Looking Back at 2021

 

Winter

Happy first Monday in 2022, My Lovelies!  One thing I accomplished in 2021 is figuring out which art supplies work for me, and which ones don't.  I tend to be all over the place with everything in my life (including art), but a little focus doesn't hurt.  For example, I found the best silverpoint paper that is way better than anything else I've tried, and I also found a great resource for oil-primed canvas boards.  YAY!

I drew several things with my new silverpoint stylus this year.  I was drawing quite a bit in 2020, and continued to draw a little in 2021.  This orchid was drawn on my favorite paper, and I need to place another order!

I also started painting again using M. Graham oil paints.  I couldn't afford to buy a large palette, but I like the palette I chose.  They use walnut oil as the paints' binder so (unless you're allergic to walnuts) it's much better for folks with allergies and asthma.  I have enjoyed painting with them!

I kept a few shiny silver and white Christmas decor up through the winter to make the house more sparkly and cozy.

Spring

We had a tornado devastate our neighborhood on March 25th: It was categorized as an EF-3.

This is our driveway under the trees.  We lost fourteen trees on our property, and many in the woods behind our home.

We were so fortunate that we sustained little structural damage to our home.  We were able to repair most of the damage to the home quickly, but not our landscaping (plants and hardscaping).  It took months to get it back to semi-normal.

Because I couldn't garden much and being outside stressed me out, I focused on fluffing the inside of our home, and spent a lot of time arranging flowers.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Our youngest daughter graduated from college in May, but I still don't have any photos of her in her cap and gown.  She didn't want to walk because the university didn't allow family members due to COVID.

Also in May, one of my best friend's daughters held her wedding in San Antonio, and I was a hostess for her bridesmaids' luncheon.

Lauren, the beautiful bride, is second from the left.

Summer

We had a very wet summer.  It was so unusual, and it didn't get that hot, either.  We did visit Lake Martin, and as our backyard got cleaned-up, we enjoyed it.

Back gate on deck overlooking chaste tree and limelight hydrangeas

We visited Shanley Belle and Christopher in Ann Arbor, and Georgie the Naughty Golden introduced himself to La Countess de Monet:

In late summer, I hosted a bridal tea for one of Shelley's best friends at our country club.  After a summer full of rain and clouds, it was a beautiful day for a party!  The sun was so bright the photos were terrible, though.  Everyone was squinting!

Centerpieces for bridal tea

Notice the little teacup and saucer!

Finally in late autumn, our landscape people were able to fix our front garden.  The reason it took so long is because of labor shortages and the wet weather.  Once we had our design and were scheduled for the job, it took four months for the team to get started.

Autumn

Shelley and I visited Shanley Belle and Christopher in Ann Arbor.  I love Michigan, and the people there are so friendly and kind!  We had a wonderful time, especially when we visited the Dexter Cider Mill.

In October, Shelley stood up for her friend Amelia in one of the prettiest autumn weddings I've ever seen!

Shelley

The weather was beautiful for Amelia and Austin's wedding

I loved the arrangements, especially the grasses and heirloom roses.

I joined Rita @ Panoply for her tablescape blog hops, and I started changing my tablescapes more often.

Right before Thanksgiving, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  It required quite a lot of diagnostic testing, and I had my first chemo treatment on December 27th.  My prognosis is very good because it was caught early.  I will not be blogging about it at all because cancer does not define who I am.  It will, however, limit my activities because my immune system is being destroyed.  BUT I have fun things planned to do at home, and since all other activities (in person art classes, all travel, DAR, sorority functions, and church) are completely off limits, I will be spending more time blogging.  The only other time I will blog about cancer is when I get to ring the bell after my last treatment.  

I have truly been humbled by my team of doctors, my chemo nurses, my breast cancer concierge Kristi, and strangers who've reached out to me with the most thoughtful gifts and helpful tips.  One lady made me a tiny pillow that attaches to my seatbelt so the belt won't hurt my port.  Another lady made me this beautiful quilt:

I would very much appreciate your prayers, and please feel free to call, text, or email me if you want to check-up on me.

Before chemo, I decided to do all the things!  

I went to in-person art classes and finished another painting:

I went to church several times, and I also went to the first ECW event we've had in a long time:

We had a fun painting party at ECW.

