Colonel Graphite and Her Army of Colored Pencils!

Portfolio, Works on Canvas

2008-06-12T10:55:00.008-04:00

gwe duk

36 " x 36 "

Acrylic on Canvas

September 2008

The Midnight Express

Acrylic on Canvas

36" x 36"

March 2008

Topple Walker, To Room 141

Acrylic and Oil Stick on Canvas

40" x 48"

Recent Work, Pen and Ink Studies

2008-05-11T09:48:00.010-04:00

Paintings on Canvas, Recent

2008-01-08T16:58:00.002-05:00

Hide and Seek

Acrylic on Canvas

48" x 48"

December 2007

Bugaboo

Acrylic on Canvas

48"x 48"

December 2007

Works on MDF

2007-06-06T10:35:00.000-04:00

E3B vs. The Killer Bees
24"x 24"
Mixed Media on MDF

Update by the Colonel, Drawing Commences at 0700 and Never Ends!

2007-01-19T08:57:00.000-05:00

Work in Progress

Life Support - Tarp, Components and Accessories

or perhaps

Life Support - Grief Parade

Pencil Crayon and Mixed Media on Paper

44" x 30" (and expanding)

This is what I am currently working on and having a great time doing it. I think this drawing has been building in me for years, perhaps more than a decade. I attempted something on a similar scale back in the early 90's and had a difficult time keeping up with it. It's still tuff going, but I'm pretty determined! There are mores pictures of it, details, on my Dear Treehouse blog.Okay toodles!

Portfolio, Wacom Drawings

2006-12-14T13:08:00.000-05:00

Portfolio, Works on Paper, Pencil Crayon and Graphite

2006-12-14T11:18:00.000-05:00

My Painting Assistant, Monkey, Has Two New Friends From the East Coast and New Drawings!

2006-10-14T13:34:00.000-04:00

No Woody's Here! (Groan!) Two New Drawings Though!

2006-08-20T16:57:00.000-04:00

I add to my list of supplies, woodless colored pencils, and I do love them! They draw like colored pencils, meaning they are soft, a bit waxy, but they are also quite chalky. I can't quite put my finger on just why they work so well, but they really do and they sharpen like a dream! I like to use all my tools in my star pencil case, they work well together, wood and woodless. Best thing is, I got them for 50 % off at Michaels grand opening, just down the steet. Michael's is full of all kinds of tacky crap, I'm not that fond of the place, but a sale is a sale!

I bought some frames for my drawings today and R helped me hang them in our livingroom above the entertainment system. I had no idea they would look so good, it really surprised me! I hung the two drawings you see here and my cow drawing. When I stood back to look, I got all teared up and blubbery. It is so rare that I see my own work on a wall and especially drawings that I really like so much. I will take a picture of them in our room for you and post it tomorrow, the lighting is not so good today as it has been raining all day. First non-thunder shower rain we have had in weeks, kind of nice actually and brings down the humidity.

Last night we watched The Incredibles on our new plasma screen, R bought an HDMI Nad DVD player and finally hooked up all the speakers for surround and wow was it ever spectacular. I felt like I was really in a theatre and the whole house shook during the explosive scenes, apparently this is a good thing! Ha!

Just in the past few days I have been feeling ready to get back to painting. It is almost time, in fact, I thought about ordering two more canvases today, just in case they have to get them in for me. Going back to my 48"x 48" size, which seems to be a lucky one for me. The only reason why I didn't put that order in, is because it is time to transition to making my own canvases. So tired of shelling out so much money to have premade ones delivered.

You have no idea how hard it in on me to not spend money on all the little toys I would love to have, all the cute clothes out there, I love to shop! I've never been a saver, always a spender, but I learned my lesson well. In my early thirties, I was still a bit wild and blew $25,000 on lots of fun! Now that I'm older and much wiser and have the chance of a life time to really save and reinvest, you better believe I'm not so stupid the second time around.

Last Drawing From My Vacation, Like Don't have a Cow Dude!

2006-08-13T12:55:00.000-04:00

A Very Productive Holiday on Lake Okanagan! Six New Drawings!

2006-08-12T09:17:00.000-04:00

We had a fabulous relaxing vacation on Lake Okanagan. Got back yesterday afternoon and I was up early taking pictures of drawings. I did 8 in total, 2 were gifts for R's neice and nephew. R's nephew Josh, was close by my side during most of my drawings, holding pencils, handing me new colors and picking out the colors that little Katie would like for the butterfly I did in her picture. I am sure I shall never have such great assistants ever again. It was sweet, beyond belief and I think Josh just may grow up to be an artist himself, as the force is quite strong within him! Will post more vacation pictures on Dear Treehouse when I get them organized. I mostly took photos of the huge houses on the lake. You won't believe them! We took lots of scenery and family shots as well.

