Tag Archives: pencil

All about organising, thinking and preparing…and writing

March 4th, 2010 | Posted in Sheona Hamilton-Grant

As my solo show approaches at great speed, I’ve been running left and right, phoning, listing, planning, scheduling, correcting, stressing, tweaking, thinking and writing ( most probably all in that order!)

The writing has been the new challenging fun part. After months of work, my book “My Colours of Graphite. Black on Grey on White”, finally boasts dotted “i’’s” and crossed “t’s” and looking (nearly) ready to greet the big wide world.

Once a date for the exhibition was set, it seemed like a nice idea to bring out a small book- a retrospective covering the last 15 years of my life. A very special and sincere way to pay tribute to all the people who have believed in me and supported me along the way.

It’s looking great, over 80 of my drawings have come together to show the world just how powerful a single pencil can be. As you can well imagine my scribble friends are on a pedestal as we retrace the 15 years we have spent together.

The launch is scheduled for the beginning of April…. Stay tuned.
If you would like to pre-order your copy please feel free to send me a note at info@sheonahamiltongrant.com

©Copyright 2009 by Sheona Hamilton-Grant. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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“Hawk” Graphite portrait winner from Facebook

February 28th, 2010 | Posted in Debbie Flood

This is “Hawk” 8 x 10 Graphite Portrait. This portrait was created for Stacey Huston, a wonderful wildlife photographer who won this Graphite portrait through my facebook fan page contest! Congrats Stacey!

Debbie Flood, Artist. Equine, Wildlife, and the natural world.
http://www.debfloodart.com

©Copyright 2009 by Debbie Flood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Calle’s second drawing portrait finished

February 25th, 2010 | Posted in Sheona Hamilton-Grant
Untitled
Pencil on Paper. 34×46 cm
SOLD
Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved

Managed to finish this piece last week before the confetti and funny masks took over!
Calle’s portrait is now at the framers.
Can’t wait to see him behind glass all “poshed” up.

The tails’ swing and movement added the finishing touch I was looking for. The thickness of the hair pushing the movement forward towards the viewer. The size of the piece also adds to the over all feel of power.
Overall a nice result which I hope will make my patron smile.

p.s: please excuse the missing right boot tip…technical problems swallowed it…whole!

©Copyright 2009 by Sheona Hamilton-Grant. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Taxi. New drawing of canine pup.

February 14th, 2010 | Posted in Sheona Hamilton-Grant
Taxi
Graphite on Paper. 28×21 cm
SOLD
Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved.

Taxi is little and full of fun and bounce. She settles down once and a while and when she does these are the wee eyes that peek up at you full of innocence and sincerity.

This portrait was done in December and a delivered over mince pies and Xmas cheer.

Will be taking the next few days off to spend Carnaval with my familly. The idea of being amoungst mad crazy costumes is strangely very alluring. So it’s one great big Helau from me (German festive cry at this time of year).

Back soon with streamers and confetti in my hair !!!!

©Copyright 2009 by Sheona Hamilton-Grant. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Dressage drawing: new progress made

February 11th, 2010 | Posted in Sheona Hamilton-Grant


I’ve tacked him up.
Both the bridles and saddle have been added (still need refining).
The tail is still to be added. This is where I hope to emphasize his power and create extra movement.
I like the paper, not in love with it but we are good buddies.
The tooth allows for much faster results as not as many layers are needed to create darks. I’m not convinced I will achieve the detail I do with Mellotex. Only time will tell.
Back up to draw a swishing tail!

©Copyright 2009 by Sheona Hamilton-Grant. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Guest Artist Thank You

February 11th, 2010 | Posted in Karen Baker Thumm

“Tall, Dark and Handsome” 11×13 pencil drawing – prints available

I’d like to make a special announcement today and send a big Thank You! to Kelli Swan. Kelli is a phenomenal pencil artist who invited me to be a guest artist on her blog this week. Kelli is an expert at drawing a variety of subjects but mostly draws dogs and horses in her unique style. She sells prints and notecards as well as originals and can do custom artwork for you. Be sure to look around her blog and enjoy her wonderful art.

Pencil Art and Drawings

The drawing above is one which is included in the guest blog.

©Copyright 2009 by Karen Baker Thumm. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Dressage drawing in progress

February 9th, 2010 | Posted in Sheona Hamilton-Grant


Here is Calle frozen in time.
The reference was taken last summer during his daily work out.

For this portrait I am using a Strathmore Bristol smooth and a lot of 6B pencil.
I don’t have a lot of experience with this paper. It is much toothier than I am used to.
So far so good…. let’s hope we continue working in harmony;)

©Copyright 2009 by Sheona Hamilton-Grant. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Two New Pencil Works

February 8th, 2010 | Posted in Bethany Caskey

Belgian Draft Mares

Sorrel Draft Mules

Filed under: Uncategorized

©Copyright 2008 by Bethany Caskey. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Bethany Caskey’s website.

