Calm Before the Storm

I managed to finish this drawing last night. And
now we are all sitting glued to the Weather Channel
and the coverage of the oncoming storm. We are
about 4-5 hours inland from New Orleans, in north
central Louisiana. They are telling us we may get
some high winds and lots of rain. I will keep you
posted! Say a prayer for all of us. Thanks!

Going coconuts....

In anticipation of my show featuring work
from the Costa Rica show, I decided I needed
to get in gear and get some things finished!
I had started this colored pencil drawing
awhile back, so I have been working on it to
try to get it done.

Usually when I do a colored pencil drawing, I
only use the pencils, and layer them to build
up color and value. On this piece, I thought I
would try to lay down some watercolor washes
first to put in some base colors to build the
pencil on. It has worked fine, and saves a lot of
time. I still have to layer the pencils to build
up the colors, but not quite so much. I should be
able to finish it up tonight.

"Going Nuts" original colored pencil/watercolor
22 x 30 $750.00
sheltongail@hotmail.com
Gail H. Shelton artist

Wise Pelican

This is a page from my sketchbook from my trip
to Florida. This pelican was hanging around the
airboats in Everglade City. There were several
of them, and some of them would land on the
airboats and ride. This is our Louisiana state
bird, and they are not the most beautiful bird.
But they look kind of wise to me. And since we
were there to celebrate my daughter's master's
degree, I added the quote by William Channing
beside the wise bird:


"...to be worthy, not respectable,
and wealthy, not rich,
to study hard, think quietly, talk gently...
to listen to stars and birds,
to babes and sages with open heart;

to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely,
await occasions, hurry never."

I hope that you can take your time today
to listen, think, and be cheerful!

sheltongail@hotmail.com
Gail H. Shelton artist

Mangrove Mania

I had always wanted to see the mangrove swamps

in the Everglades. We took the airboat ride through

them, and I took lots of photos. It was very eerie,

and we all thought it would be really great at night

on Halloween!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Gail H. Shelton artist

Everglade Escapade

I am back from Florida and a visit to the
Everglades. I went to celebrate my daughter's
graduation from PA school in Ft. Lauderdale.
But we squeezed in a quick visit out to the
marshlands as well. This is a small sketch of
the marsh on the way to Everglade City west
of Ft. Lauderdale.

We took an airboat tour with "Speedy Johnson's"
airboat company. Freddy was our guide, and he
took us all through the mangrove swamp and the
marshlands. It was great fun, and very interesting.
The mangrove swamp was really spooky; I will
post some photos of it. All in all, we had a great
time. more tomorrow....

More Photos

Here are the rest of the photos that I had

enlarged to 30" x 40". I am very pleased

with the way they turned out. I am going

to take them to a show in San Antonio in

October, and will see how the viewers

respond to them.

The beach scenes are all on the west coast

of Costa Rica, as well as the child in the

surf at sunset. I asked the parent's permission

to take the photos, and they said it was ok.

The orchids were in the Lankester Botanical

gardens. The leaves had fallen into a small

pond and I stood on a small bridge overlooking

them and took the photo. The ferns and plants

were at the base of the waterfall.

I am looking forward to going to Paris in

the spring. I plan to take some photos

there as well. Hopefully the weather will

be good, so I can get some good shots. I

already have 5 people signed up to go, and

if you are interested, please email me for

more info.

I am going to Florida this weekend for my

daughter's graduation from Physician's

Assistant school, and we are planning to

spend the day in the Everglades on Sat.

Will be out of pocket for a few days...

Photos on Canvas 30 x 40 $400.00

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Costa Rica Photos on Canvas

My printer delivered the Costa Rican photos that
were printed on canvas today. And they are
wonderful. Here are 3 of them: The top one is the
view from behind one of the waterfalls. I can still
hear the roar of the powerfall water when I look
at it. The second one is of the coconuts on a
tree at the beach. And the third one is some bags
of coffee in the warehouse that we toured at the
Doka coffee plantation. I love the lighting; the sun
was coming through the skylights in the roof. The
guide let everyone handle the beans in the
bags, and this is after everyone had left.

All of these will be available during the show this
fall, but if anyone would like one now, I can sell
them. They are large, about 30 x 40 and are
stretched on gallery-wrap canvases. They are
sealed with UV sealer. They are $400.00 each.
There are 9 others, and I will post them the
next few nights.

