Grey green and pink in Yuma7" x 5", coloured pencils on Arches HP
copyright Katherine Tyrrell
Jeanne Grant makes me very proud.
Jeanne started sketching when I taught a sketching class on the Wet Canvas drawing and sketching forum - and she enjoyed it so much she hasn't ever really stopped since.
She now participates in sketchcrawls - even taking her granchildren with her on the first one - and has recently joined a plein air painting group and goes out with them on regular expeditions.
Today she celebrates the first anniversary of starting her blog and has written a piece about what she has achieved in the last year. She's been very kind about me in her blog generally and that post in particular. However I'm very clear in my own mind that Jeanne just needed to be shown the way in which sketching can improve your art - and everything after that has been down to her own constant wish to learn more and sheer determination and effort to see what she can achieve. Moreover she has really shown me how getting into sketching can change what you do and the way you live your life.
So anybody who values application, persistence and very real achievement in drawing and sketching, please go and celebrate Jeanne's blog birthday with her. You can visit her anniversary post here.
Jeanne lives in sunny Bakersfield in California so I hope she enjoys the cactus!
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Note: I was greatly intrigued when travelling through the south western states last summer by how cacti act as sundials. This was one was outside the place in Yuma we stopped to have breakfast on the great road trip from San Diego to Albuquerque and back again.
Link: Jeanne Grant
Katherine, I'm loving your cactus paintings/drawings. I hope to do more this summer.
ReplyDeleteJeanne is a great person. She is so determined and enthusiastic about her art, she inspires me when I'm down or in a rut. Nice to see her on your blog.
You see that you do inspire as well. :)
Jo
Jo - I'm also loving doing the cacti drawings. :D
ReplyDeleteI think Jeanne is a role model for the more mature lady. She really makes us all appreciate how you're never too old to start something new.
Thanks for the kind words. I do like your cactus and cacti or succulents. I find them fascinating. I wouldn't have thought to do those colors but they are really attractive.
ReplyDeleteJust last night I was looking through the Wetcanvas watercolor demos and found a WIP there. In that demo the colors are totally not what I would have seen when I looked at a cactus ref. But each stage was done in vibrant colors. Here is the link if you want to take a look. http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=109596
(By way of explanation - Jeanne's decided it's time she learned all about watercolour!)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeanne - it's always nice to see how other people do the same sort of subject.
The WIP is great to see how you can push colour and maybe not be so literal when painting. Very exciting. In Yuma (on the Arizona border) I found some very exciting looking pink cacti and was very taken with the lovely magenta colour - quite unexpected - I'd never seen anything like it before. Which means this one is rather more literal than exciting - although I do think the combination of the unusual colour and the focus on the shadows of the spikes makes it more interesting.
I've got at least one more pink cacti to do - more if I can make the notan work....... ;)
I really like the minimalist abstract qualities of this one - I'd love to see it A1 size!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you said that Vivien. That's exactly what I thought when I saw the image the very first time.
ReplyDeleteThis is by way of a study to see how people react to all those spiky things! ;)
Everyone who does art knows it takes lots of strength of character to ignore all the distractions, fend off the self doubts and just go do it. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, I love this cactus...different colors.
ReplyDeleteI've been blogging buddies with Jeanne for a while now since meeting her on WetCanvas. She's been an inspiration to me, and encouraged me to join the scavenger hunts. I've never done so much sketching in my life!! I try to bring my sketchbook with me on a daily basis to record something. So my thanks to you for inspiring Jeanne, who inspired me, and maybe I'll inspire someone too and the chain will continue. I will be back to visit here again.