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Finnegan, new canine drawing

February 4th, 2010 | Posted in Sheona Hamilton-Grant
Finn
Pencil on Paper, 18×14 cm
Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved.
SOLD

This is Finnegan.
Finn is an Australian Cattle Dog mix.
Finni (as he is affectionately referred to) lives in Michigan with Kimberly Santini and her family.
I met Finn (cyberly) a few years ago and knew so little about him.
Finni is one heck of a character.

His Mum’s words draw a great picture:

“He’s a dear guy with a strong affinity for frisbee, snowflake and raindrop herding, and good neck rubs. Evan learned to read with him – they still snuggle together every night reading comic books or listening to music (Finni likes Green Day and Lady Gaga).
He takes squirrel patrol duties very seriously and also excels at yard work (picking up sticks and other debris alongside the kids). He sings along with “Happy Birthday” and the Michigan State Fight Song . He’s a great snuggler with the boys, moving from bed to bed during the night (he’d probably sleep with Annie, too, if he could figure out how to get up the ladder into her loft!).
He’s also learned to pick up the boys’ stinky laundry and put it in the hamper – however, we began discouraging that when we found him sneaking socks out and stashing them for a later retrieval (and treat).
He’s just a genuinely willing guy, eager to do whatever you ask at a moment’s notice. A quick learner with boundless amounts of energy.
Our household would be very dull without that crazy scrabble of nails on the floor, followed by that goofy face asking to be brought along for a ride…”

Finni’s portrait is on it’s way to his home … I wonder what he’ll make of it?

©Copyright 2009 by Sheona Hamilton-Grant. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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“His Royalty” Graphite Painting

February 3rd, 2010 | Posted in Debbie Flood

“His Royalty” 8 x 10 image size, Graphite. $95.00. Inquiries may come to my email at debflood@debfloodart.com thank you I worked on two watercolors today. They both have been works in progress for awhile now. But I wanted something else to play with too. I was browsing through my images and found this Friesian with rider in costume, that my mother had taken the photo of down in Florida, a couple years ago. So I slapped down the paper, hauled out my Graphite pencils and away I went. I have recently been chatting with another artist that I met online and the subject of Zorro came up, and the Friesian horse, so I will dedicate this painting to my new artist friend! This reminded me of that conversation.

Have a great rest of your day!DebbieDebbie Flood, Artist. Equine, Wildlife, and the natural world.
http://www.debfloodart.com

©Copyright 2009 by Debbie Flood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Laureus signed, new equine drawing

February 1st, 2010 | Posted in Sheona Hamilton-Grant

“Laureus”
Pencil on Paper, 27×36 cm
Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved
Reserved

What great company he was, alert, attentive, kind and oh so handsome.
Here’s the finished result of another good week’s work.
I wanted a three D effect.
In order to achieve this I pushed the contrast in the neck and accentuated the detail on the nose . I also used a large format so when the portrait is seen “live”, Laureus really comes into the room.

There will be a little canine study next. Running off up to the studio to finish him.
Have a great Monday.

©Copyright 2009 by Sheona Hamilton-Grant. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Back To Easy Rider

January 30th, 2010 | Posted in Karen Baker Thumm


“Easy Rider” 11 x 14 pencil equestrian drawing

Well, it seems that my little painting of the JRT has made a hit. His owner sent me more photos of him and her new JRT and has given me permission to use one of them for a painting. It seems that I may be going to the dogs these days.

But, in the meantime, I made more progress on Easy Rider. I had hoped to get enough of it done to use in an ad in Horses In Art magazine, but a lingering sinus infection has slowed me down for the past week. So, I sent in another image instead. If you aren’t aware of this magazine, it’s a real treat for the horse art lover. You can subscribe online, too.

This dressage horse equestrian drawing will need some tweaking yet, and the background needs to be finished, but it’s coming along nicely now. Considering how long it’s lingered in the studio, that’s a very encouraging thing!

After an unusually long January thaw, we’re now back to real winter, with strong winds and blowing snow and icy roads. I’m SO glad I got new tires on my Subaru three weeks ago because they saved me from an accident soon after. The car ahead of me lost control on black ice when he put on his brakes (not a wise thing to do), but I was able to slow down enough without a bit of sliding to avoid him as he ran into the snowbank. Whew! Good winter tires DO make a difference!

At any rate, the weather makes the studio a cozy place to be on a blustery day, and I’m busy planning my next work to land on the easel or drawing board. Today we ran errands in Traverse City, and I picked up a new AC adapter-charger thing for my laptop. Now that I’m back in the studio fairly regularly, I’ll need it for viewing reference photos beside the easel. I have so many great digital photos to work from now, and I’m anxious to create some great art from them. I plan to create a series of Horse Show Dogs paintings in addition to the horse art works.

That’s all for now, folks. Have a great weekend, everyone!

©Copyright 2009 by Karen Baker Thumm. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Shameless trumpet blowing…

January 29th, 2010 | Posted in Sheona Hamilton-Grant
“Complicity”Graphite on paper, 37×26 cm

copyright Sheona Hamilton-Grant

Please forgive me should this sound off key: not the world’s best trumpeter…

Two of my three entries have been accepted to this year’s Art Show at the Dog Show.
It’s tremendous news which has brought one beaming smile to a winter trodden morale.

