"Wants to be Wild!"

"Every autumn, the circus comes to Yuma promising “Tons of Circus Elephants.” Overwhelming evidence exposes horrendous cruelty that circus elephants endure for every minute of their lives. Undercover video shows circus trainers repeatedly beating elephants with bullhooks and electric prods. When not performing, elephants are kept chained in barren stalls or in a semi-trailer. These same elephants regularly walk twenty miles a day in the wild."

Maybe there are some animals who like to perform, and who are not abused. But clearly, these elephants don't want to be forced to do this. In the best of circumstances, it's at odds with their nature. They want to be wild!

(Maybe my image seems a bit 'cutesy' for this serious subject. But at least I am bringing attention to this.)

Saturday, October 3, 2009 A

"If At First You Don't Succeed..."
10:13am

I've been thinking of doing a drawing of Julia reading. Yesterday, when I came home from work, I took the camera and snapped her from all sorts of angles. I decided this view was nicest:

So I found my last remaining piece of 16x20 bristol board and had at it. The eyes came out slightly odd, but I continued with it. Then I got the stupid idea to use an indigo blue pencil for the under shadows. BAD IDEA!

No matter how I erased, I couldn't get it any lighter. I couldn't hide it with a lighter shade, because colored pencils are semi-transparent. Julia commiserated and said it was due to the way the camera captured shadows. Maybe those artists that eschew photos are right. So this morning I tried her live:

This on 11x14 bristol board...

When I showed it to Julia, she was nearly speechless. I tried probing her. "You've made my hand look like a claw!" She noticed her frowning expression, and allowed it might be due to the book not being all that great. "Too much like another book I've read earlier!"

I sat some distance from her, and myopia doesn't allow a very good view of hands. (I can't wear glasses and see well enough close-up, even with the expensive correction in the glass.) Hmm, maybe those artists that prefer photos are right. But how do I use the photo without being a slave to it?

Saturday, October 3, 2009 B

"Try, Try Again..."
10:13am

This on 11x14 bristol board...
(Michael's no longer carries 16x20 bristol board and the 14x17 in. 'drawing paper' is too thin, and wouldn't even take erasures well,
let alone hard and heavy application of colored pencils)

Sunday, October 4, 2009 A

"Colortest"
7:56am

I woke this morning to find the moon, fat and full and 'low' to the earth, visible from our living room window. It didn't take long for the sky to turn bright with sun's light, as I took a look around some of my web forums. Before I started work on my new artwork, I thought of wise words I've read this morning in those forums. Regarding a balance between confidence and humility, it is a sense of humor which maintains this, that insures we can see our flaws, not give up and still have fun doing it.

The words of the German writer and deep thinker Goethe ring very true:

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I think of that in regards to my artwork. Is it good? Is it bad? Certainly, at the very least, it takes turns with success. But there may be a more essential benefit in what it does for my observations. I am more aware of the small details in my environment. I know I am more 'alive' because of this.

With these reflections in mind, I began considering today's piece. I don't want to be a slave of the originating photo, so I worked out a color scheme on the digital version:

I will refer to both the photo and this color test when I take colored pencil to my drawing.

Sunday, October 4, 2009 B

"Colored Pencil Result"
12:47pm

This is 'as is', without any digital enhancement...

Shall I have a digitally enhanced version too? It might be nice to have smoother coloration and dark black lines. The question is how might I effect some version of that on the original?

Note of 4:23pm
I did smooth the pink-magenta of the sofa out quite a bit and smoothed the grayed lavender of the wall some using the colored pencils. (Still no digital 'fixes'!) I'm pleased, now.