Busy, Busy!

I took this week off work to get a number of things done. First, I did a presentation at one of the local art leagues on Tuesday evening. They asked me to talk about working in pastels - well that is a big subject - so I decided to talk about under paintings for pastels. I did a Powerpoint presentation of some of my past pastel paintings progression shots, and then showed some examples that I created specifically for the presentation. It went well.

On Wednesday, I hung my solo show at Inniswood Metro Park in the Innis House. I was asked a couple years ago to plan on exhibiting in 2014 (they plan ahead!), so I've been preparing for a long time. The exhibit will be open the whole month of December, with an open house on December 7, from 2-4. Please plan on seeing the show!

Yesterday and today, I've been finishing up a new sketchbook pochade setup. I want to get back into using gouache and watercolor in plein air for architectural paintings when I travel. I posted a quickie pochade I made from a checkerboard box on August 17, and mentioned I'd be building a new version soon. I've been following James Gurney for awhile and wanted to build something similar to his rig. Recently, he even highlighted some of his reader's designs, and my checkerboard box was one! Thanks James!

So finally this week, I had time to get the new design worked out and built. I'm pretty happy with it - but we'll see how it works outside in the spring! Below are shots showing the features:

The sketchbook is held to the upright board with rubber bands. The fold-able watercolor palette is held on with rare earth magnets embedded in the horizontal board. The two shiny tins (held in place with magnets) will be used as a palette mixing area with tube gouache or casein paints. A tiny jar for water is on the right, also held in place with magnets. There is a small lip on the lower edge of the horizontal board to keep brushes and pencils from rolling off. (By the way - I am left handed - so have setup to work on the left (backside) of the paper in the sketchbook.)

 Because I like to build projects on a budget, I found an easy way to keep the working angle. Although most of the designs on James' blog used Southco Adjustable torque hinges, I just couldn't see paying $15 for each hinge, while my other supplies were well under $10. So I just used a standard brass continuous hinge, and Bulldog clamps to hold the angle.

 I also added a 1/4" piece of wood behind the hinge area of the upper board to act as a shelf for the sketchbook to rest upon. With the addition of the pencil ledge to the other board, when the rig is folded, it closes nicely..

 The center of the back view of the horizontal board shows the threaded nut for a tripod screw.

All Packed Up!

Twenty eight paintings in oils and pastel - all packed up and ready to install this Wednesday at my solo exhibit at Inniswood Metro Gardens!

 

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Save the Date!

I've been busy getting ready for my upcoming SOLO show!! Please come if you are in the area!

Save the Date!

"Meet the Artist - Nancy Vance"

Open House - December 7, 2014    2-4 pm

Announcing a free exhibit open to the public in the Innis House meeting room at Inniswood Metro Park. See Nancy Vance's landscapes and floral paintings in oil and pastel. All are for sale and ready for delivery at the close of the exhibit.

The exhibit can be viewed from November 29 through December 30, 2014 during open hours at Inniswood Metro Gardens,  Innis House meeting room,  940 S. Hempstead Rd, Westerville, Ohio.

The Innis House is open Tuesday-Friday 8am-4:30pm, Saturday/Sunday 11am - 4pm,  (Closed Monday and holidays)

Contact the park for more information:  http://www.inniswood.org/index.htm

Studio Work - Creek Side

Finished a new pastel painting this evening. I was interested in doing another under painting where I melted the first layer of pastel with odorless mineral spirits into the sanded paper. I always hope to leave much of this layer showing in the end, but I tend to cover most of it. Below are process shots:

My sanded paper on the left, two prints of the same photo with differing contrast, and my little value thumbnail.

 A quick sketch using vine charcoal to place the shapes.

 A light layer of hard pastel for the under painting.

 Melted into the paper with mineral spirits.

 Beginning of dry pastel layers.

 Below is the end of the first evening's work

 Before the finishing touches.

 Final painting:

"Creek Side",  8x10, pastel on UArt 500 grit sanded paper

Saturday Workshop - Ray Hassard: Painting from Photos

Today our pastel group welcomed Ray Hassard for a pastel workshop on painting from photos. Below are my process shots. Ray helped me fix a problem with the houses in the back. I did some fine tuning at home and am pretty happy with this painting. This is on Ampersand Pastelbord, which I had never used. I liked it!

"Last Bloom of Summer", 11x14, pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

Mr. Potato Head Wins Big!!

My recent oil painting, "Checkmate" (Mr. Potato Head plays chess), won BEST OF SHOW and $700 in the Worthington Area Art League exhibit at Brownlee Hall!! I was SO surprised!!!

Judge, Paula J. Nees stated: "This is a strong composition with a sensitive use of chiaroscuro, which creates a poignant setting and instills in these toys an all too human nature."

Saturday Studio Work - View to the Sunny Side

The weather has turned to a chilly fall. Our group moved into the arts center studio today instead of plein air. But since I'd been getting up early on Saturdays since April to paint outdoors, I decided to stay in bed! Later today, I got to work in my home studio.

I've been experimenting with different materials for under paintings in my pastel paintings. I read a recent article where the artist used silver gouache as an under painting to add sparkle to their painting. I stopped at one of the craft stores today to see if they had some, but their gouache selection was small. So I looked in their clearance section and found Liquitex Acrylic Ink for just over $2 a bottle. I purchased the black and the silver, thinking these would be just the thing instead of the gouache!

(I applied this with some makeup sponges.) I have been using UArt brand sanded pastel paper lately and because it has a tan color, I have doing under paintings in white and black thinned gesso. I find I need to get some areas of my design back to white to make the pastels look cleaner and the black to get the darks nice and dark. Sometimes, the gesso fills the tooth of the paper a bit quicker than I like so I thought this ink would be less likely to do that and would dry much quicker.

Once I tried these two inks on the following painting, I really liked them and decided to run back over to the craft store to get all the other colors in clearance!

Process shots below-  here is my photo and a vine charcoal sketch to get started:

The first pass of the inks - the black and the silver (hard to see the silver in this shot, but I put it in the areas where the light will be the lightest in the back sunlight areas.

As this dried, I ran out to the craft store for more! (But the ink dries within just a couple minutes). Below is some of the other inks added.

Even though my photo had a fairly solid color scheme I got out my analogous color wheel to remind myself to stick with the scheme!

 

"View to the Sunny Side", 8x10, pastel on UArt 500 grit

Viewer's Choice Award!!!

I am excited to announce that my pastel "Pretty Pear" won the Viewer's Choice award at the Sunbear Studio exhibit of Ohio Pastel Artists League fall show. Won a great prize of handmade pastels from one of my favorite companies, Great American Art Works!!