Vanitas 29 work in progress

I am working on this drawing: Vanitas 29. I have to finish it and ship it to Arcadia Contemporary before the mid August delivery deadline.

Recently I switched pencils from Staedtler to Mitsubishi Hi-Uni. Boy, am I glad I did! I was amazed to find out how smooth MItsubishi pencils are. They are superior to Staedtler. Now I feel that I can have much wider range of values under control when rendering. The calibration is different from Staedtler, but Mitsubishi has a range as wide as 10H to 10B! I haven't used all of them yet, but I really enjoyed the ones I used so far for being very smooth on the paper and not gritty at all. it is much easier to control the values from very dark to very light. I don't think I would ever go back to Staedtler!

Vanitas 28 done

I haven't posted work in progress shots for a while (except on Instagram) but Vanitas 28 has been finished. This is the last piece of the puzzle: a Nautilus shell rendered in colored pencil. This drawing along with 2 other pieces will be shown in the Arcadia Contemporary booth at the Art On Paper fair in NYC in September. I will be sharing the booth with many of my art idols, I still can't believe it!

Vanitas 3 & 4 found a permanent home!

Today I met a wonderful couple who visited my studio and looked at my drawings. At the end they decided to take home Vanitas 3 and 4. I am so glad these two drawings ended up staying together since they are a diptych. The new owners of these pieces posted the drawings on their dining room wall on social media. I was pleasantly surprised that it looked like they were truly meant to be there! It is always a pleasure when I learn my art has found a good permanent home. This was one of those moments.

Vanitas 27 update (05-08-2021)

In the middle of rendering the background. When I use a photo reference like this for my art, the memory of being there and witnessing things years ago comes back. I remember the day I photographed this wall in Castello area in Venice, Italy. We saw an old man in a wheelchair and his son standing next to him by the edge of the canal watching the water go by and their smiling faces. I get to relive the experience.

Vanitas 27 update (04-30-2021)

The fabric is done. Now I can move on to the background. I am going to reuse the same wall I photographed in Venice but only a different portion of it, and alter the exposure to create a darker background. The final dimension of this drawing is 16" x 19".