Another artwork and Information on Drafting film

Good Morning
12x12 inches
Pyrography, Coloured pencil, Inktense pencils and ink
on Cradled Birch Ply

This is my latest adventure piece combining the pyrography with coloured pencils - such fun.

I have also created an information page on my website at http://www.miniatureartbykhull.com/information_and_faq_42.html and have started the ball rolling with a comprehensive information page about drafting film. I get so many emails from artists seeking more information about this surface, where to buy it, which pencils to use etc. and so I thought it might be helpful to have a one stop info section and I will be adding more pages to it down the track.

Who Stole my Ladder
12x12 inches
Coloured Pencil, Inktense pencil, black Promarker and
White ink highlights on Wooden Art Panel

Make a Wish
8x10 inches
Coloured pencil and Faber Castell Pitt Pens on
Watercolour canvas

A couple of more Trompe L'Oeil pieces and some big learning curves. After attempting and discarding Make a Wish 7 times, using a range of mediums, I finally decided that I had better complete at least one and move on. As you can see the black background is blotchy and whilst I had hoped that an application of varnish might resolve this issue, it actually made it worse. So what did I learn from all this trial and error and exasperation? I need to take a different approach and avoid doing large areas with black background, and this lead me to working on the wooden art panels, and this proved so much more satisfying and less frustrating, so I think this might be the start of a series. Hope these put a smile on your face :)

Getting your coloured pencils to pop on a black background

Full o' Beans
9x12 inches
Coloured pencil, Gouache and white ink on Black Mat Board

I have spent the last couple of weeks redoing this piece over and over. I love working on a black background, but get a bit frustrated with the way some of the coloured pencil colours, particularly the reds, lose their vibrance when working on a black background. I decided to underpaint with a white medium. Underpainting with white coloured pencil is quite ineffective and really doesn't add to the vibrancy of colours added in subsequent layers. So I experimented with white acrylic, Gouache, gesso, Colourfix primer and white watercolour. None of them gave me 100% satisfactory results. The jellybeans needed to look smooth and glossy and some of the more textured primers such as the gesso and colourfix made it hard to achieve that smoothness. The pencil didn't apply as well as I wanted over the acrylic or Gouache either. I have dabbled with the Golden Drawing ground, but find it a little too slick for coloured pencils and some of the vibrancy of colour is lost. So, I tried diluting the Gouache with the Drawing ground. The chalkiness of the Gouache was reduced with the slickness of the ground and vice versa. I still wouldn't say that this is the perfect solution, but it was the best of all the options I tried. Back to the drawing board to find that elusive magic formula!!! :)

'Tis the Season & Happy Thanksgiving

'Tis the Season

10x9cm

Watercolours and Watercolour pencils on illustration board

Firstly, a very Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends who celebrate this wonderful tradition.

More experimenting with watercolours and watercolour pencils, with the dual purpose of having an image for our Christmas Cards.
I really shouldn't be drawing or painting at all at this crazy time of year with so much to do and so much going on for us at the moment. Apart from a new puppy, which is giving me sleepless nights and has me standing out in the rain with an umbrella waiting for 'piddles' to happen, we have one son in the throws of uni exams (Psychology), one son just finished his HSC and has been enjoying formals, schoolies and the like, the third son is on school camp and just completed his School certificate, and our youngest is busy with all the pre Christmas activites that Primary Schools are so good at organising. Between that and trying to fit in Christmas shopping, spring cleaning and still catching up with friends, I think art really is my sanity escape, rather than simply a source of income!!!

Dancing the Night Away

Dancing the Night Away

8x10 inches

Watercolours and watercolour pencils on watercolour board

I have always loved watercolours - not actually painting them, for this is a medium I never seem to master, but because of my struggle, I have all the more appreciation for those who do master this beautiful medium. My biggest problem is letting go and allowing the paint to do it's thing. I really wanted to do this painting in watercolours alone, but then that need for detail and tightness reared it's ugly head and so I ended up relenting and completing it with watercolour pencils. Nevertheless, I will continue to play and practice and research and see if I can't one day produce a piece that I am truly satisfied with.