“Tall Grace”

Graphite on paper, 39×22 cm

copyright Sheona Hamilton-Grant

Complicity and Tall Grace will be packing their bags (or rather packed into a crate) and flying off to the other side of the water, to Kansas.
Yipee!

©Copyright 2009 by Sheona Hamilton-Grant. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Laureus in the midst of circles

January 21st, 2010 | Posted in Sheona Hamilton-Grant

This last week has seen me spin around in the strangest circles…keeping me both on my toes and at the loosing end of time management.

Amazingly, there have been scribbles and crosshatching appearing on the drawing board.
My subjects’ name is Laureus.
He’s a rising star.
A gorgeous model.
An inspiration.



These are the first 10 hours into the drawing. I’ve decided to go big.
The tools used:

  • surprisingly only a 2B with a touch of 6B for the very dark areas.
  • Layers, lots of layering.
  • Mellotex paper (in Super white) available from Mike Sibley

I’m not sure how many more circles I’ll spin this week… hopefully not too many and I’ll be able to post an update soon.
Now … what time is it?

©Copyright 2009 by Sheona Hamilton-Grant. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Norwegian Fjord

January 17th, 2010 | Posted in Bethany Caskey

Posted in Uncategorized

©Copyright 2008 by Bethany Caskey. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Bethany Caskey’s website.

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new pencil drawing – black draft team

January 14th, 2010 | Posted in Bethany Caskey

Winter-bound and in between illustrating books, I have had spare time in the evenings to draw and experiment with pencils and papers. I am “working” on these at the little farm house, which does not have the studio space I have in the shop, so I have kept supplies at a minimum that can be used on a portable drawing board. I also brought out some scraps of watercolor paper and my ever trusty box of Winsor Newton pan watercolors. We are anticipating above freezing temps for the rest of this week and into the next. More time will be spent in finding items under the drifts, moving snow and unlocking padlocks that have been iced shut for weeks.

Using a photo resource for this drawing, taken last October at the local Teamster’s Challenge Day, I still have the struggle between “photo realistic art” and more “artistic” renderings. Bottom line has been which has been the most marketable. Sad, but true.

Posted in Uncategorized

©Copyright 2008 by Bethany Caskey. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Bethany Caskey’s website.

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Riding Into The New Year

January 8th, 2010 | Posted in Karen Baker Thumm


Happy New Year, everyone! Did you all have a satisfying holiday season, and are you ready to plunge into this new year with renewed optimism and determination?

As for my part, I’m doing something different from my usual New Year routine. Instead of spending days on the end of year analysis and setting goals for the incoming year, I’m starting off by spending some time in the studio. Maybe this way I can keep the momentum going and not get side tracked by extraneous “stuff”.

Since “Easy Rider” was still on the drawing board, it is the first piece to get attention, and I’m getting very eager to finish it. There will be many adjustments to make as I work out the lighting issues, but it’s looking good so far. But, there’s something about that left foreleg that isn’t quite right. Could the head be a tad too large? Was there some distortion in the reference photograph that I didn’t notice until seeing the drawing in the small version? Hmmm.

This equestrian dressage drawing is approximately 11 x 14 inches in pencil on paper.

For my next project, I’ve already picked out a photo of a kitten; our own beloved Annie whom we lost last Christmas. I’ll be doing that in pastel before plunging back into the oils.

©Copyright 2009 by Karen Baker Thumm. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Finished equine pencil portrait.Ingredients used.

November 27th, 2009 | Posted in Sheona Hamilton-Grant

“Hurricane”

Graphite on Paper. 36×56 cm.

Sheona Hamilton-Grant

Finished.

Hurricane is my first drawing this big.

The result was well worth the extra hours.

In this post I thought it would nice to share the set of instructions used for preparing and producing this specific drawing.

(p.s:The ingredients used can be found worldwide, the way in which they are combined comes from trial and error.)

INGREDIENTS

1 sheet of Mellotex paper, whole

3 clutch pencils, filled (6B, 2B &2H)

1/2 piece of Blu-Tack

1 gorgeous subject (1.1 tones/2425 lb)

12 finely detailed digital photographs

XL Foam board

Artist Tape

1 “White Lies” cd

2 Marillion cds

Collectors Edition Pink Floyd

11/2l of drinking water (daily)

2 nespresso coffees (daily)

Preheated studio to 19 ºC = 66.2 ºF.

65 hours of drawing time.

Freshly ground passion.

DIRECTIONS

In a warm studio, over angled drawing board, outline subject and study eyes, movement and light. Add a pinch of passion and bring inner vision to a simmer.

Place paper on foam board. Tape corners with artist tape. Secure and set aside.

Turn on music.

Review sketch and bring to parchment. Begin eyes to get a perfect expression.

On a clear drawing board, under good light, add more work to overall subject. Pin down the darks and gradually stir in the lighter values. Allow the lighter grays melt into the drawing, and then add detail to the mix. Work gently for approximately 65 hours until the values are completely coated with details.

Finish with a pinch of zeal and a crack of freshly ground passion.

Serve immediately.

©Copyright 2009 by Sheona Hamilton-Grant. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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