Cat-in-a-Box

Quick Lion Sketch

2012-01-19T20:25:00.004-07:00

A couple of little ACEOs

2012-01-07T20:30:00.004-07:00

Life Drawing at the Gladstone

2011-10-21T09:19:00.011-06:00

I find myself wondering why I feel the need to keep this blog alive.. maybe because closing it seems like it would signify some sort of resignation about Cat-in-a-Box which I'm not prepared to do? It's been a hectic and roller-coaster-ish sort of year and the fact that my art has suffered a backseat through the ride is not shocking or unreasonable given the circumstances. Nor does it mean that my art is dead or without hope. Things are settling down now, and my right brain is quietly asserting it's position again. Fortunately I am better able to hear it than I have been at times in the past.

I am currently living near Toronto. Near enough that I was able to attend life drawing night at the Gladstone Hotel this week. Apparently the Art Bar at the Gladstone has had an ongoing weekly figure drawing meeting since 1957. Going down there took a bit of mental effort on my part. To be perfectly frank, the idea of interjecting myself into a completely new and unknown social situation is nerve-wracking for me. The stress can be alleviated somewhat by knowing exactly what is expected during said situation, however in this case I could find precious little about the life drawing session other than the location, date/time and cover cost (can we say 'stressful' boys and girls?) But life drawing... I LOVE life drawing!

I NEED to sometimes do some structured gesture drawing (is that an oxymoron?). Left to my own devices I know too well what will happen... after a long break in making art I will dive in to a complex scratchboard or something similarly detailed and demanding, I will of course fail miserably because I've been living left-brained for so long, and then I will quail and give up. The left brain will tell me that I have more important things to do anyway, and my right brain will wither and fade. I know this, I know how far this can go, but I also know the solution.

After a hiatus (all the time really, but especially after a hiatus) I need gesture drawing to work the art muscles. I need low expectation, fast paced, right-brain directed activity to loosen up, build confidence, and get the creative juices flowing. The more I do it the less stilted and stiff my work is, and the more I enjoy what I do. My work turns out better and it smooths the pathway for doing the complex and detailed scratchboard. It's like an athlete warming up, in a way.

So armed with the conviction that this was necessary and good for me, I decided that I WAS going to this session. Social anxiety or no. I plotted the location into my iPhone and set off with plenty of time to get there (and a secret plan to scope it out knowing that if it was too much I could always run away and go back home :D). Of course I somehow got the wrong address entered into my phone and spent some confusing minutes wondering if the whole thing was a hoax as I drove around a slightly scary downtown area of Toronto. iPhone to the rescue though, the correct address was found and I arrived... late. Nothing helps the social anxiety of putting oneself into a new situation like showing up late, interrupting the session, and oh... entering through the wrong door.

*sigh*

Yet despite all of that I made myself press on, I went around to the correct door, slid in as quietly as I could, and despite some annoyed looks from a few people the suffering ended there. And what I can say is that the anxiety was well worth it. I arrived in the middle of a pose, quietly took out my art supplies (which were kind of sad since my spectacular organizing skills have resulted in being unable to find most of my dry media stuff since the move) and started sketching. The room was quiet and every five minutes or so the leader would announce the change and the model would reposition herself for the next pose.

I say 'quiet' because there was no talking - there was a background supply of jazz music and the scratching of pencils or occasional swish of a brush in water, but no human speech. There is something about being in a room of a dozen people who are all in right-brain mode. It is out of the ordinary, for my day to day life at least, and it is really, really refreshing. There is no chitchat, almost no interaction, everyone is focused on the model and the page in front of them. Unlike so many other social interactions each person is doing their own thing, being in their own mind, you don't have to measure and weigh what you say, how you look, what the other person is thinking, how they are responding to you. You can sit and enjoy the presence of other humans, sharing an experience, in some ways likely sharing a similar state of mind - and there are no expectations or judgments.

I remember such situations throughout my life fondly - sitting on the periphery of the group, drawing, resting in the right side of my brain where there is no need for speech (indeed, sometimes it's hard to deal with speech when I'm really into the 'right brain'), but also soaking up the energy of people being nearby whether they are engaging each other or, as in the life drawing session, each in their own right-brain world. I wonder if it's an introvert thing, or an art thing. I wonder if other people enjoy that sort of interaction. I have to assume so, but perhaps it's a sign of personal growth that at the end of the day I don't care anymore whether other people do enjoy it - as much as I'd like to know that I share this with someone else, even if I don't it's enough for me to know that I like it.

So one point to the Gladstone, one point to the right brain, and one point to blogging :)

Random day at the Museum...

2011-06-19T20:23:00.015-06:00

So here's the first post of my non-art blog. What's it about?

Art.

I am going to choose to ignore the irony of that and push onward.

I am only going to be in Chicago for a limited period of time, and one of my goals this time around is to not repeat my own history of living here for years and not partaking of the city itself. I adamantly do ~not~ have a 'bucket list', because although I love lists, I really don't use them properly. That being said, one thing I ~did~ want to do was take the Metra from the burbs where I live to the City (that's City with a capital 'C' mind you) and go dink around the Chicago Institute of Art.

Going to the museum by myself was awesome, and also interesting. I will ask you this - do you know how you would experience a museum if you were in complete control of the pacing and route? If you do then share it with us in the comments section. If you don't know, I urge you to go by yourself someday and let loose, then observe what you do and report back here!

My pace and pattern can best be described as... erratic.

I had looked at the website in advance and I knew I wanted to see the Arms and Armour exhibit. What? I love fantasy, so sue me. So that's where my feet took me first, straight there without so much as a slow-down for what lay between me and my goal. I was a woman on a mission. It turned out that the Arms and Armour was a bit disappointing - a bunch of polearms and a few suits of armour.

The armour was interesting enough, I found myself wondering how much of the pieces they had were ceremonial or if they truly put that much craftsmanship on every footsoldier destined to have his spleen poked out with a sword.

The polearms were actually fascinating... I recall diagrams from my old D&D books of the different types of polearms, which various male friends actually paid attention to while I was (and am) content to lump them all together as 'sharp bits on long stems for enemy-poking'. I'm sure my husband will not be surprised to read that, but possibly just a tad disappointed (sorry hon!). What I can say, after today, is that a halberd looks like this:

I still don't know if it's just the pretty shape that makes it a halberd, but I guess I am of a peculiar generation that I have to remind myself that these items were used for slaying enemy humans long before they were used to slay orcs.

So the arms and armour section didn't take much time (actually I have no idea how long I stook there sketching.. it could have been hours for all I know). Then I really didn't have a plan.. so I wandered. And when I started wandering with my no-plan I began to just follow my eyes. I stumbled into rooms with italian paintings from the sixteenth century. Well, I love me some Caravaggio.. my eyeballs dragged me from room to room - and that's how I discovered my pace.

After blowing through two or three rooms (man, people walk slow in museums!) I would come across something that piqued my interest and spend 15 minutes studying it. Like "Still-Life with Dead Game Fruits and Vegetables in a Market by Frans Snyders, 1614".

It is huge! I was first was invited into the painting by the very amiable merchant and proceeded to look over his wares, marveling over the textures in the fur and feathers and the handling of light and shadow around the collander on the right. I couldn't help but note that the game was all so clean and pristine and the blood, where present, was very fluid and light red (none of this dark, congealed clotty stuff or other 'liquids' that would in reality have been present). Then I see the cocks fighting. Then oh! There's a sneaky cat looking at me. Clearly he's seen that I spotted him and is watching to see if my eyes move on. Then I spot the pickpocket on the left. Oh cheerful merchant, you will be cursing whatever epithets were appropriate in 1614 when you realize your day's profits have disappeared into thin air!

Though pure morbid fascination caused me to pause my steps to look at several medieval pieces, and appreciation of beauty paused them in some other areas, I wasn't really brought to a halt again until I stumbled upon Jules Adolph Breton's 'The Song of the Lark'. I promptly sat down and sketched:

Now clearly my quick sketch doesn't do justice to the original piece by any means. Sketching the painting was almost a way to commune with it, to really 'see' it. Looking over it inch by inch, paying attention to the proportions even as the repeated viewing helped me to figure out what it was that captivated me.

(Thanks to Art History Daily)

The obvious things - I love the color palette, her pose is lovely and has a spiritual feel to it, and she is beautiful in an unpretentious way.

Then I realized that she is doing something. Later I noted that I was attracted to paintings where the subject is doing something mundane. The heroic poses of the biblical paintings of the renaissance are very intriguing, but this girl walking and singing I liked even more. I was also drawn to Camille Dissaro's 'Woman bathing her feet in a brook' (even if it is impressionist).

Then it occurred to me that the girl is entirely in shadow. The colour palette is muted. The whole thing creates an effect of serenity and quiet. You can almost hear her voice cutting through the soft quiet of predawn with the first birdsong of the day. I more often encounter this time of day when I stay up way too late than actually getting up early, but that does not make me appreciate it any less.

And finally I realized that the rising sun, painted in almost fluorescent colours, draws your attention to the upper left of the painting which causes you to see her face in your peripheral vision. I wonder if that was intentional? Using averted vision to see the low contrast of the subject differently?

I'm probably reading more into it than necessary. But suffice it to say, I enjoyed sitting with one painting for the better part of an hour much more than I would have dividing that time among many other works that didn't intrigue me as much. I also have a new artist to add to my favorite list and will have to look over the rest of his stuff.

I was getting a bit tired by that point though. After some aimless wandering through the impressionists (beautiful, yes, but just not my cup of tea). I was kind of lost and stumbled into the Alsdorf Galleries containing a collection of Indian, Southeast Asian and Himalayan art. I didn't really have any intention of doing more sketching at all, except that Ganesha called to me.

This was an Indonesian sculpture of the God, and the serenity of his face is what made me pause. Then after looking at it a few minutes I had to sketch it. And as I started sketching I read the plaque that identified Ganesha as the 'Remover of Obstacles'. Well hot damn! I do have a few obstacles that need removing. He is also the Lord of Beginnings. This just gets better and better.

Here is my meagre homage to Ganesha:

So overall this was a very pleasing day. I figure it's a good thing this isn't an art blog anymore. It's nice to explore 'other things' :)

~ Pam

Schroedinger's Blogger

2011-06-15T15:13:00.006-06:00

New look! New 'about me'! New name (sort of)!

Yes, I disappear for months and come back to claim that this is no longer an art blog - the nerve! This is not a permanent change, but rather a way to manipulate the current situation such that I can keep blogging, maybe provide some entertainment or insight for anyone who wishes to read my words, and possibly even grow a bit as a blogger (or a person.. who knows?).

My initial reason for starting a blog was to support Cat-in-a-Box because, well, every artist needs to have a blog right? It turned out to be a good thing though; it was easier and faster to get going than my website and a nice way to ease in to having an online presence. Then I realized how much fun it was to share art-related things that I often don't get to tell anybody about (except my poor, beleaguered husband :D). Showing my works-in-progress, or ranting about right/left brain theory, discussing shows or any old artsy things.

Alas, much has changed recently - there has been less time to devote to art and thus less to post about. The result is that the posts get fewer and further between, and then the pressure to put up something 'worth posting' rises. And then... no posts at all. Just a sad, lonely blog sitting here dreaming of bygone days.

But! Life is still really exciting, and even if I don't have much new artwork to show you just now I do have a bunch of other crap (er.. very interesting things!) to share. This demotivator about sums it up....

So for the indeterminate 'next little while' this is Cat-out-of-the-Box. The cat has been loosed and is going to go nosing into all kinds of things. Art may be among them, but for the time being this is an 'anything' blog rather than a dedicated art blog. I don't think many would disagree with me if I say that the best way to kill creativity is to force it... well that's the place I am right now. However, the reverse is that if you don't try to force it sometimes you get the very, very best of creativity. Let's see how it goes!

So if you're looking for only art-related stuff then watch for the blog banner to change back to the old logo. If you're up for something new then stay tuned!

~ Pam

Moving is such hard work for kitties!

2011-03-02T22:05:00.007-07:00

It's tiring, all this driving... note the plains of Wyoming/Nebraska/Iowa/Western Illinois (take your pick) in the background. Ginger is particularly pooped in this shot - having spent an hour telling me just what she thought about this whole 'moving' idea and then maintaining her place as Queen Bee in the Seat of Honour the rest of the ride (at least Michael didn't vomit on her this trip! Go meclizine!).

The official cat of 'Cat-in-a-Box' stalwartly guarding the coffee and skittles on the long drive...

And Nessie - taking her turn on the Seat of Honour (yes, the Seat of Honour is a dog bed on half a vari-kennel in the back of the car - comfy as well as being a good vantage point!)....

Surprisingly (or perhaps not) the cats didn't care one bit about the snowstorm in Nebraska, they mostly just slept. Now they have happily claimed all sunbeams that enter this house - apparently sunbeams in Illinois are just as good as sunbeams in Colorado! :)

~ Pam

Scratchboards and weather....

2011-02-27T21:01:00.007-07:00

We have arrived! Cat-in-a-Box is officially based outside of Chicago now!

It's been a slightly hairy week, moving across the country is rarely a pleasant experience but this was actually the smoothest move I've had yet (and let's just say this wasn't my first rodeo!). Generally my husband and I take a Uhaul trailer to tote the more delicate items like computers, monitors, and art. I had the forethought to package my unused scratchboards separately with the intention of being extra-cautious about climate control. Scratchboard is a pretty hardy substrate, however I have on one occasion taken a board from the west (dry Colorado climate) to the midwest (colder and more humid) and back again. That board became more difficult to work and I was never certain if it was the humidity change or the temperature change that affected it.

Well this time I had my plan all laid - however as usual, life got in the way. It's all well and good to make plans, but when you arrive at the hotel four hours late because of the severe winter storms in Nebraska (after we'd passed 3 semis and over 15 cars and trucks off the road I stopped counting) and then wrangle four cats and their associated paraphernalia into the hotel room let me just say that the last thing you are capable of doing is digging out that special box of scratchboard from a pile of other stuff and suddenly your faith in the durability of scratchboard and whiteboard takes a huge upward leap!

Winter Storm - (c) KMTV Action 3 News

Now, more rested and arrived at the other end, I am regretting a little that the sratchboard got so cold. Only time will tell if there was any ill-effect. The one board that I had that was affected was still workable, it ended up turning into this piece:

"Ginger" (c) Pam Boutilier

When I get to working any of the boards that have traveled I will let you know how the surface is!

I also am able to share another commission I did shortly before the move, this is little Jessie. Her portrait was done in pastel, which was really fun to do after working in scratchboard so much recently! She is such a pretty little girl!

"Jessie" 5x7" Pastel (c) Pam Boutilier

The studio and supplies are piled in boxes - the next couple weeks are going to be just as busy as the last few!

~ Pam

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to workshop I go!!

2011-02-10T20:31:00.008-07:00

I'll save my usual apologies for the lag in posting - in my defense there is a whole heckuva lot going on around here recently. The overarching biggie of them all is that Cat-in-a-Box will be moving from snowy Colorado to snowy Chicago in the very near future. Any of you who have ever moved (and especially those of you who have a habit of occasionally moving twice in one year) can sympathise with the descent into chaos that is occurring here currently.

Although I must say it's heaven for a certain boxaphilic cat....

"I can haz bubbelrap?'

However - there's nothing like moving to light a fire under you. So among the other things I've been up to (which I plan to use as further blog-fodder in the upcoming weeks so I can show you some new art) I'm also giving an Introduction to Scratchboard workshop next week at the Wyly Community Arts center in Basalt, CO. So if any blog-readers out there are local think about signing up at http://www.wylyarts.org/content/scratchboard! The workshop with cover the basics of scratchboard origins and techniques, with some practice exercises and a fun valentine's Day project on day one and a more in-depth discussion of advanced techniques and starting on a 5x7" board on day two. Be sure to spread the word if you know anyone in the Roaring Forks Valley who might be interested!

In other news, I have had a piece accepted to this year's Art Show at the Dog Show! Rosie's whiteboard portrait (titled 'Petulant') was juried in from a total of 462 submissions, it will be making the trip to Kansas to compete against other canine art in the show this spring. If you'll be in Kansas in March or April try to check out the show, the schedule is here.

"Petulant" (Rosie) 9x12" Whiteboard (c) Pam Boutilier

And another piece I can post now is this tiny scratchboard done for a friend as a Christmas gift. This is dearly beloved Ellie who passed away a year ago, isn't she just beautiful?

"Ellie" 3.5 x 5" scratchboard (c) Pam Boutilier

I have some more work that were gifts and so could not be posted earlier, keep a weather eye and I'll get them up in the near future! I'm also pondering the direction of this blog... so be prepared for the possibility of some interesting sidetracks!

Thanks for reading!

~ Pam

Busy holiday season - here's a little watercolour

2010-12-17T09:57:00.003-07:00

It's coming down to crunch-time for the holiday artwork (and a bazillion other things that always seem to crop up in the month of December!).

Until I can post a more interesting blog entry I'll leave you with a quick watercolour I did in a course I'm taking. Enjoy!

"Warm Winter Forest" 11x14" watercolour, (c) Pam Boutilier 2010

Desktopper WINNER #4 "Weed"

2010-11-21T17:24:00.005-07:00

I am happy to announce the latest Desktopper contest winner!

I realize that the Desktopper schedule has been.... inconsistent (to put it mildly) since the summer, but rest assured - everyone who has entered has their name in a hat (actually a small wooden box) and my husband faithfully pulls one out monthly. I hope to get back on a consistent posting schedule with these at some point, in the meantime keep watching as the paintings will be posted when completed!

The fourth winner of my contest is 'Weed', belonging to Patty;

This is what Patty had to say about her beautiful kitty:

"Weed was a very little kitty when I found her on the side of the road 11 years ago. Weighing less than a pound and being so tiny I thought for sure she was a kitten, the vet said that she had just given birth as her mammaries were still swollen. Weed's size and condition told us that there was no way any babies could have survived, so for the rest of her life she has treated every animal she meets large and small as though they were her long lost babies and licks them til they are wet (or so annoyed they walk away). Weed has been a special addition to our family, showing us how unconditional love really works."

