Work in Progress

When I work, I sort of lay out my supplies in a quasi organized schema (librarian term for putting all the same type colors together). I’m right handed so all the colors that I am working with go on the right along with my sharpener and the all important coffee cup. Since, I tend to draw while my husband eats his breakfast at 5am the coffee is the most important component.
Coffee is consciousness in a cup!

What you don’t see yet in my eraser. That’s because I’ve just started this new piece. I’m in the process of laying down color and then will start to take away color later or as is sometimes the case erase whole chunks of the picture. I find that with every picture I need to rework some portion. I thought this was just because I wasn’t any good but it turns out that a lot of artists do this. See, it pays to go the art museum. You learn bundles of interesting facts and can gain some affirmation. I could use all the affirmation I can get.

I think there are two hard parts of any piece of art, getting started and knowing when to stop. This is how I start. I’ll talk about stopping when I get there.

Picking something to do usually isn’t too hard, I sort of fancy doing a certain subject then try to find a photo that either I’ve taken or someone else has taken, copy it into Photoshop and mess with it a bit. None of my drawings actually look too much like the original when I’m done so I’m not too worried about copyright (another librarian thing). I’m looking for concept only. Plus, I really haven’t been all that many places that have cool lighthouses, the subject of my current obsession. Even if I had been to some place, this is a new thing (lighthouses that is) for me. So, chances are I wouldn’t have photos of any.

I just start right in drawing. I’ve made a mistake here though. I started with the bottom. Not a problem if it was watercolors or other paint media but this is pastels. I’m bound to rub the bottom of the paper by the time I get to the top. Hence, the need for an eraser!