming of spring, I thought of the flowers that I would like to put in my garden.  Crocuses shall have to wait for planting until the fall, but I'm looking forward to adding some bright, early splashes of color with pansies.  I've done a pansy study before from the flowers in my mother's garden, and doing this drawing took me back to that moment in April sunshine.  When it's cold, smells are dampened, but when the first warm spring winds come, the air is alive with rich soil and heady chlorophyll.  My favorite spring scents are lilacs and hyacinth.  Although snow is falling (again), the first green shoots will soon push through the thawing earth.

There was no preliminary sketch in pencil for either of these drawings; I simply took my pen, began with the basic shapes of the flowers, and added detail.  I have a tendency to vertically elongate my subjects, especially as seen in the pansies below.  A lot of (out)lines were used, giving these more of a design quality than realism per se.

"Pansies"
gel pen
small leather sketchbook

Acrylic painting- "Ancestor"

"Ancestor"
acrylic paint
4"x5"; 3/1/15

My high school was unique in that it offered a lot of art classes, which included ceramics, video, drawing, and painting.  In fact, it was during my senior year of high school that I took painting for my homeroom class, and it was the peace and focus which I felt during this class that guided me to choose visual arts for my college education.  Some brushes, canvas, and acrylic paint (BASIC brand) was provided.  The rest was up to us.

I broke out my acrylic paints to do a very small painting, and I had a blast.  With a relaxing playlist featuring such artists as Nightmares on Wax and Air, I was able to become fully absorbed in the creative process.  I began by layering blue and white paint in an atmospheric blend for my background.  Then I took a fine brush and, without any reference, freehand painted the outline of the horse figure.  Then I added the pattern in blue.  When I finished with that, the horse looked a little flat and just "blah" to me, so I went over the lines with white highlights.  This added some great highlights and needed visual interest.

I'm looking forward to doing some more painting.  My technical skills, like everything else, need refining, but it's very easy for me to embrace my creativity when wielding brush and paint.  It's always smart to learn from your mistakes, but when painting, it can be a lot of fun to learn from imperfection.