Total Art Soul - for artists

Whilst out with a couple having a meal the other evening, we were talking about art tutorials. I am seriously of the opinion that art can get better the more you practice and being shown how to do something is all important. It is also the case that small pieces of art can be great, you don’t have to allow too much time.

So this one is just a strawberry! However, anything in coloured pencil takes a little while so you do need to allow yourself a couple of hours to have a go at it....I am using polychromo’s so I will provide the colour as I go through the tutorial. If you are using other coloured pencils, simply try to find a close hue; also if you are using a mix of brand, do not worry. I used to be seriously afraid that if I mixed prismacolors with something else, that there would be some kind of meltdown and I would find my artwork turning into a waxy mess overnight! You will also need a pencil, perhaps a putty rubber and some white paper. I am using Stonehenge which is now available in the UK but the back of watercolour paper (the smooth side) does just as well.

First of all, you do need a strawberry, so I think you should treat yourself to a whole punnet and then go looking for the one that appeals to you the most, resisting the temptation to eat it of course.

Find a piece of white paper and place it on a table with some light coming from one side, it does make it easier if you have some proper shadows.

With the pencil I have sketched an outline of the strawberry, this takes me a little while until I am happy and the putty rubber does get wielded until I think I have a suitable strawberry shape.

In the next stage, I use earth green and draw in the seeds all over the strawberry. I am not patient enough to make these all entirely accurate but it is good to look hard at the fruit and see where they lie to start with. Also note that with perspective they get closer together towards the edge of the fruit. All, I am doing is putting in the outline using a sharp pencil. Do keep sharpening it as you go otherwise the lines will become quite broad.

For the next stage colour the entire fruit in Light yellow glaze. Use a light stroke, you don’t want it to be all waxy, pay a lot of attention to the edges to keep them as crisp as possible. Again it helps to keep the pencil full sharpened. In the middle of the green pips, coloured those with the yellow using a firmer stroke so that they stand out quite yellow.

Change to cream for the bottom of the strawberry and then cover that area lightly with white. Also use white over the middle of the pips.

Using Pale geranium red go over the strawberry working around the pip areas, using a circular motion.

Using manganese violet for the shadows, stroke this over the darker areas and also the shadow underneath the strawberry.

Use a blending pencil and go over all the fruit.

Use pine green for the stalk making sure that the yellow is left for the highlighted areas.

Go over the entire strawberry in the yellow.

Using the white, gently highlight those areas of the fruit that have sheen, in this case around some of the seeds in the centre of the fruit.

Using deep scarlet red go over the whole fruit and lightly in shaded areas beneath the fruit.

Alternatively using the yellow, the red and a blending pencil deepens the fruit colour. Finally, I take a Q tip and using sansador or zest-it, gently work the tip lightly over the fruit and the shadow to blend the colour. Just use slow, light circular motions. I then finished with a final layer of the red and added a little grey to the shadows.

If you do have a go at this, please let me know how you get on and of course, please do feel free to post any questions below.

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Back in March, I was involved in a car accident. not the sort where you back into something and then castigate yourself for days for breaking your rear lights. No this one was a full head on collision and we were lucky to get out of it alive.  However, initially I didn't feel so lucky. I didn't care much about the bruises or the big black eye and nasty cut that kept bleeding on my face. I was just entirely shook up and a knee injury that took away my mobility sorely tested my patience.

For the first time in years, I was off sick from a full time job with a lot of time on my hands. Initially my concentration was appalling and I couldn't deal with the even  slightest of things. if someone asked me a question, I would look at them vacantly. If someone asked me to do something that I didn't feel too confident of, I would cry. Sometimes, I would cry anyway because I hurt!

I felt like I had changed from an easy,  confident person to a jibbering wreck. At time I also got very angry with myself because every time I visited the Doctors/Consultants, I would see people in a far worse state than me!

My partner was wonderfully supportive and despite having injuries of his own, he looked after me in those intial weeks with great care and attention (and I suspect, some frustration).  Thankfully my sense of humour remained intact and the emotional, scary feelings wore off. My art also came to my rescue.

I decided if I couldn't concentrate for too long that I would make some small art pieces. So I set about little projects. First of all I made some little art cards.

They were all only tiny and none of them took too long, I kept them about the size of Artist Trading Cards ATC's.

Then I proceeded to find some accompanying quote or little poems to go with them. I even found myself delving into the depths of my memory and recalling small poems from when I was a child. I put them all into a little pamphlet and called it Art Therapy.

With a little help from Photoshop, I played with some of my artwork for the first time ever. Then I sent it to a few of my blogging friends. What was really lovely was that some of them sent me little projects of their own, ranging from wonderful ATC's to other small book projects which arrived from all over the world. I received some conventional art, some abstract art and even a zentangle, which I had never heard of. All of it inspired me to try something different.

Thankfully the headaches started to dimish especially after a short break into the sun.  I also  met up with some artist friends  whilst there which really did take the focus off what was wrong and put it back on things to do. One of them has been telling me to put together a book, which has sort of grasped my imagination...

At this point, my concentration seemed to return. I had almost got set in my ways prior to the accident and was turning out pet portraits in coloured pencil, pretty much exclusively.  I have recently finished an oil painting promised to someone, dabbled in acrylics, done some sketching  and pulled out some gouache for the first time in over a year.  I have even completed two landscapes which is unheard of!

It seems that the constraints of my mobility has been countered by an unrestrained part of my creativity.  I am rather enjoying the journey..........and contemplating a book!

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For some reason today, I cannot decide where to go from here. I have finished an oil painting but I have several other things kicking around that I just cannot seem to get interested in. For, example I have been working on a cat in gouache. It needs a tidy up and the tail needs some sorting, not a big job but I cannot be bothered!

I have another cat sitting there on the side, a wonderful reference and I have planned to render it in graphite. Sounds like a great project and it is but for some reason, I cannot get enthused.

Meanwhile, out and about at the weekend, the hot weather brought out all manner of clothing. I was taking pictures of a remote controlled flying event...lots of interesting spectators and I took a wonderful image of a little girl in a big floppy hat. I think it lends itself to coloured pencil.

All I need to do is get off the net and start something...............

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