Orig Photo Giclees on Canvas 30 x 40 $400.00
sheltongail@hotmail.com Gail H. Shelton artist

Final Ferns

I tweaked this a little tonight, and did the
finishing touches. It reminds me of painted
tiles. I like the graphic quality. I think it is
very "decorative".
They are delivering 12 of my Costa Rica
photos on canvas tomorrow. I am very
anxious to see them. The printer says
they look fabulous. Will try to post some
photos of the photos.
I need to get in gear and do all the work
for the Costa Rica show. It will all need to
be finished by late Oct.

www.peapatchgallery.com Gail H. Shelton artist

Foliage Canvas

A couple of nights ago, I posted the little
watercolor sketch for this canvas set. It
had a lot of postive response at the gallery,
so I decided to do it on canvas. These are
12 inches square, and gallery-wrapped.
(that means the canvas is all the way
around the edge, and stapled on the back)
That allows you to paint the edges also
as part of the design. Anyway, this is
all done in acrylic, and I am almost
finished. I will tweak it tomorrow with
a few finishing touches. It will be in the
Costa Rica "It's a Jungle Out There"
show in the fall.

Ferns and Flowers orig acrylic on canvas
24" x 24" $300.00
sheltongail@hotmail.com
Gail H. Shelton artist

Sunflower Painted collages

Did a pair of sunflower collages tonight. They are
on watercolor paper which I painted gold first.
Then I did the red swirl border, attached the
sunflower photos, and painted the brown border.
kinda fun...

www.peapatchgallery.com
Gail H. Shelton artist

Flowers and Ferns

It was really slow at the gallery today, and I did this
little mixed media piece. It is done on watercolor
paper, and I did the wet-into-wet washes in the
background, letting the colors blend on the page
first. Then I used some rubber stamps to do the dark
green design in the corners, and enhanced them with
some colored pencils. Then I painted the flower
and fern design in white acrylic over it all. I
added a few more colored pencil accents, and then
I cut the painting into four parts. I would like to
do something like this on 4 different canvases;
this was a practice. I will play with mounting
them on different colored backgrounds, etc. fun..

I will include some of these in the Costa Rica show
this fall. They are inspired by the foliage and
flowers that we saw along the way.

Gail H. Shelton artist

progress on drawing

As I have been watching the swimmers in the Olympics
cruise through the water, I have been working on this
little swimmer. Colored pencil is very tedious, and very
slow, so I know it doesn't look like much progress! But
that is about 2 hours worth...and all I can do tonight.
more tomorrow...

For info on Colored Pencil drawings;
www. peapatchgallery.com

children's portraits
drawings of children
Gail Shelton artist

Drawing Time

I felt like getting back to drawing for a few

days. Doing the collages has taxed my brain.

Drawing is very relaxing to me, and I get lost

in the process.

I am in the process of planning our painting

trip for next year. We are going to go to

Paris for 10 days. I will tour and sketch and

paint some of the scenery. I already have

several signed up, and there are still some spots

left. There are a couple of optional side trips

available: to Normandy, Versailles, Giverny,

and Chartres.

I went to Paris several years ago, but only for

3 days, and the weather was terrible. I didn't

get to see or do many of the things I wanted to.

So maybe this time will be better. If you would

like some info on the trip, just email me.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Gail Shelton artist

Water Baby

My brother sent me this photo of one of his
grandchildren...she is enjoying the water at
the lake. It would make a great colored
pencil drawing...might have to try it. Whether
I do or not, it is a nice cool image for a hot
summer day in August.

Lost Edges

I had started this pencil drawing of this little
girl awhile back, and I felt in the mood tonight
to get it finished. It is 15 x 22, a half sheet of
watercolor paper. I took the photograph years
ago at the kindergarten school. I don't know
her name; I wish I did. Anyway, I included a
photo of my tools of the trade. To do a pencil
drawing, I use very simple things.
1. Paper: 140 lb. hot pressed watercolor paper
2. a #2 pencil
3. a woodless pencil: used for dark shading/
does not have a wood exterior...it's just solid
graphite
4. blending stump: rolled and pressed paper
used for softening and blending the shading
5. an eraser, usually a Magic Rub
6. a sharpener (I have an electric one that is
just about had it). The small one does fine.
7. reference photo

One of the techniques of drawing involves what
is called a "lost edge". When part of your subject
is in the light, you can simply leave part of if
"un-drawn". There is no line where the edge
should be. Usually another part of the subject
will help define that line in some way, and your
eye will fill it in. This happens on the little girl's
right side, and along her face. Her arm and the
rest of the shadows on her face define the edge.
It's always fun to see if you can pull it off.

