Belinda Del Pesco Fine Art Blog

Woodcut Triptych: The Three of Us

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:29:00 +0000

The Three of Us 6x9 Woodcut (triptych) with watercolor

This woodcut is available in my Etsy Shop.

If you've been reading this blog for a time, you know I love to use family photos as reference material in the studio. The photo for this woodcut was snapped in my grandparent's back yard on my tenth birthday, just before my brothers and I joined the family for a hike in the Connecticut woods to look for watercress & flowers. We found plenty of both, as well as a couple of old stone grave markers from the 1800's, near intersections of hand built, low stone walls that still criss-cross for acres through those woods today. I remember the ice cold creek water, dappled Fall light coming through the trees, and the way soft moss and lichen resembled paintings on the stones. I also recall wishing - heartily - that my parents hadn't insisted on putting me in a dress for my birthday - with a pair of my brother's argyle socks, for a hike. As you might guess, my family rocked fashion swag back then. :)

Three wood blocks carved into three siblings

The woodcut in black & white

The Three of Us, woodcut triptych painted with watercolor

Art Quote
As Flannery O’Connor said answering a similar question [why are you drawn to uncomfortable or dark subjects], “It is the nature of my talent.” That does not mean, however, that I do not enjoy the lighter side, because I do—and I find a great vent for that nature of my talent in children’s books. It’s yin and yang. To explore the dark, one must explore the light as well, and vice versa.

As William Faulkner said, the only thing worthwhile is failure; but failure coming in the striving for perfection. I seriously believe that. So, therefore, all I ever strive for is perfection. But knowing that perfection is elusive at best, and impossible in fact, is the internal “fuel” that keeps me going day in and day out.
Barry Moser, interviewed by Becky Crook for The Other Journal, 2009

Reduction Woodcut: Carnelian

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Wed, 08 May 2013 22:10:00 +0000

Carnelian 4x4 Reduction woodcut with watercolor & colored pencil

Available in my Etsy Shop
You can buy a lunch bag of 20 shina plywood scraps at McClain's Printmaking Supplies for about $5. They call it a grab bag, and it a party of potential when it arrives in the mail. I used one of those blocks to carve this little reduction woodcut. If you've never carved Shina, I'd recommend it. It's a cultivated & sustained tree in the Linden family (Tilia japonica) - grown on Hokkaido, the northern most island of Japan. It's a favorite among Japanese printmakers because it feels grainless, it's soft to cut, and yet it holds details and sharp edges through multiple prints without swelling or warping. The surface is already pre-sanded and ready to carve when the wood arrives, and McClain's has a variety of larger sizes available.

Petite square print

The block of shina wood I carved her from

Two colors of ink: cad red and dark olive green, ready for some watercolor action

The first pass through the press with cad red ink, before cutting more
of the wood away and printing again in a dark olive ink.

Rough sketch in pencil on the shina wood block

Watercolors & Printmaking at the Sierra Madre Art Fair

After back to back art festivals (San Diego Artwalk & Sierra Madre Art Fair) I've met a posse of new, fun, wonderful peeps. I don't have the words to describe the sort of Kind and Engaging and Lovely flavors of human I experienced in so many folks stopping by my booth at both festivals.

A collector brought me a bouquet of sweet peas and tea roses from her garden. Another brought her greyhounds both days of the festival so my husband and I could soak up a little retired-racer-love (we lived with/adored greyhounds for 14 years). I saw friends I worked with in the corporate world, before I jumped into art as a livelihood, who are now parents, and I met & swooned for their little ones. I had animated conversations about all varieties of printmaking process, and how to make time for art in busy schedules, and how to get unstuck after years of no art-making, etc. I befriended bloggers and blog followers I've never met before. And I sold a lot of art. It was all very, very nice.

In three weeks, I'll do one last art festival before the summer begins and I retreat into my studio for more art-making. The Thousand Oaks Artwalk is Saturday & Sunday, June 1 & 2 from 10:00 to 5:00 at 225 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360. If you're in the area that weekend, do come and say hello so we can continue the exchange of arty ideas & camaraderie.

Thanks for stopping by!

Belinda

Art Quote

I've never done a perfect drawing. The cheapest camera installed at the gas station parking lot will collect a more accurate depiction that I can make. I think of Art like I think about baseball. Whether you win or lose - isn't it great to be playing baseball?! Even the best players only get on base one third of the time. The reason we're doing this is that as kids, we started drawing and felt happy. So now, we should still be happy doing it. The focus should be on the love of art-making. Joy is in the full deployment of our faculties.
Anthony Ryder ~ 2010 during a Drawing demo

Silk Aquatint with Colored Pencil: Library Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:22:00 +0000

Library Cat 4x4 Aquatint w/ colored pencil

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I framed this little guy to bring to the Sierra Madre Art Fair this weekend. (If you're near Los Angeles, CA, swing by and say hello.) He's small and cute, and he fits nicely with some of the other petite printmaking art I'll have hanging in my booth. The process shots for this silk aquatint are below, but if you need more details to try making one, you might look at this post, or search this blog for the word aquatint to see more of my experiments with this excellent, non-toxic printmaking method. I have some bigger format ideas to try this summer, and I can't wait to get started. :) See you in Sierra Madre!

