[tinyliny]

I usually photo my artwork on the floor, right next to a sliding glass door, but only when the sun is over the house on the other side, so not shining directly through that glass door. so, light is indirect.

also, be sure if you take with ipad or phone, that your device is perfectly parallel to the plane of the drawing, so no perspective lines (like your first photo of the bird drawing).

you may find you enjoy drawing on some colored paper, like gray or beige, so you can use both dark pencils and white ones.

 

[RedDunPaint]

I usually photo my artwork on the floor, right next to a sliding glass door, but only when the sun is over the house on the other side, so not shining directly through that glass door. so, light is indirect.

also, be sure if you take with ipad or phone, that your device is perfectly parallel to the plane of the drawing, so no perspective lines (like your first photo of the bird drawing).

you may find you enjoy drawing on some colored paper, like gray or beige, so you can use both dark pencils and white ones.

Thanks for the tips! And my problem is that I often draw at night and like to take pictures when I finish it so I have no natural light:lol: If I'm taking official pictures to use to sell my art then I take the steps you recommended :mrgreen: For my art journal I'm just snapping pictures and calling it good ;-)

And I've been wanting to experiment with some dark paper and light pencils so the values are backwards. The in-between colors like gray would be fun too! But that means I'd have to buy different paper and pencils, so I'm just sticking with plain paper and pencils for now haha

 

[RedDunPaint]

It has been quite a while since I've posted my art on here...whoops :lol:

I have done quite a bit so I'm going to post a mass grouping of my work and then hopefully I can stay more updated...I have lots of pictures from my big trip to Europe that I want to paint and Christmas is coming up so I'm sure I will not be short of work!

I normally like to do progress shots and time lapses but since I'm posting so much this time I'm going to forego them.

The Graphites:

These poodles were a commission piece. Thankfully my dog is part poodle so I was used to the frizzy, curly hair!

And I bred my budgies and raised 5 beautiful chicks! I gave a graphite drawing (aka 30 minute sketch lol) of each chick with all their info as a "going away" gift. All the chicks found amazing home and I get to bird-sit so I can see them again. I also got to keep one for myself!

Pictures because they're too cute (Izzy laid 8 eggs but only 5 were fertile thank goodness. An average clutch size is 4-6 so 8 would have been a challenge. I would've handfed some. I ended up handfeeding the youngest, Delta, anyways haha)

And the drawings...

A wonderful family from my stable adopted Hamilton and Sequoia so they tells me about them every time we're riding at the same time!

Didn't really care for how Delta's turned out but can't share the good without sharing the bad, right?

And I get to keep Echo but I did a drawing of him for myself ;-)

Back to my love of drawing horses...I love how this one turned out!

 

[RedDunPaint]

Haha there were so many pictures I exceeded the max limit so have to post the rest here!

And that's it for the graphites! Now on to my latest medium, acrylics! I started trying them out a couple months ago, so here're the pieces. Still learning with them but feel like I'm getting the hang of it! I love being able to create texture on it, be it with a paintbrush, an old gift card, or a toothpick!

My very first piece: an abstract pear

Then a quail

Followed by a zebra. I loved doing it all in black and white, plus morphing the painting into a loose-style, which reminds me of watercolor!

I'm working on a tack-themed set of 3. I have two done so far!
First is a macro of a bit

Next is Tessa!

And my latest, a commission of a nautilus shell

Kudos to anyone who went through all of that!

 

[tinyliny]

I love the Zebra! would make a great notecard.

 

[RedDunPaint]

So far I've only gotten one Christmas gift done (and it still needs finishing touches) because I've been crazy busy with homework. Hopefully I can crank some out this weekend/next week but next week is Finals so we shall see lol. I think I'll just post them all at once.

In the mean time, I figured I'd post this on my art thread as well. It's a watercolor pencil I did of the nativity scene (left) and Palm Sunday (right) to remember the true meaning of Christmas for me. I connected it with a cross because it's why Jesus came to earth in the first place. I also love how it shows the humility of Christ.

First a time-lapse of dry colored pencils turned watercolor because I don't use them this way very often

And the finished product

 

[TuyaGirl]

Wow, you are so skilled, wonderful artwork. And such cute budgies!!

 

[redbarron1010]

Very beautiful work! I love the parakeet admiring his portrait! Lovely pictures, thanks for sharing!

 

[RedDunPaint]

Thank you everyone, as always!

I came down with a bad illness the first day of Christmas break which is unfortunate, but it's given me time to get those Christmas gifts done lol. I'm going to the stable today to hand them out

First is Apache. His owners are a wonderful family that worked with him for a year through body and behavioral issues before riding him (with my trainer helping every step of the way). They were so patient with him and I was able to take part in rehabilitating him this summer when I interned under my trainer. They are also the same family that adopted Hamilton & Sequoia! I get to hear about my chickies whenever we ride together!