Had a great trip to Kelowna and visited a friend whom we met here in Ottawa. Britt and her husband Martin have just bought a place in Westbank, just over the bridge from Kelowna. We hope Martin got in from overseas okay, as he had to fly through that mess in Heathrow. The airports in Canada were not too bad, although we had a 45 minute wait for luggage when we arrived at the Ottawa airport, but we did get our luggage and that is something that rarely happens! Ha!

I missed all my blogging buddies. Looking forward to catching up on all that I missed!

Weapons Cache!

2006-07-26T07:57:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning I started another drawing, this time in my vellum sketch book which is a bit bigger. It is all very abstract, nothing recognizable in it, which of course, also allows for a whole lotta freedom. Yes we do like our freedoms, dig dig! Ping! Ping! I'm slinging with my little bloggy sling shot! Ha! Any who, I had that feeling that this particular drawing was not going to turn out well, but then it really started to take off! I am hoping I will finish it before we leave for vacation. I haven't packed yet, R started packing on Monday! It takes me 20 minutes to pack, R is more anxious to get out of here for there, me too, but I am more attached to sitting and drawing.

We went shopping for a PSP yesterday and found that they have such amazing graphics! I think we will be fighting to play it, like two kids in the back seat of the station wagon! Ha! Today we will probably get one! You see what kinds of things people without kids spend their money on! Such fun crap!

Yesterday we were at the hospital getting shots, R not me, and the nurses went wild for this drawing above. One woman put her hands over her mouth and gasped! Maybe she saw something testicular! Ha! They asked me if I am an illustrator, and when I said no they said oh you should be and you should do children's books. Sigh! Ha! Can't you see my big bad weapons! You see how disarming my little innocents are? He He! Must go see what R is doing to my clean kitchen!

Colonel Graphite's Photographer Learns About the White Scale! Topple Walker Gets Brighter!

2006-07-16T17:06:00.000-04:00

Finished Topple Walker 12"x 12" Colored Pencil, Graphite, Watercolor Pencil, Gel Pens on BFK Paper

Ha! So funny I forgot to draw in Topple's arms, I guess I was anticipating selling them for Moleskine sketch books. Last night, R said to me "how come your bird only has one leg?"You see some times I forget to draw in limbs. To be honest, I hadn't even noticed!

Yesterday a neighbor friend came over and took a look at our digital camera, as he is in the market for a new one and he gave me some tips to get brighter whites. I tried it out this afternoon, only outside this time and the drawings look much better, you can click on them to see more detail.

Spelunking Into Fabriano, Topple Walking, Tanks and Clouds!

2006-07-16T09:02:00.000-04:00

This is my painting table/drawing table, a spot where I spend a lot of time. The painting in the background is called Spelunking, acrylic on canvas 48"x48", I finished it in April. My drawing table sits in my kitchen, we have quite a big kitchen, with lots of room for my arting. This table is similar to one my Dad built to put in his den at home and I fallowed in his foot steps and made one for myself, the materials for it were a gift from my folks. I love it and I take good care of it! We all need a mongo huge table to work on and this one is 49"x 72". It is made with 3/4" or 5/8" MDF and has 2 coats of Melamine paint, which does not scratch easily and is very easy to clean with an abrasive cleanser. For those of you who read my painting blog Dear Treehouse this is a bit repetitive, sorry!

R and I went shopping on Bank Street (near city centre) and found a pretty well stocked art supply store called Loomis. I had done some online searching to see what kind of sketch books they sold and was pleased when I saw Fabriano sketch books. I was even happier when I got to the store and found this one. The paper is very heavy and smooth, nothing comes through and I very much enjoy drawing on in it. They do sell Moleskines at this shop, but not the sketch books, and the books they do sell, they were asking me to sell both my arms and both my legs and the only time I would ever consider selling an arm would be for Leya Evelyn's indigo painting. I also got a larger Bristol stetch book with smooth, thick vellum, I always did like drawing on vellum.

First page of my sketch book, trying out a few new colored pencils by Derwent. It is so interesting to draw with several different makes of colored pencils, they are all so different. Prismacolor's are very soft, but fairly waxey, they need sharpening often. Derwent's are very smooth, hard and also a bit waxey, but in a different way and they don't need sharpening as often. I also have some Ticonderoga Core-Lock which are very similar to Prismacolor only not as soft and the core-lock promises break free leads. Ha! What a crock! The type of pencil sharpener seems to be a big determining factor in how often one gets a break when sharpening.

The first drawing in the upper left hand corner is Jacie's version a tank; however, it is sure to get blown to pieces by the enemy, as it has the brightest of red trim and some gold sparkles. Poor army, to be so ill equipped! Sigh! Topple Walker appears to be telling a fish story in this next drawing! I then moved onto some bright yellow clouds with silver lining!

