Live sketching time! Score!

Yesterday was a BLUR of activity and I needed to focus, so I sadly had to leave my sketching kit at home. But, that certainly didn't stop me from firing off a few sketches of men in suits doing very important work. In some ways, lawyers are like the knights of Feudal society, I suppose. Some possess honor and valor and rescue the helpless for a fee. Some are villainous and greedy and make life miserable for others. Either way, they all do their best to out-do each other's armor and posture. I always feel like I am in a zoo observing wild animal territorial behavior when I am around a number of lawyers and I was able to capture some of that psychological positional jockeying in yesterday's tiny sketches.

In other news I am still waiting on the Watson-Guptill title "How to Paint with Colored Pencil", to come in at the library. While I keep visiting the library like a lovesick teenager hoping to see her crush, I did score some awesome books full of tutorial demonstrations. I am beginning to grow so convinced that the library does not list every book on the shelves in their online catalog. I can search for hours on a particular subject and turn up nearly nothing, but when I show in the library to return something, I leave with my arms FULL of creamy dreamy instructional guides. Such is the life of a Self-Taught artist determined not to break the bank on education this year.

Earlier this year I got my bachelors degree with a concentration in Christian Counseling and Fine Arts and I am convicted to build on that foundation. Right now I'm reading: Annette C. Compton's, "Drawing from the Mind and Painting from the Heart", Beverley Johnston's the "Complete Guide to Colored Pencil Techniques", and the Gildow and Benedetti Newton "Colored Pencil Solution Book". In essence, I am test-driving instructional guides and determining which are must-have references that further my artistic skills and which are self-promoting hype. Right now the publishers I dig are North Light, Watson-Guptill and David & Charles. Just a hint: When you can't find the title or subject matter you want in a library catalog, sometimes a search by publisher can yield a treasure trove of resources on the subject that may actually surpass the particular one you have in mind! It also doesn't hurt to be friendly with the library staff as they can be a huge help in finding titles that weren't on your radar.

In other networking news, I got the chance to pop in to C'ville Arts yesterday and get the lowdown on membership and talk to an artist that goes by the name "Flame Bilyue",

who uses colored pencil in her work. I'm still not so sure that's the right place for my work as they have wall art aplenty in there. The search for a venue goes on whilst I work toward developing a portfolio.

You can't imagine how lame and phony it feels to have to say "Sorry folks, no portfolio or samples of any kind to share yet . . .all my good art got stolen!" It's the truth, but it is very haunting to remember all the time-consuming effort put into my finest pieces and yet have nothing to show for them.

Well, Lord willing I will be empowered to make works that surpass even those dear departed ones that haunt my memories.

And when I do . . . to God be the Glory! I'm out!