~ Pam

PSA - Website unavailable

2010-11-17T19:40:00.009-07:00

The good news - catinaboxstudio.com is moving to a new site, which will allow me to keep things there a bit more up-to-date, including the 'What's on the Easel' page.

The bad news - it's going to take a few days to make the switch, and in the meantime the site is inaccessible. So if you stop by and get GoDaddy's generic site please don't panic (I'm expecting a world-wide uprising with my site being down of course), it will be back in a few days.

In the meantime you can look at a sneak peek of the new site at:

http://www.catinaboxstudio.moonfruit.com/

And for those of you who want something to look at... here's a random recent page from my sketchbook (demonstrating that I do draw 'stuff' between the 'bigger stuff' that I feel is good for posting on the blog!)

Autumn fairie and fawn (c) Pam Boutilier

Pumpkins! (c) Pam Boutilier

~ Pam

At least she was....

2010-11-12T09:46:00.003-07:00

I've decided to just admit to myself that the only thing I am consistent about is being inconsistent.

I struggle constantly with my so-called 'web presence'. Don't get me wrong, I love blogging (though I'm still not completely sure about twitter ;D) it's just that I feel like I should have something useful to say if I'm going to blog - but then I get caught up with doing something useful to blog about that I forget to blog! Let me just say now that I appreciate all of you reading this - anyone who's willing to stick around for my erratic posting and randomness is tops in my book!

Last month was a hard one, and we're still getting used to being a dogless household, but time heals all wounds and life does truly go on.

Getting back in the art saddle has actually involved a lot of non-art related work. The first and foremost being that I can happily announce the official opening of my ETSY shop!

ETSY provides an online venue for my work, as well as a more user-friendly way of purchasing. Watch for continued updates as eventually all of my existing work as well as options for ordering commissions will be listed!

Watch for more blog posts as I have a stockpile of things to say now!

~ Pam

Farewell Dear Heart....

2010-10-26T09:04:00.007-06:00

October has been a bit of a wipe for me.... I'll just say, up front, that I'm behind on my Desktoppers, I have not filled the sketchbook, and my other artwork has been mostly on hold.

Earlier in the month we were visiting family 1500 miles away when our old doggie (who had been very chronically 'going downhill' but doing well when we left) decided to take a sudden turn. We had to make the heartbreaking decision to let her go without seeing her - we felt it wouldn't have been fair to her to make her wait the 18 hours it would have taken to get the soonest flight home.

Emma was my husband's dog initially, she and he were buddies for many years before I came along. Over the last 8 years though we'd all melded together as a big, happy (mostly four-legged) family. Emma was a wonderful soul - a street dog from Detroit she had a survivor's soul, but at her core she was sunshine incarnate. She knew about rules and mostly followed them... unless a higher calling (such as having some fun) beckoned.

She was almost 15, and in the last year and a bit she'd been going downhill. Heart issues and kidney issues, and mostly just old age. Like old Laurich she would dip low and we'd have 'the talk' then we'd change her treatment and she'd rally and we'd know it wasn't yet time.

Despite knowing 'it was coming', we'd stalled the trip for months and finally booked it when it seemed that she was stable and might decide to live another year. Whether it was the stress of us being gone or just bad timing - whatever the reason she chose that week to take the big downturn. My greatest regret is that my husband couldn't be with her to say goodbye.

Even being veterinarians, even knowing that it was coming, it is still hard. The first thing your mind does is construct the worst-case scenario and try to dwell on it. No matter how many people I've counseled when losing their pets it took my good friend to remind me "You didn't cause this to happen. I know you know that, but you have to ACCEPT that too." Knowing and accepting are two very different things aren't they?

Emma was our last dog - this is the first time we've been dogless in 15 years. The cats are more than happy to fill the gap and get more love and attention, but every night I still feel like there's something I should be doing (carrying the skinny dog downstairs to go potty because for the last month or two she couldn't navigate the stairs on her own). When we drop a piece of toast on the floor we have to toss it out because there's no dog to 'take care of it' (I won't mention the occasional cat vomit that we can't rely on Emma to 'take care of' either :D).

The sadness fades over time. We'll get used to our new situation. And sometime, when the time is right, we'll open our hearts to another homeless doggie. Until then we'll remember Emma's many good years - when she'd play chase with Nadia, cutting through the garden because that was the one spot Nadia wouldn't go. When she'd run Laurich ragged, then dive-bomb him in great, looping circles. The look on her face when she'd see horses 'What the heck are those big dogs doing?'. The way she'd keep one eye on you while you were eating but the other on the floor, because smart dogs know when the food drops the one watching the floor will get to it first. That her nose almost never left the ground on a walk. The fact that she lived in more places than me, from the heat of Texas to the chill of Saskatchewan winters, and everything in between. And mostly the look of sheer enjoyment that graced her face most all of the time.

So here's to Emma (and Laurich, and Rosie, and Scout, and Ty, and Ellie)! Here's to all the cats and dogs that leave such holes in our hearts when they pass, but who make our life so much more fulfilling while they are here and forever afterward.

Moleskine.... tea or coffee?

2010-10-04T21:15:00.004-06:00

Ah... the eternal question...

Of course I'm in Canada now - so drinking loads more tea than I usually do these days! No scanner here, but I have the digital camera so I still should be able to post some!

I heart Moleskine

2010-09-30T21:31:00.010-06:00

My latest project (because I always need a latest project) starts tomorrow... I stumbled across an art journaling challenge posted by fellow blogger Ghislaine Bruno. I love Ghislaine's work, and also enjoy reading her blog in french then seeing how good (or how poor) my french comprehension is these days :).

A challenge! I'm there! Er... at least I'll start it...

In all seriousness - my sketchbook is down to its last few pages and it was about time for another. Getting *something* down on page consistently is important for your art, and I've decided that it's just going to be a constantly waxing and waning thing with me. It's so easy to get caught up with my non-art related work, home, life... you all know that there's always more that needs to be done. Like everything important in life, you just have to ~make~ time for the art. And that's exactly what this challenge is about. For you artists who might be reading this you can find the details on WetCanvas here. Basically the task is to fill a sketchbook in one month - specifically the month of October 2010.

Now this doesn't supplant my 100 dogs challenge, in fact it will augment it... I need to fill this sketchbook in a month, there are definitely going to be some pooches in there! I'm only up to 20 in the dog challenge, and coming up fast on the one year anniversary! At this rate I'll be.. well, let's not talk about how old I'll be when I finish it.

Suffice it to say that more sketching is always better, and more dogs are always better (at least as far as sketching is concerned)...

.... and then there's the Moleskine!

You see, I've always slavered over Moleskine sketchbooks. They really aren't that impressive, a simple black book with an elastic binding. They ~are~ a high quality sketchbook, but it's more than that. There's something about the romance of using the same kind of book as Matisse, Picasso, Hemingway.... *sigh*. Maybe it's just we artsy folk who do this - but somehow there's an energy in such a thing... almost as if you are linked through time and space to those great thinkers and artists by virtue of a nondescript, little black book.
But despite the romance, I always seem to talk myself into buying a different sketchbook. One that is bigger, bound differently, less expensive, or just happens to be there and the Moleskine does not (buying sketchbooks is rarely something on can ~wait~ on). And so never have I actually had a Moleskine. And so when I read of this challenge I knew immediately that a Moleskine it would be! For simply practical reasons, they are smaller - and if I'm going to fill this thing in one month I really shouldn't start with a 100+ full-page sketchbook. So with only practicality in mind (*cough*) I jaunted down to the local art supply store and came home with this....

Isn't it beautiful?!

*happy sigh*

Of course now I have to mar it's simple perfection with my coarse markings. Perhaps the inspiration of Matisse will seep through the pages to infuse my pencil and brush. We'll see.. Even if I don't achieve those lofty heights, I will get some sketching done - and after all, that's the *real* point here...right?

>:)

~ Pam

(PS - I'm a total hipster aren't I?)

(PSS - how do ~you~ pronounce 'Moleskine'?)

I like the colour blue....

2010-09-26T18:57:00.012-06:00

Yesterday I went down to the Glenwood Springs Fall Art Festival, and as usual it was a great show with a huge amount of art. The show is non-juried, and each artist is allowed to exhibit two works categorized as 'Professional', 'Advanced', or 'Amateur'.

I went with my hubby and a friend. They both approached in their usual fashion - going row by row and carefully inspecting each piece of art. I, on the other hand, like to make half a dozen or more sweeps of the show - the first couple to pick out what I like most, and then the rest to look at everything in a bit more detail (I can't pay attention when I don't know how much and what more is 'out there' - I blame the right side of my brain on for that one!).

So I found my own pieces just a little bit before they did, and to my surprise (and great excitement) I found that 'Hey, we're napping here!' took first place in the Pastel/Animals (Professional) division!

This one has always been a sentimental favorite of mine, but also one that I'm proud of technically as well. I'm so happy that it won! Now it will go back to it's spot on display at Valley Emergency Pet Care.

I also sold several pieces at the associated sale (all but one that I submitted). Now that the Fair is over the next big task is getting my Etsy store up and running. I'll post here as soon as I have some things listed!

~ Pam

Fall Art Fair

2010-09-23T16:54:00.005-06:00

The Glenwood Springs 48th Annual Fall Art Fair is going on right now. This year I'm exhibiting two pieces:

"Rosie" Whiteboard (c) Pam Boutilier

"Can't you see we're napping here?" Pastel (c) Pam Boutilier

I won't get down to Glenwood myself until Saturday, but I'm so excited to see all the beautiful artwork!! I'll take some pictures of the event to share with you.

I've got some smaller works in the downstairs sale as well. If you happen to be in the Glenwood Springs, CO area this week be sure to stop in!!

~ Pam

Pet Portrait Desktopper WINNER - September #1 (of 2)

2010-09-07T10:51:00.004-06:00

As you might recall I've had several things on the go this summer, not the least of which was moving - and so July's Desktopper contest was postponed and instead I decided to do TWO pets for September.

Here's the official announcement of the first of those - meet Havoc!

Here's what Havoc's owner, Jennifer has to say about her!

This is my 8 year old cat Havoc. I adopted her from the SPCA when I was working there. She is a himalayan mix and I've been told by a cat breeder that she is a 'poorly marked blue cream'. Regardless of her colouring, she is very dog-like in personality, which really isn't a surprise considering her housemates are 3 big furry dogs! She is just cat-like enough to irritate me sometimes and just dog-like enough to make me keep her!

Thanks for entering the contest Jennifer! Watch for your Desktopper portrait in the mail!

The second Desktopper for September has been selected and will be posted soon! In the meantime the contest is still open, you have until September 20th to have your pet's photo in the hat for the October contest! Remember the contest rules are on my website here. Any of you who have entered in the past, remember that your pet's photo will remain 'in the hat' unless you wish it to be removed, so keep watching as the new winners are announced!!

In other news - I've got several pet commissions on the go that will be completed over the next few months. I will post some work-in-progress posts on those ones. Also the Glenwood Springs Fall Art Fair is coming up soon! If you are in the area I will have works entered as well as things available in the 'bargain bin' sale.

Where it all began....

2010-08-29T15:15:00.006-06:00

Recently I was looking for some document or other and came across my 'bin of remembrance'... I'm not a terrible hoarder, but I do tend to keep my drawing and writing as well as cards and letters from people. Most of the drawing of the last two decades can be found in my sketchbooks but I have this one bin of loose sheets in plastic document-protectors. It mostly consists of sketches and cartoons, concept drawings and random high school notes to friends. But among all of those I found what might be the oldest pet portrait I have saved....

Note the very yellowed paper, crumpled and water-stained, and the lovely extra touch of some amber scotch-tape residue on there. It's dated 1989, so I would have been 14 when I drew it. I'm pretty sure this one wasn't an actual portrait - that what a time when I was very into drawing cats and dogs from magazines, pet food labels and kitty litter packages (my mom owned a corner convenience store), and just about any other reference shot I could get my hands on. This one had 'Mike' scrawled at the top - and it tickles my memory that 'Mikey' was the spokesdog for a pet food at that time.

At any rate - not the most auspicious beginning. I know I drew things (especially horses) much earlier than that, but those seem to have been lost to the ether...

So that was then... and up to the now. The new studio is all unpacked and I'm finally getting back to work. It is wonderful to have so much open space and natural light! I'm still shuffling my supplies around to figure out what the perfect organization is for functionality - but that's a part I actually enjoy.

I've got several things in the works - so more posts will follow (I mean it this time!)

~ Pam

Desktopper Contest WINNER for JUNE!

2010-07-14T13:35:00.004-06:00

Better late than never, right?

The studio is currently 1/3 in the new place, 1/3 here and 1/3 in the truck (I'm taking a load over this afternoon). So instead I went to a local coffee shop today to finish off the piece!

"Who Me?"

The winner for June is Red, an English Cocker Spaniel owned by a fellow artist Karen Hendrickson. Red was actually the first entry I received - and his solemn, wise eyes caught my attention immediately. The title of this piece (chosen by Karen) is 'Who me?'. She said that Red can't jump on the counter anymore so he used the chair. She had just asked him 'What do you think you're doing?' when the reference photo was snapped, and his response is perfectly clear!

This is what Karen told me about Red:

This is Red, my heart dog. He has a recurrence of anal gland adenocarcinoma with mets to his lungs. He's 12 years old and I'll say goodbye when he no longer feels he's invincible.

Well he sure looks like he's enjoying his senior years! Congratulations Karen and thank you for giving me the opportunity to get to know Red in a small way!

Because this move is a bigger disruption than I had anticipated, not helped at all by getting sick in June, I am going to make a small one-time change to the Desktopper contest and thereby hopefully preserve the tiny bit of sanity I was allotted in life. There will be no drawing for July, and instead I will draw TWO in August (to be posted Sept. 1st). The deadline is August 20th and you have double the chance of winning.

I've also decided that I like all the entry photos so much I'm just going to keep them in the 'hat' and carry them over month to month (and I apologize if I've already announced that... getting old and senile you know). So if you've entered previously you are still in the running! You are welcome to enter another pet though (one pet photo and description is considered one entry). If for any reason you don't want to be kept in the running then just send me an email and I'll remove your entry, no questions asked!

So jump on in and enter for August's draw! And once the studio is all moved and settled I do have some things I'll be blogging about. Until then...

~ Pam

I have some essplaining to do.....

2010-07-05T11:35:00.005-06:00

I don't even know if I've ever watched a full episode of 'I love Lucy' but yet I can hear Desi saying 'You have some essplaining to dooooo!'.

If you follow this blog you know that I've sort of dropped off the face of the earth. I seem to do this in a bit of a cyclic fashion but this time there is a string of legitimate excuses. June has been a rough month for Cat-in-a-Box (not the actual cat.. he doesn't care, the whole world could collapse and he'd be happy as long as his food supply wasn't interrupted and he had a couple of humans around to apply his dorkiness to).

This is referred to as effective packing of kitties :)

In early June I attended a veterinary conference - which was great. It was actually a really good meeting and there was some great stuff presented. But traveling eats up time and despite having good intentions of posting to the blog and such, the conference really was pretty well all-consuming of my time for 1.5 week of the month.

Then upon return I contracted the obligatory travel-virus and felt crappy. A week of such illness is typical for me when I travel, but this was different - instead of sleep/tea/echinacea/gargling salt-water fixing it, a week later I felt as bad or worse. Another week and a course of antibiotics (I haven't been on antibiotics since about 2003!) and I felt better, but not quite 100%. And last night the throat started feeling suspiciously irritated again. So possibly another trip to the human doctor for me...*grumble*.

And on top of all of that we are in the process of moving (just locally - to a place where my studio will have way more natural light, yay!!). It may be the most painless move I've ever experienced but with the way I'm feeling this month it's just one more thing.

So those are my excuses - I've got a beautiful commission that is completed and will post as soon as it's delivered to the recipient (waiting on some framing materials). There *is* a winner for the June Desktopper contest who has been informed but is being graciously patient as I'm terribly behind on getting it finished. I have other works on the go and planned, things to blog about, a newsletter to put out, and so much else that is sitting on the ever-growing pile.

Desktopper for June - detail of the preliminary sketch

The best I can do at the moment is pick at the pile and try to keep (get?) healthy. So thanks for bearing with me - once the craziness has passed I will get more consistent with posting again!

~ Pam

Desktopper Contest WINNER!

2010-06-01T23:42:00.008-06:00

First - thanks to everyone who entered the May contest!

Second - I'd like to happily announce the winner (by random draw) of my first Destopper Pet Portrait contest....*drumroll*.... Bailey!

Bailey Page is an adorable boy owned by Jon. Jon actually found my little contest in his endless search for things to enter - be sure to check out his website, it's highly entertaining!

According to Jon, they rescued Bailey from a shelter where he was slated to be euthanized. Here's what Jon has to say about his friend:

"My wife and I are convinced that he is a person trapped inside of a pup's body. In addition to his many outstanding qualities, such as destroying couches, we love his most obvious physical characteristic: his right-ear-up, left-ear-down combination."

I love it too - Bailey was a joy to paint, his personality just shines through!

Now since by the time I got my website updated and the blog posted last month there wasn't much space before the deadline, so I am going to carry the May entries over to June (you know who you are!).

And for anyone who didn't enter - now's the time, you have until June 20th! All you have to do is send an email to me with a few lines describing your pet and a photograph. The drawing is random and the next winner will be announced July 1st! Full details are on my website here.

(Hey, I think I can count Bailey in my 100 dogs challenge too!! Yay!)

Things I'm working on

2010-05-30T00:40:00.007-06:00

I am working! Which is why I haven't been posting too much recently. Works-in-progress are really only fun to post after they are finished (but I am saving WIP shots of the current projects, so when they *are* done I can do a few play-by-play posts.

But just so you know I didn't fall in a coffee cup and drown, here's some sneak peaks of what's currently on the go in the studio....

