Portland right now is living up to the old song lyric, “the weather outside is frightful” as a steady batch of snow hits us. This not only means all the little birds are flocking to my feeders (except the hummingbird feeder which is currently inside thawing out), but also means I need to type quickly before we lose power.

So, without wasting any further online time, let’s get started with a quick announcement…

Updated Gallery Pages!!!

One of this month’s Big Chores was to give my website a little tidy up. Not only have I cleaned up some dead links and refreshed a few book summaries, but I have also (finally) updated my gallery pages. YAY!!!!

The pages now contain my most recent work. I’ve also revised my purchasing policies to offer free shipping to U.S. addresses. (Folks lucky enough to not live in the U.S. must absorb a tiny bit of the hefty U.S. Postal Service’s international shipping fees…sorry).

So, if you happen to be looking for a way to kill a little time, feel free to wander the gallery for a bit – I encourage you to have wine and nibbles on hand to make it seem like a true art event.

New Work = New Future Project

Sometimes a picture just grabs my eye and I think, “I gotta try that.” Such was the case when I came across Lillian Bell’s photo of billiard balls.

I mean c’mon…shiny surfaces, reflections, bright colors…that’s what I love taking a stab at. So, I got my paper and pencils ready and jumped in. Of course, it didn’t take long to come up with some silly titles for this piece like “Nice Rack” or “Check Out Those Balls.”

The challenge begins!
The challenge begins!

Getting the shading right on the balls wasn’t too difficult and I had a great time working the reflections of one ball on the surface of another ball. But the deeper I got into the project the more I wish I hadn’t been in such a hurry to jump right in.

The depth of colors, especially the darker shades, was tricky to achieve and I still wish the color appeared more saturated or intense. This could have been partially solved by using a watercolor base layer under the colored pencil as a little “boost.” But by the time I thought about using this technique that I keep meaning to try out, I was more than half way done.

Past the point of no return.
Past the point of no return.

As always, the background proved to be the toughest part and I’m still not super thrilled with it. Just as I finished this piece, another too-late idea came into mind that I should have used Dura-Lar film with a white backing board to really enhance the color of the balls.

Done? For now.
Done? For now.

As it is, I mostly like this piece, but I think it’s one that will definitely go in the Try Again file (when I will also be a little more careful when rendering those curves…some are a bit off).

Okay everyone, thanks for stopping by. I’m now off to get some entertainment by watching people attempt to drive up (and down) the now-very-snowy hill I live on.

How’s the weather where you are? Have any projects looming in your Try Again file?

12 thoughts on “Racking Up a New Piece of Work”

  1. Love your gallery, Tammie. Interesting challenge to capture the billiard spheres. Yes, #1 yellow is noticeably wobbly on the curve, but you did an amazing rendition of the total look. Hope you survive the winter weather. The Arctic Vortex is hitting here and very frigid temperatures with snow squalls. Not fun!

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  4. Amazing! The detail in your work always makes my jaw drop – I would have gone nuts trying to capture all those reflections! I hope your power is still on… Here in Ireland it’s still super-mild. Call me ungrateful, but I’d love to see a bit of snow!

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    1. The detail work you put into some of your Beasties makes my jaw drop, so I guess we’re even. As for the snow, it’s transformed itself into a thick layer of ice! So, yes, I’d like to see snow too! Does it ever snow in Dublin, or are you too close to the sea? (The Irish Sea would seem like the Mediterranean right about now to me.)

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      1. Mediterranean? Hmmm, not quite… But it’s still too warm for snow and ice! It snows here occasionally, but it’s rare for it to stick – most of the time it’s gone within an hour. That said, if we get more than an inch, the whole country just grinds to a halt! 😆 Here’s wishing you a speedy thaw 😀

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      2. Sounds a bit like Portland. Unfortunately, when it does stick, it’s typically followed by freezing rain and then a layer of ice so there’s a very tiny window to enjoy the snow and make snow beasts.

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      3. Ah, weather… It never does get things quite right! Mind you, it’s got a lot colder here in the last few days, so we could get some snow soon ourselves… Fingers crossed, because I want to make a snow Beastie! ⛄

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