He looks like a man with a lot on his mind, but he was actually watching a movie. I wanted to draw from the model, and this was a good way to get him to sit still (more or less), so, having plopped a hat on his head for effect, I was able to draw for a couple of hours.
This was done for 219: The Show in Atlanta, Georgia, both to raise funds for AARF and awareness of the numbers of animals put to death in shelters every day.
Spay/neuter, for one thing. Be responsible. Animals are a commitment!
Color is tinted over a full pencil rendering of the Husky - the intent was to push the idea of the Rainbow Bridge into the possibility that, because Christ died to redeem the entire creation, and because creation includes animals, they may be given a new existence in the world to come. Owned by a client in Virginia.
This is a two hour sketch in oils from the model.
Remember William Blake's vivid poem, the first stanza of which begins this way:
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Incredible word-pictures.
Another time-intensive, large pencil rendering. Spontaneous "snapshot" images are so much better for the purposes of a portrait than those that are contrived or posed.
Pencil, burnishing technique.
Can't resist, just have to post this photo of the barn. It is an old one, probably from the 1920's (maybe 30's, but probably earlier)...hand-hewn beams on the lower level, some of them have been replaced on the upper levels.
It's a beautiful old building.
Where to begin, indeed. How about this...I recently moved with my DH from the city (with all its amenities and conveniences) to a small farm, where we are putting into practice what we have learned about growing our own food and re-connecting with the earth, wind, sky and water - all that nurtures everything we eat.
We have two horses (currently boarded), twenty-four juvenile hens, one rooster (that I know of), four spayed/neutered/vaccinated (and spoiled) semi-feral barn cats (two have relocated with us from the city) and several (also spoiled) indoor cats, also spayed, neutered, etc., etc. That's it...I think. Yep. At least for now.
We love our furry and feathered friends.
We also have termites, compliments of a rather
A multitude of springs dwell on our land and approximately 100 surrounding acres drain onto our property, which means we live right in the middle of a watershed. It gets sloppy at times, but I doubt we'll ever run out of water! We have been blessed with forest, wetlands and pastureland...in fact, our forest was planted by the CCC during the Great Depression. For some reason I think this is a fascinating piece of information.
Briefly:
I love to cook.
I am an organic gardener.
I read - voraciously, and have an almost ridiculous affinity for Brit Lit.
But...
I read a variety of non-fiction, theology, history (etc.) as well.
I am an INFJ (don't bother looking it up).
I also make art (and now we come to the point of this blog). I will be posting photos of drawings, paintings and traditional crafts that I make, here, for awhile - at least until my website is up and running. I'll try to write about other stuff (maybe farm stories, such as the time I had to chase the neighbor's calf out of the hay loft), and I'll attempt to make my posts as interesting as possible - but I'm not as much of a writer as I am a maker of images. Except when I write to my friends, but hey, I don't know you. So we'll have to remain on cordial but somewhat distant terms - for now.
That said - look! Snow! In October! Nor'easters are fun, aren't they?
And although it may seem rather obvious from the blog title, the name of my studio is...White Stone Studio.
And oops, I almost forgot. Bats! We also have bats. They live in our beautiful old barn, way up in the rafters and make short work of pesky mosquitoes while providing essential pollinating services. Their aerial acrobatics are vastly entertaining to watch on long, warm summer evenings.
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