Time is ticking away and I need to get this colored pencil piece done in time for a show! It's slow going and lately my shoulders have been giving me problems. When I do work on it, it's always so enjoyable. I just listen to music, sharpen my pencils and go...go...go.


And just for the fun of it, here are some older in-process photos:

It's always a good day when I get to paint, sketch and write. Alright, so the painting part is old. I already had it on the page as you can see in one of my older posts. To make up for that and get some drawing practice in, I sketched one of my new plants, an anonymous semi-succulent that looks similar to a jade plant and was unlabeled at Home Depot. I couldn't resist bringing it home. It was in a tiny little pot that was probably no more than an inch and a half in diameter. It won a place under my plant light next to my also new orchid. I have this crazy idea of having a miniature garden someday.


Here is a closer look at the plant sketch that I did with just three colored pencils. I really should have sharpened them more often, but I was impatient and hungry. Or maybe it was my hunger that led to my impatience. Either way, I knew I should have been sharpening a lot more, Maybe I'll remember that next time! At the very least I'll try not to draw when I'm hungry.

Speaking of hungry, how about I leave you with a closer look at the fruit? The paper is a little wrinkled from me already monkeying with the other side of the page. But then again, a few wrinkles never really bother me. I can't resist adding washes despite knowing that the paper in this journal is really made for writing. Bah. That won't stop me from splashing away at it!

When I started this drawing, this blossom was drawn from life. Good thing I remembered to take photos of it. Colored pencil drawings always take a lot of time for me. I agonize over color combinations and whether or not I have the right pencil. And when I do find the right pencil, rest assured that when I'm left with nothing but a little nubbin, the store doesn't have that color in stock. And if they do, the lead isn't straight.

Yes, I am picky about my lead. It has to be centered on both ends, preferably with the wooden shaft of the pencil not halved. So even if I come across a dozen pencils in the display at the art store, I look through all of them. If I'm lucky, one or two will actually be centered. Even my husband knows how to do this. We are a much more efficient team going through the colored pencil display, our fists prickling with pencils being inspected from both ends. Honestly, this isn't some weird eccentricity on my part. The leads break less when they're centered.

Then of course, there is layering. I love the zen aspect of trying to make thin glazes of color. It's similar to watercolor in that respect. The pencil moves slowly across the page leaving a bloom of color in its wake. Since I'm using a darker paper, I have to use a lot of white in a "reverse grisaille" process so that lighter colors don't lose their punch. Then there is the constant and necessary pauses to sharpen the pencil into a fine point. Somehow I love these small rituals. I may sometimes complain about how long a piece takes, but I secretly love the slow pace of it all.