Lion of Pillsbury Hall
August 27, 2015 § Leave a comment
This is a great compelling snarling face from the walls of Pillsbury Hall on the University of Minnesota campus. It was completed in colored pencil and pastel on Canson paper.
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Triptych Demonstrating a Shift in Palette
August 5, 2015 § Leave a comment
This triptych illustrates the importance of serial imagery in telling a story. Here the palette shifts from warm on the left to cool on the right. Notice how each palette gives a little of itself to the contrasting one and the center piece incorporates both elements.
Mono Print; Dancer in Motion
July 29, 2015 § Leave a comment
This is a mono print completed some time ago using a photograph of a dancer. The process consists of applying the media (ink) and the composition to the glass using an underlying image if one wishes. The paper is then carefully secured to the glass and ink and a rubbing is used to transfer the image. It is a one shot process with a singular result unlike much of the printing processes. I enjoy how the color enhances the motion of the dancer and adds to the flurry of movement.
Using Form as Framework
July 16, 2015 § 2 Comments
This is a watercolor of my Mother holding my sister, Karlin. My Mother’s form was not completed with detail, but instead was used a stabilizing and supporting element surrounding the baby. Notice how the arms and legs of the mother leads you into the area of focus; the child.
Textural Techniques in Pen and Ink
July 9, 2015 § Leave a comment
A few examples of portraying texture with ink through hatching, stippling, and a scribble technique based on your own handwriting. I find these methods provide an energy and looseness to our drawings that allow us to become more free in our expression.
Garden Goddess
July 4, 2015 § 1 Comment
I’m reblogging a previous post entitled Garden Goddess as some of my settings were not intact. Additional hue was added to a color pencil drawing to provide more differentiation between the foreground, middle ground, and the background.
Dynamic Composition
June 25, 2015 § Leave a comment
This pencil drawing illustrates the creation of balance on the page. The fan like light leaves spread out over the dark foliage of leaves and stems. The light value of the leaves connects with the space and shadows around the plant providing a strong pathway from objects nearest to us and those furthest away. The result is a dynamic composition filled with dramatic movement
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Gradated Pencil Drawing of Persephone
June 18, 2015 § Leave a comment
Here’s another vantage point of the gradated pencil drawing of Persephone
Pairing the Contour with the Finished Gradation
June 11, 2015 § Leave a comment
In understanding the power of the contour to provide the framework for your finished work, it always helps to pair both. In seeing the lights and darks of the line drawing to inform you of the light source, point of focus, the layout of the composition and reveal your personality alongside the gradation based on that contour, it helps to clarify things. Here is the side view of Persephone in contour and gradation.
The Importance of Contour Drawing
June 3, 2015 § Leave a comment
Here are a pair of contours or line drawings of the sculpture of Persephone. Contour drawing lies at the heart of my teaching of drawing. It allows you as the artist to envision your composition; thinking all the way out to the edges. It provides the sense of a light source giving your subjects form or a three dimensional nature, But most importantly, by drawing blind and not keeping one’s head buried in the paper and instead on the subject, it reveals your personality. The hand becomes a tool of the eye and the contour becomes truly unique to you!!
Dr. Mary McNaughton and Drawing 