Library Cat framed

Library Cat with a little color added

Pulling the print after a trip through the press

Wiping the plate with Akua tarlatan cloth before going into the press bed

Using scrap mat board to apply ink to the plate

Inking the plate: Akua Intaglio in Graphite, mixed 50/50 with Akua transparent base

Art Quote

Actually, it goes the other way

Wouldn't it be great to be gifted? In fact...

It turns out that choices lead to habits.

Habits become talents.

Talents are labeled gifts.

You're not born this way, you get this way.

~Seth Godin

Woodcut & Watercolor: Two Boys - & Art Festival photos

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Fri, 03 May 2013 01:39:00 +0000

Two Boys 5.5x5 Woodcut with watercolor

The reference for this woodcut was a photo of my brothers, visiting me from Los Angeles, while I was in college at UMASS. As soon as I got the photo developed, I pinned it to the wall in my little apartment, knowing I wanted to draw it, or paint it, or do something art-related with it. Shortly after, I found a scrap piece of plywood in the parking lot outside the print lab on campus, with a partially carved abstract on one side. I sanded the back of the block, sketched my brothers with a sharpie marker, and printed a small edition of 6 woodcuts. I thought I'd sold them all, since that was a looong time ago, but I recently found this last Artist's Proof in my flat files. It's listed in my Etsy shop.

This weekend, I'll be at the Sierra Madre Art Fair (California) with this woodcut and about 60 other pieces of art from my studio. I'll be in booth #5 with both watercolors and printmaking, so if you're in the area (222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Sierra Madre CA 91024), please do stop by and say hello. Last weekend, I was at the San Diego Artwalk (see pics below), and I'm hopeful that the beautiful weather and enthused patrons we had down there will be on site here in LA too.

Two Boys, framed in red & black mats, with a pewter relief filet frame

The view from my booth: Little Italy & the Pacific Ocean
at the end of Beech Street

Beautiful blue sky reflections - we had great weather all weekend

Little Italy in San Diego

People (and cute dogs) in my booth

These two cute-niks visit us every day of the show,
and they've stopped by every year for the past five or six seasons.
It's so good to get a little greyhound-love-fix. :)

Display panels and a road case of art - on the drive down to San Diego.

Part of my little tribe; my hubby & son keeping me company at the festival.
Photo Credit: @vickileigh (on instagram)

Art Quote
Visiting Paris in 1927, Ben Shahn (1898-1969) was at the opera, when a small incident occurred which left an indelible impression on him. A Frenchman in the next seat pointed out Henri Matisse sitting several rows further down the aisle. Shahn thought back ten years, to two passages in a book about a Brooklyn boy in Paris which made an overwhelming impression on him at the time - Ernest Poole's The Harbor.

There was a little Hungarian Jew [the first passage went], an ardent follower of Matisse. "Technique?" he cried. "It's nothing. To grip your soul in your two hands and press it on your canvas - that is art, that is Matisse!"

And the second passage, a conversation between Bill, the hero, who has taken the Hungarian's advise, and his friend Joe, who comments on the resulting pictures:
For God's sake, Bill, get it out of your system, quit getting reverent over the past; you're sitting here at the feet of the masters, fellahs who were alright in their day but are now - every one of 'em - out of date. And you're so internally busy copying their technique... Why can't you go to life for your stuff? Your religion is style, technique and form. For God's sake lose it and use your own eyes, forget you're an artist and be a reporter... Believe me, Bill, the nations of this planet are ready to do things you never dreamed of. I'm not talking of kings and governments, I'm talking of the people themselves. The place you need is the U.S.A. - and the work you need is a job on a paper!

Shahn thought of those passages, and at that moment, Matisse stood up facing the audience from way down in front, and, surveying it very deliberately over the top of his spectacles, proceeded to pick his nose. "What a supremely un-self-conscious gesture!" thought the young American.
Portrait of the Artist as an American: Ben Shahn ~ Seldon Rodman

Woodcut & Watercolor: Artemis (Diana)

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:34:00 +0000

Artemis (Diana) 12x11 Woodcut with Watercolor

Available - in my Etsy Shop

I purchased Shane Weller's book (Dover Publications) on German Expressionist Woodcuts in the mid-90's, and it's been an excellent source of inspiration when I feel pulled to make something impactful, unfussy - and most important to me - different from the style & subject of what I normally carve. The book features excellent, full page examples of woodcuts from Kollwitz, Beckmann, Zitzewitz and Kirchner, etc. Those images lead me to research other artists from the early 1900's - all of them gouging prolific creative visions into planks of wood, and printing them to paper with dark passages of ink. With anywhere-access to research via the net, and a solid book collection, we artists have enormous opportunities for experimental interpretation, variations on methodologies, and whole continents of influence. The writer Justine Musk posted a blog entry in March on the journey of being a writer that applies - I believe - to artists as well:

You need to write past the point of self-consciousness. You need to quit trying to write: to be clever, witty, pretty, poetic. (Perhaps your true voice is none of these things.) You need to fall through the words into something else entirely.

