Deborah Secor: Art and Faith

Contours and Christmas...

2009-12-12T12:02:00.008-07:00

It's Blind Contour Friday over at Diahn Ott's blog. Hmmm, Friday fell on a Saturday this week for me. If you want to know more about blind contours, there's a link over on her blog page.

I used a pic of a model walking on a runway for the first one (that skirt was short) and one of Diahn blogging in a cafe for the second.

It's really refreshing to just let go and do a little quick squiggly expression of something, plus I believe it strengthens some kind of connection between eye and hand movement. Fun!

And after the rather laborious attempts to learn to paint figures (see entry below) it's just a delight to let go.

Now it's time to get out my Christmas stuff and do a little holiday decor. It may turn out to be more challenging than I thought, since in July we had a garage sale. I was not in a Christmasy mood, it was 100 degrees out, and I think a lot of the decorations were put out on the driveway. All I wanted was a place to park the car inside. (It never happened. Yet.) I recall someone being thrilled with the artificial tree, so I know it found a good home. The rest? If you don't hear from me for a few days you'll know why.

Or it could be that I'm just making more blind contour drawings...

Deborah

Figure in Gouache

2009-12-01T17:01:00.007-07:00

I wanted to give this figure painting idea a try. Why is it that your brain can know just how you want it but your hand can't make it happen? Well, it's been a bumpy ride so far, but here's the result. It's a long road and I haven't even reached the first rest stop yet, but here you go!

This is 9x7" on Arches 300 lb. cold press paper using M. Graham gouache. It's a photo of my mom taken in the late 1940s with her often-indulged little Cocker, Duchess. I wanted to catch the sunny California afternoon feeling. I love the shadows on the shirt. That's probably what stopped me first.

Figures aren't easy to do! I've experimented with a couple over the years, but now I want to go a little deeper. So stay tuned, as I said, and let me know what you think.

Deborah

Making a Commitment

2009-11-21T13:15:00.013-07:00

I've decided that if I don't "go public" with this new commitment it will be too easy to slip out of it, so here it is: PEOPLE!

I've decided to do a three class unit in my next session in January devoted to drawing and painting people. I've already begun, as you can see, to do some sketches. I took the idea from Donna Zagotta's blog, where she challenged folks to do silhouette drawings and explained the basics. I decided not to force myself to do 1,000 silhouettes (although I know that would be marvelous!) Instead I decided to draw from photos of people in order to begin to comprehend the structure of the 16 basic forms of the human body Donna discusses. I'll work as close to daily as I can manage, but I'm not going to make any false promises during the holiday season that's coming up.

My plan is to perhaps try these in gouache, inspired by Donna's work and perhaps influenced by the work of Carla O'Connor and others, too. I might also apply some of what I discover to pastel work, as that's my most comfortable territory.

So stay tuned and let's see where this goes... If you have any suggestions of artists, lessons or other inspiration for me, please let me know!

Deborah

Soft Morning

2009-11-11T20:03:00.006-07:00

This one is 8.75" x 13.5" on buttercup yellow Pastelmat, using stick pastels and one of the Sofft sponges to blend. I didn't have the slightest intention of painting it this way, but it took over and ran the whole show! When that happens I don't fight, I just go with the flow.

Your opinion is welcome. Is this your style or do you prefer something more like this ?

Deborah

The Variations of October and November

2009-11-03T17:46:00.007-07:00

I finally found the time to get some photographs shot of the most recent of my Variations Challenge paintings. You might remember this was the challenge I set up for my students, and added on WetCanvas, as well. It's been a lot of fun to try to repeat the same image, in the same size (9x9"), in 30 minutes or less, and see how many ways there are to do it.

Variation 9

Variation 10

Variation 11

Variation 12

Variation 13

So, what do you think? This last one really pleases me, even though it's a bit of a departure. I used Colourfix Premium and PanPastels, and it was as fast as it looks!

Deborah

A Loving Father and the 1930 Yearbook

2009-11-03T14:54:00.009-07:00

My mom is 97, fairly healthy, and lives with us. Not long ago she and I went out together on the Internet to look at her old hometown of Council Bluffs, Iowa. She hasn't lived there since the 40s but it's still 'home' to her, of course. There are a lot of memories tied up in the place where you grew up.

We spent some time looking at Abraham Lincoln High School and I found a link on the Pottawatamie County Genealogical Society's page where you could request photographs. Her graduation year, 1930, was listed, so I sent off a request, mentioning that Mom had never received a copy of her yearbook. I forgot about it until today when I received an email telling me... well, here, read for yourself:

Hi, You are in luck - we have a spare 1930 AL yearbook. I find your mother pictured, so pretty. If you want to purchase the book we ask $10.00 plus $2.00 postage and handling.