R has gone on a motorcycle ride with a friend from work. They left early before it gets too hot! Yesterday the temps were up in the high 30's with the humidity (About 100 F) and today will be much the same. Last night R and I went for another exploration of the neighborhood, (it was such a steamy humid evening) this time we discovered a more upscale area with homes around the $500,000 mark, we love to comment on each house as we go. We ewwww and ahhhhh over landscaping, fencing, the immaculately trimmed shrubs and R points out the value of the cars in the drive ways. Last night there were 2, $80,000 cars in a driveway, a BMW SUV and another BMW sports car. R is car crazy! I love to look at concept cars of all kinds. I first caught the bug when we went to the Toronto car show a couple years ago. I don't even drive, but I love looking at the designs and like with art work, I am very fussy.

I've been reading some blogs from Israel and Lebenon lately, nightly actually! They are often far ahead of North American TV news reports and give a much more personal perspective of what people are experiencing. It makes me afraid, I am sensing that with all the conflicts currently happening now, and the cost of operations rising and the threat of it all, that someone is going to get nuked. I really feel this!

Chicka Tree Tree Tree! Wacom # 14

2006-07-12T09:12:00.000-04:00

This Mornings Topple Walker, Kickin It On Paper!

2006-07-11T17:28:00.000-04:00

Work in Progress, Topple Walker, 12"x12", Prismacolor Pencil, Water Color Pencil on BFK Paper

Topple Walker! Wacom # 13

2006-07-11T09:24:00.000-04:00

Butter Flug! Wacom # 12

2006-07-09T09:15:00.000-04:00

Building Blushing, Wacom # 11

2006-07-07T08:44:00.000-04:00

Fish Terrorist! Wacom # 10

2006-07-05T15:58:00.000-04:00

north korean bizarre! wacom # 9

2006-07-05T07:36:00.000-04:00

Boneless, Skinless, Boone-Dogglin and Poke-Slowin! Wacom# 8

2006-07-04T22:10:00.000-04:00

E3B Meets A3A, Wacom Style!

2006-07-03T23:48:00.000-04:00

So I thought I would try translating the painting I am currently working on, into a drawing, also not an easy task! It is difficult to go the other way as well, drawing to painting. Will I ever get the two together in a way that satisfies me? Sometime in this decade, perhaps, would be preferable! Yes, Yes! I had a marriage between litho and drawing at one time, but in litho a drawing tool is also used. Do oil sticks come in pencil form? You know what would be really cool? Oil in a rollar ball tube, that rolls off the ball like ink from a pen!!! Does anything like that exist? Would it work? I must get my people on this, after all I am the Colonel! Surely I have people! Yah! Ha! Not!

Philip and I Go Sketching at Martello Tower! Wacom #6

2006-07-03T20:07:00.000-04:00

Captain Philip Guston Pink was late for sketching, yet again today! He will be disciplined for letting down the Prismacolor Light Infantry, severely! His punishment shall commence with finishing my roman shade project! Ya like I wish! I spent a few hours today, hand tacking rows of temporary basting stitches through the top layer and the blackout fabric. I am almost finished tacking the first shade and will then flip it over and graph out where the rings will be placed for the cording to be threaded through! I can't wait to get back to painting! I suppose the break is good for me, it really did wonders for me at Christmas time.

We went for a drive downtown today and I was very sorry for not including my camera on the trip because it was really beautiful to drive along the Rockcliffe Parkway, as it follows the river all the way to Sussex Drive and the landscaping along the boulevards is just unbelievable! The huge mansions are something else as well!

We stopped briefly at the Rideau Lookout and watched all the sail boats having a wild time on the river, they had great wind! The place was full of tourists, sight seeing like us! We drove by the National Gallery and I thought of Emily Carr. We have yet to go and see the exhibition, but I am really looking forward to it! Emily's face is splashed all over local city buses! My she would be just tickled over all the attention, I am sure! You can check out Emily Carr in my links under National Gallery of Canada. In my Treehouse blog.

Sussex Drive was full of tourists as well, lots of families with strollers going to the Gallery and to the Mint. We saw loads of cyclists the whole way, some serious, some struggling, some taking a break and many peddaling hard against the wind. It is very hot today and we have just had several hours of very intense storms with more wind and rain than I have ever seen and I still hear thunder in the distance and the skys are once again very dark. We have had raging thunder storms, most days for over a week now. Very exciting weather! Not so great for sketching on the wacom, as I am constantly having to shut down the computer!

The drawing I did today is based on a sitting I did at the Martello Tower in Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia, several years before hurricane Juan came through and flattened all the trees. Pink was not present for that sketching event.