(Blogging can be exceptionally good for this.)

We start by imitating the styles of others. That kind of mimicry – conscious or not – is like a trapdoor opening beneath you.

It drops you into yourself.

It’s when you lose yourself that your true voice starts to come out of the dark. It might be raw and naked. Or howling and slightly mad. Your soul is stamped all the way through it.

Finding your voice – what to say, how to say it, how to speak up in the world – is about making your truth manifest. When you’re moving in the grooves of that soulprint, you know it. And so do others.

This is art.

Art happens wherever your soul’s on the line.

(You can read the entire post here.)

The underline in the text above is mine - because I think that line is so true; mimicry is a trap door opening beneath you, dropping you into yourself. How many artists do you know that are in a perpetual search for their own style? Sometimes, a book on someone else's art is just the right spark-plug for your art-making engine to get you moving forward again. Make something.

Artemis, framed

Artemis woodcut getting a little watercolor love

Artemis the print next to the inked block she was printed from

The block of plywood Artemis was carved from

Art Quote
The use of the term Expressionism to describe the artistic movement that flourished in Germany in the early years of the twentieth century seems to date from around 1911, although the movement was active earlier; Die Brucke (the Bridge), an association of artists espousing the Expressionist ideal, was established in 1905 and held annual exhibitions until 1913.

Expressionism was in part a reaction against Impressionisms emphasis of atmospherics and surface appearances, and against academic painting's rigid technique, stressing instead the emotional state of the artist and subject. To this, the viewer was to add his own emotions, creating an experience rich in drama that conveyed the inner realtiy of the subject matter.

A change occurred in Experssionism with World War I. The horror of the war left an indellible mark, and the chaotic years of the Weimar Republic (1919-33) introduced a sharply satirical tone in the work of many artists. The rise to the power of the Nazis, with their repressive artistic programs, put an end to the Expressionists' period of greatest productivity, although many continued their work until well after World War II.
Shane Weller - German Expressionist Woodcuts

Linocut: Got Any More cookies? and the San Diego Artwalk this weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:00:00 +0000

Got Any More Cookies? Linocut with Watercolor

This linocut with watercolor is available in my Etsy Shop.
This weekend, I'll be in Little Italy in San Diego at the Mission Federal Artwalk, painting, chatting about art, and soaking up the ocean air. I'll also be dining on Italian food - pasta, bread and some more bread - and street vendor funnel cake with powdered sugar and fresh berries, but shhhhhh. Those little delicacies are not on my fitness plan. :)

If you're local, or in San Diego this weekend, come and say hello. My booth location this year is on the corner of Columbia and Beech - #172.

Have a great weekend, and don't forget to Make Something!

Headed to San Diego: Got Any More Cookies?

Booth #172 on the corner of Beech & Columbia in Little Italy

Art Quote

In 1926, a year after Sargent's death, Adrian Stokes, who had accompanied the artist to the Alps, described what had inspired his late friend to paint particular watercolor:

Sargent's watercolors... usually record, with the utmost directness, something that had excited his admiration, or appealed to his artistic intelligence. That may have been the clearly defined and exquisite edge of some rare object; of the way in which a dark thing, when opposed to vivid light, is invaded by it, and loses local color; or the change that seems to occur in the color of things along the edge where they meet. ~The Watercolors of John Singer Sargent, by Carl Little 1998

Watercolor: Hypnotist (& free shipping on all domestic orders this week!)

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:18:00 +0000

Hypnotist 11x4 Watercolor on paper

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In the last post, I included links to the San Diego Artwalk, and the Sierra Madre Art Fair, where I'll be showing my wares, including this little guy, my studio assistant (above) next week. I received emails from folks that live far away, wishing they could stroll the festivals, munch kettle corn, listen to live music and see the art up close.

I can't send the art festival digitally, but I can bring you a pre-art-festival sale! From Thursday, April 18th to Thursday April 25th, I'm offering free shipping on all domestic art sales. (If you're International, email me, and I'll do some research & number crunching.) It'll be like strolling the show - digitally - and taking art home with no mailing costs, because I'll pay for packing & shipping. It's a little sprinkle of Thank You for all the support, comments, enthusiasm and encouragement you good people shower me with every week. :)

The sale will end next Thursday, so I'll have one day before I leave for San Diego to organize what's going to art festivals, and what's already claimed & moving to new homes the following week.

Type this code at checkout: springtime4me
Free Shipping!

Testing a green background to match his eyes.

So, here's how it'll work. Browse & shop my Etsy Store, and the two tabs at the top of this page, Available Printmaking and Available Watercolors. I've got a lot of work posted, with more to come in the next day or two. I'm adding photos of the work in frames, which should help give a sense of scale. If you're interested in a particular piece, and it's not on Etsy, just send me an email with the art title, and ask for pricing and photos of the frame directly.