And the painting for my first Desktopper Pet Portrait contest is underway! The winner will be announced on Tuesday and the painting will be posted. It's exciting! I absolutely loved reading the stories that came with each of the entries. And every single one of them was beautiful - they were all dogs this first month (though they don't have to be... cats, horses... heck, I could probably manage a gerbil if I had to... all are welcome!).

So check back in on Tuesday!

~ Pam

Desktopper Pet Portrait Contest!

2010-05-17T21:09:00.003-06:00

Who:

Anyone can enter. You can enter once per month.

What:

The prize will be a free 5x7" ink painting of your pet based on the photo you submit. These smaller works fit into any standard 5x7" frame or mat and are the perfect size to sit on your desk!

When:

Once a month, every month, starting immediately! The deadline is the 20th of the month and the winner will be announced by the last day of the month.

The first deadline is May 20, 2010!

Where:

To enter just send an email to pam@catinaboxstudio.com or via my website contact sheet here. Include a digital photo of your pet and a short (like three lines) biography of your pet. If you have more than one photo you wish to send, go right ahead (but indicate which is your favorite!). If you don't have a digital photo then just send an email with the name and biography and I'll let you know where you can mail a real photo (don't worry, any real media images will be returned to you).

Why:

Why not? Truly, it's a fun way for me to drum up some interest in my website. It's also fun to have a little deadline to keep me on track!

And most of all, the whole reason I do pet portraits is based in my love of the human-animal bond. I find it so much more inspiring when I know the name and the 'story' behind the animal I'm painting. This contest is a way for me to get all kinds of wonderful stories!

Wait.. what else is there to this??:

Nothing! You don't have to subscribe to my newsletter or blog, you won't go on a mailing list, you will retain all copyrights to the photos you send and your information will not be given to anyone.

Now of course I'd like you to follow my newsletter or blog and tell all your friends to do so as well - but I don't care as much about numbers as having people who enjoy following my work involved, so this is really a means to try to get people to take a peek and then they can decide if they want to see more!

MWF seeking Muse

2010-04-25T12:51:00.007-06:00

I've been feeling uninspired recently... not that I lack ideas, I'm just having difficulty executing them. Or perhaps I'm not working them out well enough in my head... when I start to get them on paper or board I realize it's the same old thing I always do. I'm not sure what I'm trying to achieve, nor am I completely sure I've not just been spending too much time in my left brain recently. But whatever the reason I need to step back a little bit.

Cats and dogs are my passion - which is why I do pet portraits I guess. I love to use my art to celebrate the bond we share with them, but they are also such beautiful creatures in their own right. However lately my in-progress portraits seem dull and uninspired to me. They say when you get stuck in an art rut it's a good idea to break out of your 'normal' - a new subject, new medium, anything that is unfamiliar territory. So that's what I'm doing a bit of right now. Last night I took some scraps of watercolour paper and my precut ACEO cards and just dabbled. Here's what came of it...

Reeds... I mixed three colours, a mossy green, burgundy, and brown and just played with them a little.

"Reeds 1" 4x6" ink on watercolor paper

"Reeds 2" 5x7" ink on watercolor paper

Back in the day I used to do a lot of fantasy - I still have some older work on my elfwood site (http://www.elfwood.com/~pamela). If one does fantasy one must do dragons, and a very fun twist on them are minidragons (varying degrees of mini, but anything from the size of a butterfly to the size of a bird). A fun thing to do with ACEOs is making something life-sized on them - so this is a life-sized minidragon (the finger is to scale):

ACEO minidragon (ink on matboard, 2.5 x 3.5")

I don't know how long these utterly random posts will continue - but I hope you enjoy the tangent while I'm on it. Now where did that muse get to...?

Leftie

2010-04-22T08:29:00.002-06:00

Here's the product of my left-handed sketching exercise after the last post, ~85% of it was done with ol' leftie (FYI I am totally right-handed).

Many artists will do this - more often, I think, righties will do this. Whether it 'taps in' to the right brain or whether it just forces you to really slow down and concentrate - either way it is a good exercise for making you really see what you're drawing and pay attention to contour, negative space, etc.

This was my coffee cup, pencil case and tin that I'd brought with me. The only downside was that I couldn't drink my coffee until I finished!!

~ Pam

Right brain, left brain (or tl;dr)

2010-04-18T11:17:00.006-06:00

(If you're not up on your internet memes the subtitle means 'too long, didn't read'.. it's meant to be a warning :D)

Last night I rewatched Jill Bolte Taylor's 'A Stroke of Insight'. If you have not watched this video I strongly urge you to do so - there is a link to it from my very first blog post here.

I am not sure exactly what prompted me to watch it again, but no matter how many times I've seen it I am still very struck by her message. If you've read my blog or had the misfortune to chat with me during a philosophical mood you will have been exposed to my deep interest in right/left brain theory. Jill's message has been a keystone to the crazy metaphysical idea wad that's in my brain.

What caught my eye last night was actually in the comments. I like to read a bit of the comments to anything that has affected me - a presentation, book, etc. I can only read so much (people tend to get a little crazy in the comments and reviews section) but generally I'll pick a couple of the highest and lowest ratings. There was one fellow who brought up drugs - which is a comment I've heard before. Things like LSD inducing a state similar to what Ms. Taylor describes. I've also commented myself how I've seen similarities between her description and meditation, as well as similarities between both of those and 'art mode'.

Mini-digression ('art mode', 'R mode'):
If you are an artist reading this you are likely aware of 'art mode' or 'right brain mode'. It's a state many artists enter while doing their work - it is a little different than just a state of being totally focused. I have been completely absorbed in non-right-brain activities before, the feeling is not the same. When you are deeply in right-brain art-mode really the best thing I can compare it to (in my limited experience of the world) is meditation. Real meditation (which I do not achieve often, even when I try) where you are there but not there, where there is no time, where you have to adjust to the return of your consciousness to it's normal state, where you come out of it feeling like your brain has just done jumping jacks instead of not-thinking for an hour and feels activated and refreshed.

So the comment was that if Jill reached this 'state' by a massive stroke, if others have reached it through drug use or through mental training than it is not something metaphysical or magical, it's just a subfunction of our brain. His comments were not well received - as many people (myself included) do see meditation and Jill's talk as a window into more spiritual things. BUT.. I do not at all disagree with him.

As Jill points out, it does not take a neuroanatomist to see that the brain is clearly bisected. Her comments about two entirely separate ways of processing input have, I believe, been well proven and documented by studies done on patients who have had their corpus callosum split.

Mini-digression (Split corpus callosum patients)
If you are unaware of these studies, in the normal brain the corpus callosum is a bridge between the two hemispheres (the only bridge). It's a HUGE bridge, comprised of millions of brain fibers. Several decades ago surgery to transect the corpus callosum was used to try to treat refractory seizure disorders, one by-product of that though was valuable information about the differences between the hemispheres as shown in this little demonstration. In a normal person there is not 'right-brain' and 'left-brain' working in isolation, we are well integrated. People who do not subscribe to right/left brain theories generally say that if you have an intact brain the integration is so complete that the argument is invalid. This may be true, I don't know. But what I do know is that if any of us were to have our corpus callosum split, both hemispheres would go on processing information, 'thinking' if you will, in their own individual ways. And further, I believe that those ways would be different. It would be the left side that we hear from though - few would disagree that the left side controls speech and 'thinks' in words.

So if the gentleman's comment - that right brain experiences are just a subset or abnormality of 'normal' brain function, and if we take that to be true, then why would we care? Well, I said before that I don't disagree with him, and yet I still think that this is a very important thing. Here is my reason why...

Warning: I'm digressing wholly into my personal little theories of life, the universe and everything here - I am not trying to change anyone else's views or start any arguments. I do not research neurophysiology in my spare time, my observations are purely as a layperson. So please feel free to leave comments - in fact I'd love to hear what you have to say - but please don't be inflammatory and don't take my individual little ideas personally!

There is obviously a continuum - Jill Bolte Taylor, during her stroke, was in a state of minimal left brain function (relative to 'normal'). Her descriptions were tremendously valuable, but obviously you could not function in a state like that. There are stories about people with right brain defects (some very interesting ones in Oliver Sacks' 'The man who mistook his wife for a hat'). But if you were (theoretically, obviously) to take a person with their left brain chopped off (we'll call this person Ron) and someone with their right brain chopped off (who we'll call Len), I bet you'd be able to pick Ron out of a crowd much easier than Len.

Len would be able to speak eloquently, he would approach things very linearly, he would see the world in symbols (letters, numbers, and representational images would make lots of sense to him). He could explain many things to you, but might have difficulty doing so with abstract concepts.

Ron on the other hand might end up just standing there taking it all in. Ron would have a hard time communicating to you what he was experiencing if you rely on words. If you give him materials he might be able to communicate visually by creating an image that invokes feelings in you, that speaks to you. He would likely be better able to communicate abstract and broad-reaching concepts to you than he would be able to tell you how to program a VCR (oh, did I just date myself? How to set up an iPod then.)

Which of these two men would you think was smarter if you met them on the street? My guess is Len. My reasoning is that (I believe) our society is very geared toward left-brain functions. We value them, we foster them, and I would go so far as to say we undernurture the right brain functions. I think few people would spend enough time with Ron to even figure out what he had to communicate and likely not place high value on it once it was communicated.

The reason I am willing to say this in writing is based on personal observation of myself. Yes, n=1. This is what I outlined in that first blog post over a year ago. There was a time, during my post-secondary education, that I studied science and I drew. I observed that drawing helped me to focus and I retained lessons much better if I did so. I'd never not drawn, so I'd not known anything different. In hindsight I think I had a good right/left brain balance at that time.

Then I spent years of further intensive study and work, and through necessity and also not realizing what would happen, I stopped drawing. I didn't even really doodle. For years. And the shock came to me when I realized that I no longer *could* draw - for the first time in my life my pencil marks on paper just didn't look the way I wanted them to, when they always had in the past. It was horribly frustrating.

The solution turned out to be an art class where I did (for the umpteenth time) Betty Edwards' right-brain exercises. So my n=1 suggests that I 'trained myself' out of balance, too far to the left. The consequences were that I was still very functional in my left-brain job, but I could not draw (representational art, abstract art is a different matter). Nor could I turn off the 'brain chatter' in my head, that constant running dialogue that most of us have, to the point that I couldn't sleep for having a constant stream of consciousness about all that was going on in my life. I also paid little attention to the world around me, I felt very much like an individual and all of the many labels I wore became so important, truly all-important and all-defining. I felt disconnected and isolated from the world around me. It wasn't a good state for me at all. I didn't realize this, of course, until I was retrained back to the right a bit - and only then did I understand what had been the matter.

Now if we can be 'trained' toward our left or right side - again, still working with the concept that a normal brain integrates. And if left brain dominant persons would fit more seamlessly into our society (or at least garner more respect in it). And if we look at our typical education system that promotes language, analytical thinking, and (dare I say) left brain processes over right brain processes. Is it unreasonable to think that if we look at all humans - past and present, near and far, all cultures - that the typical person reading this blog is perhaps in a society that is, on average, left of center? Is it unreasonable to think that the Dalai Lama is perhaps further to the 'right' than the typical American? Now even if that is true - we have no way of knowing how far right or left any group is. Maybe North America is dead center, or maybe we're 2/3 over to the left, who knows. I am speaking only in relative terms.

But when you listen to Ms. Taylor speak of connectedness, of energies, of beauty. For me it conjures up things like James Cameron's Avatar - and every other tale contrasting the 'advanced' society against the society that is 'in tune with' the natural world. In our own reality societies that embrace left brain development seem far more likely to conquer and oust societies that do not. I read an essay by an artist (I wish I could recall his name) who spent time living with the Navajo peoples. The Native Americans are a culture that are often seen as having historically been more 'in tune' with the natural world (similarities between Pocahontas and Avatar aside). In his essay he discussed how living there he found that nobody passed judgement on the fact that he was an artist - it was as valid as any other job. He did not have to justify his profession, in contrast to his experiences in the city.

So what if we are left of center? What if even we who try to foster the right side are still way to the left? What if we are training our children to be the same through failing to nurture and listen to their right brain input? Actually teaching them not to listen to it - but instead to break things down, to rely on the symbols that society has built, to never spend time turning down the brain chatter, to live as a separate entity from the world around you? Is that a problem? I think it might be, in the long run.

I've been struggling with my art the last couple of months. I feel like everything I touch turns to crud. I feel frustrated. I think this was the impetus for me to rewatch Ms. Taylor's talk. And it started me thinking about these things again. As I said - this is only my personal little take on things, but it is important to me. When I do more art I feel more connected to the world, I really see the things around me, my mindfulness improves. When I am in what I would term 'left brain dominant' mode I like to look at pretty things. When I am in 'right brain too' mode I like to look at everything, because it's all pretty.

And since I am a left-brained creature (I feel that I am left of center and will always struggle with that) I have to put it all into words. But now, having written all this down, I think it is time for me to go foster my right brain a little bit. I have a sketchbook and charcoal, a beautiful spring day, and if I choose it - no internet, no conversation, no language other than the language of the world around me coming in through my senses.

I'll let you know what happens.

100 Dogs Challenge #13 - Schnauzer take II

2010-04-11T18:30:00.003-06:00

This time in colour....

Schnauzer Study, 4.5x 5.5" Ink/Watercolour paper

The days fly by but the months slip through my fingers

2010-04-10T21:31:00.003-06:00

I'm a louse for not posting more - I'll blame it on work, preparing for taxes, things going on at home... but really I've just been in a bit of an art funk for the past month. The weather has been that typical in between I-can't-make-up-my-mind-if-I-want-to-be-winter-or-spring (as in little daffodils and crocuses peeking up one day, doused in snow the next, then clear and growing again the next). I've been mentally in-between as well, I guess.

But just as the weather is finally making up it's mind (and those darn little crocuses are some hardy buggers!) I am getting more settled and getting down to tackling all of the things I've put off for the last month or two.

And so here's a wee start on the art side - a little ink/water painting of Nessie the Noisy.

Nessie's Gaze 4.5 x 6" Ink/Watercolour paper

Enjoy! I promise I'll start posting regularly again soon!

~ Pam

More life drawing

2010-03-12T13:56:00.009-07:00

I have many tasks on the go this month - but keeping my online venues up to date doesn't seem to be one of them. I'm coming around though - and soon will get the website updates finished and another newsletter out.

Running parallel to that I have also put several of my in-progress scratchboards to the side in favour of doing some different techniques. Loose... sketchy... painterly.. those are my guiding words for this late-winter/early spring period.

There are my life-drawing classes (here are some products of the last couple of weeks). This is a great way to force a looser, more gesturely sketching technique. Our instructor emphasizes the sketch and it is a wonderful feeling to capture that .. something. Sometimes it is the gesture, sometimes the mood, sometimes a particular beautiful angle, sometimes just the right play of contrasts. These are things that you can be in danger of losing as a painting/scratchboard/drawing gets 'finished', a reminder of what I want to preserve is tremendously helpful when I go back to my hyperdetailed, meticulous boards again!

Along the same lines I've been doing more little sketches and then also some scratchboard paintings (as I must always come back to my first love). I alluded last post to working in Charlie's technique - a more painterly approach to scratchboard than what I usually do. Now I have no real desire to paint buffalo (sorry you bison fans out there) so I started with what I do know - the boys:

Close to complete "Brothers" - 18x24" whiteboard/india ink

"Brothers" is india ink on whiteboard - scratched with a steel wool and fibreglass brush. It's not done yet - Michael's face needs work, Dufus' fat-folds need work.. but it's getting there. This photo is really terrible - on the original the contrast is better and there are some great, subtle and dare I say even borderline abstract textures in the 'solid' parts. I will post better photos when the piece is completed. This has now officially become my largest scratchboard!

And the other 'painterly' board - this one is literally just barely started. Again, using Charlie's techique but this time with colour instead of just india ink. I've been dying to do one of these, of course now that it's started I have no idea where I'm going!

Just barely started "Emma" - 16x20" whiteboard/ampersand ink

The technique is very different than my usual coloured whiteboard process of many layers of subtle, even washes alternating with scratching. The basic concept of ink/scratch/ink/scratch is the same - but I'm allowing much more of the brush strokes, bubbles, uneven layers and... well.. character of the ink to come through. I'm using wide, sweeping scratches with the steel wool and I will only put fine detail in certain areas as the piece progresses further.

So I guess I do know where I'm going... it's just a road I've not really traveled before, so I might make some wrong turns along the way. Honestly, as an artist, if you don't travel some new roads from time to time it is certain you will stagnate. And I was feeling a little stagnant over the winter which I guess is what (in hindsight) prompted these new explorations. Little Abbie, the snow leopard, Nessie's BIG board... those are all waiting for me and once I've had my fun with painting I'll get back to them. But for now... loose... painterly.. I can do it!

Thanks for stopping by!
~ Pam

(PS - And to you fellow artists out there.. yeah, I know even my 'loose and gesturely' is still tight as a steel drum. But it's all relative! :D)

100 Dogs Challenge #12 - Dane sketch

2010-03-07T20:49:00.006-07:00

It's been a hectic month with getting all the tax stuff ready for the accountant (we're not dumb... er, bold enough to do them ourselves!), the life drawing class, and some graphic design work I've been doing. I have a few things on scratchboard in the wings that I'll post when they are further along - but for now I'll leave you with a really quick sketch I did today of a Great Dane.

Spring is in the air, though there's still a lot of snow on the ground. In that spirit we decided to haul out the bicycles today and make the 15 mile ride to Carbondale and back. We stopped in town at a coffee shop for a rest and a little caffeine and this guy was outside with his owner. This is a pretty rough sketch - as he didn't like to stand in one spot for more than ten seconds at a time - but a good exercise for me.

Enjoy!

~ Pam

Wednesday Life Drawing

2010-02-17T20:31:00.004-07:00

I started a life drawing class tonight.

As you can imagine, scratchboard tends toward tight, precise, and meticulous, and that is great because it's the kind of thing I like. But to keep loose, to keep in touch with the ol' right brain, and keep balanced this class is the perfect thing.