I went to fun places for Christmas cheer with friends:

The General in Avondale

Mr. Bookish took me on a fabulous date to an Alabama football game, and I enjoyed seeing the pretty Christmas decorations around campus, too.

My sorority's parlor decorated for Christmas.

Ironically, my sororities philanthropy is breast cancer education.

Thank God for it because had it not been for early detection, my prognosis would be very different.

Christmas

I hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, but it wasn't that hard because I catered almost everything or we went to the country club.  It was comforting having my family around me, and it's extra nice that my Son-In-Love is a physician.  He has been so helpful and kind!

This year for Advent I painted my own Chrismons and made a large Advent Calendar in my art studio.  It was fun!

I'll post my year in books on Wednesday, and tomorrow I'll post about goals for 2022!

Until next time...

Happy New Year!

Ricki Jill

Looking Back at 2021

Monday, January 3, 2022

We Have a Winner!

Happy Saturday, My Lovelies!  We have a winner of the silverpoint teapot drawing, above, from my Mad Tea Party post.  The winner is PC Petunia, who answered that her favorite macaron flavor is pistachio.  Please email me your contact information so I can mail it to you.

What are y'all doing this weekend?  I'm going to the library to (hopefully) find something fantastic to read.  *fingers crossed*

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

We Have a Winner!

Saturday, August 7, 2021

Botanical Art Techniques: A Comprehensive Guide

 

Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies!  Today I'm sharing with you a beautiful book that not only shares stunning botanical art: It's also a complete guide on how to draw and paint beautiful subjects from the botanical world: Botanical Art Techniques by the American Society of Botanical Artists.  It was published by Timber Press, and I have bought several beautiful books from them.

I love flowers, and I strive to improve my skills as an artist.  I have painted floral still life paintings in the past, but I was hoping that the book might offer different techniques for both painting and drawing.

Here are a few of my floral paintings:

According to Goodreads:

The Ultimate Reference, from the Experts

 

This definitive guide is the most thorough how-to available on every major technique of botanical artistry. The experts at the American Society of Botanical Artists offer step-by-step projects that move from introductory to advanced—so any level of artist can build on acquired skills. Helpful tutorials cover watercolor, graphite, colored pencil, vellum, egg tempera, oils, pen and ink, and printmaking. Filled with more than 900 photographs and stunning examples of finished art by the best contemporary botanical artists, Botanical Art Techniques is the authoritative manual on this exquisite art form.

About The Authors:

The mission of the American Society of Botanical Artists is to provide a thriving, interactive community dedicated to perpetuating the tradition and contemporary practice of botanical art.

Carol Woodin has been a botanical artist for thirty years and is the recipient of the 2018 ASBA James White Service Award, the 1998 ASBA Diane Bouchier Artist Award, the Orchid Digest Medal of Honor, and a Royal Horticultural Society Gold Medal.

Robin A. Jessis the Botanical Art and Illustration Certificate coordinator for The New York Botanical Garden, and former executive director of the American Society of Botanical Artists. In 1990, she was awarded a Distinguished Artist Fellowship by the New Jersey State Council on Arts.

This book is so beautiful, and it has the most stunning botanical art I've ever seen.  It covers several mediums, including watercolor, graphite, colored pencil, vellum, pen and ink, egg tempera, oils, printmaking, silverpoint, and more.  The step by step instructions are very detailed and precise, and I followed the steps for drawing an apple, and it was very involved.  But I learned quite a bit, and I transferred some of the information to silverpoint.

I started with this lesson on how to draw a Granny Smith apple with graphite.  Then I applied the lesson to silverpoint.

These silverpoint drawing of sleigh bells and a Granny Smith apple are in my silverpoint art journal.

Silverpoint or any metalpoint must use a special ground for the metal to stick to the paper.

Apples are tricky because there are so many planes on an apple.

Below are a couple of orchids:

I also decided to try a few of the drawing lessons for branches.  Here are my results, also drawn in my journal:

magnolia branch

dogwood branch

This was not included in the book, I just wanted to practice another branch.

I would love to have the patience to draw this:

It's an oak branch with lichen.  I think it is so pretty and detailed!

I have a few projects from the book I want to try soon.  Once I practice in my art journal, I will draw a couple of subjects on board treated with silverpoint ground.  I'll share once I finish them!