If the art *is* already listed on Etsy, the entire shop [including printmaking] is set up for free shipping (domestically) till Thursday April 25th. Just insert this code at check out: SPRINGTIME4ME and the shipping costs will disappear!

The model, giving his Pet-Me-Now look

Medium to small work, getting labeled and sorted.

Larger work sorting and labeling

Art Quote
After 2 yrs of circulation in major exhibits, William McGregor Paxton's painting Sylvia was purchased by an American collector in 1910. (He was 39.) His commissions & exhibitions continued at a vigorous pace & by 1935 he had earned more prizes than any other American artist. In NYC, however, where the genteel subjects of the Boston School were less revered, Paxton's solo shows had mixed reviews. Paxton & his peers were beginning to be eclipsed by the shift to modernist painting. ~E. Lee

Drawing: Jaimie

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:20:00 +0000

Jaimie 2.5x2.5 graphite on paper

In two weeks, I'll be showing my work at the San Diego Artwalk, and the weekend after that, I'll be at the Sierra Madre Art Fair. The details for both shows are in a newsletter I sent to my mailing list last week. If you're not on my mailing list, you can see the newsletter here. And, if you'd like, feel free to sign up for the newsletter here. (Your info will never be share, ever, with anyone.)

Prepping for art festivals involves a lot of "paper clips" style of productivity in the studio; matting and framing, making labels, booth wall layout, art selection, promotion, hotels and travel plans, etc. Art-making slows down a little while the administrative stuff fills the day, but it's also a good time to marinate on the next body of work. I have some fun ideas for both watercolors and printmaking projects this summer. And I still have a few pieces to post before I leave for San Diego, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I'll post this little drawing unframed in my Etsy shop.

I've always enjoyed drawing and painting small scale

Art Quote
At 27, Braldt Bralds accompanied a friend to New York armed with his portfolio and a list of his favorite illustrators whom he resolved to contact to get their feedback. He called a number halfway down the list and thought he's reached the artist but, instead, had reached his agent. He explained his situation and that he was visiting from Holland. The agent replied. "Are you Braldt Bralds?" His heart stopped, and then it raced. It seemed a client of Braldt's in Cologne had sent some of his work to the agent. "They told me that when we meet, I have to be nice to you." said the agent.
As Braldt sat in the waiting room while the agent made some calls, the office door opened and the illustrator at the top of his list walked in. Richard Hess looked at Braldt's portfolio and asked, "Can you go to Time?" He replied wonderingly, "Of course." Hess made a phone call and Braldt went for a walk. When he arrived at the address, he suddenly realized "Time magazine." He was welcomed by the receptionist and ushered immediately into the office of the magazine's former art director, Walter Bernard. After looking at Braldt's portfolio with members of his staff, Bernard announced, "We want to give you a cover!"
Isolated Objects, John O'Hern

Watercolor: House Finch & Freesia

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 23:15:00 +0000

House Finch & Freesia 22x22 Watercolor on paper

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In three weeks, I'll be hanging this painting and about 40 other watercolors & various forms of printmaking at the San Diego Artwalk in Little Italy. If you plan to spend a festive weekend near the Pacific April 27 & 28, put the Artwalk on your calandar, and plan to peruse Little Italy. I'll be exhibiting at my new booth space - #172 at the corner of Beech & Columbia. See you there!

Checking for needed adjustments by looking at the art reversed in the mirror

Painting the house finch

The map of South America on the right of my work was reference for the
audio book The Path Between the Seas - The Creation of the Panama Canal (1870-1914)
by David McCullough, which was fantastic.

Painting & Listening to a Book = Happiness

Laying a grid on my paper to get an accurate drawing down before painting,
with a little dessert on the side to make the process more fun. :)

Art Quote
One can always acquire the additional knowledge and information that go into the production of a work of art, but - and I insist on this point - no will, no perseverance, no obstinacy during one's later years, can ever make good a lack of practice. And is there any anguish like that of the artist who feels the realization of his dream compromised by the impotence of his execution?
~William Bouguereau 1885

Monotype: Chapel Fountain

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:49:00 +0000

Chapel Fountain 4x6 Monotype with Watercolor

Up at the San Luis Obispo Mission de Tolosa, there is a sweet little garden just off to the right of the main entrance. An old fountain flutters with birds, and an assortment of rose bushes invite you to take a seat on a bench, be surrounded by early California history, and just breathe for a moment.

Adding watercolor to the monotype ghost is great fun, because
it's like painting over a faint graphite drawing. Since I made that under-drawing
by pushing ink around on a metal late, it doesn't have a pencil quality
in the line work, but the ink is faint enough to look like graphite.

Monotype Ghost - a faint remainder of ink from a much darker monotype.
The still-wet plate & ink are pressed against Arches cover paper on the press,
which results in a very soft version of the monotype.
I'm adding washes of watercolor to the print in this shot.