Now, I'm not so sure it's luck at play here! Mom tells a story about how she never purchased a yearbook because she had stretched her father's budget pretty far and just didn't want to ask for more to get the book. Then one evening somewhat later someone was visiting and her father asked to see the yearbook. She confessed she hadn't gotten one--and he was upset (probably a bit embarrassed). That's most likely why she remembers it some 79 years later.

Needless to say, I'm delighted to spend $12.00 to be able to give her something so long awaited. Mom has made a new commitment to the Lord in the last two months, so it's no surprise to me that her Heavenly Father has seen fit to supply something that fell through the cracks all those years ago.

That's the Abba I know!

Deborah

Blind Contour Fruity Friday...!

2009-10-30T17:06:00.012-06:00

Blind contour fun on Diahn's blog again... this time bananas and apples for me. Hey, she did pears, so I thought, why not?

Oddly, I think practicing is paying off. Why is that odd? I haven't practiced that much! But just doing it is probably firing some synapses in the brain, using some part I've had hidden away for a long time. A good friend gave me Betty Edwards' book years ago, so unfortunately titled 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain'. (Why, oh why, could they not have titled it 'Drawing FROM the Right Side of the Brain'?) At any rate, I always returned to the exercises she used in the book whenever I hit one of those sudden full stops that artists and writers sometimes suffer.

Have you ever had that happen? Things seem to be going along fine and then one morning you get up, go into the studio and everything you paint is just gar-bazhe? Full stop. I'd haul out the book, get out the bird-decorated tin box I keep my pencils, pens, markers and erasers stashed in, grab a sketchbook and go for it. It just seemed to calm me down and get me engaged in the process instead of the problem.

So maybe it's that connection that's firing away in my brain. Whatever it is I'm having fun. Maybe you can see it in the line work here.

Deborah

New PanPastels Video

2009-10-30T16:31:00.005-06:00

Dancing Sunset
18x18"

This is the painting I did in the new video demonstration that PanPastels has produced. You can take a look at it at:

http://www.panpastel.com/learn.html
(Or view it at the bottom of this page!)

In the video I use PanPastels on my favorite paper, Pastelmat. You get to watch over my shoulder for a half hour as I paint and talk. I share a lot of techniques you can use with the Pans and a bit about painting the landscape, too.

So grab a cup of coffee and take a bit of time to watch me paint. I hope you enjoy it!

Deborah

Psalm 51 and Blind Contour Drawings

2009-10-24T12:38:00.004-06:00

I know it sounds like an odd combination, but I hope it will make sense.

If you don't remember psalms by the numbers (who does?) this one was written by David about his, ahem, indiscretions with Bathsheba. Let's face it, he committed adultery and then arranged the murder of her husband thinking he could cover up the conception of a child. Yeah, the child was born early. No, really...it happens. Uh huh. His sin was uncovered.

So how does David's song of repentance and restoration relate to blind contour drawing? In doing this kind of drawing you gaze steadfastly at the object and draw it without looking at the paper. I was over on one of the other sites where friends have joined in the fun (see my post on Blind Contour Drawings below) and there was a mention that the trick is to match the speed of your hand with the speed of your eye. Part of the reason these drawings are hard is because your hand and eye don't move at the same rate. Your eye is so much faster and when you aren't looking at the paper (the definition of BLIND contour drawing) you have to match the two. It's hard!

I think David let his eye get out ahead of him, gazing at the object of his lust, and instead of using the lag time while his 'hand' caught up as a chance to think it through and resist the temptation, he just slowed down his eye and lingered there. He went through with it.

Well, we're all sinners, and I can't cast a stone at David for what he did. But I'm so grateful that he wrote Psalm 51.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

Temptations come, but I have a choice. I can practice blind contour drawings, learning to see and do simultaneously, allowing my eye and hand to work together. Slowing down helps a lot. It gives me time to draw the picture the way it really is and think things through more clearly!

Deborah

Blind Contour 'Friday'- Week 2 sneaks up...

2009-10-24T12:01:00.005-06:00

Pretend it's Friday.

It's Blind Contour Friday and I hope you recognize my standard everyday household item...

No? Hint:

It dispenses.
It rolls.
It's sticky.
This one is empty.

As usual, I had to play. I'm not sure it tells you anything more about what it is, but it's graphic!

Take a look at Diahn's Blind Contour drawing, which is easily identifiable, and peek at the other links, too.

Then why not join in the fun!

