Artwork, travel, and musings by artist, Gail H. Shelton.
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| This is Clara Grace...my only little grandchild. This was her first experience in the swimming pool today. She loves the water...but not quite sure what she is supposed to do here.... |
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| This is her "fish kiss" face...she can do this very well! |
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| I believe she enjoyed her first plunge...we enjoyed watching her. I am going to draw her soon...just waiting for the perfect picture. sheltongail@hotmail.com |
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| This is the last section of the colored pencil show. I didn't show the whole thing in the last post...thought I should. This wall contains mostly flower subjects. |
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| One day I was walking through Walmart, and these shiny pinwheels were on display in the toy section. I bought some of them, thinking they would make a great drawing. I arranged them outside, and photographed them. I worked from the photo..very challenging to get all the reflections right. I titled it, "What Goes Around, Comes Around". I have prints available. |
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| These are those two new ones that I completed just recently. |
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| This is what I worked on today. I have these black and white pen and ink prints of Natchitoches, a historic town nearby. I sell these to a gift shop there, and she wanted 10 more. So I spent the afternoon watercoloring them. |
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| And this project, I have been working on for awhile. These are 4 x 8 signs that will be installed out on the highway. They will be replacing some old signs that are there now. These new ones match the building better, and will hopefully bring in some more business! sheltongail@hotmail.com |
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| I have been working to get this all colored pencil show all framed and hanging in the gallery. There were several pieces that needed framing or new mats, etc. But I finally got them all done, and now they are up. This section has all the bird images. |
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| This is one of the older pieces. It is titled, "Pop Art", and is 100% colored pencil, 22 x 30. I used to carry these suckers for my little students when I was teaching. One evening after school, I came in and emptied my pockets, sprawling them on the table. And I thought it might make a neat drawing. The lettering was the hardest, since all the white lettering is simply not colored. I had to color around the words...tricky! But this was the piece that I earned my signature status in theColored Pencil Society with; it was accepted into the exhibition held in Memphis over 10 years ago. |
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| And here are some of the big cats... |
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| These are some of my "Riddle Pics"...the ones with the word puns and puzzles. |
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| "Talk to the Horn"...a drawing of a rhino that I took at the San Diego Zoo. This one was in the CPSA exhibition in California a couple of years ago. |
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| I really like drawing water, and this is an example of a water drawing with a nice dolphin! |
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| I don't really consider myself a "figure" artist...but here are several people! The first one is a street musician in New Orleans. Then, one of my newer pieces, the clown in the Mardi Gras parade. The Chinese dancer is next, and then my great niece, Savannah swimming. The Chinese Fisherman is the last one in this section. The show is open every day...10-5 Monday thru Friday, and 10-3 on Saturday. It will be up through the summer. Most of the pieces are for sale, and there are prints of several of them. Come by if you get a chance, and view this collection from over the years. Lots of colored pencil strokes! sheltongail@hotmail.com |
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| During my walk this morning, I saw a lot of dandelions along the road. It was a beautiful day, and I decided to go get my camera. |
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| I also grabbed a black sketchbook, and tried to hold it behind the subject to give it some drama! So picture me sitting on the ground, camera in my right hand, left hand reaching out with the book in hand behind the thistle, trying to make sure and not block the sun...awkward |
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| Same photo, just cropped...better |
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| So, then on the computer...playing with some effects. This is black and white, with a lot of contrast. |
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| Of course, while shooting, I had some help. Dewey had to get under my leg, and snuggle up, shedding his black fur all over me...lovely. Thanks, Dewey. |
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| Final image...I would print this one. That's the beauty of digital photography. The computer can enable you to make works of art from the simplest subject. You can edit, play, do and undo, flip, re-color, crop, sharpen, and saturate. I hope you get a chance to get out and enjoy this beautiful world of ours this weekend. sheltongail@hotmail.com |
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I finished this little drawing today. It was much harder than I thought it would be! All of that background proved to be very tedious. I had to draw it around all the branches. Maybe I should have done the background first?! But I always do the subject matter first; I feel it is more important, and if I don't get it right, there will be no reason to spend any time on the background! This little bluebird lives in my backyard. I keep several bluebird boxes on trees surrounding the yard. I enjoy seeing them go in and out, taking care of their little ones. I haven't seen my cats bother any of them as of yet....but you never know! I have finished hanging the colored pencil exhibit at the gallery. I still have some tweaking to do, but it is all up and ready to view. I will have the pricing and details done sometime this week. I will have this little piece for sale too. There are also prints of many of my pieces available as well. I look forward to seeing some of you come by! sheltongail@hotmail.com Bluebird on a Branch Original Colored Pencil 9 x 12 $75.00 |