Art Quote
What a queer thing touch is, the stroke of a brush. In the open air, exposed to wind, to sun, to the curiosity of people, you work as you can, you fill your canvas. Then however, you catch the real & the essential - that is the most difficult. But after a time you take up this study again & arrange your brush strokes in the direction of the objects - certainly it is more harmonious & pleasant to look at & you add whatever you have of serenity & cheerfulness.
~Vincent Van Gogh

Monotype: Plume Verte

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 05:23:00 +0000

Plume Verte 6x4 Monotype Ghost with watercolor

When I made the monotype of this portrait in 2006, I had enough ink on the zinc plate to pull three ghost prints, which is unusual with monotypes (for me). There's nothing incised on the plate in this form of printmaking. You're simply pushing pigment around (in this case, black, oil based etching ink) on a very smooth zinc plate. When you get the image you're aiming for, you take a deep breath, and press the still-wet pigments against a sheet of paper, and voila!, you have a monotype. If there's enough ink left on the plate, you can place another sheet of paper against the ink, tighten the press, and push it through again. In this case, I did that three times.

You can see in the image at the bottom of this post that the last ghost was very faint, but there was just enough structure to have fun with watercolor glazing on top of the ghost print. It was a lovely time in my studio, and poignant, because it's the last print of this particular monotype of my gr-aunt Arzelia when she was sixteen. I'm betting I'll use the reference photo again, because I love it, but for now, and for this monotype ghost, she's the last one.

Glazing watercolor over the print

The last ghost print from a monotype I made in 2006

Art Quote
Art is a great expression of emotion which covers your attitude towards people & things. It can have no formulas, as it is a registration of reactions. Modern Art theory says art musn't look like anything at all & nothing is creative unless it comes from the inner conscious & technique is nothing. That's misleading to people. They ought to know how to draw, at least. I don't like to see a face with a nose three times too long & a neck out of joint just because the artists' mind happened to conjure it that way.
~Colin Campbell Cooper 1925

Thanks for stopping by!
Belinda

Studio & Art happenings in between posts

Etching: Lilacs in an Amber Vase

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 05:11:00 +0000

Lilac in an Amber Vase 4.75 x 3.75 Intaglio Etching with Watercolor

This is an artist's proof from an unprinted edition. (An Artists' Proof is a test print, and the final image will differ in various ways when the edition is printed.) I have more adjustments to make on the zinc plate, which requires a few more dips in an acid bath. I don't keep/use acid in my studio, so the remaining work will require some rental time in a fully equipped print studio. In the meantime, here's this little proof to take to San Diego for the Art Walk. :)

Artist Proof of the etching, before I added watercolor.
Compare it with an earlier version proof below.

Each proof that's printed is carefully checked before the plate goes into the next acid bath,
to review where darks need to go darker, or lights need to go lighter, etc.
Etching can be a long, lovely, process-intensive rotation of cycles,
especially if you have a very specific image in mind.

___________________________________________________________

Back in the day... 8 or 9 years ago, I used to sell a lot of work on Ebay. It was an amazingly rich and rewarding experience. I learned a lot about online marketing & promotion, collectors and fellow artisans, photographing art, listing and mailing art, html, photoshop, post office snags, writing about my work, policies, the beauty of online friendships, and most of all - the practice and making of art, all the time. I also started collecting art, and I have an amazing & varied collection all over my house.

One of the things I really enjoyed was making, trading and buying small, 3.5x2.5 Artist Trading Cards or ATC's. Did you or anyone in your family collect baseball cards, and keep them in binders, trade them, or display them in frames? This is the same premise, but with art. They are also known as ACEO's: Art Cards, Editions & Originals, which relays perfectly that you can collect open edition or limited edition prints as well as original art. One of the core reasons I loved collecting and making these little gems was their size & affordability. I-Love-To-Work-Small. And I-Love-a-Good-Deal. :)

I was framing an ACEO I bought awhile ago, and it occurred to me that I haven't listed one myself in eons. (Head tilted, finger on chin, gazing at something far away, thinking, thinking... hmmmm.) I 'spect it might be nice to list some open edition ATC prints in my Etsy shop for a groovy, lets-get-this-party-started price. And I'm thinking that we'll roll this little idea out of the studio with some nice animals, because we can. :)

This weekend, I'll start listing a few of these furry kids on Etsy as open edition
ATC (3.5x2.5) prints. Maybe next week, I'll list a bunch of florals.
What say you? Faces? Still life? Landscape?

Do you paint ATC's or ACEO's?

Little animal prints, in little cello bags, ready to travel to new homes.

Art Quote
An artist cannot do anything slovenly.
~ Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

Linocut: Coming or Going

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 23:12:00 +0000

Coming or Going 2 x 4 linocut with watercolor on arches paper

Available in my Etsy Shop.
Now that preparation for the fund raising exhibit is completed, (Art for the Animals is opened [see photos below], and the show runs till May), it's time to swing attention in the studio toward the next show - 6 weeks from now. I think this is my 8th year of exhibiting at The San Diego Art Walk, and it's one of my favorite Springtime events. (It's in Little Italy, near the beach, so there you have it; food + ocean = fun.)

