Long Overdue

"Jimbe", Graphite, on paper. 14x18"
Drawn from life, over a period of 3 days, while studying with Colleen Barry, the very talented artist and incredibly generous teacher. 

Timeraiser and Latitude 53

Fall! It is upon us!

This blog is a great reminder of how quickly time flies, and how neglectful I've been with updates.

So, without further adieu:
This month marked the end of my 5 year term as a member on the Board of Directors at Latitude 53. I've served the maximum allowable terms (2) and now must move on. But I'm not going far! In fact, the Board at Latitude 53 is currently in the middle of an IndieGoGo Fundraiser campaign to help with much-needed bathroom renovations for the gallery building. There are some excellent perks for donors, including a custom portrait by yours truly.

Please click here for more information:

http://igg.me/at/L53bathrooms/x/2601169

 

I've also been busy flexing my curatorial muscles, for a great organization called Timeraiser. In a nutshell, Timeraiser raises volunteer hours for many different non-profit organizations in the city. An art auction is put on where people bid on art not with money, but with volunteer hours. This year, for the first time ever, Timeraiser asked a curator (me) to select 12 pieces for the auction. I had the privilege of reaching out to some amazing artists in our city to purchase their work for this worthy cause. 

 

You can view the artwork that will be on view and available for bidding here. If you're in the Edmonton area you can even check things out in person on November 5th, at the auction event!

And here's a quick snapshot of something I'm working on in the studio. 

 

Thanks for checking things out!

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Michelle

I recently had the great pleasure of painting a beautiful friend and studio mate, Michelle.
Our independent search for studio space brought us together again after years of losing track of one another.

I am so grateful to her for letting me put flowers on her head.

14x18", oil on wood, 2015

Schmoozy @ Latitude 53

It is that time of the year again!
Latitude 53 is hosting another "fun"-draiser, and you're all cordially invited to Schmoozy

I am donating this piece to the silent art auction, and I hear there are some other exciting items up for grabs. Come and get it!

"Grey Matters", 9x12", graphite and ink on board

Self-Reflection

Took a little break from the faces of others, and turned the paint brush on myself.

This is a quick self-portrait study, that went through a couple versions before landing on a Gerhard Richter-inspired finish.

I forgot what a challenge it is to paint while looking in a mirror...

oil on paper, 9x12"

Special Delivery

Just wanted to share an image of a recently completed and delivered portrait commission. This was a birthday gift from one very special woman to one very special man.

I was humbled and honored to be a part of this gift.

11x14", oil on linen

Alberta Prime Time TV Spot

When it comes to my art making, I am one of the worst self-promoters around. But I decided to throw caution to the wind, and follow up on a recent post connected to a World Vision Canada event. WVC asked 4 artists (one of which was yours truly) to create a piece for their Sponsorship outreach.

I painted a little painting of girl named Lorinda, and CTV Alberta Prime Time filmed a video piece about it. Please click here to see it.

Thanks for watching:)
Anya

!Upcoming Portrait Class Alert! 

I will be teaching a Portrait Painting and Drawing Class at the MacEwan Continuing Education Faculty ("Portraits in Colour").
Class runs for 4 Saturdays in a row, starting October 18th through November 8th, 10 am - 1 pm.

Space is limited, so please click here to register!

Hope to see you there:)

"George", 9x12" oil on linen

World Vision Canada

Painted this little picture for the upcoming World Vision Canada event  

8x10", oil on linen

Learning and Teaching

A couple of weeks ago I returned from NYC where I had the enormous pleasure of taking a drawing workshop with Will St. John, at the Grand Central Academy. The beautiful Shay sat in the same pose for 5 days, and we drew her portrait in tri-color.

Using Prismacolor Color-erase pencils: brown, terra cotta red, black, and Generals White (Chalk). Paper is Fabriano Artistico. I really loved the experience of drawing with color.

Here's a quick progression of the drawing:

I also just had the pleasure of teaching a portrait painting workshop at The Paint Spot , organized by the Society of Western Canadian Artists. Despite the summer heating things up in the workshop, we persevered and great portraits were made! Here's a snapshot of the work by student Clara Cheung:

The Drawing Room

It has been a long cold winter, and the little studio space I rent at The Drawing Room has often been too cold to inhabit. However, the artists I share the space with there are full of warmth and passion for what they do, so please check them out. The Drawing Room is a vibrant work/exhibition venue that I'm proud to be a part of.

And here's hoping that Spring will eventually find its way to the Great White North!