Deborah

Variation #6

2009-10-18T13:19:00.011-06:00

This one is a pure explosion of color! I worked with my pastels on some Pastelmat in a peach tone, which is what inspired me to use the reds. I actually think this one is fairly successful, in terms of the experiments I'm doing. If I actually painted one of these every day, as Marla Baggetta did in her original Variations paintings, I think I would find changes and discoveries taking place in leaps and bounds. Perhaps at another time I'll be able to do that.

By the way, if you want to see more work by a number of artists using this challenge, be sure to drop by the Soft Pastel Studio at WetCanvas and look for the ***Challenge*** threads there.

This is the way my gallery of Variations looks now that I've added #6!

Deborah

Blind Contour Fun....

2009-10-16T16:13:00.008-06:00

Do you recognize my camera???

Okay, so I love it when I find a fun little challenge, especially when I remember the good ole days when I used to do blind contour drawings as a kid!

Over at Diahn Ott's Blog she's started Blind Contour Friday. You can go over to her blog and see links to all the different BC drawings... in theory...if people decide to play! Go check it out. Do your own. (And while you're over there -----> enjoy Diahn's wonderful gouache paintings of birds and etc.)

What better way to celebrate Friday?

I just had to play a bit.

While I was at it....

2009-10-15T09:57:00.004-06:00

This one is 9x9" in gouache, on white Pastelmat. I like it quite a bit, though it was a struggle to work at this (seemingly) gigantic size! I'm questioning whether it needs more work, but will give it a while before making that decision.

The loose sky appeals to me a lot. That's a giant leap for me, since wet-in-wet is a mystery yet unfolding.

I'd love to know your opinions on this one! Do you think I'm heading in the right direction?

Deborah

Another Variation

2009-10-15T09:52:00.004-06:00

The challenge continues! This one is in gouache, and I really had fun with the colors. I managed to vary things more--no more blue mountains, green tree or pale blue-green mid-ground. It took me longer than my limit of 30 minutes, what with drying time, and I still feel it's a little undercooked, but that's part of this exercise.

Deborah

The Variations Continue

2009-10-12T17:13:00.006-06:00

Here's the third and fourth in my variations on a theme. I've caught myself in a couple of habits.

Look at the four of them together (below) and you'll see that I've made all the trees green, all the mountains blue, and all the distant grasses blueish-green.

Next time out I plan to turn my cartoon upside down just to see what will come of that! Maybe it will help me escape my habits!

Deborah

A New Challange...

2009-10-01T21:16:00.007-06:00

I've given my students a new challenge in this session of my class: variations on a theme. Marla Baggetta made 100 paintings from the same image, showing in the current issue of The Pastel Journal. I loved the idea and asked the class if they wanted to give it a go. We aren't doing 100. I've decided to make 5 a week for 8 weeks, for a total of 40 paintings myself.

Today I decided on the subject and made some sketches, as you can see below. I started with a blurry grayscale photo of a painting I did in gouache (Two-Track), which I cropped down to a square format. Then I a notan of it, and from that I made a cartoon, a simple line drawing that I can use for all 40 paintings. It's about the same size as my paintings will be, 9x9". I folded it in four so I could analyze the shapes in each quadrant.

Below is variation #1, done on UART 400, using pastels. I'm allowing myself a maximum of 30 minutes to complete each one.

And here is variation #2, done on yellow Pastelmat.

Just to be able to compare them side by side, here's the beginning of my weekly record:

If you're interested in giving it a whirl, join us over in the Soft Pastel Forum at WetCanvas in this thread:

***I CHALLENGE YOU*** Variations on a Theme

Deborah

Two Red Rock Paintings

2009-09-19T14:43:00.004-06:00

Two more little gouache paintings, both of them on white Pastelmat, 2.5" x 3.5" in size. I paint them in pairs because I've learned that as one dries I can start another, and then return to the first one while the second dries. Sometimes parts need to dry a bit more, so I may take breaks in the process, but each one takes me about an hour to complete.

My tabletop gallery now has 31 pieces in it. I took the whole lot with me to Santa Fe while visiting the Artisan Art Expo. Had a ball in the trade show and came home with some new paint--M. Graham, my favorite gouache, at half price!!--and some paper, brushes, a new palette, as well as some pastels and UART paper. I'm looking forward to some studio time soon!

Let me know if you would like to trade or purchase my little ATCs.

Deborah

Animated Gouache Paintings

2009-09-16T10:21:00.009-06:00

Gouache on Bristol Paper

Gouache on Pastelmat

I've posted two animations of gouache paintings on WetCanvas and I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to post links here for you. Just click on the titles below each painting. The top link also contains shots of my palette and brushes. These are my usual 2.5" x 3.5" paintings.

