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.

Good news!

I received word just yesterday that my colored pencil drawing, Sarah Emma Edmonds II: Transformation/Liberation, was awarded 2nd Prize in the Drawings and Original Prints category in the 70th Annual May Show at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH. The exhibition will be on  display through June 2.

I also received word last week that my mixed media composition, Sarah Emma Edmonds I: Departure, has been selected for inclusion in the Adams County Arts Council's Ninth Annual Juried Exhibition, to be held June 8 - 17 at Schmucker Art Gallery on the campus of Gettysburg College, as part of the Gettysburg Festival.

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.

Artistic Struggles

Devil's Den at Sunset, step 1



As I'm sure so many of my artist-friends can relate to, lately I've really been struggling with making progress on any of my various projects. I have a number of commissions on which I'm making progress, but I've found that it's also very important to me to have my own personal project "in the works", something I'm very emotionally connected to, to keep my spirit alive. That is not to say I don't have any emotional connection or sincere interest in my commission work, it's just to say that the feeling is not quite the same as when I'm doing something of my own choosing. I'm emotionally connected to the Basil Biggs project but am finding some of my references to be lacking; I'm emotionally connected to my third -- and probably final -- piece involving Sarah Emma Edmonds but I'm finding it difficult to determine a direction for that piece. Recently, however, I've hit on some ideas and now have a vague notion regarding the composition of that piece, so I'm hopeful that I'll be posting a rough layout of it soon.

In the meantime, in addition to teaching a number of classes and workshops in OH, I've also been studying the pastel landscape work of Richard McKinley, and am trying to work with his "underpainting" concept for some small landscapes I'm doing of the Gettysburg battlefield. The image above represents my watercolor pencil underpainting with a minimum of colored pencil applied on top. But again, I appear to be "stuck" when it comes to moving forward with this composition.

I know this is just a natural part of the artistic process, but I have to say it's very uncomfortable and i'll be pleased when things start to smooth out a bit.

Time to face facts

For several years now I have been working on what I've come to title my Civil War 150 Project, with a goal of working in a chronological order to create works focusing on the often-overlooked people and events of the Civil War era. As we begin 2012, we are in the 150th anniversary for the year 1862, which featured such battles as Shiloh, Second Manassas, Antietam and Fredericksburg. And while it continues to be my intention to study each of the battles carefully and create works to represent them, I realize that it is not going to be possible to cover them in-depth, as I've done so far with the First Battle of Manassas, within one year's time, and still stay on track with my additional project of developing works that relate to the civilians of Gettysburg. Because my gallery is located in Gettysburg, and so that I may be able to do justice to that series in time for our 150th anniverary commemoration in 2013, I realize that I'm going to have to make some sacrifices. I've finally resolved that, since Antietam and Fredericksburg are closer in proximity to my Gettysburg gallery, I will focus on producing a few pieces that relate to them. Once we've passed the 150th anniversary period in Gettysburg, I plan to revisit some of the other battles of 1862 and 1863 that I've had to skip over for now.

I've had to put the brakes on my Basil Biggs project once again, as I've recently learned that there may be another source of photographic images of him that I had not known about, and want to look into that before I go further. In the meantime, I have a number of Civil War-related commissions that I will be posting in this spot, and will begin developing some pieces dealing with Antietam. Relating to that, today's post shows a piece I created in 2002 for their 140th anniversary. The print edition is sold out; however the original art is available for purchase. Please contact me at civilwarfineart@yahoo.com, if you are interested in learning more about this piece. As always, I invite you to visit my website, www.CivilWarFineArt.com, to view all of my Civil War-themed works.

Back in the flow

Long time, no posting! Fall was incredibly busy, between running the gallery, working on commissions, and having a full exhibition and teaching schedule. Today, as I sit here trying to come back to "real life" after having a wonderful few days with as many of my family members as were able to be present, I thought I'd share the image I used for my Christmas card this year. This is a scene set up at the Shriver House Museum --309 Baltimore Street in Gettysburg, PA -- in the parlor of the Shriver House for their annual Candlelight Christmas tours, depicting traditions and decorations of an 1860's Pennsylvania family. It's a wonderful museum -- a beautifully restored 1860 home -- with a fascinating story of how one family dealt with the Battle of Gettysburg. I highly recommend a visit in person, or at the very least to their website: www.ShriverHouse.org.

Happy Holidays to all! I'll be posting new work soon.