As a quick side note, some of you may have seen a painting I completed not long ago of a fellow artist. He recently shared with me an image of this painting framed and hung, which is a rare treat. Looks like it found its grand home, indeed! Thank you, Edmund.

Fun-draising for Dance!

Just finished this little piece for the Brian Webb Dance Company Art Auction:

"Determined to Ride Together", 9x12" mixed media on wood

Always a pleasure to contribute to a good cause!

Dog Day Afternoon in the Dead of Winter

Recently, I've had the pleasure of spending some quality time at my easel with a couple canines.
"Loved Ones" really do come in all shapes and sizes and degrees of fury-ness.
It was quite fun to work on these commissions, and I've been told that Jilly (the pug) even barked at her own painted portrait. A true compliment, indeed!

 "Jilly", oil on linen, 11x14"

"Yawn", oil on canvas, 12x12"

Art Refined

Late September I got involved in a little project with a little oil company called Shell.

Shell put out a call to artists to capture the moment at an oil refinery as it goes through a 'turn around' (or a proverbial house cleaning).
From those artists who answered the call, 10 were selected and invited to spend a day at the Shell Scotford Refinery, site to one of the most modern and efficient refineries in North America.

Just a year prior to this call I desperately (and unsuccessfully) tried to gain access to an actual oil refinery site. I learned quickly that getting on a rig site is not easy for an artist with a camera and a vision of painting portraits of the workers. When this call from Shell surfaced, I jumped at the chance to get involved.

After passing a safety and security orientation, I donned coveralls, a hard hat, steel toed boots, an H2S detector, ear plugs, safety goggles and gloves. I quickly became 'one of many' and was now ready to tour the site (in the company of a designated Shell staff member, of course).

Hobbling in my big boots amidst the clanging noises of the refinery, climbing the towering scaffolding built up around a myriad of pipes and wires and tubes... I felt like a martian. I've never been to Mars, but I imagine that it bears resemblance to this place. Ironically, what impressed me the most was the human element amongst all the heavy equipment and mechanical noise. There were happy hard working faces, peaking out from a welding helmet, waiving from the window of a truck. Smiling gregarious characters met my camera, and were eager to share their story.

The image below is of the four I chose to paint. From a brief interaction, I learned that they're pipe fitters who have been working together for 30 years. They still seemed to genuinely like each other.

One lesson learned from working with Shell is that things move quickly in the oil and gas business: we only had 3 weeks to complete our work (which is a far cry from how long I would normally spend on a painting). Though I'm not terribly happy with the finished product, the visit to Shell Scotford was a genuine adventure.

This picture, along with the work of other artists made in response to their site visit, will be at the Alberta Gallery of Art for the month of December.

(24x30", oil on linen, 2013)

I Doubt It

At a fundraiser event for Latitude 53, an artist friend of mine won the bid on a silent auction item: a commissioned portrait by yours truly. It turned out to be one of the highest bid items at the auction. Though incredibly flattering, this did put a certain amount of pressure on me. My friend Edmund, a very talented portrait painter, commissioned me to paint his portrait.

Commission work often comes with its share of personal doubt.. "Can I capture this likeness, the glint in this eye, the angles of this particular mouth..? Will the person who knows this face best recognize it? Will I be able to create the illusion of life on a two-dimensional surface, without losing soul?"
Now for the first time ever, I faced the challenge of painting a fellow artist. With each brush stroke, I kept thinking of how he will be scrutinizing not just his likeness, but the technical execution of the drawing, the quality of the light in the paint, the successful risks taken or not taken, etc.

But, in the words of a famous Canadian, you gotta kick at the darkness 'till it bleeds daylight, right? Right.

This afternoon, I delivered the finished painting and I do believe that Edmund was pleased with it. 

Anya = 1
Darkness = 0

Edmund, 11x14", oil on linen

(pardon the glare on the image)

 

Back in the YEG Groove

Yesterday was officially one month since my return to Edmonton from NY, so today is a great day to break the blog 'silence' and say "hello".

Edmonton welcomed me back with open arms and glorious weather, and for that I'm very grateful. The adjustment has been a bit challenging and surreal, as NY really did feel like home. But seeing the faces of loved ones, and being able to spend time with good friends has certainly taken the edge off.

