Dinosaur Egg
oil pastel on 90lb Stonehenge paper
7 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches
Category: Drawings
Dinosaur Egg
Dinosaur Egg
RoseArt metallic gel markers on 90lb Stonehenge paper
7 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches
Detail of top left corner
One of the nice things about being a pack rat is that you always have “things” around to draw or paint. There used to be two of these six-sided aluminum sculptures. I think my mom may have the larger one. It was created by an inmate at Indiana State Prison out of the scraps left over from making stop signs. The inmates did other artsy craftsy stuff, like leather work, to help make money. My ex-step-father used to teach at ISP, and I assume he bought the “eggs” from one of the inmates back in the mid-seventies, when he worked there. All I know is that I remember them from my childhood, and that we called them “Dinosaur Eggs.” We’re all about Teh Funny, my family.
These days, Mr. Egg hangs out on top of my TeeVee.
Dinosaur Egg, c. 1976
8 3/4 x 8 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches
Copper Bottle
Copper Bottle
RoseArt metallic gel markers on 90lb Stonehenge paper
7 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches
Another Bottle
Bottle
RoseArt metallic gel markers on 90lb Stonehenge paper
7 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches
This turned out looking like metallic cotton candy, or maybe an Easter decoration gone horribly wrong. I think I may give the idea another try tomorrow, but with the addition of more gel pen or maybe metallic pencils. I only have a few of the markers I was using–they come in small sets–so the palette is limited. Another problem is that you have to work quickly if you want to be able to blend them at all, because once they dry, they’re pretty much permanent. You can build up a few layers, though that, too, is difficult on this paper. It wants to warp and crumble if you threaten it with anything even slightly damp.
Lime
Bottle
Bottle
oil pastel and Walnut Hollow oil pencils on 90lb Stonehenge paper
7 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches
Planter
Planter
Prismacolor on 90lb Stonehenge paper
7 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches
The color and contrast on these are coming out wonky. The color is too garish, and the shadows are hard and shiny looking. The highlights are too harsh, as well. The problem is that my scanner is picking up under-layers of pigment. Hrmf. I may have to try photographing instead of scanning. Honestly, there is no pink or lime green in this drawing! I’ve fiddled with it a bit in Photoshop, but I’m ready to give up for the night.
Bottle
Bottle
Prismacolor on 90lb Stonehenge paper
7 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches
This private thing
My Flickr Pro account expired last month, and I neglected to renew it. Then, I got a bad case of the grumpies about it, so I stopped using it altogether. I suddenly decided this afternoon that that just would not do, so I renewed it and added a badge thingumy to my right sidebar. Ain’t it purty? I also created a smaller version of my gallery graphic and added that, too, cuz why the heck not?
Nude, ink on paper, 24 x 18 inches
Then, since I was on a roll, and because I was suffering from an attack of OCD, I created a header graphic [1] and updated the style sheet for the main part of my website. Yeesh, was that ever a pain in the arse! I did finally manage to get something sorted out that is within the same general visual family as the blog and the gallery. I’ve checked everything in IE, Firefox, and Opera, and though there are various browser-specific quirks, everything seems to be basically functional. I don’t have Netscape (and their stupid download protocol makes it pretty much impossible for me to install it on my machine), so I can’t check that, but I’m hoping that nothing is too out of whack in that direction.
And, with that, I think I’ve enjoyed just about as much Fun with Coding as I can stand. And, I’m sure y’all are sick and tired of hearing about it, so that’s a win-win, eh?
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1. I thought long and hard about the image I picked. I nearly went with another filmstrip collage, but I just couldn’t get excited about that. The sketch I used was done in figure drawing class–a 10 or 15 minute drawing that was never finished. I hung onto it, though, because despite the fact that it’s rough, I really like it. I also like the symbolism of the nude, faceless figure. Blogging and presenting your art on-line is sort of like that. You tend to share more of yourself than is probably prudent, but no matter how transparent you are, you’re still, to some degree, an unknown quantity.
Pencil Study
I haven’t been motivated to do very much today, so I decided to watch a DVD and sketch. Harriet joined me on the couch, and was obliging enough to let me draw her paw (front left).
Dogs are sometimes a little funny about being closely scrutinized. Usually, after a few minutes of being stared at, Harriet gives me a disgusted look and hies herself to her crate in the bedroom. This time, she was quite cooperative. However, I’m a slow worker (this drawing took about 15 minutes), and this was the last of five studies, so she was getting a little rebellious toward the end.
I find Boxers nice to draw because they’re so sleek and lean. The tendons and muscle definition are obvious because there is no coat to hide them. They also have prominent veins in their legs. I think they look a bit like race horses, in that respect.
red paper boat 