We started with one minute gestures then short, ten minute poses for the rest of the class. Here is a sampling of what I did:

(Note the sweet ninja clock in the center)

Along the same lines I have started an 18x24" whiteboard done in the technique of Charles Ewing which I will post as soon as it is done. As much as I prefer the tight detail of scratchboard I also love and need the looseness of gestures, charcoal and painting. Since I juggle multiple projects at any given time I can have some tight and some loose on the go, allowing me to move from one to the other as needed to keep invigorated.

Enjoy!

~ Pam

100 Dogs Challenge #9- DaVinci

2010-02-07T18:24:00.006-07:00

Another ACEO size ink painting.

This is little DaVinci, an Italian Greyhound.

Here's a photo to give you some perspective of the size if you're not familiar with ACEOs.

Enjoy!

~ Pam

100 Dogs Challenge #8 - Little Frenchie

2010-02-05T14:43:00.005-07:00

French bulldogs are the breed of the month on WetCanvas for February - this little guy was so cute he prompted me to try something I've been thinking of but haven't done, painting with my Ampersand inks on paper (*gasp*).

This is ACEO size (2.5 x 3.5) on archival matboard. He was tremendously fun to do, though I have to get used to the different feel on paper compared to Claybord.

Thanks for peeking!

~ Pam

All hail the right brain!

2010-01-29T13:15:00.018-07:00

I must say I'm feeling in a bit of a right-brain mode today. When I try to think of how to construct sentences and paragraphs to make this post make sense it's just not working - I am seeing a web of thoughts, experiences and ideas. It's easier to put something like that on paper (I've heard it called a 'mind map') than in typeface, but let's see what we can do...

Why right brain? I've been thinking about it because I recently found out that there is an HBO movie coming out about Temple Grandin.

http://www.hbo.com/movies/temple-grandin

I've admired her for a long time - I knew her as an animal science guru before I even knew about her autism. Since we don't have HBO I won't get to see the film right away (I'm sure we can get it online someday) so instead I watched 'The woman who thinks like a cow' on YouTube.

It got me thinking about brains and patterns of thinking... and as someone who self-identifies with right brain thinking...

Here's me and my husband....
(YouTube link - click this if you cannot
assemble furniture with your significant other):

... I see similarities with Dr. Grandin's thought patterns, but in other ways they are very, very different. So that got me thinking of other big divisions... and ultimately back to Carl Jung/Isabel Briggs Myers (another favorite pondering topic for me) and the differences between sensory and intuitive input... that's key, Dr. Grandin is sensory in the extreme, I am intuitive (but more in the middle of the spectrum).

I certainly realize that these are all names and 'tags' that don't correlate directly to neuroscience - there is no question that the right and left brain have different functions - and even though it's not quite that simple, for me it is one tool to help in understanding how others think.

I'm not going anywhere specific with this - just letting all these concepts float around in my head. I'm always fascinated by how others perceive the world.. I 'get' the concept that 'there is no truth, only perception', at least as far as what most of us experience as humans in developed countries most of the time.

This ties in to Buddhism as well...
srsly, it does.
But don't worry,
I'm not going there right now :D

It ties into the book I'm reading now 'In Defense of Food' too...
though that link is a bit more obscure.
I'll refrain from getting into that now as well ;).

The trip to Alamosa was fabulous this past weekend - meeting with other artists, basking in our squirrel-chasing, right brained tendencies (incidentally Rodman does tricks and commented that artists are 'so easy'... I wonder why that is? And further, I wonder who isn't easy to fool with tricks... Engineers is my bet).

And if you haven't seen this, you should: An Engineer's Guide to Cats

At the Alamosa show I got to finally meet Charles Ewing - scratchboard artist and inventor of the porcelain clay surface that is now used by Ampersand for all scratchbord and claybord products. He's an awesome guy and his studio was amazing! Open space, windows and light, dogs and a cat wandering around, art EVERYWHERE. It was inspiring!

I have a bit more about the show on my newsletter (as well as the missing 100 Dogs sketch #4 *mysterious grin*) - if you haven't signed up for the newsletter and wish to you can sign up on the right sidebar --> ---> --->

I publish it once a month and although there is some overlap with the blog, I can't do the exact same thing twice, so they end up being reasonably different. If you want to look at previous issues you can find them here!

And at the show I started a new whiteboard - here's the current status:

I'm calling her 'Little Abbie' (See Peggy, I promised you kittehs!). This is at the VERY early stages. It's funny that the underpainting is always pretty (a little impressionistic, but pretty) and once I start scratching it looks terrible for while, but then in the end it all comes together and I get that realism and depth, with still a bit of cartoonism (that is my subconscious style). I'll be sure to post this one here on the blog when it's done!

And I think that's most of the flurry in my brain... for now! I promise I'll be a bit more coherent in the next post (whoever voted for 'more right/left brain' and more 'personal anecdotes', well you can blame them for this post :D).

~ Pam ~

Alamosa bound!

2010-01-21T20:52:00.008-07:00

It's an exciting evening for me - tomorrow morning the hubby and dog and myself pile into the car and drive 5 1/2 hours through the mountains to Alamosa, CO.

This is my first mention of it on the blog - but two of my pieces have been accepted to the Adam State College Invitational Scratchboard Art Show in Alamosa, Colorado. The show officially opened Jan 19th, but the official Opening Reception is tomorrow, January 22nd. I'm very excited as this is the first time for me having my art shown in a gallery, but also I will get to meet some people I've known for more than a year and yet have not met in-person. Here's a brief moment for me to put out a plug for WetCanvas.com - a great online artist community of which I can say at least the Scratchboard art segment are a great bunch of folks! Many of the artists showing in Alamosa did a show last year in Indianapolis, and I am proud to number among them in this show (and so lucky that it's close enough I can actually attend!).

So here's a peek at the pieces I have in the show, in case you aren't close enough to stop by:

"Ben" 11 x14" Scratchboard and Ink

Detail shot:

Some of my blog followers may remember this one from the initial sketch here, or the sneak peek here. This was a beautiful boxer I met at the Basalt Sunday Market last year. It's one of the first coloured scratchboards I have done and presented a few challenges that were a definite learning experience. I am glad that I was able to represent this beautiful dog, and the pose and lighting were an artist's dream to work with. I love working from my own reference photos when I can catch the exact image I want - perhaps that is why I take 30-40 photos for every one that I choose to use for a scratchboard. :D

"Ben" 16 x20" Scratchboard

Detail shot:

This was (is) my beautiful Belgian horse. This is my largest scratchboard yet, and even so it is not as large as real-life, in reality if he stuck his muzzle in my armpit I could just barely reach his poll (the tip-top of his head). He is a wonderful horse - when my veterinary career advanced I had to move across the country we had to sell Ben, but he went to a wonderful farm where he could be around other horses and finally decided that with a friend the harness wasn't so scary.

I hope you like these pieces, and if you happen to be in southern Colorado please stop by - the show is at the Cloyd Snook Gallery and runs from Jan 19th to Feb 19th, 2010. You can find a little more information here.

I'll put out a new Newsletter with photos from the show after the fact, and the first glimpse of my newest whiteboard, so if you haven't signed up for the Newsletter yet consider doing so (link in the upper right!).

Good night, wish me luck on the snowy mountain roads tomorrow!

~ Pam

You want to use this Pillow?

2010-01-08T09:50:00.018-07:00

So one of the things most voted for was more works-in-progress! Here ya go!

This is from a photo out of the reference library on WetCanvas, I loved the expression and was excited about the challenge of doing the pillow/blanket.

As always it started with a sketch...

And the sketch was transferred to the board with graphite (I still prefer using a graphite stick directly to the back of my sketch for transferring rather than transfer or graphite paper, it just works best for me).

Stage 1 (underpainting):
This one is a whiteboard so rather than get right into the scratching it starts with a painting in ink. The biggest thing I learned about whiteboard underpaintings is to go much darker than I think - remember, from here on it's going to be taking ink off and re-applying it, but more always goes than what gets put back!

Stage 2 (first scratching):
I always feel like 'why did I bother putting this ink on' and from a distance it looks like I'm scratching it all off, but if you look at the close-up shots of the final piece you will see the incredible amount of depth and colour variation this technique gives - it means many more hours of work on the image, but the end result is well worth it!

I couldn't resist working on those limpid eyes...

You can see how pale this is now - it leaves the deepest colours still dark but more ink will be needed on the mid-tones.

Stage 3 (re-inking):
Here comes that depth - the goal in this stage is to use colours with values slightly different (ie lighter or darker) than the background. If I use the same colour I will actually cancel out any scratches I've made, but if my ink is a little bit lighter I will dampen the contrast to get a more natural look and I can use subsequent layers of ink and scratching to get the feeling of a thick, deep coat.

And you can spot the oopsie... on the left side of the nose (our right) there's a dark little spot - that is actually a small ding to the clay. It might have happened when the clay was wet after a wash of ink as it is very sensitive during that time. Here I've inked it and will use layers of ink and scratching to try to cover that defect. Yes, this made me very sad and I blame the fat cat for it.

Stage 4+ (more scratching):
There are actually multiple stages in here of scratching areas, re-inking to keep my values where I want them, scratching more for texture, and so on. You can see that my extensive medical attention to the nose blemish was successful!

This is also where I went to town on the pillow - I wanted it to look like flannel (what could be more cozy than a labrador on a flannel pillow?). I have fibreglass brushes in two sizes that help me achieve the soft, knobbly look here.

After this there are more hours of tweaking - inking, letting it dry, rescratching, re-inking. There is usually a point where either I've reached a deadline or the painting just says 'stop'. That is when I know I'm done and we're ready for framing. My absolute favorite bit which I save for last is the whiskers! That and a signature and....

..the finished product!

'You want to use *this* pillow?'
6x6 Whiteboard/Ink (c) Pam Boutilier

Detail shots (larger than life-size):

This one is available for sale ($250.00, includes basic frame matted to 12x12"). It is not yet uploaded to the website (quick note, the website is currently under construction getting a bit of an update) but if you are interested just email me at pam@catinaboxstudio.com!

As always - if you're interested in a commissioned pet portrait send me an email or give me a call (I have a brochure in PDF form for anyone who wants more detail on ordering a commission).

And as always, thank you for stopping by and peeking at my blog!!

(PS - so does this one qualify as dog #8 in the 100 dogs challenge?)

100 Dogs Challenge - #6 (and #7)

2010-01-04T22:15:00.005-07:00

This is a quick ink sketch/painting I did this evening. It's in my wee sketchbook which is not at all the appropriate paper for ink washes, but I felt like just doing something 'quick and dirty' (the scratchboard is not being my friend tonight).

Next time I get the urge I promise I'll go dig out my watercolour paper :)
(And I'll actually work on getting accurate colours instead of having fun with ink mixing)

'Roughly Buffy' 5x7"

And sick of the brush I kept doodling with a ballpoint pen and lo, sketch #7 happened:

'Gromit' 5x7"

Remember one of the stipulations of the 100 dog challenge is that I post 'em all - even the rough ones!!

~ Pam

Goodbye old friend

2010-01-03T19:30:00.004-07:00

We said goodbye to our old boy, Laurich, tonight. He was 14 and had a good, long life. He was to the point recently that he could barely get up at times and couldn't go outside to pee and poo on his own. It was a hard decision - but it was the right one.

Here's to an old friend - may his legs be ever strong and his tummy ever full!

~ Pam

2009 in Review!

2009-12-31T10:32:00.005-07:00

2009 is coming to a close and I promised a poll!

Really, I've gone through phases over the years of making huge lists of resolutions or none at all. New Year's eve is a fun date on the calendar, but it's meaning is more symbolic than anything to me. However this year the planets have aligned such that I'm finding myself very reflective the past week or so, particularly about my art business.

Although it's technically been over a year since I started Cat-in-a-Box this still seems like a good time to call an 'anniversary' and take stock. This year has been an exploration and a bit of an experiment - for someone with no background in the business side of art it has been a huge learning experience. I've gone about some things in a pretty inefficient or backward manner, but I've learned every step of the way. In the last six months I finally feel like things are falling into place (though it may not look that way from the outside).

The main purpose of this post is to address, what else but the blog! Anyone who's followed the blog since it's inception will know that the subject matter has been a bit random - from posting progressions of works-in-progress to showcasing new art, talking about the technical side of the media I work in and peppered with some more personal entries. This has been a bit of planned randomness to help me get a feel for blogging and see what people are interested in.

Now there are analytics and numbers that can track what entries people are looking at (and I have a tenuous grip on such things so I will be looking at them) but call me an old-fashioned gal, I just can't look at numbers alone. So the purpose of this post is really to ask for feedback from anyone who's reading this blog entry:

~ what things have you enjoyed about my blog?
~ what things did you skip over?
~ what would you like to see that isn't here?

If you have a moment please leave a comment, or take a quick second to fill out the poll to the upper right of this post (it will be up for one week). If you'd prefer to send an email, by all means - send it to pam@catinaboxstudio.com, or use the 'contact' sheet on my website www.catinaboxstudio.com (please note that the website is undergoing some revisions so if you hit upon an ugly page please ignore it and come back next month! :D).

In 2010 I want to take a more directed approach to this blog, and continue the newsletter as a companion to the blog. If you have not signed up for my monthly newsletter please consider doing so! Your feedback will be tremendously helpful in both areas!

Now this being an art blog we need at least one image! So here's the latest 100 dogs sketch:

(you can read more in the Newsletter, and also see this dog's bad habit :D)

See you next year!!

~ Pam

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-24T11:30:00.014-07:00

Happy Christmahanukkwanzakah!

Whatever you celebrate everyone here is hoping that you have a happy midwinter holiday season! Our Christmas tree is up and our little four (and three) legged family members are all with us for the time being.

This will likely be Laurich's last Christmas with us - the old man will sure enjoy his gift (he still hasn't caught on that his gift is always a nasty, smelly bone from the pet store... or at least he never complains at our lack of imagination in gift selection!)

And Dufus wishes to express his extreme enthusiasm for the holiday and the jingly neckband.... (either that or he's plotting my demise?)

ART!!

For those of you who read my previous dog sketch post here, the sketch has been turned into a scratchboard - completed just in time for Christmas! I can show this one because Cali's owner has seen it already... after Christmas I'll have another board or two to show off *wink*.

'Cali' 5 x7" Scratchboard

After this weekend it will be time to start preparing for the new year. A great time to evaluate status and set some goals. My art and studio business have changed and grown in the last year, it will soon be time to figure out where I want to go in 2010. I hope you come along for the ride - or at least stay tuned until the next post (hint: There's gonna be a poll!).

Merry Christmas one and all!

Ballet inspiration

2009-12-06T13:54:00.006-07:00

My husband and I went last night to see The Nutcracker performed by the Aspen/Santa Fe ballet. Though it's traditional and rather girlie, we both had a great time. The dancers are just amazing - the strength and control they have goes beyond impressive. The costumes were so lush. The whole thing was just a visual feast.

Watching something like that - the music and movement, the colour and grace - just makes me want to draw or paint. I came home and just sat with the cats sketching for a bit. Some of the sketches are random gesture drawings out of my brain and some are from references of ballet dancers I pulled up.

Thanks to Oude School (Flickr) for the reference for this one ^^^

A deviation from my dog challenge and pet portraits, but in the hours after the show I could totally understand why Degas and so many others have chosen to use ballet dancers for subject material over the years. Maybe next time I drag my hubby to the ballet I'll take my sketchbook along :D

100 Dogs Challenge - #2 and #3

2009-11-29T21:39:00.004-07:00

The 100 dogs challenge continues!

These two sketches are prep work for a current scratchboard commission I am working on. I was lucky enough to meet little Cali in person this summer - the first sketch is from a photograph of her when she was younger, the second is from one I snagged.

'Cali' (5 x 7" and 7 x 9" graphite on paper)
(c) Pam Boutilier, 2009

She is adorable from any angle, but the first sketch is the one that speaks most to her mom's heart so that is the one we are using for the scratchboard.

I knew when I started the project that it would take awhile to get 100 sketches done, especially with the hectic nature of the holidays as well as the upcoming shows and art events I hope to enter, and that is exactly why I did not put a time limit as part of the goal.

Having set it out that way I find that even though it may be a few weeks before I get to the next sketch, I'm already looking forward to it! I have a pile of reference photographs that I am eager to work on and, like Jazz, maybe some of them will speak to me more loudly and get developed further. Artistically this project is shaping up to be a very valuable tool.

I'll keep you posted as more sketches emerge!

~ Pam

The Original Cat-in-a-Box

2009-11-08T21:37:00.004-07:00

A little reminder of the namesake for my studio today!

I am in the process of shuffling around studio space (moving to a whole new room, yay!) which has caused a lot of chaos and not a lot of blog posting (I promise more art coming very soon!).

I grabbed a fresh file folder box to replace the beat up one I was using for recycling and before I even got it into the room Dufus had decided to try it on. Any of you out there with cats know about this behaviour :D

~ Pam

Sneak Peak Sunday....

2009-10-25T15:50:00.003-06:00

My current project-in-progress (well, one of them anyway)- recognize this one?
(hint: Check out my last blog post

Going for 100

2009-10-19T21:59:00.005-06:00

This post is a bit of a non sequitur, but by posting it here I make it real, so here goes.

Something in the October issue of The Pastel Journal caught my eye - it was an article entitled 'Going for 100' by pastelist Marla Baggetta about her self-challenge to paint the same small landscape 100 times. I am focusing more on scratchboard and whiteboard these days than the pastels, but the basic concept applies regardless of your medium. It's not a new idea - on WetCanvas there are very often challenges such as '100 x in 100 days' ranging from subjects, subject groups, media, etc. People often do similar challenges without the time limit.