As I dove back into the 9-5 existence, I tried not to lose momentum that NY offered (although, this has not been an easy task).  One of the first items on the 'don't lose momentum' survival guide was to find a studio space. And I am happy to report that as of June 1, I am the proud renter of a tiny studio in Downtown Edmonton. Studio is likely too generous a term, seeing as it's actually an electrical closet and has no windows. But, one has to start somewhere... right? I'll be able to make a proper mess in my cozy closet work space, so I am definitely looking forward to that.

Currently, I have a few commissions that need my undivided attention, but in the meantime here are a few more NY pieces that I was slow to post (apologies for the iPhone quality of these images):

 "Self-Portrait", graphite, on sketchbook paper. This was done very quickly, looking in a tiny mirror, and as you can see I was very tired.

And speaking of 'tired'...

 Sleepy, graphite on paper

Grumpy, graphite on paper 

Erin, oil on toned paper (sketchy, not finished)

And last, but not least, here's the 'as finished as it will ever get to be' drawing of George and painting of Erin (the start and progress of both of these portraits I had posted in a previous blog entry)

George, graphite on paper

Erin, oil on board

Thanks for looking!

Anya

Busy Bee

It has been a wonderful and busy few weeks here in New York.

Throughout this creative time of plenty, I have taken the precious moments to stop and enjoy the view (the views around here have a certain sort of power on me). This one here is through a window outside my classroom door:

I also took a week-long intensive workshop at the Grand Central Academy, with Edward Minoff and Travis Schlatt. 
The workshop centered around sketching the portrait. We worked relatively quickly, with a new model every day over the 5 days, resulting in a portrait a day. Here are a few of my head studies (in varying states of 'doneness'). As you can see, speed is not my forte:

Upon returning to classes at the New York Academy, I tried to apply some of the lessons Ted and Travis shared with us during their workshop. Namely, when trying to quickly capture the likeness of a face it is imperative to first follow the head's gesture (no matter how subtle) and then find the 'middle' of the head, for measuring purposes. They also work on a neutral gray toned paper/canvas, which is a helpful way to work quickly on a portrait sketch. Neutral gray provides the necessary cool tones in the flesh, and acts as a balancing tool for the quick sketch.

So, here's my attempt at applying this newly acquired knowledge:

It is unfinished, yet again, but I felt much more confident in trying to work quickly.

With practice, I trust this confidence will grow. So, I'm warning those of you I call friends: you all better be ready to sit still as I try paint your wonderful faces;)

Thanks again for looking!

Here's another quick (badly taken photo with my iPhone) of the long-pose portrait I have been working on on Wednesdays:

It's coming along! Hopefully, as I near completion I won't 'overwork' it. That's often a challenge when one has time to really sit with a painting.

Whereas there is something immediate and alive in painting under a time constraint, as evident in the portrait below:

I only had about 2 hours with this one. It's oil on un-stretched linen, roughly 8x10". He is one of my favourite models at the NYAA. I am pretty sure this man has mastered not blinking; he's a true artist.

Thanks for looking!

Hello All,

Thanks for checking in on this little art blog.

New York City is hunkering down for an early March snowstorm tonight, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to share the progress on a few drawings/paintings.

Here is the most recent progression of the Older Gentleman, mentioned in the last post:

Yesterday, the model walked up to my drawing and told me that it was "like looking in the mirror'. So hopefully, I can continue to reflect his likeness honestly.

Here's another progression of a long-pose portrait. This one has about 8 hours on it. It's oil on gessoed hardboard, 8x10":

As you can see, I've only really refined the model's right eye... Still so much work to be done. Wish me luck!

Thanks for looking:)

A Young Girl and an Older Gentleman

Over the past month I have been working on a long-pose portrait drawing (about 18 hours). Sadly, I did not make much progress and the pose is now over. In short, I am incredibly slow... As my experience grows I hope that I will become faster. However, it seems the more I learn about the methods and practices of the French Academy of the 19th c. the slower my hand moves.

Here is a 3-part progression of the drawing (graphite on Borden & Riley Plate finish bristol paper). There were many more phases between each of these drawings, but these provide a good idea of the snail's pace of my current practice:

Out with the old, in with the new...

Today we started a new long portrait pose of an older gentleman. Here is the first glimpse after a couple hours of drawing:

I am trying out new paper for this one. The drawing is graphite (H), on Fabriano Artistico 300g. So far, I really like the texture and quality of this Italian paper. I struggled with the paper I worked on for the previous drawing (it was just far too slick and had almost no tooth). Since I'm trying to learn how to draw not how to skate, I thought I'd dry a different surface. Lesson of the day: materials matter.