My little corner of the world

Welcome to spring in Torbay, Newfoundland. 

It rains a fair bit, even through the winter. We also get a lot of fog. Some days, it feels like we're living in a cloud. 

It's pretty amazing, driving from St. John's out to Torbay and seeing this huge pillow-like formation lying across the land. It looks like you'd drive into it and lose all visibility, but that's not the case. You can see just fine once you're inside of it. 

Because we live right on the coastline, we get some serious blustery winds. (We have barely any mosquitos here in our yard because they can't fly against the wind!) Even on the warm day ... (there's a joke in there) ... I prefer to remain in the sheltered spots around the house. We have a small, shallow swimming pool, but we tend to keep it fairly warm. Nothing quite like having a nice warm soak and then bouncing out to grab a towel before your goosebumps know you're there! 

The stream comes from a local pond, Whiteways, and it's pretty amazing to watch when we have a lot of precipitation. It goes from a pretty smooth flow to a roaring rage that floods over its bank! It was an amazing sight during last year's Hurricane Igor (Sept, 2010). 

Click on the link for a brief (VERY brief because it's RAINING!) video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ2M3NL5tc4

From the kitchen window. I like to draw here... a bit cluttered, but nice light.

Stepping out onto the back deck and pointing towards the back of the house. Nice view of the Atlantic. :D

My view to the West... St. Nicholas Anglican Church. 

My "Studio" in the spare room. There's the hot tub, the trampoline, and the Atlantic Ocean.

I opened the door to the wind and rain. Brrr... 

Karen & Sean - wedding gift

Just started this recently. 

 I've got a ways to go yet... but it's getting there. 

I'll post more pictures, or maybe even replace this... 

Yeah... more... 

So sweet. :D

Waiting waiting waiting...

I'm still waiting for the evaluation from my instructor about the 2 assignments I sent in 2 weeks ago. It should be here anytime now! I've been happily chugging along with my pet portraits, studying through the works of different artists, visiting YouTube for excellent tutorial videos... It was finally time to send in some work. Two assignments worth. OooOoooooh... she only wants us to send in one at a time, then wait until the review comes back before sending the next. Ah well. It is what it is.

I'm preparing for the Dog Show at the arena this coming weekend. I've booked a table for my pet portrait business, and have been getting materials ready to display. I've got tri-fold pamphlets, small and medium sized hand-out posters, a variety of business cards, display photos of some of my work which I've had laminated and will put into an album, and a HUGE poster which I plan to hang on the tablecloth in front of  my display.

I'm working on a painting on canvas of a friend's cat canoodling with their goldfish. It's coming along nicely.

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It's the May long weekend now, and thanks to some interruptions in my internet, I'm finally going to post this. AFTER I scribble a bit of an update...

So, I've been sick with a flu/cold since last Saturday, but in spite of that, I've forged ahead with preparations for the dog show. I do believe I have enough pamphlets to last me through the day today, but if they fly off the table like they did yesterday (Hooray!) I may run out. 

It looked like lots of people were interested in my work, and they all had nice things to say about it. I met one of my Facebook Page friends (Hi Linda!) and now I'm even more anxious to get together with her little Cavalier for a puppy play-date, not to mention doing her portrait. (she showed me some pictures of her and her furbaby!! cute!) 

I finally heard back from my London Art College tutor/instructor/critiquer, and the news was good! Apparently I am on the right track and my work is simply "lovely." She's got a few favourites, but I won't tell you which ones they are... everybody should be entitled to having their own. Suffice it to say that I'm not surprised at her choices, as I believe they are among my best pieces so far. She hasn't seen Madison & Pie, yet. I figure she'll have some awesome things to say about that. :D

Well, I'm done my first cup of coffee of the day (Sunday) and it's time I got up and dressed to go back to the dog show. I can hardly wait to meet more great people and see some adorable dogs! I'm hoping to take some photos of them today!

Cheers!

~ Chris

How long does it take to do a drawing?

