Staying Motivated in the New Year. Again.

There always seems to be a large gap between collections of entries.  The past year has been pretty hectic. Running a cat rescue through your home is no joke.  Cute cute cute, and very time consuming. Now we are down to just three adults that have decided to stay, and one lovey Mama who will be going to her forever home at the end of the week.
In other exiting news, Spring semester starts tomorrow, and I am looking forward to two studio classes- Color Theory and Intro to Digital Art. While these are essentially repeats, the classes I took at TCC were credited to electives, and these are a bit more specific. Either way, it will feel good to be back in the studio (and not just because mine is covered in cat fur. lol) I also came across this awesome site for professional readers. This will be especially awesome when DJS becomes more than just a business plan.



I have also finally broken down and ordered a few varieties of colored pencils, which will be arriving over the next few weeks, and I plan on testing thoroughly and sharing my findings here in detail. I have read so many reviews and watched other people's videos where they have compared products, and maybe it is because I am looking for something so specific, but I just haven't found any to be conclusive for me to invest hundreds of dollars into any one brand. I will probably just pick and choose, then use them all just like I do every new medium I come across anyway.  :/

I have been continuing on a portrait series lately, so will leave you with my latest.

Portfolio

Class is in session, so I had to create another blog.  Ugh.  Anyway, this is for my portfolio, so here it is in all of it's glory!

http://sarahspalsburyportfolio.blogspot.com/

Catching Up

Twelve hour work shifts don't really leave much time for anything else, especially 6pm-6am in the middle of nowhere.  Well, I am back on a more manageable 10 hour work day, so yesterday I finally broke out my new Derwent Inktense pencils.  I have always liked the idea of watercolor pencils, but hated the obvious pencil marks left underneath- especially on lightly shaded areas.  The Inktense pencils are much more what I had been looking for.  Whether deep and heavy colors, or just hints, once you apply water (I used q-tips and baby wipes- hey, I'm in the Army! lol)  all pencil marks disappear. Controlling the amount of water also changes the effect.  Obviously the more water used gives a more traditional watercolor look, but for just blending heavily covered areas, a light once over will get rid of all of those annoying little blanks spots and give you a smooth solid color.  My favorite result is today's Sketch of the Day.

WANTED

Unfortunately, I am still stuck with just my phone as a camera.  The red outer bullseye is done with Inktense Poppy Red.  The black is sharpie that I had finished awhile ago.  This drawing sat incomplete for the past couple of months because I was sick of my Prismacolors breaking while trying to get an even solid color- that would be the inner ring.  That Prismacolor is now only five inches long just from that small part.

I also tested the Inktense on my old Leo drawing and paid homage to some classic David Bowie.

after Inktense

before Inktense

It will take awhile to find all of the techniques I like, but so far I am very happy with the Inktense.  I am also happy to report that in a few short weeks I will be going home for two weeks.  I have the studio plans pretty well laid out, so will be spending at least a few days constructing my custom canvas shelves and table.  I'm crossing my fingers that I manage to stay on budget.  At least my Home Depot experience will come in handy- cuz I have a few crazy ideas for pegboard and pvc!