If you are a watercolor artist and want to learn new skills, you must invest in this book.  Most of the instruction in the book covers watercolor (alas, the one medium I do not use), and I wish there were more oil painting instruction.  But each lesson is instructive, and I'm learning about composition throughout. The drawing areas, whether with graphite or colored pencils, is very comprehensive, too.  Each lesson has a complete list of all materials used, instructions, and the amount of hours it took the artist to finish.  

Below is an IndeiBound affiliate link:

Shop your local indie bookstore

Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Botanical Art Techniques: A Comprehensive Guide

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

What Is Silverpoint?

 

Happy Wednesday, My Lovelies!  I've received some questions about silverpoint from posts on my other blog and Instagram, so I thought I'd write a post about it.

Metalpoint is using any type of metal to leave a mark on either paper or board that has been treated with a special ground.  Silverpoint refers to drawings made with a silver stylus.  Literally any kind of metal can be used, but the reason I like silver is because it doesn't stay gray: It tarnishes to a soft sepia brown-like color.  Gold, copper, lead, iron, zinc, platinum, aluminum, and brass have been used by artists.

Here are examples of metal styli: gold, silver, and copper.

This photo is from Silverpoint Web, and this site is a very good resource for all things silverpoint.

Sometimes silverpoint is mistaken for goldpoint because it turns tawny, but goldpoint does not look like gold, surprisingly.  Instead it's a very pale, delicate gray.  I would like to try it in the future, but they styli are very expensive.

Metal will not work on just any surface.  It must be prepared with a special ground.  Pigment is combined with a binder; the pigment can be made from anything, and during the Middle Ages and Renaissance it was typically made from ground animal bones with a binder of rabbit skin glue.  Then the paper or wooden board was brushed with the ground and dried before use.

Silverpoint was used for documents as well as drawing.  Monks used it for illuminated manuscripts beginning in the 8th Century.  The old masters used it until graphite was discovered in the 17th Century.  

This soldier was drawn by Leonardo da Vinci as a demonstration for his students in his studio.  The students were then expected to draw it.

St. Barbara

Jan van Eyck

I'm amazed how intricate her tower is!

Silverpoint was virtually forgotten for hundreds of years. Cennino Cennini’s Il Libro dell’Arte 1390 manuscript, rediscovered in the 19th century, revealed the technique of silverpoint.  Artists are definitely intrigued by it, but it is an unpredictable medium.  It is very delicate, and it is very difficult to erase because if erased too hard, then the ground can be removed and the silverpoint won't stick to the paper.

I first became interested in silverpoint when I took our daughter to her art class at the Jules Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn, University.  The museum was hosting an exhibit of Russian born and trained artist Viktor Koulbak.  I fell in love with his art.  Click on the link for the museum to see more.

Viktor Koulbak

Many artists enhance silverpoint with other media, like oils, watercolors, even colored pencils.

I have drawn four silverpoint drawings so far.  I really like it!  One reason is it is so portable.  I can throw my silverpoint pencil in my purse and not have to worry about it marking anything!  All I need is my stylus and a sheet or two of treated paper.  Another thing I like about the medium is that most pieces are small.  Silverpoint requires lots of layering.  

These pumpkins are my first silverpoint drawings.  You can see how I practiced the spheres at the top of the page:  Silverpoint is a study in values, or lights and darks.

Below are three orchid studies

This orchid was harder to draw because the top blossom and buds were the only things in focus.  The rest of the blossoms were out of focus, so I had to treat them as little abstracts.  Now that I look at it on the computer screen, I think I'm going to slightly darken the lower out of focus blossoms.

This is my mechanical pencil with the silver stylus.  I love it because one end is flat, ant the other one is a sharper point.  

Below are a couple of contemporary silverpoint artists I admire:

Joanne Harper

Silver Banyon 2

This book introduced me to silverpoint techniques and contemporary artists.  I highly recommend it, and I love Banjie's art.  Here is a LINK to her site.

Another website I'd like to recommend (that I also quoted in this post) is Jeannine Cook's site.  

The National Gallery held a silverpoint exhibit in 2015.  I hate that I missed it!  Below is a book about the exhibit.  It is phenomenal!  All artists' libraries should have a copy of it.

Silverpoint needs to be seen in person.  Photographs don't do it justice because it can't capture the unique sheen.  If there is ever an exhibit of silverpoint near you in the future, go see it because it really is a unique medium that is a joy to see.

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

What Is Silverpoint?

Wednesday, September 23, 2020