New Art

Here are five steps of the work I'm currently working on. I'm not done, but I'm getting close. Color Pencil really is the medium I'm most comfortable with.I do the work on Black mat board, I really hope they never stop making this stuff!  Fields are still kind of new to me, so I hope I do a better job on this one than my last couple. Skies are hard to do in Color Pencil, but I feel I left out just enough to not make it so hard. In my reference picture there is a lot more sky. The fences and buildings are really fun to do. It's a little change from the usual rocks and tress. Maybe it's a good piece for Spring/Summer time. Everyone take care and have fun!

Blast from the past: Living in his own heart

I did this one back in 2003. This is a color pencil piece that I had for a while then it sold at the Lexington Art League. It was also in my first solo art exhibit at Barns and Noble. It was a playful piece I did of a young artist creating his own little world. A friend of mine from art school saw it and noticed right away I stole the title from a phrase used by Carl in the movie Sling Blade. I liked it a lot. Billy Bob Thornton wrote that one well. I'm not a fan of his, but he did a great job on that movie. Anyway, just thought I'd share a piece of Cliff's Art history. Take care everyone.

Feather and Lace

Here is what I've done last for this piece. It needed more contrast in the the leaves and grass so I put that in. I added some highlights to her hair and redirected her eyes to look right at you. I had to work on that one a bit. I worked a little more on her face and hands. I put up two pics of this one so everyone could see it better. A lot of work went into this one.

Feather and Lace

Here is a detail from the newest piece, Feather and Lace. Can't decide if I'm done or not, I might give it a break for a few days and come back to it and decide. Sometimes, that's necessary to a good perspective. As far as the title goes, there are two feather and Queen Ann's Lace behind her. And it's a catchy title. It's hard to come up with those.

New Color Pencil Piece

Still working away on this one.I'm happy with my work on Britney, but the landscape is a little taxing. I'm more used to dead leaves wood and rocks, instead of this Green. Hard to wrap my mind around so much Green. Even in Color Pencil.

New Drawing

This is the new drawing I have for my next Color Pencil piece. It's taken from a scene at Shaker Town. As you can see I have used three different pieces of paper due to my lack of size control when it comes to drawing. This was meant to be a small drawing, but after I was done I decided this is a good size after all. Sometimes I even go to Kinko's to copy and reduce the size of my drawings because they get to big. Thanks God for tape! Almost done with the previous painting, just a few things to do on it. I have put up a new show in Danville I will try to post here this week. Everyone take care and have fun!

Shaker Pathway

Working on this one piece of my wife when we were hiking at Shaker Town on Thanksgiving day. I'm more used to rocks leaves and trees to help me define the landscape. Struggling a little with this one, but it will work out eventually. I found the strong light fun to explore. Oh, and this is another Color Pencil piece. I also want to mention more people has been reading this blog lately. Thanks everyone for your support. It's good to know you guys are there!

Smokey Mountian Stream

Ok, a few nips and tucks but I finally have it the way I want it. Turns out, it has already sold to a person who really gave me some really kind words about her connection to this piece. Selling a piece is always great but to make a piece that means so much to someone means more to me than I can say. Totally awesome.

Smoky Mountian Stream

Ok, I'm not done, but getting close. This also isn't the best pic ever taken. I had to add the Turkey feather. Also named it Smokey Mountain Stream. My wife Malissa posed for this just outside Gatlinburg Tennessee. This Color Pencil piece is coming along nicely. Everyone take care and have fun!

New Color Pencil Piece

There are two pics for this one. This is the new Color Pencil piece I'm working on. You've already seen the drawing a couple of posts back. Here is where I'm to now. The model is my wife modeling down in Gatlinburg Tennessee. Lots of Streams there.

Drawing last night.

A drawing I did last night of my wife Malissa by a stream side. Probably my next Color Pencil work. Probably do that after me next painting. I'll post some pics of that soon. Everyone take care and have fun!

Roots

Well here is Roots. I named it that both for the connection of one's self to the land, but also because there are a lot of Roots. This is a color pencil piece. I don't know if I got a good enough picture of it though. On the full size I don't know if you can see the model well enough. I did a detailed crop so you can see the model better. I have a few pieces in the works that I need to finish. I get excited and start new ones before I'm finished with the ones I'm working on. Guess I should do that now. Everyone take care and have fun!

The Woods Of Mercer County

Ok, here it is all done and everything. The Woods of Mercer County. I named that because this scene was actually modeled for in Shaker Town, but there is no Shaker Village and the model isn't wearing anything Shaker like. There are some need woods to hike in and I thought I'd paint some of those. Since this is in Mercer County I chose to go with that instead of naming it anything Shaker related. This is a color pencil piece aboot 2x3 feet in size. It's fun to work in Color Pencil again. I'm also thinking aboot joining the Color Pencil Society of America again. After the fiasco in Seattle I've been reluctant aboot rejoining, but it wasn't their fault I think, just the person receiving the shipped art. That didn't go well. Well, everyone take care and have fun!

New Painting

Working on the Color Pencils again. This is another scene that I'm working on from Shaker Town. If you go down where the bird blinds are there is a neat place, where it's like a field in front of some woods. A small Field, it's really neat. Still working on this one, this is just where I'm at right now. Think this one will be really good. I hope so anyway. I'll show it again soon. Everyone take care and have fun!

New painting

This is a not so good of this painting. I'm not done yet but I wanted to post what I did have done this week. It's another Color Pencil piece, it looks pretty good actually, but there has been no sun this week and it's hard to get a good picture without it. I'll post the full painting next week. To be Continued....

Sitt'n Pretty

I've had this done for a while, I just hadn't posted it yet. Not much different than the last pic, just a little more filled out and polished. The title took like 2 minutes to come up with. Usually that's really hard to do. I'm going to build a frame just for it now, and one without glass. Glass takes away from the image. You can try the reduced glare glass, but it didn't do much for me:(

Closer to being done

Here I am again. Not done, but I think you get the idea. Love the color pencil. At least this time I got to do a pic without a basket. Those are hard! Anyway, hope everyone enjoys this, should have it done real soon. Take care and have fun!

A Memory and Queen Ann's Lace

Here is the drawing and the first approach with Color Pencil. I will call this piece A Memory and Queen Ann's Lace. The scene for this was at Shaker Town near Harrodburg Kentucky. Pleasant Hill to be more correct. It's a great place and the model was a trooper. We had to walk around quite a bit while I tried to judge good places to model for the scene. In the last couple of pieces she was wearing a scarf on her head, but I wanted to do one without it so you could see more of her hair and face. She has a good hair and face! I also wanted to visit my old friend Color Pencil again on this one. It feels so natural for me, but when it's framed behind glass the reflection knocks down the image and the color. Even in reflection proof glass, which I've bought, you still see some reflection. I'm going to try it without the glass and see what happens next time I frame one of these. I might even explore some protective varishes. I seen those used once on watercolors in a gallery in Santa Fe. If anyone knows anything about this kind of stuff, please let me know. When this piece is done I'll post it. I have a pic of it done in a later stage, but I'll post it later with the new one. I wanted to show this in stages. Everyone take care and have fun!