Debbi Friedman's Blog

Latest Drawing is complete

Debbi — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:56:59 +0000

I’m very excited to share this new drawing in my Stones series. Will you look at those colors! It’s so stunning when the pale, discreet colors of the rocks become submerged in water. This still life has a straight above, bird’s eye view, and the bowl is cropped; in comparison to the Amber Bowl, which is viewed slightly at an angle, and the bowl is entirely contained in the composition. As a result, in this piece the water is less prominent, but different and interesting aspects are created. I had so much fun exploring the different ways light and reflection danced around the piece.

I’m starting a graphite drawing of stones reflecting in a mirror, and planning to resume work on the last oil painting I posted a while back. It’s been sitting on the back burner (in this case, my studio easel) for too long!

Amber Bowl wins First Place in the Artists Magazine’s On-line Media Competition

Debbi — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:36:17 +0000

My colored pencil drawing “Amber Bowl” was awarded First Place in the Graphite, charcoal and colored pencil category of the Artists Magazine’s On-Line All Media competition. I am so honored to receive this recognition for my work, especially as there are so many fine entries for them to judge from. I spoke with Chris McHugh, the Managing Editor of The Artists Magazine, who told me that there were over 1,800 entries this year. You can see all of the first place winners and honorable mention award winners at The Artists Magazine.

In spite of my lack of blog entries lately I have been working hard. I’m planning to post a photograph of my latest drawing, last written about on February 11th, by next Monday. So please check back soon!

Azure Bowl – work in progress, stage two

Debbi — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:05:30 +0000

Here is an installment after two weeks of work. I approached the beginning of this drawing in the same fashion as the still-life that I featured in my blog post of October 15, 2009. I worked in the background first, and then started in on the bowl from the outside in. This will leave the rocks and water for last. I’m having a lot of fun working on this, but there is a challenge in the colors, as I’m slightly tweaking the color to a more “blueish” shade than a more “purple-ish” shade. There are no blacks in the drawing, so the darks are made by layering blues, purples and browns. I am so excited to move on to the reflections that continue on the glass down into the water.

Starting a new drawing on Rtistx board

Debbi — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:27:02 +0000

When I start a new drawing on paper, I jump right in and start laying out the drawing directly on the drawing surface. Not so with a sanded surface, such as the Rtistx board I’m using for my new drawing of stones in a bowl of water. The sanded surface is nearly impossible to erase lines from, so I follow a system that seems to work well for me, and I think many artists must do very much the same. (I would be most interested to hear what others do when laying out a drawing on Ampersand Pastel board, Rtistx, or a sanded paper – so feel free to share!)

My first step is to create a basic line drawing – not too detailed, but everything in it’s place, on drawing paper at actual size, as below.

Then I make a copy of this drawing onto a piece of tracing paper, as follows.

Next I take the tracing paper drawing and layer it on top of the Rtistx board, with a piece of transfer paper in between, to offset the drawing onto the board.

Below is the finished product, a transferred line drawing of my future drawing on the piece of Rtistx board.

I’ve been working on this piece for a week and making good progress, so my next post will include a recent photo of the drawing. To close I wanted to share something that I discovered for the first time, which I know many other colored pencil artists have experienced. . . . inconsistent product color. As you can see in the photo below, both pencils are Prismacolor Grayed Lavender, but the lead color is quite different. Fortunately I had several pencils of each, varying shade and was able to continue without difficulty. But it was a head’s up for me to always check the consistency of color when changing pencils.

On to new work

Debbi — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:11:25 +0000

Here is a new painting I’ve started, a “rock slide”. I set this up inside an antique wooden crate, and lined the back of the crate with some very dark paper. The top photograph shows very initial oil washes to reinforce the pencil layout. The second photograph shows a second layer of oil washes, with the paint applied a bit more opaquely. I want to explore painting varying shades of white tones in this piece, so I have started to separate the rocks from one another by mixing different shades of greys.

I’m also going to be starting a large colored pencil piece on Rtistx board tomorrow, and I’m very excited about this one! More on that soon.

I’m also working on getting details together to have my website updated. I can’t quite believe it hasn’t been updated since May of 2009. More information will follow on that – specifically when a new “gallery” page is in place of my new stones pieces.

Small oil painting of stones

Debbi — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:46:08 +0000

Happy New Year to all! I can’t believe it’s been over a month since my last entry. It was a busy and fun holiday season, especially with my older son home from college and all of us together as a family, but I’m glad it’s over and we can move back into our “normal” schedules and closer to spring.

I’ve been working on this small oil (8″ x 10″) and while it’s still not finished, it’s nearing completion. It’s difficult to paint a very white rock, and I’m finding that getting the subtle, embedded color variations requires lots of layering. I have also started another oil painting of stones, and done an artists trading card for the first time. It’s very interesting to work on such a small scale, and seems to require an entirely different way of thinking about composition and scale.

I still have a couple more ideas for oils and drawings in this series. I want to do at least one large oil (approximately 3′ x 4′) and see what that brings to the table, so to speak. I used to work at that size and larger, so it will be fun to try it again.

I hope the New Year is going well for everyone, and would love to hear from any and all with a comment!

Stones in Vase with Water/Drawing

Debbi — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:49:51 +0000

Okay, it’s not very often that I will unabashedly state that I love one of my drawings. I love this drawing! I was so skeptical when I started it that it was going to amount to anything. If you look at the last post, you can see that the prelimary background work is nebulous. There is still some detail to be added to a couple of rocks, but the combination of the paper color, background work, rock tones, and glass reflections have combined, in my opinion, to make one of my more interesting rock drawings.

I welcome any comments or critiques! I’m on to a new oil painting – a small 8″ x 10″ panel of a rock still life. I want to make it have a very “jewel-like” appearance. I want to do two more oils and then assess where I am with this series.

Debbi — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:48:48 +0000

I’ve started a new drawing and I find it interesting to note how different my approach is to this one compared to a similar one I recently completed. Both are of stones in glass vases, but in the first one I drew the rock and glass first and the background last. With this newest drawing I executed the background first, then moved on to the glass vase, and saved the rocks and vase interior for last. This drawing also contains a water element; the rocks are resting in water in the vase. In the first drawing there isn’t any water. I’ve posted the comparable stage post below.

The new drawing is almost complete, and I’ll be posting a photograph of it soon! Listening to books on tape/CD is really helping my output, especially when the genre is mystery/thriller. I can’t stop working and can’t wait to get back to work . . . .

Completed Stones drawing

Debbi — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:08:20 +0000

Here is a photograph of the latest drawing I’ve been working on – an array of stones. I really did get them to balance like that! My friend, the photographer Jan Reiss, dubbed me “Andrea Goldsworthy”. I love environmental art – organic matter arranged in nature and then photographed, or visited before it vanishes. The colors of the stones have been accentuated, but they only take on a more pronounced hue of the color they really are.

I’ve started another drawing on Canson Mi-Tientes, and am off to buy more art supplies tomorrow to start a new oil painting. I spent several days this past week attempting to stage and photograph ideas I have in my head. Does anyone else find that they get these glimpses in their imagination of what they want to create, only to find it so difficult to try and create the vision in real life? It’s almost like operating in a dream state, and it’s very frustrating. Maybe I’ll get better at it, but I did manage to accomplish some semblance of my ideas. . . .we’ll see where it takes me. Any tips or advice from anyone?

Second oil painting of stones

Debbi — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:38:20 +0000

I’ve just finished the second oil painting of stones, and am happy with my progress. There were several things I was looking to accomplish - better blending and change of colors in the background, more realistic colors and details in the stones. Believe it or not, this stone pile was photographed on the same bookbinding fabric as the last painting. It’s amazing how much variation there can be in the fabric based on the way the light is hitting it. I have updated this post with a more color-wise more accurate photograph, but still, there’s a reason why I’m not a photographer! The colors still aren’t anywhere close to how they really look, but it is better. For comparison, see the small photograph below of the “redder” version. This piece is 11″ x 14″.

I’m also almost finished with the little rock drawing being done on Canson Mi-tientes, and will post a photograph of it as soon as it’s done.