This is Zoe. She is owned by my amazing trainer and barn manager. Even though I had lessons for a few years before coming to this stable, I count all my true riding skills to her. She teaches all the teeny tiny details and explains it all from a body standpoint for the horse and rider. I am truly grateful for her mentorship and friendship.

This is Tony. He is a gorgeous Andalusian and was a national chamption as a stallion. He is now gelded, but he's a fantastic mover and a sweetheart; I was given the chance to ride him once and oh my could he move! He is owned by the owner of my stable, who I cannot thank enough for the family I have there.

And last, this one is for one of my friends at the stable. Last year I did a portrait of her horse Brisco so I did something different for Christmas this year. She's had a bit of a rough year so I thought this peaceful, bright painting would cheer her up!

And here's one of the midway pictures I took while working on Zoe's. Those scribbles turned into shadows. Just crazy to see how art evolves on a piece lol

 

[tinyliny]

Those are just wonderful! are they charcoal? and how big are they?

any gift with so much personality in it will be adored. Well done!

 

[newtrailriders]

Why did I wait so long to look at this thread?! I love your work! There's something about the first one - the one of the three horses - I wish I had better artsy language and could describe what it is I love about it. Something about the texture and how it's soft but still well-defined, and the horses seem to stand out againsit the background. The bird splashing in the water is great too. They're all great!

 

[RedDunPaint]

Those are just wonderful! are they charcoal? and how big are they?

any gift with so much personality in it will be adored. Well done!

Thank you!

They are each 4"x6". All of them are graphite except for the sunset, which is pen and watercolor.

 

[RedDunPaint]

Work so far on my latest commission. It's the largest one I've done so far. It's broken into 3 pieces and each will be framed separately. I think the customer had a really cool idea doing that! Each panel is 16"x20". It's a watercolor of a cherry tree branch with 3 birds in it.

This is what I have done so far. About to start on the first bird and the other 2 are in the 3rd frame. I'll include the original sketch too.

 

[tinyliny]

I'm not seeing any photo of the tryptic.

 

[RedDunPaint]

I'm not seeing any photo of the tryptic.

I didn't include any of the three portions laid out. The sketch it's all one drawing and then I split it up on the watercolor paper. I put the 2 panels I've worked on side-by-side to show the continuous piece. Once they're framed and hung up by the customer I'll post that picture

 

[RedDunPaint]

Finished the second panel and actually took pictures along the way! So now this piece is 2/3 the way done. The 3rd panel should get finished this week. Normally commissions take me just a week but this one's taking longer because it's 3x the size of one I'd normally do:dance-smiley05:

Base layer of flowers

Finished

Just a fun perspective

And I got the first bird done, modeled from my own little guy Echo. I made a time lapse but my phone killed the quality big time so I'm not going to post it!

 

[RedDunPaint]

I finished the commission last week but I'm waiting for customer to send me pictures of it all framed then I'll post them!

I did a fun horse eye study in watercolor; I'm really pleased with how it turned out! I'm submitting a piece of artwork to our new school magazine, and I have the school's art contest coming up. But I'm most excited because there's a dressage festival looking for a local artist to submit horse art to put on their poster and be highlighted in their brochure. If I won, I'd get a free vendor to sell my art and get exposure. It'd be an amazing opportunity. I have a really fun idea, so I'll start working on that soon! I think I'll do 3 for 1 and use the same piece for all 3 submissions lol

 

[RedDunPaint]

Okay, I have the pictures from that commission!

Here it is hanging up:

Some close-ups (I added some width to the branch in the first frame after I took this picture)

 

[tinyliny]

great job!!! that looks so sweet. you must feel very proud and accomplished for such a nice, big project. Working big is hard, but so satisfying.

 

[RedDunPaint]

great job!!! that looks so sweet. you must feel very proud and accomplished for such a nice, big project. Working big is hard, but so satisfying.

Thank you!!

I had surgery on Friday (just a minor thing no worries...if any of you follow Tessa's journal you know that already so I apologize for "old news":tongue but I'm not allowed to do really...anything for a few days. So, without being able to ride Tessa or get any work done, I've had a chance to work on a painting! (Also, I've binge-watched a show on Netflix and nearly finished a book!)

Anyways, this is for the dressage festival. Watercolor and pen. Here's the progress I've made so far. It's taking forever but I hope it'll be worth it when it's done!!

Sketch with masking fluid (holding the white of the paper). Can't wait to take it off at the end for the "splashing" effect.

Many layers of paint later...

A little later...

And where I ended today. Probably going to go back and work on the rider's clothes some more but I thought it was a good place to end for the day.