A Face in the Crowd

A portrait in the CPSA show...awesome work
This piece sold right away.

Great work here too.

This piece attracted a lot of attention.  This is the artist's grandmother
who is suffering from Alzheimer's.  The title is "Trapped", and it
was quite poignant.

This is by John Smolko.  I just LOVE his style.
I got to talk to him during the convention.
He said that during a critique, someone told him
that the best stokes he made were scibbles...and so
he does!

Here is a close up of a section where you can really
see all the scibbles. cool
I would like for him to teach a workshop during
the convention.

Another beautiful portrait

There are always a lot of portraits that make it into the show.  I read somewhere
that viewers respond to faces of other people more that any other
subject matter.  They are compelling, and I guess we always like
looking into another face.  Great stuff

sheltongail@hotmail.com
Look up John Smolko's work 

Colored Pencil Explorations

I am back from the CPSA convention, and I wanted to try out some of
the new things I learned while there.  I took the workshop that covered using
Gamsol with the pencils, that helps melt the wax and allows them to
cover a rough surface.  I thought I would try it on this piece of tile.
I sketched off the rooster, and started with a light coating of the pencil.

Close up of the tile....it is very rough!  The red section has already had th e
solvent applied, and you can see how it spreads.

This is the finished drawing that I started in the workshop.  I added
the background and tweaked the body of the truck.  I also finished the
back end of the truck.  I can see where this  technique would be
good for certain subject matters: rust, rough textured objects, and perhaps
some more "painterly" subjects such as flowers, etc.  I will have to play
around with it and see just what I can make it do.

Here is the finished tile with the rooster.  I am going to seal it with the
glossy sealer, and that will change how it looks.  It can be
displayed on an easel as a little art accent piece.  cool

You might be wondering something about all of this.  Why would you want
to make colored pencil look like watercolor?  Why not just use watercolor, and then
layer pencil over it.  Well, it all has to do with the exhibition.  The CPSA limits
what can be exhibited in the show: it has to be 100 % colored pencil.  And there
are many artists that want to stretch the medium and what they can do, but
still be eligible to enter their work in the international exhibition.  So many of
the artists are experimenting with ways to get the effects they may want,
but only use colored pencils.
CPSA has responded to this however, and has added a second
show that allows for mixed media pieces, as long as the majority of the
work is in colored pencil.  This is an online exhibit only, and is referred to
as the CPX show.   You can view lots of colored pencil work on the
CPSA website, as well as check their blog, etc.  If you are an artist
working in colored pencil, you should consider joining this group.  They are
very professional, and well organized.  There are district chapters in many states
(not Louisiana!?), and you can be part of a larger group of similar-minded
people, and be inspired.

www.cpsa.org
On Facebook: Lovers of Colored Pencil
sheltongail@hotmail.com 

My Old Kentucky Home

I am back home now in Louisiana.  As I left, I took some pics of some of these

beautiful, old homes along the Ohio river.  Some of these were on the historic

register, and one was even for sale!  What a grand life...along the river, watching

the paddlewheelers, and the Cincinnati Reds, and the setting sun. 

Nice trip.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

On with the Show

The location of the CPSA show

Attendees at the reception

"Rolling in the Deep"  my entry

This was one of my favorite pieces in the show...just beautiful.  Hard to believe
it is a drawing...it demonstrates what a talented artist can do with it!  This did win
an award, but not Best in Show (I thought it should have!)

Suzanne's entry:  "Great Knockers"  ha ha!
This is done by a wonderful lady that lives in Texas.

This piece is by a young art teacher from Minnesota.  It is a tribute piece to his
grandfather who passed away recently.  He drew the old photos of him as a way
of working through his grief.  awesome

And this is the Best in Show piece.  It is nice, but I did not believe it was
the best piece in the show.



This piece won the second top prize.  This artist, Cecile Baird, does lots of vegetables and fruit
with lots of light...way cool.

I really liked this piece, just cuz I like birds so much.  It was beautifully rendered, delicate and
precise.

