Pikes Peak

Life has been full, and constantly evolving, and in the midst of all my beautiful, busy, crazy days I've been able to fit in just a bit of art, and absolutely no time to document the creation of it on my blog.  But my good friend was asking how I do what I do, so I'm taking a moment to update.  I created this piece for this winter's juried show at Outside the Lines Gallery, and surprise! I won one of the three best in show prizes awarded at the artists' reception.  So here's my drawing's journey from about the start to sale on opening night.

Todd took this photo on a day trip we took our first fall out here, up to Pikes Peak State Park to see the fall colors.  I did a watercolor study of it, but, as art-making generally goes for me, I wasn't satisfied with how my work turned out, and in the back of my mind I always had the intention to try again...

This year's theme was Portraits of the Tri-States, and it seemed the perfect opportunity to revisit Todd's picture.

 

I sketched in the trees and hills to set the composition of the piece, and then I started working on the foreground.

Which in this case was lots, and lots, and lots, and lots of little circles.  A lot of them.

(See the color difference in the image taken while my camera is in macro mode?)

And then more on the other hillside, and then even more as I began to put in the beautiful yellow leaves still on the trees.  I try to work in sections, and I try to keep my style going across the whole piece, which can be difficult.  Some days I'm pressing hard and making little tiny circles, and other days I'm feeling more loose and my style relaxes a bit.

So here I am, many hours into my drawing and I'm questioning my color choices, and feeling like it is pretty blah.  Art angst!  But finally, art joy!

Once I get the guts of the piece all in, I can take a step back and figure out what needs to be brightened, what needs to be deepened, and what needs more clear definition.  I put a hard outline on all the trees, which I think made the piece lose a bit of depth, but gave the background interesting texture.  I love pulling out my darkest pencils and letting the corners deepen (called vignetting, it's an optical phenomenon that's part of the way cameras collect light) and I tried to give the gully more contrast against the front hillside.  At some point I have to call the piece done or I'll keep picking at it forever, but that's another tricky thing to decide.  Deadlines do help with that!

And what a surprising, and confidence building, and motivating thing to win my first art prize and be honored with another opening night artwork sale.  I hope the piece brings a lot of pleasure to its new home... and I guess I'll have to make another one for us to enjoy around here!  So much art... so little time.

And a sneak peak at what I'm working on next: