Finally..

Well, after a struggle to get the hair right, Detective Rizzoli is ready for duty! I have to say, I'm pleased with how she turned out. There are a few things I would have done differently, but  hope you like. .

My favourite drawing medium

I've tried a lot of different drawing mediums, and I'm always looking to try new ones, but my absolute favourite is graphite. It's so raw.

So pure. You can put so much intricate detail, and with the different hardnesses, you can achieve such a varied level of tone.

I like the pinpoint precision that you can get with graphite, and find that this works really well with portrait work.

I've just signed up for a portraiture course, and our first assignment is to do a portrait with graphite. Time to trawl some sites and photo files methinks.

Struggling to find inspiration

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I can't seem to find any inspiration at all at the moment. I hate not being able to feel creative. I feel like I'm being stifled. I just can't break free from it. I'm still struggling with the hair on my 'Jane Rizzoli' piece. I just can't seem to work out how to get the curly hair to show. Grrrr! I guess it's just a case of needing to persevere.

On the other hand, writing is going well. I finished three scenes today, and the story is moving along nicely.. So I guess I can't really complain that much. It's been a long time since I felt so positive about this book.

Art Classes. .

As September dawns, I find myself pondering my art classes. I have already signed up for my usual art club, but am still not sure about the portraiture class. It's one I really wanted to do last year, but couldn't because of the timing. I have an image that I think I'm going to attempt to paint, of  a girl with brightly coloured hair, standing on a train track. It reminds me of a couple of paintings I did a few years ago, one of which is "The Changeling". Now that I've found a piece of watercolour paper, I can stretch it tomorrow and then get started. Watch this space!

Jane Rizzoli

I am currently working on a pencil drawing of Angie Harmon (Detective Jane Rizzoli). I have finished the face, and neck and am pretty happy with how it is looking. The problem I have is with the hair. I have never drawn curly hair before and an struggling to get the right technique. I'm hoping to have it done by the weekend. With the face, I used my fingers to smudge the graphite, to give a very soft feel to it. I wanted to show the bone structure in a very gentle but obvious way.. The hair has gone through several different shading attempts, so far, none of which I'm happy with, but I'm trying to stick at it, and will hopefully have a photo very soon.
Watch this space...

Changeling

I thought a little explanation of my profile picture would be an idea. I painted this a couple of years ago. It is one of my favourite pieces, because of its strong contrasts.
It is a piece, which is quite personal to me. I was struggling emotionally at the time, and found escape in my art. This picture is especially important to me because of the eyes, and specifically the variation of the two. I liked the idea that one person can be two different things, or emotional states at any one time. In the picture, the girl is simultaneously shown as having a light and dark side.

To me, it shows great inner strength, while being in great pain. I chose to use the contrast of warm and cool colors to mirror the emotions. This image is very powerful for me. It is one that I always harp back to again and again. I see plenty of things I can improve on in this painting, but overall it is one of my favourites. 

Amy-Lee

This is one of my earlier pieces of work. It is a portrait of Amy-Lee from Evanescence. Here, I was still very unsure about whether I could actually draw or not (I know I may sound stupid, and I'm not looking for compliments, it's just the truth). I used pencils and graphite sticks to create the image. The thing I like about this picture, is the way that the eyes stand out, and almost convey an emotion. The source image was one, where Amy-Lee looked quite angry, and I wanted to show this. To me, eyes can convey so many emotions. They really are the window to the soul, and are the part of a portrait that I take the most time on, and that I find the most challenging. Without accurate and effective eyes, a portrait is nothing, but a portrait with eyes that convey an emotion, can take the viewer somewhere. I hope Amy-Lee can take you somewhere too, just as she took me...