Black Needle in White Needle Haystack, Red T-Pins Indigenous! Wacom #5

2006-07-02T15:08:00.000-04:00

I Jackie Wiggs went to art college for several years and took everything except ceramics, sculpture and graphic design, I hated all art history classes and even after all those years of learning I still don't have a BFA! Ha! You want to know something else? I don't give a flying ---- that I didn't finish! Ha! So there you have have it! Not finishing does not make me any more or less of an artist. Not having an art history background does not influence my work one single bit, it just makes me suck when R and I watch Jeopardy and he looks to me to answer the art history questions. Oh well! I'm going on about this because I just read in a blog that this really accomplished artist felt inadequate about not having any formal art training. Formal training does not make a person an artist! Studio time and blood sweat and tears makes a person an artist, it is the effort and the joy that makes for an artist, it is the creative power within the person that makes for an artist!

I remember when Jacques Demers (long time NHL hockey coach from Quebec) announced that he was illiterate and how ashamed he had been all those years that he could not read. My first thought was, jeeze Jacques and it looks like it has really held you back, the poor man was so embarrassed for so long and it was a tightly kept secret. Give yourself a break Jacques, you may not be able to read one single word in any language, but you know what - you are good enough just the way you are, GOOD ENOUGH! Not being able to read does not make Jacques Demers any more or less of an accomplished person, his value does not diminish in my eyes! You go Jacques!

Flower Bed!

2006-07-01T16:45:00.000-04:00

I'd rather be, under the sea, in an octopus's garden; that is, rather than sewing roman shades. You see, with painting and drawing, mistakes are helpful, in sewing, mistakes make for many extra minutes ripping out stitches! The only thing colorful, was coming out of my mouth, as the neighbors must have heard words never before spoken by a woman! My blood pressure was at boiling point when I discovered I would have to 'square up' a 39"x 78" piece of blackout fabric, after discovering that it won't rip. Oh well, actually that isn't entirely true - it does rip in one direction - on a lovely angle, YES, YES, AND ROMAN SHADES ARE ALL ABOUT ANGLES, YOU SEE THEY WERE NOT AT ALL INVENTED BY THE ROMANS; IN FACT, THEY WERE INVENTED BY THE CUBISTS!!!!!!!!!!

This drawing is my idea of a flower bed, ah yes, a bed full of beautiful smelling flowers that I sleep in, no weeding involved here, only snoring and drooling and the occasional sleep walking, while eating a banana split! HOT DIGGITY THAT SOUNDS GOOD!

Hot Air Balloon Components!

2006-07-01T12:59:00.000-04:00

Hot air balloon baskets held up by suspenders have been part of my drawings since the early 1990's and here it is again, broken into a few components parts. Missing, of course, is the fuel required for lift off, well isn't that just typical, ha! At least the unsuspended bridge did not have to be assembled first, it just needs some serious tensile action!

Unsuspended Bridge, Water Slugger!

2006-06-30T16:29:00.000-04:00

The Lazy Lay- About Bridge, just slugging it on the water. Have you ever taken a nap in your favorite hammock and woken up all drooling and sweaty and extremely sluggish, ya no, me neither; however, hypothetically speaking you may just feel and look like this lay- a - bout bridge. Dang exhausted!

We spent $150.00 on fabric this morning, to make roman shades for our living room. A few weeks ago, before R's operation he treated himself to a 42" Pioneer Plasma screen for the livingroom. Now I am the maker of roman shades, high tech ones with very heavy black out fabric on the back. F-----Hell, I am sooooo not into sewing these days, however, since I have a fairly extensive background in textiles, this will be my next project, and FYI the extensive background in textiles in no way qualifies me for this roping, as I have never made roman shades and haven't a clue! I told the recovering one, that now would be a perfect time for him to take up with the needle and thread. All in favor, say yah!

First Drawing on My Wacom Tablet

2006-06-29T21:30:00.000-04:00

This drawing is my beloved feathered friend E3B, which is the first three digits in my postal code from my home town of Fredericton. E3B has had many adventures in my paintings, but this is E3B's maiden voyage in my new sketch blog, Colonel Graphite! Many more drawings will follow and you can follow my progression as I enter this new sketch world.

I will still be painting as much as ever, not to worry that my painting has haulted! I am just about to finish up an abstract bridge painting called E3B Meets E3A (E3B being the postal code for one side of the St. John River and E3A for the other). However, since I have been painting for 10 months straight with only a week off at Christmas - I am going to take a bit of a breather, just to recharge my energy supply. During this 'refuelling' I will be doing a heck of a pile of drawing on my Wacom and doing a little traveling to British Columbia for 2 weeks. Ya Wooooo! R and I will be on stake out in the beautiful Okanagan, keeping our eyes peeled for a nice spot to retire to and visiting his family, which we look forward to every year!