The reasons for such a project are many - for many animal artists it is a way to explore a range of species or breeds, giving you a framework to systematically study their differences. For some it is a way to stretch their knowledge of a particular subject - to capture it from different angles, maybe even in different media. Marla Baggetta's goal was as a practice in gesture painting. She limited herself by time and size so that each painting was spontaneous. Her rationale was that if I know I'm doing 100 versions of this same scene I will mentally relax. Some of them will be crappy, some of them will be great (refer to my previous blog entry about the paralyzing effects of worrying about perfection). Also, by using the exact same scene for all of the paintings she was able to put away worries about subject, composition, etc and focus on the subtleties of colour and value instead. This, in turn, led to taking more chances and working sometimes outside of her 'box'.

I've been intrigued by this idea for some time and it falls on my perpetual 'someday I'll do that' list. Well, fellow procrastinators out there know that particular list rarely ever gets accomplished. Unless you say you're going to do it in your blog and newsletter... then you have enough external pressure to fuel you (right? Hm, we'll see I guess).

So... I'm officially announcing my self-imposed 100 Dog Challenge. My personal goals are to explore some breeds that I may not otherwise ever 'get around to', to shift my focus away from the end product (like Marla Baggetta said - not all of these are going to be masterpieces), to loosen up with my sketching and to produce 100 dog sketches!

1) 100 dogs, any media on paper is acceptable

2) Limit to roughly 1hr/piece (ie I will try to not spend more than 1 hour on each one - this promotes the 'gesture drawing' component of this project, this is not a hard and fast rule)

3) No time limit to complete this project (between my other art commitments and full-time job I think that would be a bit too much)

4) I will only include sketches from this post onward (no cheating here :D)

5) I will post all of the sketches (even the ugly ones) here on the blog as they are completed

And to show that I'm really serious about this, here's my first sketch:

Jazz (9 x 12" graphite on paper)

This is a beautiful doggie I met at the Basalt Sunday Market. I loved the way the light caught his face as he sniffed the air. It took a bit more than an hour (closer to 1.5 hours - see, there I go breaking the rules already!). I might turn this one into a whiteboard, if I do I'll be sure to post it in a future entry.

So welcome along for my 100 dogs journey! I hope you enjoy the art - comments are always welcome!! Let's see what 100 dogs does for me, and if any of you are artistically inclined I encourage you to consider your own 'Going for 100' challenge!

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And in other news...

If you prefer to get your Cat-in-a-Box blog fix straight into your email inbox sign up for my new NEWSLETTER!

~ Pam

Inspiration is for Amateurs

2009-10-03T16:01:00.003-06:00

"Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work."

- Chuck Close

I came across that quote on WetCanvas.com and it clicked. So often my art starts to lag, and almost invariably that correlates to my own mental state, a state which I am increasingly learning to associate with 'waiting for inspiration'.

What it really consists of is self-doubt... I start to get all kinds of ideas of things I want to do, I look at other people's art (which is, in itself, a great way to get inspired), but then I start overthinking it. I think 'if I want to do that, I should really plan it out perfectly so it comes together well' and 'I have all these reference shots of the cats, but if I could only catch this one in that angle of sunlight - maybe I'll wait until I can get some morning sunlight shots'. And before you know it three weeks has passed and I've talked myself out of starting the project before I take blade to board (or pastel to paper, or whatever medium I'm avoiding at the time).

The idea behind the quote above is that sitting, waiting or planning for perfection is all well and good - but if you are trying to be a professional artist (ie. if you want to make any money from your art) that's just not good enough. Few people would produce enough to be viable (okay, *I* would not produce enough). But more than that.. focusing on perfection is stifling. First you limit what you are willing to try, then you limit yourself more. You stay in your safety zone because you know you can produce something of a certain calibre. But if you do this for any length of time you don't grow as an artist. You stagnate. And the worst part of it is that stagnant art is very obvious - and not all that appealing. It's a bad vicious cycle.

But it's such an insidious cycle - one I've fallen prey to many times. Knowing that I'm susceptible to this I've taken the title quote, printed it out in big font and stuck it above my drafting table - so each time I'm sitting staring at a blank board (canvas, paper, etc) waiting for inspiration I can hear Chuck telling me to get off my keister and just do SOMETHING. In really dire straits just grab the nearest object and make it into a still life - I know in the past I've surprised myself with how much I like some of the most unlikely subject matter once I got working with it (I recall a particular cupcake a year or so ago...). It may not turn out to be the primo best work that I've done, but then again it might.... and at the very least I'll learn something from it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news...

If you've been following my erratic blogging efforts you'll know that I've been attending the Basalt Sunday Market with a little booth for the past month (really it's been a fair amount of work, being the first time I've set up a booth or sold prints - that is my excuse for the aforementioned erratic-ness of the blogging).

Each week I set up my easel and work on a piece - the board that I've been working on is a 16 x 20" scratchboard that I posted a teaser detail of a few weeks ago. Sandy was close with her guess - at least the textures were right! Here's an update:

This is Ben - the Belgian draft horse that I had in vet school. When I moved we had to sell Ben, he went to live on a big Belgian farm and finally decided he was okay with the harness after all (thanks for the bruises, Ben!).

Even on a 16 x 20" board this doesn't come close to his real size - in reality his head was the length of my arm, meaning that if he was nuzzling my armpit I could just reach his poll (the very top of his head between his ears) with my outstretched fingers! Any horsey people out there can see how I used the 'natural' approach to grooming :D

And a close-up detail of his muzzle (so soft!):

Anyone who is in the Basalt area this weekend (Sunday, Oct 4th) stop on by and see "Ben" (the scratchboard) in real life! This is the last week for the market, after this I'll be working in the studio and working on that whole discipline thing I recall mentioning some time ago! ;)

~~ Pam ~~

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The website is live!!

2009-09-14T13:16:00.006-06:00

And we're off and running!

The Sunday Market went great - minimal sales (everyone had a slow day for sales, the wine vendor near me only sold two bottles all day) but I achieved the goals I had set out to do.

With this venue and timing my goals were to practice setting up and running a booth (check) and to get some exposure. I worked on my 16 x 20 scratchboard and plenty of people stopped to watch and comment, I got to talk about scratchboard and hear plenty of pet stories. Basalt is such a dog-friendly neighborhood, my hubby put out a big bottle of water for all the dogs that were coming by which often resulted in the attached owners stopping in for a peek. We handed out business cards and brochures to anyone who would take them - if even one person orders a commission then the Market was a great success!

Our booth (not the best picture - it looks pretty crowded here but it really was pretty streamlined)

Band dogs taking five:

Another shot of the Market:

And... as an added extra surprise a photographer with the Aspen Times decided to take my picture!

Plus I got a couple of hours' work done on my big board - I luckily have no problem working with people looking over my shoulder, my biggest worry was working on an easel as I usually use a slightly inclined drafting table. The easel worked quite well, I was surprised! I won't use it in my studio where I have the drafting table available, but if I do ever wish to work outside (and the next few weeks at the market I will most certainly be doing so) I know I can quite comfortably!

I also mentioned a newsletter - as soon as I work out a couple of kinks I hope to send out the first issue - it will essentially mirror the blog, so you blog followers have a head start - but if you wish to receive the newsletter and you aren't sure if I have your email address just send me a quick note at Pam(at)Catinaboxstudio.com. Once I learn a bit more I'll have a sign-up on my website (or here on the blog), but until then I'll be working from my email list.

And last, but by no means least, this weekend was also the launching of CatinaBoxStudio.com! Check it out! There's a bit of content to add and some tweaking left to do - but the website is live and Cat-in-a-Box is officially launched!!

So all in all a successful weekend - but very little sleep. Framing and matting and last minute things (those little things like title/price labels for the pieces) kept me up until 3am the morning before the market, then we got up at 7am to go to the market. But coffee and adrenaline kept us fueled through the day and it was, all told, a thoroughly enjoyable experience! We're looking forward to next week's market!

If you're in the Basalt are come and visit us at the Sunday Market!

~ Pam

A long delay - but with an explanation!

2009-09-06T22:20:00.005-06:00

To my blog readers - apologies for the inordinately long delay since my last post! It has not been without good reason, I've been very busy getting ready for the 'official' launch of Cat-in-a-Box Studio!

We're coming up on a year since this blog was started! In some ways that's shocking ('It's been a whole year??') and yet at the same time I can't believe it's only been a year! Though Cat-in-a-Box was conceived in September 2009, it's really been gestating all this time. I've made some sales and read lots about marketing, I've worked on finding my artistic style and enjoyed exploring different media to see what suits me best. But despite fits and starts there has been no defining moment that's felt like the shift from 'work in progress' to a real business. With my artwork that moment is when I sign it - and I've been feeling that I need such a moment for Cat-in-a-Box.

And that moment will come on September 13th!

When I realized that I need some kind of defining event for the business launching I decided that it will be my debut at the Basalt Sunday Market. I signed up for the market this spring - it's your standard small-town market with booths and a variety of merchants. The town of Basalt is charming and I go to town as often as I can. The market itself has been lively and crowded each weekend that I've visited (it runs every Sunday from July through October) and my block will be the final quarter - from September 13 - October 4th.

But a launching takes more than a market booth! The other arms of the launch will be the opening of my website and the Cat-in-a-Box Newsletter which will serve as a companion to this blog! Links to everything will be posted next weekend when they are launched!!

So if any of you blog-readers are in the region of Basalt, Colorado - please stop by the Sunday Market!

And everyone else, thanks for bearing with me this past month - now that the preparatory work is over I can get back to regular blogging - for your patience I'll leave you with a glimpse of the scratchboard that's on my drafting table right now. This is only a small portion of what will be my largest board yet (16 x 20").

Can you guess what it is?

~ Pam

Another Whiteboard - Nessie

2009-07-17T17:27:00.011-06:00

In this post I'd like to share with you my second full whiteboard. The Rosie board went so well that I think I'm addicted now! But they are a time-consuming art form - so in the process of doing Nessie I also worked on a couple of black and white scratchboards.

Nessie is one of our cats - a little tiny lilac point siamese with a very big mouth. She is all demure and dainty until she gets her panties in a knot at 2am and decides to announce her opinions to the household. Sleeping is her favorite pastime (though that could be said of most cats, I guess), and I am convinced that this feline would be very happy if her little paws never tread upon anything that wasn't a human body (seriously, you can't sit more than 5 minutes in one place without this cat clambering onto your person).

I chose this reference photo because of the peaceful expression (she really is rather lovely when she's not talking) and the dramatic light. I have a thing for the effect of a backlit cat ear - you get to see just how thin that skin is, and the delicate outline of light reflecting off the tiny, fine hairs of the ear margin.

This image is a bit washed out -I purposely decreased the contrast and increased the light so I could see the direction of hairs and small details in the darker areas (my reference shots always undergo some photoshopping before they are appropriate to use for scratchboard).

This piece will be done on a 6x6" Whiteboard with Ampersand inks. The preliminary sketch is transferred onto the whiteboard with graphite (basically I use a graphite stick to cover the entire backside of the sketch in my sketchbook, then retrace the lines with the page laying over the whiteboard). The first inking I do is the background - you can see my graphite guidelines from the preliminary sketch. It takes several layers of ink to get a nice, deep background color - this one is using alternating layers of black and sepia ink:

And continuing with the base painting (The scanner made this image warmer than it truly appears, but it gives you an idea). I've exaggerated the light in her left ear, it will get toned down as this continues and I want to preserve that look of translucency and backlighting:

And now the scratching! The repeated layers of scratching and re-inking is what gives us more depth. In the next series of images you can see how I start by scratching in the darkest areas, re-inking them (though hard to see on a small scan this leaves beautiful, subtle texture in the shadowed parts), and then scratching the medium-value areas, and so on.

Some detail shots (larger than life):

And here is the final portrait:

"Nessie" 6x6" Ampersand whiteboard, scratchart and ink (c) Pam Boutilier, 2009

Thanks for checking in!

This is what you get for listening to Kenny Rogers

2009-07-02T11:13:00.015-06:00

It's coming up on my mother's birthday soon, she would have been 72 in a couple of weeks. I'm using that as an excuse for the fact that I spent a couple of hours last weekend hunting down old Kenny Rogers, Merle Haggard and Charley Pride songs on YouTube. I guess it's no wonder that the next morning I woke up with an image in my head - an image I couldn't shake. I kept hearing the lyrics to 'The Gambler' and seeing this cowgirl studying her cards. So I decided to not let it slip by.

While the image was fresh in my mind I dug out my old cowboy hat (a souvenir from the Calgary Stampede) and found some playing cards. It was in my head that poker involved 5 cards - and sadly neither my husband or I were sure, but aesthetically 5 cards worked so that's what I went with. After a half hour of my incredibly patient hubby helping me shoot reference shots from different angles, and another hour of cutting, pasting and manipulating the images in Photoshop, I finally finished a good reference shot to work from.

Now my intent was not to copy this exactly - it's not going to be a portrait, and I don't look like a cowgirl. So I reshaped it a bit in photoshop and I reshaped it more when working on the scratchboard. She started having a hardened sort of look, which I really liked so I developed that further - at this stage it was a bit more of a grimace than I wanted...

The next steps were to soften her mouth a bit, and lay out more of the scratching (hat, hair, hand) and continued reworking of her face. I have not done much human skin before - it is a very different creature on scratchboard than fur!!

After this I relaid shadows with ink - in this way I get fading textures into the darkness instead of a sharp demarcation between light and shadow.

Lastly... numerous little touch ups and of course my favorite bit - the cards! And here is the finished picture....

"Know when to hold 'em" 9x12" Ampersand scratchboard

Some detail shots:

I hope you've enjoyed this board, I sure enjoyed doing it! I plan to offer prints of this one, as soon as I get my business side up and running fully. Watch for posts!

Oh, and does anyone know if 5 cards in your hand makes sense for poker?? (I really need to learn to play poker some day!)

~ Pam

Rosie - Adventures in Whiteboard (Part II)

2009-06-21T16:04:00.000-06:00

Welcome back!
If you haven't seen Part I and would like to, please take a look here.

The next stages of the process are more fun to look at than to elaborate on. Basically, with the underpainting done we start a looooong series of layers of scratching, painting, scratching, painting. The scratching starts with the darkest areas - individual hairs and details are scratched, then a thin layer of ink applied to color the scratches (though not as dark as the underlying painting), once that is dry further details are scratched. Kind of like reverse Ukranian Easter eggs!

As we continue on I get to work on my favorite areas - the eyes/nose/muzzle. My favorite in general because this is where the personality and expression is. The eye received at least 5 layers of ink and scratching.

Because of the flash in this photo there was no reference detail available for her forward foreleg (photos with flash are never good as art references, but this one had enough other positives that I wanted to use it anyway). To compensate for this I've added some shading and approximated the hair directions - it's not ideal but the best I could do with the material I have.

And a surprising development.. my overall favorite part of this piece ended up being the claws! To think I was dreading them when I started it... they looked difficult to do (both from a textural and a color standpoint). It seems in every piece there's one bit that is my favorite - in the dachschund scratchboard it was his little toepads. Sometimes it's an eye or an ear. In this one.. the jagged claws with long quicks that we could only trim back so far and grew like weeds!!

And after about a month of scratching and inking and scratching and inking we end up with a finished portrait!!

"Rosie" Ink on Whiteboard, 2009 (c) Pam Boutilier

I hope you've enjoyed this little foray into a new medium! Having seen some examples of my pastels, (black) scratchboard and now whiteboard which ones do you like the most? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

~ Pam

Rosie - Adventures in Whiteboard (Part I)

2009-06-16T08:54:00.013-06:00

Last time I alluded to the fact that I'm working on a new technique. I've completed a couple more scratchboards (and find that each one teaches me something more.. my scratching technique continues to improve).

But sometimes a gal just needs color.

Now there are two ways to do color with scratchboard - one is to start with the standard black scratchboard as you've seen in previous posts, and to apply washes of color (generally with ink, acrylic, or other media). To prepare for this one must 'overscratch' the board, basically scratching off a bit more of the black than you would if it were going to remain black and white. After the colour washes you scratch more, and continue alternating until you get the effect you're going for. Ending up with something like this:

'Mother's Arms' 9x12 Ampersand Scratchboard (c) Pam Boutilier 2009

The other way is to use whiteboards. A whiteboard (WB) is the same as a standard scratchboard (SB) but does not have the india ink layer on the top - it's just white clay and very smooth. Before scratching you must apply your surface medium and this allows you to play with colour! Many media can be used - ink, paint, coloured pencil... the effect is slightly different for each.

If you want to see some amazing scratchboard and some very good instructive information please check out Diana Lee's website: www.dianalee.com or better yet check out some of her posts on www.WetCanvas.com (which is where I'm learning all of this from)!

Following is my first attempt at a whiteboard - this is done on a 6x6" WB using inks in the form of Inktense Pencils (by Derwent) and Liquid ink (Ampersand). I really like the deep, vibrant colour achieved with inks - though the colour range isn't as dynamic as you can achieve with coloured pencil. My biggest frustration with the Inktense pencils is that, because they are water soluble, the ink is never fully permanent - so it is difficult to go back and do new layers without mobilizing some of the earlier ink and blunting your scratching efforts.

'Emma' 6x6 Ampersand Claybord (c) Pam Boutilier 2009

After my practice piece I was ready to jump in so next I tacked a 9x12" WB - only this time I chose a reference photo that I thought I could work with. The Emma photo was not really detailed enough for scratchboard, but was perfect for practice. For board #2 I chose this old photo of my girl, Rosie:

As always it starts with a sketch;

I decided to crop it close and change the position of her eye a little to better reflect her personality. Rosie was my dog - an English Bulldog rescue. We had 10 years together before she passed away in 2006 from complication of lymphoma. That's a pretty good age for a bulldog - and she got to boss lots of folks around in her ten years!

Next is applying the ink - after my experience with the pencils I decided to go with all liquid ink (Ampersand ink). Thanks to a wonderful oil painting class I took a couple of years back I feel pretty comfortable with colour mixing - which is good when you only have yellow, blue, green, magenta, black and sepia to work with!

At this stage it reminds me of pop-art.. but remember, the ink will be scratched through so this base layer has to be very deep and dark if you want real depth in the final image - it seems I actually learned quite a bit from that little practice piece above!

Next time I'll post some further stages and the finished product.