I'll be framing this little linocut (process shots begin at the bottom of this post), and I've got a stack of other small and some larger pieces in the works. How about you? What are your creative plans for the Spring, and what are the sources of your deadlines & deliverables?

Pulling a test print (Artists' Proof) before I print the edition

Painting the print with watercolor

After cutting away the parts I don't want to print, I'm ready to ink and print.

Little scrap of linoleum with a sharpie drawing, ready for carving.

Sunday, March 10 Art for the Animals opening at Gale's Restaurant;
it was a big success! Red dots all over the place, funds raised for a great
cause; two dogs - a cocker spaniel and a terrier mix - found new homes!

These two handsome boys are still available - Charlie & Bagheera

More and more empty spaces on the walls - the red dots were flying!

The whimsical charcoal and color sketches by the amazing Walt Peregoy.
If you like the styling of the animated feature
101 Dalmations, that's Walt's doing. Google his imagery to see samples.
Now, at 88, he's showing his work around different fundraising
exhibits in Los Angeles, and his seasoned mastery is evident in every line.

Art Quote
One more thing about me, then no more. I have finished my sketch of the Giorgione; it took nearly three weeks. I've almost finished a copy of Verone's angel from his sketch, and I've begun the Giorgione landscape (The Judgement of Solomon), in the same size; I might have to put figures in. I have done a few drawings. All in all, I have been less courageous than I expected to be. I refuse to give up before I have results, though. As I am at loose ends here, I might as well make the most of my time and study my craft. I could not undertake anything on my own. I have started down a hard path that requires great patience. At one time, I had your encouragement; now that I no longer do, I am starting to despair a little, the way I used to in the past. I remember the conversation we had in Florence about the sorrows that are the lot of those involved in art. What you said was less exaggerated than I thought. There is indeed little compensation for those sorrows. They increase the older you get and the farther along you go, and the consolation once derived from youth's few additional illusions and hopes is gone. However great one's affection for one's family and one's passion for art, there is a void even they cannot fill. ~Edgar Degas, in a letter to Gustave Moreau 1858

Watercolor: Tyto Alba

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Tyto Alba (Barn Owl) 11x4 Watercolor

Available at Gale's Restaurant
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I've mentioned my family history with birds before, so whether they're trendy or not, I'll always love birds because of my grandfather. I especially love this particular owl. If you've never watched them in motion, check out the crazy head-swivel action & downy lightness of their feathers in this video. I think they are remarkable birds; beautiful, with their heart-shaped face, eerie in a prehistoric way, and cute, all at the same time.

Tyto Alba framed

Tyto Alba, showing off her good side

Art Quote
A woman artist is not deprived by cooking and having children, nor by nursing children with measles (even in triplicate) - one is in fact nourished by this rich life, provided one always does some work each day; even a single half hour, so that the images grow in one's mind.
I detest a day of no work, no music, no poetry.
Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975)

Watercolor: Waiting to Retrieve

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 04:49:00 +0000

Waiting to Retrieve 11x4 Watercolor

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I'm very fortunate to be part of an animal-loving family. Lots of us have, or have had rescued animals, and everyone seems to have a menagerie of pets; Aunts, Uncles, Cousins... even 2nd and 3rd cousins-once removed all have beautiful animals, which provides me with excellent painting fodder. The lovely retriever who modeled for this watercolor (above) lives in Atlanta, and she loves to run and swim with her People. (Thanks for letting me paint your puppster, B.Y.!)

This is the last of the five pieces I've delivered for the Art for the Animals fundraiser for SPCA & the Pasadena Humane Society at Gale's Restaurant (in California) this coming weekend. The opening is Sunday from 3-6:00pm, and the food, drink, art and adoptable animals will pretty much guarantee a festive atmosphere. Grab a car load of friends and come on out to say hello (details are below)!

Waiting to Retrieve in process

Framing art for delivery to Art for the Animals

Studio & Art happenings in between blog posts

Art Quote
On a visit to Quebec in the winter of 1908, Alson Clark put on multiple layers of clothing to paint en plein air in Quebec Harbor. He kept warm, but his paints froze on his palette. While most other artists would have packed it up and returned home, Clark located a blacksmith who made a small iron box to hold a glowing piece of hot coal affixed to the underside of the palette. Thereafter, his paints stayed warm enough to allow him to continue working. ~Jean Stern

Watercolor: Siri

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 01:43:00 +0000

Siri 11x4 Watercolor on paper

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This watercolor was delivered to Gale's Restaurant in Pasadena over the weekend with 4 other pieces - to be part of the fundraising exhibit - Art for the Animals. (The title Siri is loosely phonetic for the word Gray in Russian, since the model is a beautiful Russian Blue cat.) The show opens this coming Sunday from 3:00-6:00pm, so if you're local to Los Angeles, be sure to stop by (details are below) for some snacks, drinks and fine art for a great cause. The show announcement I sent out to my email list is here. (If you'd like to be added to that list, just send me an email here, and I'll add you.)

