Ripping it apart and building it stronger... just like a muscle?

     The past two months I have worked off and on editing my story. It's been sprinkled in with gardening and family summer fun. I've also started dabbling in colored pencil again. So here is a little about both.

Editing my Story 
 
     Editing my story is taking me a really long time. This is because I decided my story needed to be torn apart and restructured. Editing is like exercising muscles, tearing things down so I can build it back up stronger. It is exciting to see it coming together again. I look forward to being able to share my story with a few beta readers soon. Although, I am a little nervous about it.

     I am realizing that it is a fine line to walk trying to do my best and not giving in to perfectionism. Perfectionism is a crippling problem, it stifles creativity and hinders progress. I don't want the anxiety of stories not being perfect to keep me from writing. Breathe... keep it fun.

Colored Pencils

     This year I've worked with oil pastels a lot. I have learned so much in a short amount of time. I do, however, like to rotate the types of mediums that I'm working with. It keeps it fresh and enjoyable for me. So, for a time, the oil pastels are up on the shelf.

     My husband gave me a new set of colored pencils, which was perfect. I haven't worked with those for a while. I also got my hands on some willow charcoal that I think could be fun to combine with the colored pencil. I have found that I am drawn to illustrations that are created with mixed media. One of my favorites is If I Had a Dragon written by Amanda Ellery and Illustrated by Tom Ellery. It is such a cute, funny story and I love Tom Ellery's use of charcoal, ink and watercolor. Brilliant! 

     So, the picture below is not mixed media, but I still wanted to share it. I asked one of my brothers what his favorite bird was. He named a few that he liked and I chose one to be my next picture subject. The one I chose was the resplendent quetzal. I had never heard of it before. At first I thought my brother was being extra fancy by saying a "resplendent" quetzal which made me laugh. Then I realized that resplendent is actually part of its name, giving me another chuckle.

Resplendent Quetzal
Colored Pencil Rendition

Resplendant Quetzal
Photograph by Nick Athanas
antpitta.com

     I chose a photograph by Nick Athanas, a tour guide for Tropical Birding Tours. This picture of a quetzal is one of my favorites because of the up close detail. Being completely unfamiliar with the bird, this was important for me. The composition is simple but interesting.  He has a lot of really great pictures of birds that I have never seen before. (A photo gallery of Neotropical birds).

     This picture took me a lot longer to do than I anticipated. Something I learned while working with the oil pastels is how much you have to build the picture up by layering. I didn't realize it was so similar with colored pencil, until drawing this bird. Applying several layers of different colors gave it a better texture and a richer appearance. The bird didn't feel done until it had many layers. I also used a colorless blender pencil for the first time in this picture. Basically I use it over some of the colors on the paper to smooth them together.

     If you are wondering about the squiggly line behind the bird, that's my youngest sons stamp of approval. I was really frustrated at first. Now that I've had some time to get over it, I can appreciate that he was trying to be a part of making the picture with mom. My older two kids asked if they could have the picture, which was a fun compliment for me. 

     My plan for the next month is to have my story ready for test reading by mid September. Also I will break the story down into what paragraphs will go on what pages in preparation for illustrations to begin.  I hope you are having a fun summer, thanks for following me in this adventure!

On the Farm

On the Farm

November 2013

 

Water Color (Transparent), Black Archival Ink Pen,

Colored Pencil (Prismacolor) on Sketch Paper

 

 

This piece is my first water color piece in a really, really long time. I used a regular pencil to sketch it out first, then inked it with pen, painted, then inked and used color pencil to redo some outlines and put in some extra shading. I didn't like how the colored pencil looked on top of the paint creating the shading, maybe I needed to match colors better. I like my ducks, they are very simple in design. I love him looking up expectantly at the cow, just for fun. I like the texture and coloring created by mixing the green and yellow watercolor for the grass. I don't like the cows proportions. They are not right at all in its front legs... but that's learning for you. I'm going to start looking more into drawing books to help me learn proportions and perspectives better.  

Teddy Bear

Teddy Bear

November 2013

 

Colored Pencil (Prismacolor) on Sketch Paper

 

On this drawing I was trying out the concept of using colors opposite each other in the color wheel to neutralize each other and create shading. Over all I like what it did. I'm proud of my bear... It's probably my best colored pencil piece that I've done. I used multiple shades of brown, over a green in the darkest areas. I think I might have used a little too much green because the bear looks shaded a slight green, but over all I think the effect was pretty cool.