~ Pam

Scout - a tribute

2009-06-09T08:49:00.005-06:00

Some of my favorite pieces are memorials of dear friends we have lost. Scout passed away unexpectedly last fall - below is Scout's portrait on scratchboard and a wonderful write-up from her owner.

~ Pam ~

Sometimes you don’t love a pet for what the pet can do for you. Scout came to us at age 8 from a very devoted family who was moving to England. They wouldn’t consider selling their house and four cars, or finding a place in London, until they had settled their Scout in an ‘acceptable’ new family. The family left us a long list of instructions for her proper care—none of which seemed to apply to the doggie we came to love for her own goofy self. I loved the notch a Westie took out of her ear when she was just a new puppy, and I loved that she got me to go walking when it would have been easier to be a couch potato. I laughed at how devoted she was to me when I was dealing with food. None of us loved the stentorian snores or eye-watering flatulence. We appreciated that dropped food never made it to the floor, but we could have done without the smiling drooling face that watched us eat every bite on our plates. Above all, we loved that sweet, sober—sometimes smiling—face and the dear beast who relied on us to love her just for being who she was. I hope we really were ‘acceptable’.

~ Scout's 'mom'

Quick doggie sketches

2009-05-13T10:32:00.007-06:00

It's been a couple of weeks since I blogged and I'm not finished with the current piece I want to Blog about (a new technique for me that I'm very excited about!). Things have been busy lately around here but I wanted to post something for you, so...

...here are two sketches! These are actually studies for the new technique I alluded to above. These are both my own dogs - Rosie, the bulldog, passed away several years ago. I have always loved this shot of her. Emma, the.. well, we don't know exactly what she is.. is our 13 year old ray of sunshine who thinks she's about two. In this picture she was looking into the wind in our back yard.

I hope you enjoy them!

Rosie:

Emma:

There's nothing weinie about this guy!

2009-05-03T20:21:00.006-06:00

I thought I'd share this little fellow with you - the reference picture was given by Sue (a WetCanvas member) and I just loved the expression and pose on this little guy!

I started with a pencil sketch:

I didn't quite capture his expression here, but it was a good practice to help me sort out the values and to figure out where I'd gone wrong. The lighting in this shot makes it perfect for a dramatic scratchboard so I started him on a 5 x 7" Ampersand Scratchboard.

First the transfer paper sketch:

Unlike the mousie, for this one I went over the transferred lines with very faint scratches to indicate where they were. This allowed me to erase the transfer and still have my guides and proportions. I like this method better as I get distracted by the bold, yellow lines when I'm working on other areas. The marks are too faint to show up on a scan, so let's jump ahead to the first WIP shot.

Of all the parts of a dog the one I'm most apt to mess up is the nose - so this time I decided to start there. The angle, texture and relationship to the lips were my primary focus at this time. You can see a little bit of my guidelines and, of course, I tend to wander away from my primary focus from time to time (hey, I can't work *just* on the nose, when that perfect, little right ear is sitting right there!):

Continuing along the head - trying to work around the outside but also keeping my internal proportions right. It's so easy to get lost in the play along the side of the face, I love that area just below the eye where you have the zygomatic arch and the loose flesh of the cheek laying over it then corner of the lips and that little mole-thing dogs have. Usually I put the eyes in early on, in this case I really wanted the eye position and shape, but saved the highlights for later (because they're fun!):

I got a bit carried away and didn't scan for a bit. At this point I have gotten the basic body outline done and started on that wonderful little paw. The paws are what makes this shot so intimate, not just another posed portrait - he's right up there checking out what's going on! Another favorite bit of mine was the shadow cast by his ear just above his left paw (it will come out more as the hair around that area is done):

Now it's cooking - I've got the ear laid in and the other paw mostly done. This is about the end of the scratching portion and you may notice some areas are a little overscratched. This is where I go back and lay in some ink washes to tone down some of the scratched areas, also to ink out any of my original guidelines that are still showing and to tweak any errors.

And voila! Finis!

I hope you liked my little Dachshund, stay tuned for my next post!

What is that scratching sound?

2009-04-22T10:59:00.009-06:00

Scratchart is a wonderful medium that I was just getting into before my art hiatus. I had a couple of pieces started that were in the works (and are still partially finished) - however as I work back into my art I need to 'stretch' so I've started with some 5x7" boards with the goal of just finishing the works and not getting hung up on whether they are 'perfect' in my eyes. And this little mousie is the first!

So scratchboard, for anyone not familiar with the medium, is basically white clay on a board coated with a thin layer of ink. Whiteboards are available as well which are worked a little differently (and I have a few of those kicking around here too, maybe that can be a future post!).

With the more common black scratchboard we use a number of tools to scrape away the surface ink, revealing the white underneath. Working in scratchboard is really an excercise in values - although you can add ink color later, the bulk of your work is trying to emulate the different value gradations in your picture. It is like inkwork in reverse. I found a really nice online tutorial if you are interested in more detail on this medium: http://www.scratchboard.org/russhowto/index.html

When I got my first boards I started with a test board - just working out values and some different scratching techniques. All I had at that time was a #11 Xacto blade (I currently favor scalpel blades, they seem to hold their point a bit longer and I have an easy supply of them).

For the little mousie I started with yellow transfer paper. I have used graphite and chalk transfers in the past, but this was suggested by a colleague and so far I like it. The basics of the image are drawn freehand in pencil so that it transfers through in yellow on the scratchboard. Then you can either work from the yellow lines or make some very light scratches in the board as guidelines and then erase the yellow (this is rapidly becoming my preferred method).

Though the #11 blade is still my favorite I've been trying to use my other tools. From top to bottom we have the #11 scalpel blade, the fiberglass brush, steel brush, and well - I don't know what that last tool is technically called, it's your standard 'scratch blade' - though it seems most hard-core scratchers don't use this tool (I, for one, don't use it often).

This is the yellow line transfer, it is intended only as a guideline to keep the proportions in place as you work. I'm experimenting with more vs. less guidelines - they can be helpful but I find the fewer I make the easier it is to keep focused using my reference picture to guide me.

This particular piece is a bit of an exercise in trying out new things - so I used the fiberglass brush mostly for the hand. It creates a soft, cloudy look. A little bit of ink washing was necessary to fix my values when I got a bit overzealous.

After the ink wash I went back and made some fine detail in the fingers with the blade (fingerprint sworls and such). The hand was really just the backdrop for the mousie (ie I didn't feel like dealing with human skin which is tricky at best on scratchboard). This of course lightened my values too much so after this I did some more ink washing to bring it back. And finally, I start on mousie... the tip of the mouse seemed a good spot to begin.

Working on the mouse himself - in this case my eye position was off in the original drawing, I'll fix that later. Also mousie's head is more narrow and tapered than the reference photo but again my point is to run through some work, not to nit pick on details - these are practice pieces after all - so I'm leaving his head the way it is.

More done on the mouse - I've fixed the eye with some ink, working on the fur and all those tiny little hairs on the ears! He is so tiny and delicate, a perfect subject for scratchboard!

And the finished picture -

I've gone back and adjusted some values, tweaked a few things and then did my favorite part - the whiskers!!! In this case I scratched the white whiskers and drew back in some black ones with an ink pen.

I hope you've enjoyed my little mousie, and my first step back to getting into my art. I'll be sure to post my next one (also a scratchboard) when it's done!

I'M BACK - Apologies for my abrupt absence

2009-04-11T10:33:00.005-06:00

First I'd like to start with an apology to anyone who has been following my blog and suddenly found that February rolled around and... nothing.

I didn't die. I didn't get hit by a truck. Nor did I get abducted by aliens.

I got a new job.

It is interesting that I had a post started regarding finding balance between my two worlds - art and veterinary medicine. It was on the back burner because I couldn't figure out how exactly I wanted to present it - but writing the drafts was helping me to see that some of the best times in my life were when I was striking a balance between art and science. But how the heck to do that? Well - about this time things were getting pretty tight financially and out of the blue I got a job offer.

As many of you reading this know (especially if you are in the US right now) a job offer is nothing to sniff at. I looked at my fledgling art studio and realized that changing careers and trying to make a business profitable in it's first 6 months of existence was a bit ridiculous. So I took the job, and it's a good one.

Remember my earlier post about Discipline? I have to say I haven't so much used it as a guiding beacon so much as an occasional tool for self-flagellation. And when you move from 24/7 art-time to having a 40 hr/week commitment you really need that Discipline if you want to try to achieve both.

I had lofty ideas - I'll juggle dual careers, yes - I'll set studio hours around my work schedule and grow my business. I think deep down I still harbour a bit of that non-artist prejudice that says it's 'just drawing, how long can it take?' (ah, there's a topic for a future post). Well, it takes time.. and when I tally how many hours I actually spend at the easel on a particular painting that is one thing. But what I've realized in the past two months is how many hours I spend thinking about my paintings - observing light, form and color in my environment, planning composition, practicing different techniques, and then the technical side of matting, framing, shipping. I ran out of fingers.

So when I left for job training the beginning of February I took some scratchboards with me - one that I was somewhat eager to finish, as it is a gift, and I'd hoped to post it here on the blog after it was given. Well training was hectic and exhausting - traveling is tiring too, so no surprise I didn't get any scratching done that week. Okay. But then why is it that now, two months later, that same unfinished scratchboard is still sitting here staring at me?

And this is where the doubt creeps in - over the past two months I have not done more than an idle doodle. I can tell from my doodles that I'm out of right-brain mode and I know from past experience that it takes some time and practice for me to get back 'up to speed'. So now I'm feeling the slightest worry about starting to do art again - can I do it? Is everything I draw going to look like crap? I know it's the left brain talking, because that's what the left brain does. The worst thing about the left brain is that it likes to predict... the right brain just does it's thing, it doesn't try to put things in time sequence or imagine the possible outcome. The left brain, however, loves to look at past experience and current situations and predict that I'm going to suck if I try to go back to my art. I don't know why I listen to it... I know my right brain can do it, if I just give it a chance, but the right brain is sitting there silently and patiently waiting for me while the left brain chatters in my ear.

So self-doubt keeps me away from doing art. But it's also easy to get involved in day to day activities and forget about the bigger picture. Thus enter the fear of complacency. Even though I'm more L-mode than I was a few months ago it is nowhere near where I was a year ago. But this is the first step along that pathway - I didn't get to where I was a year ago overnight, it took years of neglecting my art to do it. But it was such a miserable state that one would think I'd do anything to avoid it. As humans we're not good at avoiding insidious misery are we? We know we're eating too much, in a bad relationship, not going anywhere with school/job - and we so often just let inertia guide us rather than taking charge. It's nice to blog about the virtues of discipline - it's a whole other deal to change ingrained habits and, frankly, to put in the effort.

It's so easy to forget about what will happen long term - already I'm falling into a complacent contentment with this new job. Taking each day as it comes, hopping weekend to weekend. I'm sleeping okay - which is the big hallmark.

But something is missing.

First there is a joy to creating - to looking at a finished piece of art and thinking 'I did that', of working through the technical and creative challenges to get to that point. But there is also something that I didn't really anticipate losing, the artist's eye - that perspective of viewing the world that spills over into the rest of your life, sharpening your senses. Sometimes it was overwhelming - especially at first - I would see so much that was beautiful, interesting and unique and make plans for future artwork, more than I could ever possibly complete. But after a time I learned to just observe and enjoy - I started keeping a journal of ideas so that I wouldn't lose them, but once I freed myself from the notion that I had to bring each idea to fruition I as able to relax and appreciate the beauty around me. As I slip further away from my right brain my senses aren't so acute... I walk around, as I did last year, in a bit of a fog. I have lost some of the mindfulness that the art brought me.

And I want it back.

So this is my official first post in my new lifestyle. To achieve what I want to I think I have to add a new guiding word - in addition to Discipline I must also strive for Balance. And I have to try to actually use these words and not fall prey to inertia.

Part of that balance is resurrecting this blog. I won't be able to post as often as I did in the past, but I will strive to at least post consistently -even if I start with once a month.

Thank you to anyone who has hung on, and welcome to anyone who is discovering this little blog for the first time. By next month I will have some art to post, that's a promise to you and me!

Fun with Trompe l'oeil - Part 1 of 2

2009-01-20T15:05:00.008-07:00

Trompe l'oeil - french for "trick the eye" is an art form in which the artist creates a 2-dimensional image that when viewed from the proper angle appears three dimensional. I've been fascinated with this art form for awhile and finally decided to try one.

One of the pastel artists I most admire, Diane Ponting, has a painting done as a trompe l'oeil on newsprint. I happened to have a local paper laying around and there is never not a cup of tea or coffee on my desk or by my easel - so there I had my subject.

Attempt #1:

Now if you've ever worked with pastel you may see the problems inherent in this little project.

If you haven't worked with pastel - then know that some of the best (and most expensive) papers for pastel painting are sanded (they are essentially fine grit sandpaper - only made of better materials). You can imagine how that is the complete polar opposite of newsprint. The result is that it was diffcult to work on - I could only put limited layers of pigment on and the paper was constantly threatening to tear.

Attempt #2:

This time I primed the paper with workable fixative. This is a spray product used to coat the surface of artwork. It also will, to a certain degree, restore the 'tooth' of the paper - giving it a little more grit. I don't typically use this fixative overtop the pastel as it does darken the colors, in this case it was used on the blank paper *before* the pastel was applied.

I didn't really see much difference in texture - it was still a pain to work on. Adding the bagel was a bad idea too - it is relatively easy to do smooth surfaces (the liquid, ceramic, glass, metal) with few layers, but the organic bagel/cream cheese looks very 'painterly'. It's a lovely bagel (and it tasted great!) but not the hyperrealistic painting that I'm aiming for with a trompe l'oeil. I'll keep that in mind next time. This time the paper did tear - I've cropped it out, but working in the upper right (to create the illusion of warped text under the glass plate) proved to be a bit much for the poor paper.

All in all a good second painting, but still too tricky to do a really good job.

Other concerns:
So by this point I've become totally captivated by this idea - and now that it's taken a step beyond being a quick sketch for fun another important characteristic of newsprint surfaces has arisen... its archival qualities (or rather, its lack of them).

There's not too many surfaces out there with as poor longevity as newsprint. It yellows, it cracks. The aging process of paper is due to a combination of factors including acidity and wood pulp content - both of which are prominent in newspaper.

Despite all of that I am a crazy bugger and part of what appeals to me about this art is the fact that it's done on a real, actual local newspaper - so it's worth a bit of working around. Before the next stage I'm going to focus on bolstering up this paper....

Step 1: Acid buffer. Each sheet gets coated on both sides with a spray acid buffer.

Step 2: UV resistant matte coating. The visible surfaces get a few light coats of UV blocker. I prefer not to use this spray over the pastel, but in this case the paper is my prime concern so it is being treated under the painting that will eventually happen. (This protection could be further augmented by framing under UV blocking glass and hanging the final painting out of direct sunlight).

Step 3:Clear Colourfix primer. The newsprint is primed with this material - essentially a gooey clear substance with sandy grit. It is used to prepare surfaces for pastel painting and a colleague suggested trying it on the newsprint... here goes!

Step 4: The painting.

Attempt #3:

Getting better.

This surface was much easier to work on - which allowed me to get more layers of color and therefore more depth to the painting. The rim of the cup is off, but I like the effect of the submerged part of the teabag and I managed to get the spoon proportions better this time. This was done using a combination of pastel sticks and pencils. If you look closely you can see some streaks - that is from applying the gesso with a foam brush. In the future I'll use a foam roller to apply the gesso more evenly.

Now that I have a handle on manipulating this new surface it's time to try some different subject matter - check back for Part 2 and some new art to be posted.

Jack - A Newfie Portrait

2009-01-08T23:56:00.016-07:00

Lord tunderin' bye! I just love Newfies! (The dogs.. well, I love Newfies the people too - I'm lookin' at you Nikki!) but Newfies the dogs are just such even-tempered and lovable souls.

My most recent commission was of Jack - a 3 year old Newfie who has had more than his share of orthopedic problems (a significant concern with giant breed dogs). Unfortunately Jack has already undergone several surgeries, but that hasn't hurt his wonderful and loving personality (as a family member aptly put it "He doesn't have a mean bone, or a good joint, in his body"). And nothing can take away his enjoyment of going for a Saturday morning 'coffee run' with his dad!

I thought for this post I'd back up a few steps. Before you can even think of doing a lovely pet portrait, you have to start with a lovely picture. If you have the opportunity to take the picture yourself you can select the lighting and pose (you can't always convince your subject to behave, but that's a different story altogether!). But more often than not you don't have that option and must work with photographs given to you.

From a selection of photos of Jack I narrowed down to these ones that would potentially make a good portrait. You want to see the subject's face. Often a 3/4 turned view is desired (that is the 'classic' portrait pose) but sometimes a different view will yield a more 'artsy' looking painting. This is the one that both I and the client chose in a blind 'taste-test'.

But to render this in pastel a few things will have to be done.
First as the final portrait will be 8x10 we need to choose a crop - if we stay with this size Jack will be tiny and I won't be able to get any really good detail. So the image was cropped to show off his beautiful and majestic head.

The next problem is that the background is 'busy' - some artists will deal with this 'on the easel' but I like to play around with the photo before I start, so I used Photoshop to blur out the background in stages:

The lines show the areas of greater and lesser blurring.
Now if I were doing this as a digital photo I would go in and make minute changes at the pixel level - but this is only meant to be a reference for me to paint from, so I left a 'halo' around Jack to be able to follow the direction of his fur against the background. And here's the final reference photo:

This post is mostly about the reference preparation - but I'll include one WIP (Work-in-Progress) shot - this is early on in the painting, you can see that I have the basis of the background and major colors and forms blocked in.

This one was done with Pitt pastel pencils on Black Colourfix paper. Working on black paper is fun, and in the case of a black dog it allowed me to focus more on the highlights and that colorful foreground - but it also gave the end painting a more soft and muted feel - so that the bright leaves weren't overpowering the dark colored dog.