One of the things I have also struggled with is using masking fluid. This time, I tried watering it down slightly, and that seemed to make the liquid much more managable. I have read on numerous sites that the masking fluid is impossible to remove from your brushes once set, however I use a wonderful product by Pascoes called Oomph Glue Remover for removing everything from adhesive to chewing gum, and to my delight this liquid removed all traces of masking fluid from my paint brush restoring it to it's former glory. It smells a little like the Zest-it used to blend coloured pencils, so I'm wondering whether the Zest-it might also work for those who have some.

A Platter for Two

A Platter for Two

9.5cm

Coloured pencils and pan pastels on wood primed with colourfix primer

I have had one of those weeks one step forward, two steps back, and have had to start a couple of artworks over several times, due to lots of little problems. Anyway time is starting to run out, as the Australian Society of Miniature Art National Awards Exhibition looms closer and closer, so it was high time to get a couple of miniatures done. This was my third attempt at this one, as in my first two attempts, I underpainted with white acrylic, followed by clear Colourfix primer, only to find that the acrylic undercoat simply blended with the primer and created a smoky mess. This hasn't happened before, and so on the third attempt, I primed with white gesso and then the colourfix primer with a much better result. I love working with the clear gesso, but for some reason the tooth and texture gives me a rash where my hand is resting, and so I've gone back to the clear Colourfix primer which doesn't seem to have that effect. This little miniature was done on a timber coaster, which, surprisingly it took me quite a while to find. Again, you will notice that those little mice have trespassed into my artwork - just can't get rid of them!!! :)

What a Lovely Surprise

What a lovely surprise I received yesterday when one of my friends on RedBubble congratulated me on coming third in the latest Australian Artist's Art Competition for my artwork 'The Uninvited Guests'. I hadn't even realised. I bought this magazine for the first time a few months ago, although I should have subscribed to it years ago, as it truly is a wealth of information about art, artists, and exhibitions - so worthwhile. I entered the art competition on a whim, never really expecting to hear back, so this was a really lovely treat. I was also thrilled to be sharing the page with Elena Kolotusha, who's wonderful artwork I am so very familiar with, also from RedBubble and who was awarded second for her superb still life.

Around the World in Eighty Seconds

Around the World in Eighty Seconds

12x16 inches

Coloured pencils on gesso primed wood

This artwork was lots of fun to do, but caused me a few headaches in the end. Initially, there was no writing on the globe and then one of my sons commented that he felt it needed some text on the globe. At this point, I had already sprayed with fixative and so the pencil really wasn't adhering to the artwork. I should have known better, but used one of my finest permanent markers to add some text. All was fine, as you can see here, until after scanning this, I sprayed another coat of fixative, at which point all the letters bled into the surrounding areas. At this stage, all I could do was use a damp cloth and remove that whole section and start again. Thankfully this worked Ok, although the ocean now has a slightly more uneven colouring, which I suspect from miles away is how the earth would look anyway. We live and learn!!! :)

The Uninvited Guests

The Uninvited Guests

30cm x 30cm
Coloured pencils on wood

What fun I had with this artwork! This time the wood was sealed first, then an undercoat of acrylic applied to the appropriate areas, and then two coats of clear colourfix primer was applied. I am struggling now, to find plain pine breadboards, and so tried this bamboo and pine combination breadboard. The bamboo is much harder than the pine of course, and even though I gave it a good sand with a fine sander, it still has more texture than the pine and probably more than I would like, but it was a fun experiment anyway. This is my last artwork on wood for a little while, as I now have to buckle down and do some illustration work, but my goal is to do more of these pieces, as I have so many ideas floating around that I could sit and draw for months - sadly there just aren't enough hours in the day!!!

