YIKES! Whare does time go?

I can't believe that it has been a month since I last posted. I have been really busy getting ready for a number of upcoming classes and there has not been a lot of time for painting new things. I have spent some time with my new favorite colored pencils and I have finished a couple of projects that I was requested to paint. Here is a little bench that I was asked to paint. It is done in the New England Primitive style. The top and the plugs on the sides are stained. The base is painted black. Once stained, the top was taped off and the design was painted in each rectangle.

A New Medium, A New Addiction

A week ago, I attended a 3-day seminar on colored pencils. I was really looking forward to the seminar and suspected that I would enjoy using pencils. I never thought I would find them so totally compelling. Colored pencils are a good medium to have in your bag of tricks. They are totally portable. With a container full of pencils, a support surface with some clips, and some paper you are in business. Another little bag with a pencil sharpener, maybe a blender, a kneaded eraser, and a regular lead pencil completes the things you need to create with colored pencils.

In the seminar, we used a number of different surfaces including papier mache, card stock, and suede board. I have also played with a wooden box and Bristol Vellum. All of these surfaces work really well with pencils.

Here are the projects we did in the class:

Day One: Wildflowers on Papier Mache Book

Day Two: Elephant on Black Cardstock

Day Three: Lighthouse on Suede Board