Framing Collagraphs & Watercolors for Art for the Animals

Framing Siri

Painting Siri in the studio

Art for the Animals Postcard

Art for the Animals Artists and Show Details

Art Quote
Marion Kavanaugh studied at the Art Institute of Chigago and in New York with William Merritt Chase. She traveled to San Francisco to study with William Keith. He recommended she go to Los Angeles to see artist Elmer Wachtel. They met in 1903 and were married the following year in Chicago. As inseparable painting partners, they traveled throughout California and the southwest desert. Perhaps so as not to compete with her husband, Marion worked primarily in watercolor throughout their marriage and displayed remarkable dexterity in the handling of the medium, which can be quite unforgiving even to the most skilled. She received high praise for her delicate, lyrical interpretations of the landscape. After her husband's death in 1929, she temporarily lost interest in painting. She resumed working around 1931, painting the landscape around her home in the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena, CA. She died in 1954. ~E. Milton Hughes

Collagraph: Scouting for Tulip Petals

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:20:00 +0000

Scouting for Tulip Petals 7x7 Collagraph with colored pencil

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Process shots begin at the bottom of this post.
This is the final collagraph of three for the fundraising exhibit at Gale's Restaurant - Art for the Animals. The other two collagraphs are here and here. I'm working on two more animal watercolors for the show as well, so stay tuned. There are a lot of wonderful artists exhibiting at this fundraiser, so I predict the evening of the opening will be incredibly festive, with wonderful animal-art in a variety of styles, lovely artists and collectors catching up on each other's news (see the post card for the show & a list of the artists below), and some furry friends available for adoption from the Humane Society - all happening in Gale's comfortable and intimate restaurant, arranged artfully with good food and fine drinks.

If you're local to Los Angeles, please save the date; Sunday, March 10 at 3:00pm! Forward this post, and gather your animal loving friends and family, and plan to come to this exhibit. I'll see you there!

Adding colored pencil to the collagraph.

After a trip through the press, pulling the first collagraph

Inking the plate, a la poupee

Cutting away recessed line work and broader passages to hold ink.

After laying down a drawing, and sealing the plate, I'm starting
to carve away sections where I want the ink to settle.

Counter clockwise from the upper right - go ahead - make a collagraph!

Art for the Animals promo postcard

Art for the Animals details: Artists, location, hours, etc.

Art Quote

The best advise I could give to an emerging artist who's trying to get to the point where they're trying to make a living off their work, is to not really focus on galleries so much right now. Focus on trying to make the best work you possibly can. Go deeply into whatever it is that you do. Find other people who are doing something similar. Find other people who's work you respect, and you love, and who are kind of in the same boat as you are, and talk with them. Exchange ideas, read books about… whatever - philosophy or art history or artists that you love. Talk about them, and exchange these ideas.

~Richard T. Scott

Collagraph: Breakfast Alarm

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:31:00 +0000

Breakfast Alarm 7x7 Collagraph with colored pencil on Arches paper

Here is another collagraph (process shots begin at the bottom) for the fundraising exhibit at Gale's Restaurant in three weeks - called Art for the Animals. Proceeds will benefit the Pasadena Humane Society, which will likley help with their transition to a new facility, and rumor has it they'll be at the event with a few adoptable animals (last year, two dogs found homes at this exhibit). Gale is incredibly generous when she hosts these fund raisers - and she'll be serving a lovely assortment of cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at the opening... so, if you're local to Los Angeles, please save the date; Sunday, March 10 at 3:00pm! Forward this post, and gather your animal loving friends and family, and plan to come. I'll see you there!

After the ink dried, I added colored pencil

Pulling the print on my Takach etching press

Applying Akua Intaglio Ink to the plate a la poupee'

Adhering #120 carborundum grit into the receded areas I've cut away from the plate

Carving and removing the upper layer of (back) mat board where I want ink to settle

One of the models, photo-bombing my process shot in the studio.

The other model for this piece. He also assists with Art Shipping, as you can see.

Art Quote
King George VI was looking through a set of newly completed drawings of Windsor Castle commissioned by the Queen from John Piper (1903-1992). The King had volunteered to receive her visitors that morning as well as his own when a sudden cold obliged her to cancel engagements. Piper sat silent. Etiquette required that he should say nothing before His Majesty spoke. The King, no connoisseur, quite clearly fund it extremely difficult to shape any suitable comment on these challengingly dramatic, dark visions in a modernist idiom of the Round Tower and other familiar landmarks. The silence grew tense, almost painful. The King spoke at last..... "You had darned bad weather!"
Noel Barber ~ Conversations with Painters

Collagraph: Good Morning. Feed Us.

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:11:00 +0000

Good Morning. Feed Us. 7x7 Collagraph with Colored Pencil

Available in my Etsy Shop.

Process shots for this collagraph begin at the bottom of the post, and previous collagraphs in this series can be seen here, here, here and here.

