Dusk at Devil's Den

I'm very pleased to announce that my watercolor and colored pencil landscape, Dusk at Devil's Den, was accepted into the CPSA (Colored Pencil Society of America)'s Explore This! 9 online exhibition. With this acceptance I earned my CPX Signature Status, and just received my certificate and pin in today's mail. You can view the exhibition at http://www.cpsa.org/view-explore-this-9.

Witness Tree at Devil's Den

I've been in a bit of an artistic funk this year -- I keep working but often find I am not as satisfied with the results as I would like. In an attempt to break out of this negativity, I decided to create a small landscape based on a portion of the Devil's Den area on the Gettysburg Battlefield. I had recently read an article indicating that the tree depicted here is one of the few remaining "witness" trees -- meaning, a tree that is confirmed to have been present during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, and that is what spurred me on to choose this particular location.

Recently I received some very good news regarding this painting, done in colored pencil on PastelMat: it is one of only 101 works selected for the exhibition, America's Parks Through the Beauty of Art. In addition, it was chosen as one of the Top 50, and will be part of a travelling
exhibition, moving from Missouri to New York to Wisconsin, beginning in March. Folow this link to read the juror's statement: http://www.outdoorpainter.com/whats-current-and-whats-coming/americas-parks-exhibition-begins-tour.html. While I realize that being pleased with our own work is what's important, not the opinion of a juror, this was a welcome "shot in the arm" for an artistically-uncomfortable year!

Completed and Sold!

I did complete Sunset, Peter Frey Farm in late June, and it and another small landscape sold in early July to a gentleman from Pittsburgh.  I enjoy these Gettysburg landscapes and am now experimenting with using Neocolor II (Watersoluble Wax Pastels) on some larger versions, as they lay down much more quickly than the Inktense pencil/colored pencil combination.

In-progress: Barn at the Peter Frey Farm

This needs some work, primarily to the tree on the lefthand side, but I'm pleased with how it's coming along so far. I'm working with an  Inktense watercolor pencil underpainting on white PastelMat, and adding dry colored pencil color enhancement and detail on top. It's turned into one of my favorite working methods for landscapes.

Dusk at Devil's Den

I believe this is done -- added some detail but I didn't want to overstate it. So I'll post it for now and spend some time looking at it in this new form to see if I feel it truly is finished.

Devil's Den at Sunset, Step 2

I taught a workshop over the weekend on using Derwent Inktense water soluble pencils as an underpainting for colored pencil drawings. Since I had this piece with me to use as an example of a couple of concepts, I spent a little time during the lunchbreak punching up the watercolor layers and then last night had some time to add some dry colored pencil detail. It's starting to head the direction I want; it does seem to look a little too dark, overall, in this reproduction.

Codori Barn from Little Round Top

I took a break from working on my latest Battle of Gettysburg/Civilians of Gettysburg piece about Basil Biggs, to produce this small landscape from the Gettysburg battlefield. I created a much smaller version of this scene in colored pencil for entry in the upcoming Miniature Art 2011 exhibition at the Council for the Arts in Chambersburg, PA, and decided to try this second, larger version using watercolor and colored pencil on a sienna-colored piece of Pastelmat. Once again I love this particular combination of media and working surface; it's the same combination I used on Summer Sunset, McPherson Farm (see post from June 12), and on my one-day drawing/painting giveaway of  Stone House, Manassas National Battlefield (see post from June 21).

Day 2, Gettysburg Festival/Fringe Festival

I didn't participate in the Paint-Out yesterday, due to needing to open my gallery on a Saturday. But I did attend the Artists' Reception at the BarnArt 2011 exhibit at the GAR hall, where I learned that I'd won First Prize for my entry, Summer Sunset, McPherson Farm, seen above! This small (approx. 6" x 8") painting is done on PastelMat -- a sanded pastel paper that has a very fine grit, feeling almost like velour -- using several underneath washes of watercolor pencil and finished with layers of dry colored pencil for detail and enhancement. All in all, I've had a very exciting start to the Festival!

Today I'll open the gallery at around noon but then will close to join fellow painters Claire Carnell and Linda Young at Beech Springs Farm in Orrtanna, PA, at the Old-Fashioned Sunday Supper paint-out. After my return I'll reopen the gallery, and hopefully this evening or tomorrow morning I'll have a new piece or two to post.

Miniatures

Before I begin my posts of the stages of my latest piece in my Beyond the Battlefield series, I wanted to let you know about three miniatures that I have had accepted into an exhibition that will open this week. The show is the 26th Annual Miniature Art 2010 Exhibition at the Council for the Arts, 159 S. Main St., Chambersburg, PA. The opening reception will be held from 4 - 7 pm, Friday, November 5. The show will remain on display through January 8, and gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am - 2 pm. (They do recommend you call 717-264-6883 to confirm hours during the holidays.)

Miniatures are something I decided to challenge myself to do, given that most of my work is very large -- my "regular" minimum size is generally about 16" x 20" and most of my work is much larger. Working in miniature is a real change of pace: controlling the pencils strokes at that scale to create a smooth surface, getting details as needed, determining an effective composition. All three of these pieces are images of various locations on the Gettysburg battlefield, and they are approximately 2 1/2" x 4" in size. The first piece shown above is entitled "Pennsylvania Monument in November"; it's done on a vellum finish bristol board. The next two, "Seeking Shelter from the Sun" and "Trostle Farm in October", are both done on a surface I've been experimenting with -- PastelMat, this one a sienna color -- and have nearly fallen in love with! Unlike traditional, sanded pastel papers, it's not gritty; it has a smooth, almost suede-like feel. But it grabs the color in a way I've never experienced on regular papers, making excessive layering unnecessary. It also seems to erase quite well. I'm anxious to try this surface for larger works as well and have found that it is available in both small tablets and large single sheets from Dick Blick.

To see more of my miniatures and other categories of work, please visit http://www.civilwarfineart.com/.