A Sweet Caress

"Sweet Caress" 9 x 12 Pastel on Paper


This piece has been a long time coming...
In 2007, we evacuated because of the Rice Canyon Fire. As we were leaving, I debated whether to take this statue with me. I decided to leave the angels at the house. Miraculously, the only thing on the property that didn't burn down in that fire was the house itself-- even though it had minor damage from the flames and heat being directly on it.
A couple of years later, I noticed how nice the statue looked in the light from the setting sun, and took a picture to bring to my art class. I brought the picture, and my art students immediately began protesting-- at first, they freaked out because they thought the statues were kissing. Then, they said it was too hard. A few students weren't allowed to draw angels for religious reasons, so I gave them a different subject to draw-- I knew these students well and had anticipated they might need something different. Suddenly, I had many religious objections from students I had never known to protest religious objects in the past. Irritated, I handed out more copies of the alternative subject to those newly objecting students. Ultimately, only a few students tried the piece, even though I tried to explain and demonstrate how easy it would be if they followed the negative spaces and paid attention to value. What I thought would be a fun, challenging drawing lesson turned into a battle of wills with a bunch of middle-schoolers.
The whole experience was so disappointing, I put the photo aside for a while. When I did finally take up the piece on my own with pastels, it was just as easy as I predicted-- I followed the negative spaces and broke the picture down into dark and light.
So, I ended up with a painting that was a joy to create and has a little history to go with it. This statue looks great from so many angles throughout the day, I may have to try it again from a different point of view next time.
And, next time I try a lesson with negative space, I suppose I'll use candlesticks or something similar to minimize the objections.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inspired by Light (Pastels on Canvas)

Image
"Morning Glow" 12 x 16 Chalk Pastel on Flat Canvas Email nicolehilsabeck@yahoo.com if interested in purchasing Been trying to get back into the daily painting routine, which for me either means a small painting a day, or a larger painting spread over two days.  It's a bit of a challenge with the growing belly and a very inquisitive firstborn, but I was lucky enough to get a little extra inspiration from an odd source: Sunday's eclipse. We have beautiful views of the canyon and hills behind us, and I watched the light change on this hill as the sunlight waned throughout the course of the eclipse.  I noted how the normally stunning lights and shadows on this hill were blunted by the general darkening (as opposed to the usual sunrise or sunset glow).  I thought I would be a little more appreciative of those lights and darks and try a painting of the trees and hills the next morning. I completed this painting in several steps, having struggled a little recentl
Read more

Painting Cats

Image
"The Bookeeper" Click here to view auction After many years of painting cats, I've learned a few things.  Every time I start a new cat painting, it follows its own unique path, bringing challenges that I don't seem to face when I paint my more traditional material (landscapes, birds, floral and botanical pieces, etc.) For example, cats don't stay put for too long (unless they're asleep, and even then they'll often stretch and change positions when you're least expecting it).  To combat this challenge, I end up working mostly from photographs.  That means adjusting the proportions, since the camera angle causes some distortion depending on the position and location of the cat. "Eye Contact" Oil Pastel Not for Sale "Side Glance" Oil Pastel Available on Etsy  One of the reasons cats are enjoyable to paint is that they have strong facial expressions.  When I'm painting a cat, I get so focused on rendering the cat
Read more

A Hot Mess of Water Lilies!

Image
"Balboa Water Lilies" 9 x 12 Chalk Pastel on Paper Click here to view large or purchase So, every time I take great photos to paint later it turns into a learning experience for me. We took a little day trip in September down to Balboa Park in San Diego, California.  There wasn't much left of the water lilies after some recent vandalism (a bunch of geniuses decided to have a water gun fight and ended up destroying the lilypond).  It was a strangely hot day for downtown San Diego-- part of a series of heat waves that dogged me throughout the last months of my pregnancy.  I was thrilled to get some pretty photos while down there, particularly of the lilypads and turtles. I love to paint water, but I forget how time consuming it can be.  There are lots of layers involved, and I ended up using fixative as I layered in the lights and darks in this piece.  I also didn't anticipate how difficult it is to depict those peaceful, floating lilypads.  After a couple of
Read more