Tag Archives: Suhita Shirodkar

Side B: Black & White

And now for the flip side of last time’s color-centric post.

Plant Head

©2023 Elizabeth Fram

The learning continues, thanks to Summer’s slower pace. This month I’ve found myself taking a bit of a detour to focus on composition and value.
My impetus was a Substack entry from Urban Sketcher Suhita Shirodkar, linking to an Ian Roberts’ video about working outside your comfort zone. Watching it reminded me that I have a terrific book Roberts wrote called Mastering Composition. I pulled it out to flip through again and decided to take a stab at his “composition a day” exercise. Refreshers never hurt.

 

Ian Roberts Mastering Composition

 

My sole tool has been an HB graphite pencil, making value an integral part of each composition. Repetitively sketching this way for a couple of weeks has made it glaringly obvious the degree to which I gravitate toward, and get caught within, a middle range of values. It’s clear I need to concentrate on pushing for darker darks and blacker blacks.

Red Hen

©2023 Elizabeth Fram    Anyone who has stood at the Red Hen’s take-out window waiting for a maple creemee will recognize this view.

As an experiment, I converted images of my latest life paintings to black & white in Photoshop. It confirmed, as you can see below, that I need to pay closer attention to my values.

Siouxsie

©2023 Elizabeth Fram

On the bright side, even if this is the only thing I learn this summer, I will consider the season a success.

✷

My latest art-related treat has been watching videos by artists Sandi Hester and Frances Ives who cover various aspects of their practices on YouTube and Patreon. One of the aspects I most enjoy is they each spend a fair amount of time talking about, experimenting with and swatching new materials, taking a deep dive into the differences between brands and applications. 

Sandi Hester Swatching

A screenshot of Sandi Hester’s video “Favorite Color Pencils & Markers”

Regular hauls from Blick and Jackson’s (the UK equivalent to Blick) include all sorts of goodies. I fully acknowledge that for most, watching someone swatch a couple of fistfuls of colored pencils while elaborating on their minute differences might feel akin to joining Edmond Dantès at Chateau d’If (can you tell I’m reading The Count of Monte Cristo this summer?). But for this art nerd, it’s indescribably entertaining. I’m all for learning about the specific details and layering possibilities of unfamiliar materials before buying.
Needless to say, I just placed an order with Blick last weekend.

Outside the Studio

My friend Quinn was spayed this week. She’s bouncing back quickly, so the real challenge will be to make sure she avoids any other type of bouncing while she heals over the next two weeks. A rather tough ask for an energy-packed dog who loves to spring through our woods on patrol twice a day.

snooze-study

Snooze Study     © Elizabeth Fram

I’m trying to keep her from climbing the stairs to the studio during these first post-surgery days, so thank goodness for the portability of drawing materials and a laptop, both of which allow me to be productive despite being displaced.

quinn-in-ink

© Elizabeth Fram     Drawn with Noodler’s Ink in Tiananmen & Tom Norton’s Walnut Drawing Ink

While we’re on the subject of portability… I love reading other artists’ supply lists and suggestions, especially their travel solutions for paring materials down as much as possible while on-the-go. Sketchers tend to haul their gear everywhere, meaning they usually want to get by with as little and as lightly as possible. I’ve picked up some great tips that are both inexpensive and incredibly space efficient from the following:

inkblocksnalgene

And a couple of my own:

pencil-case-travel-paints

Of course one could get by with just a pencil and a small sketchbook, but where is the fun in that?

It’s That Time of Year

‘Back to school’ is in the air. Happily, if you’ve got a bit of an itch to acquire new skills – or just fine-tune the ones you already have, online options for continuing education are affordable and convenient, making it easier than ever to be part of a learning community.

Desk-Clutter1

Desk Clutter     ©2016 Elizabeth Fram                                                                                             For the most part clutter makes me crazy, yet have to admit that the usual state of my desk is more disaster zone than zen garden. But, if I take the time to pay attention, there are some interesting compositions lurking in the mess.

I first learned about Craftsy from a couple of my favorite sketch bloggers who were branching out to offer classes via that platform. Over the past couple of years I’ve signed up for several courses and have been extremely happy — I’ve learned a lot and felt they were an excellent value. Consisting of a series of videos, you can progress at your own speed, have lifetime access to the class, and even interact with the teacher. Unlike many other courses, sign-up is on-going so it’s possible to begin any time you like, and lessons are downloadable for off-line access. I love having the ability to start my art day early by watching a lesson or two while working out on the treadmill or stationery bike. Reasonably priced (most classes are under $40), they also have significant sales from time to time.

I have friends who have mentioned various online classes that they’ve taken and enjoyed, so it’s definitely a growing trend that accommodates our busy lives with no limitations on location.

Seltzer

Seltzer     ©2016 Elizabeth Fram                                          Sometimes I can make sense out of the jumble of stuff that keeps getting pushed aside on my desk. It’s an opportunity to both feed my affinity for organizing a subject toward the outer edges of the frame (as written about in this post), and for thinking about rhythms of space and value.

Here is a short list of teachers I am aware of (some on Craftsy, some not) that, while I don’t have personal experience with all of them, I wouldn’t hesitate to pursue any of their classes if it addressed my needs. Links can be found on their sites.

If you have an online instructor or course to recommend, please share with all of us in the comments.