I have been coming to this show for several years now.  I am always impressed with many of the entries, and always a little disappointed in some of them.  This year, the juror, spoke to us at the awards banquet about his selections and some of the process.  For him, it was
all about selecting and presenting a "show"...a cohesive unit of work that was
exemplary, but work that filled certain catagories or groupings that would
be good hanging together.   I do not know if other jurors use this same procedure.
I would hope that just the best would be selected...not that some would be
overlooked simply because there were already enough of that type or
catagory.  Anyway, it leaves many things to be discussed, and we artists will
continue to ponder over show selections as long as we continue to enter!
I am just happy that my piece was selected at all!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

For the Birds...at the Zoo

A cockatoo, stretching his wings

Being stared down by this great horned owl

A chickadee bath

Baby Adele penguin...cute

I made it to the zoo today...what a nice place.  Cincinnati can be
very proud.  It was lovely; lots of beautiful landscaping and
gardens.  It was a hot, sunny day and there were LOTS of families
with children (I think I was the only one there by myself?!)
I took some pics, and decided just to post the birds.  The cockatoo was
right inside the gate, and he was climbing all over the palm tree,
cackling and flapping his wings.  They had a "Night Hunters" building
that was dimly lit, and housed all the nocturnal creatures that
hunt.  This great looking owl was right inside the door.
I love little sparrows, and I know they are not "zoo" birds,
but they were everywhere!  And I had never seen a young penguin...
too cute. 
The cutest thing there, however, was the baby cheetah.  But I was not
able to get a good pic of him.  He was tiny, and in the animal
nursery.  He will be a real attraction when he gets a little bigger.

I am going to attend the artist's reception for the CPSA show tonight, and I will
try to post some pics later.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Workshop Day- John Ursillo

John Ursillo

Some of his work

Another one of his pieces on canvas

My start on the canvas project

As far as I got today

This is the solvent that makes the colored pencil
melt!

This is Sandy...she shared my table today.  That's how far she got.

All of us, hard at work

I took the workshop today.  Our instructor was going to teach us to
use colored pencil on canvas...more like a painting instead of a drawing.
The gamsol solvent melts the wax in the pencils, and allows them to
spread like paint.  When the work is finished and sealed, it does not
have to be framed under glass.  Which is a real plus....
I learned a lot, and got to play with the techniques.   I didn't
finish the drawing of the old truck, but I hope to when I get home.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Gone to Market....Findlay Market

Findlay Market, located downtown Cincinnati

Pretty, fresh peaches...yum 
Would make a great drawing!

Inside the aisles....fresh meat, fish, and poultry

I had a chicken salad sandwich here...with grapes and walnuts in it.  It
 was delicious....but I don't know if it was quite as good as ours
at the Pea Patch!

Lots of bologna...

More fruit....



I love to see the local sites whenever I travel, and most of you that
follow me, know I love a market, of any kind, anywhere!
I have been in the markets of Paris, Italy, Peru, and now
Cincinnati!  I enjoy taking pics of the fruit, flowers, and all
kinds of food.  It is always so interesting.  The sandwich I had
for lunch was great, and I indulged in a chocolate-dipped piece of
baklava from a Greek booth...wow. 

I attended the John Ursillo workshop this afternoon, and I will post some
pics tonight.  It was fun, and I learned a lot.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

One Man's Trash....

Yard Sale  Main Strasse Covington, KY

woohoo!

I bought some treasures from Lyda...some beautiful carved ivory jewelry





I may have lost a few...so I bought some

How bout' a smoke

I made the yard sale this morning..it was great.  It was located in the

Main Strasse part of downtown Covington.  It is a quaint, historic part of town

with some German heritage, with lots of shops and cafes.  I had a good time

looking at all the goodies, and I met some very interesting people. 

There was one man who was a retired civil engineer, who had written his

college thesis on the importance of the invention of lead, and how the

written word and pencil drawings had changed life as we know it!  I bought

several vintage pencil sets from him.  I would like to do him a little drawing

before I leave town, and take it back down there to him!  Fun day...