You Make Me Smile

You Make Me Smile

8x10 inches

Watercolours and acrylics on Canson Mi Teintes Tex Card

I really should have been working on a commission today, but sometimes the urge to be creative overwhelms everything else and I really had a compulsion to have some fun and play with colour. I took a litter of 8 little baby mice off to the pet shop on Monday, and so before Mum and Dad get too busy with another litter, they kindly indulged me with a bit of modelling for a photo shoot last night. Somehow, my art always comes back to the theme of mice - I just love drawing and painting them and their endearing little faces. I hope this brings a smile to your faces :))

Unlocking Old Secrets

Unlocking Old Secrets

9x5 inches

Acylics on Plywood

This is my entry for the 2010 9x5 Illustrator's Australia Exhibition, where the theme is 'Untold Stories'.

Well, we all know it is a woman's perogative to change her mind, so after several weeks of experimenting and pulling my hair out, I have now decided to offer commissioned portraits in acrylics, rather than coloured or graphite pencil, I redid a commissioned portrait a couple of times last week for a very patient client, and whilst unfortunately I can't post the image at this stage, I was really happy with the results. I will spend this week doing a few more to include with my listings. Being an artist is never dull!!!

1st Prize Drawing Section ASMA Awards Exhibition

A Life Well Spent

6x8 cm

Graphite pencil on drafting film

I often forget to post if I have won an award, but have just come back from collecting my prize for winning the Drawing Section of the ASMA (Australian Society of Miniature Art) National Awards Exhibition for "A Life Well Spent". I wasn't able to attend the Presentation Evening last night, as we were on our way back from Canberra, but had the opportunity to browse the exhibition this afternoon. How inspiring!!! When attending these Miniature Art Exhibitions, I am always reminded of why I fell in love with this genre of art in the first place. This was a timely prize for me also, as the prize was a boxed set of 120 Faber Castell Polychromos, and those of you familiar with my work would know that these are my favourite pencils - some of mine are only about one inch long now. Whilst there, I was happy to learn that my painting "Hush Little Mouse" had sold as well.

Latest ACEO - Room for Two?

I had a lovely photo session with our new pet mice yesterday - they were so obliging. I loved this shot of one seeming to beckon to the other to join her in the crib, so couldn't resist drawing them. They really are the cutest animals. I watched one of them yesterday who was so busy for ages moving all the bedding material from different parts of their enclosure to this big mountain that she was creating. I would love to know what goes through their heads. We actually have one tan, one black and white and one pure white mouse, but I adjust the colours to suit the picture. This original ACEO is available to purchase from my ebay store. A wonderful day to all of you and hope no-one is close to the bushfires in LA :).

The Art Student

Well we bought our three little mice: Milly, Molly and Mandy (three girls so we don't get babies!), and they are a source of delight for the kids - until the novelty wears off. Here is the first artwork featuring Milly in amongst some pencils. Your challenge is to see if you can find the tiny paintbrush I have hidden somewhere in the picture. It took my husband and kids ages to find it, but I suspect it may be easier on the computer screen. This ACEO is available to purchase from my ebay store.

Latest ACEO - Hide and Seek

This is my latest ACEO - had so much fun drawing little mice, that I thought we might add to our extensive family pet collection to get a couple of mice, so I have ready little models - hope they don't smell too much, but they are very cute.

I was interested, and I must admit, a little disappointed to see the Innocence ACEO did not sell on ebay, so have moved it over to Etsy. That is the first of my ACEO's not to sell in a while, maybe because it was too much like a portrait. I have always started my ACEO prices from a reserve of between $20 and $30 aud, so thought I would try something different with this latest one and start the bidding at 95 cents, to see if it attracts more interest. I guess there is always a risk in doing this, that it does sell for only 95 cents, which really doesn't make 6-8 hours of work worthwhile, but will be an interesting process. This ACEO may be purchased from my ebay store.