I haven't decided on a title yet. still pondering...

Orig Pencil drawing 15 x 22 $350.00

Final Shells

Here's the finished shell collage...I just added
the white marble strips, and tweaked the
shells a little. The other one is just a reverse
of this one. They're ok...will do some more of
this stuff till I get it right!

2 Shell Collages 16 x 20 $50.00 each
sheltongail@hotmail.com

Down by the seashore...

I have been working on this pair of beach
canvases for several nights. They are on
canvas, which I painted blue first.
Then I added the painted strips, the camel
brown, and the black. The white marble
is a collaged piece of paper. Then I
enhanced the photo of the beach from
Costa Rica, and cut it. And then glued it
in place. The shells in a row were drawn
first, and then I scanned and copied them.
I coated them with gesso, and placed them
face down; burnished them, and lifted off
the paper. The gesso will transfer a copied
image onto whatever surface you put it on...
I just learned that! Anyway, I may still
tweak them a little...not quite happy yet.

Art Show Glee

That is a photo of me smiling...at the opening reception
of the Natchitoches Gallery Juried Show tonight. My
colored pencil piece, "Logged On" won first place in its
catagory, and then won Best in Show! And THEN,
someone bought it!! Woohoo! A triple play! The
judge was very complimentary, and I was humbled
and flattered by all the attention. It was a good night
to be an artist....what fun!

Sunflower Collages

This is another pair of collages. I love

sunflowers; I decorate my kitchen with

them. I have drawn and painted them

a great deal. I took these photos, and

then did some things to them in

Photoshop. I printed them out, and

attached them to the painted canvas.

I used a rubber stamp around the

edges with the dark red paint. And

added the dark red border around

the photos. very fun....

Sunflower collages 9 x 12 $40.00

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Collage a la Flower

This is a pair of flower collages that I

finished using some of my photography,

some paper, and some painted areas.

They are done on canvas and sealed.

I am enjoying doing these, and I have

lots of ideas and lots of photos! Will

do some more...

Flower Collage 9 x 12 $40.00 each

sheltongail@hotmail.com

I started

playing

around

with some

of my photo

images and

some

collage

techniques.

this is a

photo I

took in Venice, and I did some

collage with some printed

papers, and then did some

decorative painting across

the bottom. kinda fun.

Colored Ink Drawings

These are the final pen and
ink drawings that I did for
a local client. I had some
copies made today, and then
colored them with colored
pencil. He wanted two sets
for his daughters, so now he
has them.

I took the two pieces to
Natchitoches, LA today that
are in the juried show that
starts this Saturday. There
were several pieces already
there, and I checked out the
competition! I am planning to
go to the reception Saturday
night, and will keep you posted.

for info on House Portraits:
sheltongail@hotmail.com

Starfish Sketches

Still fooling around with some sea shell sketches..I
have some square canvases I need to paint, so I'm
trying to come up with a pair of shells. May do a
few more till I really like them.

Had an interesting day today at the marketing
seminar. I learned a few things and made a
couple of contacts. I did win the big door prize:
two nights at a resort in Galveston, Texas?!
I guess I will pack up and go to the beach!
Good thing I am interested in doing some
sea shell things....maybe I can get some
resource material!

I talked to a couple of artists today about
doing a blog. I hope they follow through, and
if any of you are reading this...welcome!
It's a great way to measure your progress
and communicate about your artwork.
Any help I can offer, feel free to email me.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A Blue Invitation

This is another one of those things that I do...a painted

wedding invitation. I have to frame it, the wedding is

next weekend.

I attended a Beth Moore simulcast bible study tonight,

and it was wonderful. She is a great teacher and an

inspiration. I will miss the session tomorrow because

I am going to go to an art marketing seminar in Alexandria,

Louisiana. Will let you know what I learn!

Wedding Invitations $15.00 watercolored

sheltongail@hotmail.com

More Pen and Ink...

I am taking a break tonight...haven't done much. I heard

from my cousin in New Orleans today who owns and

operates an advertising business, so I thought I would

post something that I have done for him in the past.

This is a set of four New Orleans "shotgun" houses that

I drew to be used as etchings on a set of glasses. For

those of you who don't know, a "shotgun" house is one

that has a central hallway all the way through....therefore

you could fire a shotgun through the house. one of those

"southern" things...

The client picked up the elephant and flamingo today,

and was very happy. And the father ok'd the pen

and ink drawings. So, all is well. It's on to the next

project. Keep you posted.

sheltongail@hotmail.com