And the finished painting:

Here's a close-up of his nose showing some of the variation of color within the black:

All matted, framed and ready to ship!

This one was a Christmas present for Jack's 'dog parents' and the word is that they loved it. I hope Jack liked it too!

Study "5:01"

2008-12-27T21:25:00.005-07:00

It's been harder to keep up on the Blogging through the holidays - mainly because I've been doing mostly housecleaning and not so much art ;D (If you really want to hear about the housecleaning just let me know).

The art work that I have done has been mostly technical and preparatory work - playing with still-life setups, priming newspaper (don't worry, that will come in a not-to-distant future blog post!), and things like that. Again - not so interesting to blog about.

But I'll post this little study for you - it's a practice piece for a larger still-life that I hope to complete this month (as it would be perfect to submit for an upcoming show). I didn't get any in-progress shots (the digital camera is recovering from all of my reference photo shooting yesterday!) but I'll be sure to take them when I do the big piece.

Textiles are so fascinating - cut glass, liquid, leather, metal - I am enjoying learning how to manipulate my pastel pencils further to get somewhat realistic renderings of these type of surfaces. Still life set-ups are tremendous fun as well - playing with objects and light, reflections and refractions.

The final painting will tell a bit of a story - I think this study will give you a sense of where the title came from. Enjoy!!

9x9" Pitt pastel pencil on Canson paper

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-25T21:41:00.005-07:00

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, or whatever midwinter event you celebrate!

I hope you're enjoying the holiday season as much as the dawgs enjoyed their Christmas presents this morning!!

(^^^ Very happy doggies!!)

Morgan

2008-12-16T18:10:00.012-07:00

Meet Morgan - This is a commission I did this month of Morgan, a beautiful golden retreiver who passed away very recently. Morgan was left at a clinic when he was 6 and was lucky enough to be found by a new family where he has lived with his dog-sisters for the past 4 years or so. Morgan was diagnosed with splenic cancer two years ago and with treatment he continued to enjoy going for walks and swimming in the pond. Sadly he developed more cancer which spread rapidly and took his life this year - but he is a beautiful reminder that illness does not need to consume us.

As people we have such a hard time overcoming the mental weight of our problems - illness, stress, money concerns. The problems are very real - but they only beat us when they keep us from enjoying every precious day of our lives. Dogs are so much smarter!

Reference photo:

Morgan's portrait was done in pastel using a modification of the Colorist technique that I have learned some from Charlie (a wonderful pastel painter who teaches on WetCanvas - check out her blog!). I wanted a realistic final portrait - but by using a colorist foundation (strong, bright colors mapping out the light and shadow areas of the painting) the final result will have greater depth and body than if I use layer upon layer of the same color families.

As all my paintings do - it stars with a sketch after careful selection of the crop and composition I wish to use. I am working on Wallis paper for this one (remember - the stuff that is like sandpaper). I grind the initial colors of pastel into the paper to give it a base color to work on and draw the undersketch in vine charcoal:

Next go the base colors - yellows, blues, oranges and purples predominate. I sent a copy at this point to the client who ordered this painting (it's a close friend of mine and, yes, I was having a bit of a joke). She wisely heeded my warning to 'wait until it develops, it will look better' - but I'm sure I scared the pants off her.

I start layering more 'normal' colors over the base - eventually all of the base will be covered up and you will only see it in micro-tiny bits that peek through the top layers of color. This is how it adds to the depth of the painting without actually being part of what you see in the end.

I always work the background first - it's generally my least favorite part but at the same time extremely important to get right. In this case I am doing a detailed background - it's always my preference to have the subject in a setting, but a detailed background comes close to doubling the painting time so it isn't always an option. In this case I had enough lead time and the reference photo was so perfect I had to take advantage of it!

As the painting progresses I hone in on the face. Although, truth be told, I flit back and forth throughout the painting process - mapping out the values, adjusting, layering, and tweaking the parts I'm not directly working on when I take breaks from the parts I am focusing on.

Many animal artists start with the eyes, I tend to leave them until the end. Most of us will agree that the eyes make or break a portrait. That is where you capture the life and emotion of your subject, and I guess that's the reason people will start with the eyes. For me - I put so much into the eyes (time-wise I probably spend more than twice as long per square inch on eyes than any other part of the painting). So if I start with the eyes, get them perfect, and then have anything be off on the rest of the painting it is a dismal proposition to go change those eyes. By leaving them until last I am sure that I'm happy with the rest of the proportions, values, and composition before I do that last little burst. Plus the painting doesn't really 'come to life' until the eyes are done - so near the end when I paint them it's like a grand unveiling - even for me who's been a foot away from the painting for hours to days at that point.

So here is the final version - Morgan in the back garden. I hope you like it. I hope Morgan approves!

And if you didn't see my previous blog entry on pets and loss please have a look here.

~~ Boots ~~

Word of the year - Discipline

2008-12-08T22:02:00.004-07:00

Or as my niece used to say when she was 5, "Didiplus!".

Why is it that the simpler solution is so often the better one? I was introduced to the concept of choosing a 'word of the year' from the blog of a wonderful artist, Tina Mammoser. She in turn got the idea from Christine Kane's Blog. And I find myself sitting here a few days later thinking 'that's a really good idea, I want to share this'.

I urge you to check out both of their blogs - they are full of interesting material! But to summarize for those of you who's clicker-finger is broken.. the idea is to choose a single word that will be your 'guiding light' for the year. Rather than the typical list of New Year's resolutions (which everyone knows are forgotten by spring) this is a way to address all those 'I should's that seem to come up this time of year. But the approach is not to list what you should do on the surface - but try to get to the heart of it.

So what would my usual "New Years" list consist of this year?
- More regular exercise
- Less time frittered away on the internet
- Set and stick to a daily schedule
- Set and fulfil goals with my art
- Lose weight
- Keep up on the housecleaning

That's a reasonable list. I'm sure many people have some of those items on their list. I hold absolutely no illusions that I'll actually do these things any more than I already am - which is why I don't officially make a New Year's Resolution list.. what's the point?

So I read Christine's blog and no one word jumped out at me (I liked Tina's idea of 'Structure' but didn't want to be a copycat.. but also, although disorganization is is one of my issues it's not the heart of the problem - in some areas I'm extremely structured and organized). So I scrolled down to where she had the list - and I had read through maybe ten words before 'Discipline' popped into my head. I read further and sure enough it was in the list (not that your word has to be in the list - but it made me feel better about choosing it).

So why discipline?
First - positive reinforcement. I have been working very hard the past 3 months on developing business and marketing plans and really applying myself to my art. In short, being disciplined. And I feel great about it - I feel in control, and I can see the improvements in my art already.

Second - negative consequences. Look at my list above.

1. More regular exercise. Why don't I? I love getting outside, I feel great when I do, we live in the middle of the freakin' mountains! It's just that I need to respond to this post, and I'd rather be painting, and it's damp out there.... if I implemented a little discipline I'd get over all of those tiny impediments and go do what my body longs for. And you know what? I'd feel great!

2. Less time frittered away on the internet. (She says as she blogs). That is completely a choice. In fact when I pull myself away from the computer I not only get more 'real life' things done but I approach the internet with a bit of a plan... I need to do this, and this, and this.. and lolcats will just have to wait today (then invariably someone sends me the funniest lolcats so I have gotten more done *and* not had to slog through the cute-but-not-that-funny ones). It just makes sense.

3. Set and stick to a daily schedule. This seems great on the surface - with my current status of being a "budding entrepreneur" (nice spin on that eh?) that setting a schedule would be a good thing. But when I thought about this a little further I realized that on days that don't go 'as scheduled' but that I get a tonne of stuff done, I feel great. Some days I check everything off my list but I still feel at loose ends. It's not the lack of structure specifically that bothers me - it's when I reach the end of the day and think 'I could have gotten so much more done if I'd just not (insert time waster here)'. Apply discipline and *poof* - I don't dally on things that are really unimportant and I get off my butt and get done the things I need to do. I feel good at the end of the day.

I could go on, but I'm sure you see the point.

Didiplus.
(er.. Discipline!)

I urge everyone reading this to read Christine's blog and think about your own Word for 2009.

I'd love to hear what word you choose! Leave it in the 'comments' section below!

Late Harvest

2008-12-03T23:24:00.018-07:00

So it's getting a little late in the season for this theme - but it's technically still autumn, so here goes.... this is a little painting I did for a project on WetCanvas.

For any artsy folk out there I have to put in a plug for WetCanvas - it's a fabulous site and a great resource for just about any kind of art! Check it out!

Back to the corn - for this puzzle project I received a tiny little image, it's 1/16th of a larger image (which we have yet to see as I write this). Quite obviously some harvest corn. I decided to do it on a piece of terra cotta Canson paper I had around. I haven't worked on Canson in awhile - it's very different than the Wallis paper that Bells was done on. Not better or worse in my opinion, just different.

Here's the preliminary sketch in charcoal - I've marked off quarters around the margin, I'm trying to keep the proportions really exact in this as it has to line up with other people's pieces. The original image is exactly what you see above. My painting will be 6x6" (this sheet of paper is 8x8" to leave a margin for working):

And starting with color... first I block in the dark purple and red kernels. Because further layers of pastel will lighten I want the tone I use here to unfluence the final color - but it isn't what the final color will be:

Next I continue by working a bit more on the weird shapes in the background (upper left) and blocking in the lighter kernels:

Now to give these guys some depth - admirably avoiding the black pencil I used mostly blues for the darker kernels...

And purples for the yellow kernels, with blue-gray for the very pale kernels. I start to smooth out the red kernels:

Next I smooth out the dark purplish kernels. They get layers of the ruddy brown base color with blues in the deep shadows and a pale mulberry color for the highlights. A color shaper helps to smooth the color gradations together and just a light touch of white at the brightest highlights makes them really pop!

I continue, smoothing out the yellow and white kernels, deepening their shadows and brightening some of the highlights. The corn is really getting some depth. I've gone back and futzed with the background a little too - I have to admit, it's frustrating for me not knowing what it is... if I were working from a high resolution photo I could reproduce it, but since I'm blowing up a very tiny image I end up filling in the gaps with my imagination (a dangerous thing):

And there's the finished piece! (It looks little different because the last shot is always scanned and cropped (as opposed to taken under easel lighting with the digital camera - this is closer to the actual appearance of the painting in real life)

Hope you enjoyed this one! Although it started as a little project I quite like it, it will look lovely with a wide museum mat!

Next post I'm thinking we'll be back to the doggies, I've got a few good things cooking so stay tuned!

A caffeinated diversion...

2008-11-24T01:18:00.014-07:00

The other night I had a little artistic diversion - a product of my endearing love of coffee.

Those who know me are never surprised to find a trail of coffee cups leading to my studio. One of my residentmates even wrote a poem about a particularly famous coffee mug of mine (ah, Sylvester, I knew him well!). So a little while ago I came across Coffee Paper (see the Oct. 22 Blog entry) and now that it's arrived I'm trying to figure out what best to do with it.

The topic of this blog entry isn't actually the Coffee Paper. That was just what started the process - in brainstorming ideas about what to print on my special, new ecopaper this little guy just popped right out of my head....

That is exactly how I feel first thing in the morning, can you relate?

I know he's not what I usually post here - although graphic design isn't my MO, I do love tinkering in Adobe Illustrator from time to time. Well it turned out that he didn't look good on the Coffee Paper (so that particular quest continues) - however he spawned a series of like-minded illustrations...

Well.. I do!

"I've always dreamed of standing by a lake of coffee, but not like this! Never like this!"

If you're a math nut maybe you'll get the hidden message of what goes well with coffee (at least in Canada - go Tim's!)

The most dire of diagnoses... severe hypocaffeinemia requiring a stat CRI of java.... Scary!

Now although these guys don't fulfill my ecopaper need - after spending an evening with them I decided they'd look pretty cute on a T-shirt. So to that end I've uploaded them to Cafepress - if you're interested in buying a T-shirt (or other item) with one of these images on it click here (or you can click on any of the images above!). If there's an item not listed that you'd like with one of these designs just email me (Pam@catinaboxstudio.com)!

Next time I'll be back into the fine art category... now that I've had my coffee.

Still life "Bells" - Part 2 of 2

2008-11-19T13:35:00.012-07:00

It is finished!

Unfortunately I managed to lose the in-progress photos that I took as I worked, so we'll just have to skip to the end!

Day 2 of work was much more difficult - I was having trouble getting into R-mode ("The Art Zone" as the hubby calls it) and it was the final stretch of the picture which is always more tedious than I think it will be. But the difference between 'art for fun' and 'art for work' is that I don't have the luxury of walking away - so I sat at the easel and kept plugging away. And here it is at the end of Day 2:

So after this it was time for bed - with four steps left until the end:
1) 'the hubby-check', 2) 'turning it to the wall', 3) 'peer review' and 4) 'revisions'.

It passed the hubby check with flying colors – though not an artist he has a good eye, and often points out trouble spots that I may have missed. One down.

Before I 'turn it to the wall' I make a few small notes – I'd like to darken the deeper crevices in the cloth in the upper half. I think the reflections on the upper half of the bells need to be darker, and there's a reflection on the third bell that I've not made clear enough. I wrote these on a post-it which goes on the easel beside the work-in-progress. Now I'll walk away from it for at least 10 hours, have a good night's sleep – and when I come back with 'fresh eyes' I'll see any errors more clearly.

Before bed I also posted it to Wetcanvas– a wonderful forum for artists of any kind! This is the 'peer review' part – artists of all levels will give me feedback on the work.

The next morning the notes on my post-it still are pertinent, I don't see any glaring new problems but a couple more tweaks I can do, such as tiny highlights over the surface - little dings in the metal that I hadn't noticed before. On Wetcanvas the feedback has been tremendously positive – I get some very good advice; to deepen the reflections (as I'd already noted) and to enhance my highlights with a little pale lemon yellow.

All of these go into Revisions.

FINAL PAINTING:

After the minor 'revisions' we're done!

I've framed it out to 16 x 20", slightly large for this painting but that's the size I have so it will have to do for the time being - it will make for a wide mat which increases the drama so I think it will work. This is a visually strong piece, so a clean white double mat shows it in it's best light.

I hope you've enjoyed this demonstration - leave comments if you have anything to share!

This picture is available as greeting cards on http://www.catinaboxstudio.imagekind.com.

- Pam

Still life "Bells" - Part 1 of 2

2008-11-17T09:17:00.023-07:00

'Tis the season! Well not quite yet – I hate the fact that Christmas marketing creeps earlier and earlier every year as much as the next person, but by this point in November some Christmas carols start creeping into my house somehow. It occurred to me that I have a dearth of seasonal works – it's actually a bit late for me to be doing this, however my motto is 'better late than never' so I'm trying to get at least a few pieces done by mid-December.

I've been wanting to paint a still-life with pastels, and (Christmas theme aside) one of the objects that I've been planning is the string of 'jingle bells' I still have from the days when I owned draft horses. To play into the Christmas theme I set up my still-life on a red, satiny fabric.. like so:

Today I'll take you through the first phases of the piece - and I'll follow with another entry when I'm finished. I was able to get in a good right-brain R-mode last night and got a lot done in about 6 solid hours of work. I hope you enjoy!

Stage 1:

This piece is pretty small - about 6 x 11" on Wallis sanded paper. I 'primed' the paper first with a yellow-orange pastel stick, rubbing it in to change the background color from a cool grey-brown to this warm color. I sketched out the image with vine charcoal and did a quick upside-down check. I admit I was getting impatient to put down color, and at first I intended this to be a quick study, so I may not be spot-on but I was satisfied. At this point I have added some base color - it's a warm red (almost bordering on deep salmon).

Here is where mindset takes over. I just love surfaces like metal and glass - the reflections and distortions of color are amazing! They seem so complicated at first - but the key to painting these is to stop looking at the bells and only look at it as blobs of color. Note that I did not start by working on the background, then moving to the bells. I just laid down * all * the places that were red, then all the dark shadows. In some places the color on what will be a bell is exactly the same shade and value as the color of the cloth - this is called a 'lost edge', and it's keeping faithful to bits like that which makes a painting look real and believable. Our eye really wants to draw lines around everything - but there are no outlines in real life!

Stage 2:

So I'm getting well into R-mode by this time - I'm no longer seeing bells, just gentle curves of color and value! I start adding some deep browns to for shadow (I'm trying really hard to minimize my use of black), a little cool green in the deepest shadows of the red cloth to tone it down, some warm yellow highlights on the cloth, and I've started laying warm grays on the bells themselves.

Stage 3:

Now, magically, they're starting to look like bells - with depth! It's hard to not see bells now, but because I've been in R-mode for hours my left brain seems to have wandered off to do something else. This is why I like having a large block of time to work on a piece (and incidentally, I slept like a rock last night after this!). You'll notice how I keep circling all over - I don't want to have to think about my pencils too much (ie I don't want to work in one area then have to go back and sort out which pencil colors I've used when I move to the next). By working 'all over' I use the colors evenly over the surface and don't have to 'break stride' (I have to say this is much easier to do in a small piece like this!).

R-mode is still important here - there's such a strong pull to think of one quadrant of one bell as a distinct object. The key to these bells are the reflections - note where the reflections cross quadrants of a bell, those details are what will make them look 'real' at the end.

I'm also trying to preserve the fine detail - but not getting too hung up on it. An important place for this is on the cut edges of the bells - at this stage I'm trying to observe the colors (note how those edges are a combination of mid gray, light gray, dark gray, orange, red and light yellow - no edge is a single color it's whole length). It's important to realize that in pastel a fine line is often not created by drawing a fine line (jeez - why would you expect that?). Instead I draw a sort-of fine line and refine it further by adding a sharp edge of adjacent color - in pastel it's easier to get a single sharp edge than a thin line with both sides sharp. See the 'fine' red and gray lines in the middle of the leftmost bell? Look at it up close...

The bell's really taking shape now! I'm working the whole piece over as I go - adding highlights and shadows in the cloth, filling in the leather strap with layers. The oranges and yellows and salmon-reds need to be in the cloth (the only actual 'red' object), the bells and the leather - this is a very saturated image and the objects have to all relate to each other to make it ring true (oh dear, I didn't even mean that pun, honest!!).