Sometimes it's most helpful to be able to look at the order someone lays down paint and the kinds of strokes they use, so I hope these will enlighten. Let me know what you think.

Deborah

My Tabletop Gallery

2009-09-06T16:25:00.003-06:00

This is a not-so-fancy photograph of a table in my living room featuring my 'gallery' of little paintings in gouache. It's fun to have people drop by and mosey over to see the new work. I love hearing which is their favorite one--or two, or three, as often happens.

Which one do you like best?

Deborah

Wet Sand

2009-08-29T12:43:00.004-06:00

Wet Sand, gouache on buttercup Pastelmat, 2.5" x 3.5".

So that you can see the scale, here's another shot:

Once I finish these little gouache paintings and sign them, I put them into one of the little Clearbags and seal them shut, with a small label inserted on the back with my name, the title and a few other details on it. It personalizes the piece for you, so that whoever comes to own it has a bit of history.

Let me know if you'd like to buy or trade. $20.

Deborah

Shallows

2009-08-28T12:33:00.005-06:00

Shallows, 12x18" on buttercup Pastelmat, soft pastels.

Perspective applied to the Christian Walk

2009-08-24T10:14:00.006-06:00

I'm learning not to judge solely by my own perspective on a thing. It's probably a painfully obvious lesson, since it's so rudimentary in some ways, but my life and my faith walk often bring me back to the basics. So here I am again.

This morning I watched a YouTube video of an artist with no eyes, named Esref Armagan. In it the narrator says, "...vision also involves our ability to understand space." I'm constantly reminding myself to draw what I see, and NOT to draw what I think I see. This remarkable man is able to draw space without the benefit of sight. I wonder if his perception is clarified by the lack of vision, so that in knowing space he isn't distracted by seeing it. I can't say.

My study this morning was in 1 Corinthians 10. In verse 24 it says, "Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor." The word good is an additional clarification, added into the text for my understanding, but without that word it's interesting: "Let no one seek his own, but that of his neighbor." I started thinking about my own perceptions compared to those of my neighbor. If I set up my easel in one spot and a fellow artist puts her easel next to mine, we may be looking at the same thing but we don't have the same view. My painting, if accurate, will be different from hers. If she asks for a critique and I walk over to her easel and start to analyze her work, without looking at it from her point of view, I could lead her astray. If all I bring is my point of view, my perception of what she needs to do in the painting, I will most likely take her way off course. It's not what I think I see, but seeing things from her point of view that will allow me to help her.

So it is in my Christian walk. I shouldn't step into someone's life and decide what's good for her based solely on my own point of view. I need to know the accurate truth, which necessitates taking the time to look from her viewpoint so that I might help her perceive reality clearly, and bringing to her the Truth from the Bible, which is always the right perspective. Thank God.

Deborah

Deb@deborahsecor.com

Going to the Sea in my Mind...

2009-08-21T17:52:00.005-06:00

I have been so in the mood to go to the beach! I finally decided to find a few photos and just visit. There was a challenge at WetCanvas in the Watercolor Forum for people using gouache to paint 'marine and boat' themes, too, so that cinched it. These are what came of it. Each one is 2.5" x 3.5" in size, done in gouache on various surfaces.

Deborah

deb@deborahsecor.com

I love gouache!

2009-07-27T16:38:00.004-06:00

Summer Volcanoes

English Garden

Dashing River

Here are a few more ACEOs, which stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. These are originals, each measuring 2.5x3.5" in size painted in gouache on various surfaces.

I'm starting to flirt with having a small show. Ha! A play on words: Small Show; Small Works. I may set a goal of a certain number of paintings, maybe 100, and then see if I want to have a sale here at my home. Usually when people see these they want to take them home. The Internet never does the color and paint qualities justice!

However, if you're interested now, the price is $20 US, plus $1.00 for shipping. Contact me to arrange delivery, unframed.

Deborah

Small Treasures...gouache ACEOs

2009-07-13T10:13:00.006-06:00

Here are a few new ACEOs (which stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals--and these are all originals), each measuring 2.5x3.5" in size (not including white border), painted in gouache on various surfaces, signed and in a Crystal Clear bag ready to be sent out.

The price of each is only $20 US, plus $1.00 for shipping. Contact me to arrange delivery.

Sandia Sky

Butte

Mesa Road

Cloudburst

Skyscape

Small Reflections

Three Volcanoes

Pond

Float

Deborah
deb@deborahsecor.com