Calligraphy Originals

Entering Eden

2012-02-12T07:09:00.000-08:00

Saw this Georgia O'Keefe painting when I was a student in the 80s. It's simplicity puzzled me then. Since then, I've often seen skies that brought the painting back to mind. It's has grown to intrigue me now.

So I looked around at cloudy skies...

and giggled as I thought about the possibilities.

Here's the digital rough.

And the pencil drawing.

The painting partly done.

Clouds in the sky include kitties, dog (or sheep, depending on how you look at it), banana, butterfly, angel, whale (very like), beer bottle.

Was a fun painting to create. Welcome to the bicyclers' Eden: flat road, no wind, far views. (Is this at apple I see before me?)

Double Reverie

2012-02-02T09:16:00.001-08:00

As you've noticed, I've been enjoying a divergence into painting fantastical bicycle scenes. I miss including words (I AM primarily a calligrapher and graphic artist after all). To make up for the lack of type and letters I'm enjoying using images as symbols. And as far as bicycles go, tandems are full of meaning.

"My husband, Kent, and I ride an orange tandem," Holly emails, (Holly, the biking, California cousin of my bike buddy Sue.) I start a thumbnail.

Then I rethink the thumbnail: she's a CALIFORNIA girl. Time to get the Wisconsin out. Change to California poppies (symbol of loyalty) and Joshua trees. I send a sketch and promise Holly and Kent that I'd paint shorts on the butterfly girl. Kent's input, "Bike shorts are optional!" I think: "shorts optional" must be a west coast thing. Jim, my husband, thinks: why shorts? why shirt?

I start painting, keeping colors light and sunshiny. TWO suns, two hearts, two trees - tandem, get it? Jim says, "Why is there only one person?" I don't have an answer for this one either.

Notice how butterfly-girl has only one arm at this point? Don't worry, she's get a second arm.

Orangy, double-sunny. Just some fine-tuning on the horizon line, amongst the flowers, and on the bike chain. Also adding a morning star for aspiration and cows -- Jim's ideas.

Include a few Holsteins as a bond between Wisconsin and California. I like learning that cows can represent power, earth, and rain, all important elements to a biker.

Jim suggests the title "Double Reverie." And it's finished.

But...butt...

2012-01-18T19:08:00.000-08:00

So, let's just pretend you had a choice of three bottoms: all perky, all featured (chagrin here). But they vary in their intensity. You see, it's a night scene and the light source is on the other side of these robust buns.

Version 1: Buns just didn't seem dark enough in the shade.

Version 2: The bouncy butt seems sort of muddy.
Where has this biker fairy been?

Version 3: Aiming for the nighttime loss of vivacity but
tried to keep things glowy with a sort of blue buttocks.

Which version would YOU choose?

Biker on High

2012-01-10T08:57:00.000-08:00

Inspiration: bike poster from the early 1900s.

Digital thumbnail, using bits and pieces from many sources.

Finished painting, about 6 x 9 inches. (Click the picture for a larger view.)

Things I like: the tri bike, some of the hills, the subtle swimmer and runner in the clouds to the right and left of the girl. Things I wish I had done differently: more colors in the sky and land, more distinct shadows and shapes on the clouds.

Next time.

Holy Hill

2011-12-03T04:32:00.000-08:00

This painting was an uphill climb for me. I'm still not satisfied with it, but two months is enough floundering so I'm backing off, calling it done -- for now.

After a pencil thumbnail I put together this digital sketch.

Here's the pencil outline on watercolor paper.

My 10-year-old niece encouraged me to not give up, but I really didn't like how the greenery was going. I started adding angels.

Something substantial happened in the weeks between the green version above and this cloudy blue development. I'll never get the hang of painting trees.

I felt like there was a huge lack of focus in this version. Thus, the large angel was added (see image at the top of this blog) -- a surprise to the design undoubtedly. I'll let you know when this painting comes out of storage and back on the drawing board.

A Blessing on Your Bike

2011-11-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

Up at 4, can't sleep. The drawing board.

The design was thumbnailed weeks ago.

The digital sketch done days ago. (I love being able to lay out the sketch in PhotoShop. I used to use layers of tracing paper to adjust a drawing but PS refines faster.)

Now to paint.

I was nervous about this painting. My experience is with little light designs; my intention here was to paint with gouache, heavy coverage. To ensure I painted heavily I used watercolor paper that already had a coverage of paint on it (an earlier, unsuccessful project.)

Still looking at Chagal and a few children's books for illustration inspiration.

Somehow things don't feel complete without calligraphy so I did the calligraphy on a separate paper and overlaid it in PhotoShop.

This painting is now printed on a little gift card (2.5 x 3.5 inches). I was worried that the greens would print muddy in CMYK but the print operator let me work with him while it was on press. He did a great job and it came out well.

Send me a note and I'll mail one to you FREE.

A New Season of Art

2011-10-31T10:34:00.000-07:00

I'm riding in a new direction this season with bike art.

Naw, not painting on bicycles (although that could be a blast), but painting some fantastical art featuring bikes. Here is my first little watercolor using a Trek Madone as model.

The Very Model

My husband is such a nice guy. Nothing he loves more than to help. He held up the bike while I photographed it so I could see it at an above-eye-level view. Here's the digital sketch using one of those photos. See his hands not quite erased?

Other bits of the sketch include the barn on my childhood farm, my biking buddy (in the reddish shirt), a Chagal angel (upper left), and a favorite little manga dog sketch.

Step by step.

As Easy as Falling Off a Bicycle

To be honest, I should show you my first watercolor effort of this idea. The bike and the yellow sun were competing so I painted out the big bike and let the sun shine. I've matted this to cover the left side of the painting.

So Where's the Calligraphy?

Gotta have words so here is the final version with a quotation from CJ Jung.

"But at this moment I came upon myself. Previously I had existed, too, but everything had merely happened to me. Now I happened to myself."

Yes, there are reproductions available of this art: 8.5x11 laser prints, but no cards as yet. The print is $19 plus shipping.

More bike art to come!