Another Commission Done!

There is something to love about working on wood. I decided for this commission to use charcoal on a gessoed wood panel surface. The wood texture shows through a bit and gives more character to the piece. This was done for a friend in Ontario from a photograph...the pose in the photo was captured as a bit of a "happy accident."

Conte Sketch - "Prayer Beads"

I have been perfecting the art of drawing hands...they are tricky! There is so much character and life in the hands of old people.

Finished Commission!

My friend Gillian commissioned this portrait of her dad, my very first commission in CONTE! So excited! It turns out she was really pleased with the reddish brown tones in the end. I am always very satisfied when a client is happy with the end product. Now I am on to a black and white commission in a wood panel with a 2 inch cradle, for another friend. I am slowly making progress on all these projects despite working 2 jobs and trying to plan for my trip to Turkey to attend the World Youth Congress in July. Lots of things to look forward to in the near future!

Looking for Good Homes

I still am looking for good homes for a couple of recent works, especially the cat...it actually has real gold flakes mixed with the paint! Currently they are hanging in my bedroom...take a look!

I LOVE Charcoal!!

Another fresh, spontaneous sketch. I love the way this medium can be used for lighting/highlighting effects. I have also received a couple of requests for commissioned charcoal drawings so that shows that people will pay you to do what you love! The next one will be sepia and charcoal with the white highlights...so exciting!

Bald Man in Profile

I feel like a magician when I produce drawings like these - it felt like it just fell off the pencil and onto the paper. I love the character in this man's face, once again it is from a Flickr.com photograph courtesy of Lonnie Dean: . Many Thanks! This last month has been as hectic as any in recent memory - I now have a one bedroom suite near the beautiful Cook St. Village in Victoria, and I have been running around like crazy checking out art and design school programs and trying to figure out where I'm working this summer and where I'm going to school once I go back. In cases like these art provides some much needed therapy - even if it is only a two hour charcoal study like this one.

Fred Dred (Many Thanks to Photographer Gianni Neiviller)

I am on a major charcoal kick...something about the fine control that can be achieved plus the possibility of unpredictable chaos appeals to me. I am not yet quite confident enough in the medium to use the larger charcoal sticks or the powder...but I will get there. This drawing is another of my favourites, I found a fantastic photo on Flickr.com and the photographer Gianni Neiviller graciously granted me permission to use it at a reference. For some reason the way the drawing turned out really reminds me of Morgan Freeman, with the exception of the dreadlocks of course. I am very excited...tomorrow I am doing my first ever drop-in LIFE DRAWING CLASS...I am about to embark on a journey of development and reaching my full potential as an artist and challenging myself in new ways is a great place to start.