Framing Time

A great resource for experimenting with matting and framing your work is:

http://www.PictureFrames.com/PersonalFrameShop

I suggest that you bookmark this, as it comes in quite handy. To be able to do a virtual frame job, before clicking on the
Add It To My Cart button, makes a lot of sense. Don't you think?

I have a few ideas for this piece. This is one. However, I am going to have quite a few to frame so I want to keep the price down. However, the frame finishes off a work of art to such an extent, it is not really worth it in the end to go bargain hunting.
I do like the idea on these to put a second mat, that has the characteristics of the tree that I am drawing. So for Survivor I am considering a golden yellow. I am not sure I trust going with the yellow of the gingko leaf. I just might be brave as that is such an energetic color when in mass.

Setting it Aside

The one negative aspect of charcoal is that you can piddle with it FOREVER. I am going to move on to another that I have started. Yet, as I walk past the ones that I have "completed" I am sure something will call out to be tweaked. Maybe I just need to order the frames, and then it will be a moot point.

I was talking with an artist friend yesterday about these, and we came to the conclusion that they would be great on a full sheet of Rives. I have been using a 1/2 sheet, mainly because of the ease of working them on the portable drawing board that I have. I have to agree that the impact of these would be stunning a bit larger.

So... off to the art store (I hope their Fall sale is still going on).

Update on a Work in Progress

Here is an update on the Gingko shadow. As you can see I have been playing with the depth of the left side. Keeping the abstract quality, yet offering some values to keep the interest. Pushing and pulling at this stage. Stepping back quite often to keep the overall composition in perspective.

I just love the natural qualities of charcoal.
Fitting for these images, don't you think?

It's All in the Shadows

I wanted to let you know that I am creating in my absence.
After some extensive remodel work I have personally done on my home, I am back to creating some drawings that have an interesting challenge to them.

While out with my plein air eye, I have realized that there are certain days that I just want to capture the effects of light. This has found itself in the product of shadows. Ever since I was a small child I have been fascinated by the abstract shapes those shadows make.

Being intrigued by this, and the act of creating compositions out of those shapes, I realized that I could capture this on paper. I shared my first experiment with this method here.


These next two are works in progress.
A challenge as you might expect. With every breeze the shadow moves. The passing of time also is evident as the shadow creeps across the page, and is lost. So I must work fast to capture the whisper that the tree has shared with me before it can't be heard any more.