The motivation behind this blog was a recent question by somebody about whether framing is included in my prices. After reading this, the answer should be clear.

Simple answer: As long as it takes until it's done. Figure on at least a month for completion of a graphite drawing to make sure you have it on time for that special occasion.

Complicated answer: I typically start each project with several sketches that give me an idea of what I'd like the finished product to look like. The customer's input is important during this stage, and it's easier to make changes before I start the actual drawing!

Once the layout and size is decided, I duplicate the sketch using either a grid or a light table onto the "good" paper. This sketch is done lightly so that some changes can still be done if it proves necessary. (I emphasize the word "some" so that you don't think that a whole re-vamping can be done without starting from scratch!)

Once I begin, I usually draw for several hours at a time before taking a break. Generally I try to do at least 2 drawing sessions per day. Typically, I'll work for 7 hours a day on each drawing. Depending on the complexity of detail in the drawing, it can take anywhere from 1 week for a small, very simple piece, to 3 or 4 weeks for a larger, more complicated piece.

Since I work on weekends when the drawing is compelling me, that works out to anywhere between 50 to 200 hours. Sometimes more. 

As an example, my most recent 2-subject drawing took me 4 weeks altogether, from several sketches to establish the layout, right down to the final touch of the pencil. Averaging 5 hours a day for @ 20 days, (I didn't keep meticulous track of my time), means the drawing took a minimum of 100 hours. 

The drawing is 14"x17" and I currently charge $200 for that size with a single subject. Add an additional $50 for the second subject. Bear in mind that a portrait with 2 or more subjects, or one with a complex background, is akin to doing a whole new portrait, but on the same paper!

That works out to about $2.50/hour.

Good thing I love what I'm doing! Seeing the final product is often a reward in itself for me.

A brief hiatus

It looks like I'm going to be getting back to my studies this week, in between bouts of wall painting prep. I really should submit assignment #2. Really. I've come a loooong way since starting the course, but the teacher has no idea how far. It'd be nice to get some pro feedback. So... choices. I have one more item to do. EITHER a close-up of a head study, or several samples of different hair types. Since I have to practice those, I should do them. HOWEVER, I'm really tempted to do the head study. In oil. I realized that I haven't got any recent pictures of my Niki-girl!

Decisions, decisions.

Horse and Girl portrait

A new picture is coming down the pike! After many sketches for composition and ideas, I finally settled on one that I think will demonstrate the love/affection between Madison and her horse, Pie. I started the actual drawing a couple of days ago and have been hard at work on the kitchen table. Why the kitchen table? Because that's where the SUN has been for the past several days! Yay!

Here's the original photograph and my Progress pictures:

DONE!!! and omigosh, it's GORGEOUS!!! 

All it needs now is a TITLE!!! Jodie... help, please. I've been calling it "Madison & Pie" but if you've got another name for it, please let me know. I like naming portraits. :D

Why did the turkeys cross the road?

Because that's where the chickens are hanging out. Our neighbours have turkeys, and every year there are more of them. The baby turkeys are seriously the cutest things I've ever seen. Unlike baby chickens, they are sturdy little things with solid legs. They grow fast, too! From fluffy little bundles you'd love to see in an Easter basket, to funny-looking creatures that remind me of the old Marvin the Martian cartoons, and then to regal adulthood. The wild ones are the prettiest, to my mind, with their grey and black feathers tipped with iridescence. The domestics are their plain cousins, I suppose. The chicks (or is that "turks?") in this painting are now cross-bred as a result of a new tom turkey. There's some domestic in that boy's background! Yellow chicks are NOT a common sight in our neighbourhood. 

This painting is an oil on canvas, and is only in its beginning stages. Much more to do! Patience is required to work this stuff. It takes forever to dry (smells bad, too!), and since I'm using water-soluble oil paints, they move differently. I didn't buy a huge variety of colours, as I'm not sure how much work I'll be doing with this medium. It's a start, but wow... what pink legs the big girl has! I'll be toning that down somewhat with the next layer. :D