Stage 4:

This is where I stopped for the night - the leftmost bell is close to done.

I'd like to point out what I found the most challenging so far - the interior of the bells! Clue #1 - they're not black! I used a very dark gray in the initial stages to mark out the place - but if I'd left it like that it would look flat. So looking very closely at the ref photo I see that there are subtle highlights in there - probably secondary (light bouncing of other parts of the bell) rather than a direct beam shining in through the slit (that looks more like the interior highlight you see in the middle bell). A light scumble of a deeper, gold color over the dark gray adds tremendous depth - now you can see the shadows inside, giving the impression of a concave surface.

Also, even though these bells are silver - I used a really warm light source for the ref, so adding a light yellow-orange around the highlight, blending it with the grays I'd already laid down, gives more 'shape' to it. And my favorite part - the bright white highlight! This is the first I've used pure white - again, white and black need to be used sparingly for the brightest highlights and deepest shadows (I learned that the hard way!). I usually put all the highlights and deep shadows in at the end - but after 6+ hours I just wanted a glimpse of how the whole piece will look when it's done!

Well I hope you've liked this little stroll-through-a-still-life!

I'll follow up with Part Deux once it's completed - now I have to get some real reds, as you can see It's more orange than red right now - part of that is intentional (I really want the final picture to be WARM, so using lots of orange and yellow underneath will make it shine!) but part is that I don't actually have any true reds in my growing pastel collection. Oh dear, a trip to the art store, what a chore! (LOL!)

The end of an era

2008-11-09T23:31:00.007-07:00

No, I'm not talking about the election!

I've called it - 'Hey, we're napping here' is officially done!

I'm not entirely happy with the blanket in the front, but it's achieved my goal of being there but being relatively subdued so as not to detract from the kitties. It took a long time - and I won't be tackling another 14 x 22" piece in the near future - but it was worth it!

The piece is framed and will be hung as soon as I decide which venue it will fit best in!

And as a bonus - also finished is Cuppa!! After my initial worry I was able to use some better pastels and some .. interesting techniques to rescue it. I didn't always know what direction this one was headed, but I like the way it's turned out. I had originally intended it to be a bit more abstract, but I guess I'm stuck somewhat on realism for the time being. There are worse things!

Thanks for watching the process on Napping. I'll post some more once the next things are under way! If there's anything you've found interesting so far on my blog please leave a comment!

~~ Boots ~~

Update: Napping

2008-11-04T11:24:00.012-07:00

A progress report on Napping (gosh this is a big piece). I'm actually having more fun with this painting than I anticipated - it occurred to me that all three kitties are fairly monochromatic - white, white and gray, and gray. But as I paint them, trying to stay somewhat true to the reference photo, it occurred to me that the play of warm and cool tones within that limited spectrum is one of the things that made me fall in love with this picture - albeit, admittedly on a subconscious level.

Michael, the white kitty, is the most neutral - he has subtle yellows and blues in his coat but the color 'temperature' balances out nicely. Dufus, the middle kitty, is decidedly cool (in color, believe me in real life he's the biggest dork on earth). The dark parts of his coat are underpainted with deep blues and the pencils used were predominately in the cool gray series. Nessie, the latest addition, on the other hand is very warm (which is amusing, because in life this kitty is an ectotherm who likes to crawl into bed with us at night and plant her tiny ice-cube feet on any exposed human flesh she can find (like your face)). When I roughed her in you can see the use of pinks and tans under the warm series of grays...

Another value check...

And here is where we are currently.

I have taken a little artistic license and deepened the hues of their eyes, as well as brightening the highlights, compared to the reference photo. I feel justified in doing so - I live with these guys, and their beautiful eyes are like jewels in reality which just wasn't caught well in the photo.

(Detail - this is close to the actual size of the painting)

The next step will be the foreground blanket (oh why aren't they on a solid-color blanket?). I was actually really excited about the blanket when I started this picture, now I am so close to finishing it that I just want to be done! That'll teach me.. interesting objects are for still-lifes, not portraits!

Hopefully my next post on this one will be the finished piece! 'Cuppa' is almost finished as well (I was able to salvage it). And then I'll have easel space for the next run of projects, including 'Sarah and Harley' which I haven't forgotten about!

You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.

2008-10-25T13:43:00.011-06:00

You are beautiful, but you are empty. One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you--the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered, because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose.
- Antione de Saint-Exupery.

I first read Le Petit Prince in french class in high school. I'm really glad my first reading was in it's native language because even though now I can barely follow the french version (and that mostly from memory) there is a depth there that can't quite be caught in English. That being said, even translated the book is beautiful. That man was a genius.

I particularly love the above quote - that whole chapter in fact. It's all about 'taming' - what it really is about is 'bonding'.

To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world…

Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat…

Why do I love pet portraits? How can we reconcile the difference we face in veterinary medicine between a stray cat who is euthanized and one who's brought in by new adoptive owners that will have a long, happy life?

It is because a cat or dog (or person for that matter) is just like a hundred thousand others on this earth - and for the most part meaningless to us as we go about our everyday lives. That changes the moment we care - when we give the stray cat some fresh water, pat a loose dog and toss a stick for him, engage our neighbor in conversation - we start to forge a bond. The more we interact, the more we give, the stronger the bond. Is it any wonder we are so bonded to our children and pets? And it's beautiful to observe, isn't it? I don't have to know the old lady in the park with her little terrier on a leash, but seeing them interact can bring me, a complete stranger, joy.

But you can't have joy without sorrow to balance it.

So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near
"Ah," said the fox, "I shall cry."
"It is your own fault," said the little prince. "I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you..."
"Yes, that is so," said the fox.
"But now you are going to cry!" said the little prince.
"Yes, that is so," said the fox.
"Then it has done you no good at all!"
"It has done me good," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat fields."

I have experienced the loss of a loved one. I have been present during many, many, many other partings. When someone loses a pet through euthanasia or natural death it can be devastating. When someone loses a pet or person they've been caring for, maybe nursing them through a bad illness, the loss is compounded by the sudden removal of that 'need'. There is no-one to water anymore, no-one to put a globe over, or a windscreen around. What do you do?

Well - you move on. And like the fox you cry. And you see things in the world a little differently for having known and loved. And whether you have a picture to look at, or you see it more clearly in the color of the wheat fields, if you take the time to look with your heart open you will see that they are always here with you.

A small tangent...

2008-10-22T19:16:00.007-06:00

One thing about pastels is that they're not very portable.. at least not 'Napping' which is 14 x 22". So since I was out of the house much of yesterday I'm using that as my excuse for not working on the painting and instead doing this:

Detail:

It's 5 x 7" ink on regular drawing paper, regular except that it's been 'manipulated'.

Some time back I treated this particular page of my sketchbook by soaking it in wet coffee grounds then flattening it under heavy books. At the time I was striving to make 'coffee paper' - and I like the aged, wrinkled effect (and what a better surface to render Rosie, wrinkled little thing that she was!).

However my hopes of using this as an art surface were dashed when I read that coffee is acidic - presumably counteracting any acid-free/archival properties of the sketchbook paper. But necessity is the mother of invention (or the Internet is the big steaming pile in which you can find ANYTHING) and so after a brief search I found this which the manufacturers claim is acid-fast paper!

EcoPaper: Coffee Paper

So watch for Eco-Art on tree-free paper.. coming soon to a blog near you!

But back to the current piece... this is Rosie. She was an English Bulldog (adopted) who shared my life for 10 years before she succumbed to lymphoma. I'd like to say she was an angel, but it seemed that when other dogs were around she tended to misplace her halo (to put it lightly). She was a dear though - and despite her allergies, cancer, and the curse of being born a bulldog she was always full of life! I can still see her scaring herself with her own farts!

Hope you like my little pen & ink. It was fun to do!

Status Report - "Hey, we're napping here!"

2008-10-15T21:07:00.015-06:00

Well - posting has indeed helped light a fire under me on this piece. I decided to work on the second kitty (his name is Dufus.. believe me, he earned it!). I wasn't getting his face just right so I flipped my page upside-down. If you read my earlier post referencing Betty Edwards this may seem like a reasonable thing to do. But in case you're not familiar with such exercises I'll explain a bit.

Often when what we draw doesn't look the way we want it to it's because we're not seeing the subject properly. By putting both our reference picture and our artwork upside-down we force ourselves to truly look at it - not as Dufus the cat, but as shapes, values and lines and their relationship to each other. This, in essence, forces a shift to right-brain mode and generally results in a much happier artist when the work is turned back rightside-up.

My initial blocking in of Dufus:

And the current status (his face isn't completely finished - I still need to do a value check and add whiskers.. but I save those for last, they're my favorite!!):

While I had the image upside down I decided to tackle the 'problem' I mentioned earlier. I had used a really cheap pastel for the curtain, and although it doesn't show well on the image if you look close you can see that it doesn't completely coat the paper ('fill the tooth') leaving a grainy, dull appearance. Terrible! I honestly just wasn't thinking when I grabbed the pastel stick - but I've learned for myself what so many have told me - always work with the best materials you can afford. This is so true of pastels... had I worked much with those sticks initially I think I would have gotten very discouraged indeed!

So to fix the problem my plan was to remove as much of the pastel as I could - using a small foam 'brush' (the kind you get in the hardware store painting section) I started to gently whisk away the white. To my surprise the cheap pastel came right off! You can see in this picture the upper left corner that is still white, which I whisked as well - but that part was done with a higher quality white pastel pencil. The fix was much easier than I'd anticipated. After I whisked all of the old white off I coated it with a better white which fills the tooth nicely and stays put!!

So here's the current status of the picture - I've also made changes to the first kitty's eyes (Michael). Dufus' body will be next, then it will be time to tackle Nessie and the blanket under them.

But before I go back to it - it's time for a value check! In Photoshop I desaturate the image so I can see the values without worrying about color, compared to the reference photo it is easy to pick out places where the values are 'off':

The cushion behind him needs much lighter highlights, and the right side of his nose could stand some deeper shadows. His eyes are a little different than the reference - that is actually on purpose (sometimes you need a little tweaking to make the 'real life' picture look good).

I think that's enough posting for today - I'll catch you up when I've gotten a bit more done! Thanks for watching!

2008-10-08T19:44:00.010-06:00

Well autumn is here!

My favorite time of year - and this is our first year in the Rockies, it is absolutely perfect! In the past weeks we've watched the trees filter through each stage of color on the way to their winter rest. I only hope that I blaze as brilliantly in the last quarter of my lifetime!

Traditionally autumn is a 'downgearing' time of year - activity slows, preparations for the winter ahead, hibernation (if you're into that). But not this year, not for me. Things are just revving up here and anyone reading this can come along for the ride! I started this blog to complement my forage into a career in the arts, without really much direction. It's been about a month since my first post - mainly because I wasn't really sure *what* to post. I know one thing that always fascinates me is watching the process. So it seems prudent to put some of that into my blog - and I've got a lot of process going on!

Perhaps someday I'll be more structured and disciplined, but for now my M.O. is to have multiple projects going at once. I always try to keep conscious of my mental attitude when doing my art - if I'm getting frustrated with a piece it is best to walk away, otherwise I run the risk of overworking it or just spinning my wheels. But I'm not always done with art altogether at those times - so having another piece on the go allows me to divert my energies but keep moving forward. When I come back to the first piece I have fresh eyes and usually I know what I need to do.

So in that vein let me introduce you to my current pastel works-in-progress (WIPs):

First: "Hey we're napping here!". This piece is giving me minor fits - I started it awhile ago and since this medium is new to me I'm already adjusting my techniques. Plus there is a problem that may not show up on the scan, it involves the white curtain in the background and it may or may not be correctable. But I'm determined to finish this piece so by placing it here I'll *have* to keep working on it, right?

Second: "Cuppa". Now this piece is the biggest one I have on the go - but the problem I mentioned for 'Napping' is even bigger here - that being I started it with some crappy quality pastels while waiting for my order to come in, and I may not be able to salvage it. I'm not quite ready to give up on it though - so I'm posting it too!

Third: "Sarah and Harley". A new piece! Not even started yet - you can watch the progress on this one as we go.

There's a lot of fodder for me to blog about here! As I work on these pieces I'll post the progress. If you have any thoughts please leave a comment!!

Musings on the Right side of my brain....

2008-09-19T22:13:00.000-06:00

So this is it - the first post on my Blog. I have to say there's a part of me inside that is shaking it's head at the fact that I'm actually blogging (I mean, it's kind of 'the thing' now, and I'm not widely known for being 'current'). But the stimulus for this blog is change and there's been a lot of it in recent months for me, so I can blog if I wanna! :)

It's interesting - in any given profile I'm used to writing a certain number of 'Pam talking points', but due to the aforementioned changes I don't think I can or want to define myself in those ways anymore. So you can figure out who I am by following this Blog (maybe I'll figure it out too).

The stimulus for this Blog is change, but the purpose of this Blog is art - and as such I guess I could be considered a born-again artist. I've always had some aptitude and skill in art and drawing, and I was lucky enough to have an excellent teacher in high school who taught "Betty Edwards: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" which gave me a good foundation. When I was young some folks assumed I'd pursue a career in art. Instead I majored in biology and pursued a career in science. During my years of post-secondary education I always continued my art - and used it for class fundraisers, yearbooks and the like. It was an undeniable part of me.

But all of that changed. As many such changes do it happened insidiously, slowly, and I almost didn't realize how much things had changed. There was less time for art - I used to fill at least a sketchbook or two a year, then it occurred to me that my current sketchbook had been running for 8 years. When I noticed this and tried to change it I realized I *couldn't* draw anymore. Something that I'd always taken pride in (something I'd obviously taken for granted) was just.. gone. There were many other changes over that time, some of them not so good - probably the most distressing was not sleeping (you know, tossing for an hour or two before falling asleep no matter how tired I was and then waking up at 4am to worry).

In an effort to deal with the negatives I started meditation. But it wasn't until I decided to enroll in a class in the local Art League that I was able to understand the root of all my problems. Not knowing what level would be expected (or what I'd be able to achieve) I took a beginner drawing class. My teacher (a phenomenal woman named Ellen) put me through the paces of Betty Edwards. Even though I'd done them all before (more than once) it had been awhile. As I worked through the exercises week after week I could feel it coming back. And oh miracle of miracles! I could draw again! Then it was so clear - over the past numerous years I had been working and training myself to use my Left brain. To the point that the internal dialogue (one characteristic of the Left side) never shut off (my husband and I jokingly referred to it as 'my headful of gnomes'). And when I tried to draw it was from the left side. Drawing wasn't the problem.. seeing was.

Another interesting thing happened - I realized that when I really got into my artwork, as had been true in the 'old days' it felt very similar to meditation. That sensation where you are minimally aware of your surroundings and the passage of time, but when you finish you feel alert and refreshed - the mind feeling much like your body feels after a good, vigorous workout.

And then I realized I was sleeping. All night. Every night.

Now there were several other significant changes in my life during this time, so I can't attribute all of my improvements to my art class. Nonetheless, the change that occurred when I became 'reaquainted' with my Right brain was undeniable - and wonderful.

It was during that time that a friend sent me the following clip. The information in this clip solidified my own conclusions about art, meditation, gnomes and the Right side of the brain. If you've skipped all my babbling I urge you to watch the video nonetheless. If you're an artist think about what she is saying and cherish the fact that you, by nature or training, can access this beautiful place (ah, if only all the world were artists!). If you're buddhist think about how this relates to your Practice. And if you're none of the above - just learn from it, and consider finding ways to better access your Right brain.

~~ Boots ~~

Cat-in-a-Box

Quick Lion Sketch

A couple of little ACEOs

Life Drawing at the Gladstone

Random day at the Museum...

Schroedinger's Blogger

Moving is such hard work for kitties!

Scratchboards and weather....

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to workshop I go!!

Busy holiday season - here's a little watercolour

Desktopper WINNER #4 "Weed"

PSA - Website unavailable

At least she was....

Farewell Dear Heart....

Moleskine.... tea or coffee?

I heart Moleskine

I like the colour blue....

Fall Art Fair

Pet Portrait Desktopper WINNER - September #1 (of 2)

Where it all began....

Desktopper Contest WINNER for JUNE!

I have some essplaining to do.....

Desktopper Contest WINNER!

Things I'm working on

Desktopper Pet Portrait Contest!

MWF seeking Muse

Leftie

Right brain, left brain (or tl;dr)

100 Dogs Challenge #13 - Schnauzer take II

The days fly by but the months slip through my fingers

More life drawing

100 Dogs Challenge #12 - Dane sketch

Wednesday Life Drawing

100 Dogs Challenge #9- DaVinci

100 Dogs Challenge #8 - Little Frenchie

All hail the right brain!

Alamosa bound!

You want to use *this* Pillow?

100 Dogs Challenge - #6 (and #7)

Goodbye old friend

2009 in Review!

Happy Holidays!

Ballet inspiration

100 Dogs Challenge - #2 and #3

The Original Cat-in-a-Box

Sneak Peak Sunday....

Going for 100

Inspiration is for Amateurs

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The website is live!!

A long delay - but with an explanation!

Another Whiteboard - Nessie

This is what you get for listening to Kenny Rogers

Rosie - Adventures in Whiteboard (Part II)

Rosie - Adventures in Whiteboard (Part I)

Scout - a tribute

Quick doggie sketches

There's nothing weinie about this guy!

What is that scratching sound?

I'M BACK - Apologies for my abrupt absence

Fun with Trompe l'oeil - Part 1 of 2

Jack - A Newfie Portrait

Study "5:01"

Happy Holidays!

Morgan

Word of the year - Discipline

Late Harvest

A caffeinated diversion...

Still life "Bells" - Part 2 of 2

Still life "Bells" - Part 1 of 2

The end of an era

Update: Napping

You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.

A small tangent...

Status Report - "Hey, we're napping here!"

Musings on the Right side of my brain....

You want to use this Pillow?