Fresh Sheets of Paper
Posted By Carrie L. Lewis on February 26, 2010
Christmas!
Come early (or maybe late).
Boxes to open and unpack. Oh boy!
An order from Dick Blick arrived today and seeing our mail carrier climbing the steps with a box in each hand lifted all the burdens of writing and painting.
One of the boxes contained class supplies, so I won’t even open those items. They’re already packaged and ready for delivery to the student.
But the other box…. That was for me and it contained something I haven’t had in stock for quite some time. Full sheets of Rising Stonehenge paper. Ten sheets of 22×30 inch each of fresh, unmarked painting surface. Bliss!
I was forced by popularity away from my favorite white because it was out of stock. So I have sheets of fawn, natural and pearl gray paper, now, as well as a world of possibilities.
I recently told Neal that I was reluctant to begin writing the second draft of my NaNoWriMo story after over five weeks spent on design. He asked me why and I told him that until I begin writing, it’s a great story, full of life and energy and potential. Once I start writing, all that changes. It may turn out to be a great story and well told, but it will never live up to the raw potential of the unstarted story.
I know that because no finished painting ever lives up to the vision I see when I begin. Call it an occupational hazard of the creative person.
Fresh sheets of paper and fresh painting panels or canvas are the same. Until I make the first mark, each sheet is potentially the best work I’ve ever done. After the first mark, that all changes. It can be a rather scary thought.
I have ideas for some of these sheets. I will be starting a new, large colored pencil as a demonstration project for the colored pencil class. I just don’t know what the subject will be. A head study? A figure? I had an idea in mind as I opened the box, but when I was getting out my larger working mats, I found a completed drawing that had tried twice to be an oil painting and never succeeded. It caught my eye immediately.
There are also some great photographs taken at various horse shows, photo shoots and other locations, all of which are just waiting to be translated into a colored pencil painting.
And there is a very ‘artsy’ head, neck and shoulder study of Admiral’s Express that has been begging to be painted since I first saw it nearly ten years ago. A sleek white horse on pearl gray paper … maybe, just maybe.
So one of the things I’ll be doing this weekend and for the early part of next week is reviewing some of those images, seeing what’s available and what strikes me as a fun and exciting project. Hopefully, by Monday or Tuesday, I’ll have made my selection and will be getting to work.
Stay tuned!
I am a self-taught artist for the most part. Lots of trial and error in the past forty years! Formal art training consists of a couple of years of high school art, a painting class at a community college, one semester in the Fine Arts program at Abilene Christian University and a couple of local workshops.
I am always looking for ways to better my artistic skills, so I am a permanent student in the School of Trial and Error. I love reading and have been known to spend hours online researching materials and techniques. As a result, I've painted in several different styles, including the direct method (which goes straight for the color) and Classical methods (which involves underpaintings, layering and glazing).
I have exhibited paintings in locations such as Lone Star Park Race Track, Grand Prairie, Texas and Remington Park Race Track, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Since the early 90s, I've worked with the Michigan Harness Horseman's Association, donating custom portraits to their annual benefit auction.
In the course of maintaining a growing art business, I have taught myself web design (a skill that will no doubt prove to be a continual learning experience).
I also enjoy puttering around the yard, chasing trains with my husband, Neal, travel and, of course, looking at horses whenever they appear on my horizon.
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