After a few decades of living with cats, I've shuffled into my early morning kitchen, headed for the coffee pot, and encountered this view many times. The current obstacle course is just one cat (who will rapid-fire paw-box the backs of our legs while standing on his hind quarters if we walk away from his empty plate to get coffee first), but the line-up has previously expanded across my path with two, three and four of them - as though starvation set in over night. The good morning greeting has a certain urgency to it, and the purring and head-butting is really just ribbin-wrap around a demand for food, pronto. Entertaining, and fun art references too. :)

The print, with colored pencil and the plate nearby

Adding colored pencil to the print, with supervision

After a trip through the press, I'm pulling the print

After adding carborundum & sealing the plate with additional
Varnish, I'm inking with Akua Intaglio ink using a method
called a la poupee

Cutting and removing the top layer of a piece of mat board (the back) after
drawing on and sealing it with Liquitex Gloss Medium & Varnish

Thanks for stopping by -

Belinda

Art Quote
I went up there the day of her funeral [Christina died in 1969.]. It was snowing. I happened to look into this kitchen. It had snowed hard during the night, and the snow had sifted in the cracks and chinks of the door so that there was a thin line of white snow right across the floor right up over her chair and down. It was icy white, almost like a finger pointing. Damnedest thing. God, the way the snow had sifted, very much how grain will sift through the finest sliver or opening. It was like lightening coming across the chair. I was wandering around and I looked into this dark room from the window and at the same time I could hear them using a jackhammer to dig the grave down there because the ground was so frozen, and I was shocked by that line of snow.
Two Worlds of Andrew Wyeth ~ Thomas Hoving

Studio & Art happenings in between posts

Watercolor: Orange Chair

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 00:22:00 +0000

Orange Chair 10x21 Watercolor

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This is an older watercolor (and as such, I see *all* the things I'd do differently now, so that means I'm growing, right?) The subject originally was less about the empty chair, and more of a nod towards the little parade of antique shoes on the sill behind it. My paternal Grandparents were both Italian immigrants, and they opened a shoe store shortly after they were married in the late 1920's. Since my grandfather had 8 siblings, Del Pesco Shoes was run like any family business in a small New England town; everyone, including the kids, the wives and family friends worked there. Eventually, my grandparents started another business in manufacturing precision tool & die; a machine shop, and one of my grandfather's brothers took over running the shoe store (see my adorable Uncle Alfonso below). As a memento to their first business endeavor, my grandmother collected little shoes made from glass, porcelain, tin, bronze and wood, and I'm lucky enough to have a few of them on the shelves in my studio. The symbolism of the things we own gives an artist a great deal of depth to draw from when we include those items in a painting, don't you think? What do you use in still life work that has history or special meaning to you?
Thanks for stopping by -
Belinda

Uncle Alfonso at the shoe store, and today, at 98

Art Quote

I've been for several weeks completely lost in Abbott Thayer. Lost & swallowed up. He is a most extraordinary creature. Thayer has recently painted one of the sweetest heads that I ever saw anywhere. A most astonishing piece of work. I don't know anyone who could make it so well. I mean way up among the swell French painters. I suppose they could do it as well, but they could not put the Thayer in it, could they? ~Dennis Miller Bunker after a visit with Thayer in 1886

Collagraph: Stackable Naps

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:44:00 +0000

Stackable Naps 7x7 Collagraph printed with Akua Inks,
and enhanced with Colored Pencil on Arches 88 paper

This little collagraph (process shots begin at the bottom of this post) will be in a show at Gale's Restaurant called Art for the Animals. Proceeds will benefit the Pasadena Humane Society, as they're building a new facility, and rumor has it they'll be at the event with a few adoptable animals (last year, two dogs found homes at this exhibit). As always with these fabulously generous and classy fund raisers, Gale will be serving a lovely assortment of drinks and snacks to the attendees of the opening... so, if you're local to Los Angeles, please save the date; Sunday, March 10 at 3:00pm! Gather your animal loving friends and family, and plan to come. I'll see you there!

Pulling the print on my Takach etching press

Nearing the completion of cutting - getting ready to add carborundum.

The dark part of the cat's fur is removed, and lots more cutting to do

After drawing on & sealing the plate, I begin cutting away recesses to hold ink.

Art Quote
N.C. Wyeth's children were beginning to reveal artistic sensibilities. Watching them sketch one evening in 1920, Convers remarked "Drawing! That's the outstanding stunt in this house! All five around a lamp, each one seriously bent over a tablet of paper, recording all sorts of facts & fictions of Nature. One would guess this was night art school - or that we're all nutty in the same way!" ~K. Jennings

Linocut: Pippins & Braeburns

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:15:00 +0000

Pippins & Braeburns 5x3 Linocut with Watercolor

Available in my Etsy Shop

I've just returned from a trip to see family; I spent a week with my daughter and grandkids (see below) while my son-in-law was away on business. Extra hands with two little ones can be a helpful thing. My heart-cells are re-charged with love & giggles, and I'm ready to #makesomething in the studio.

Adding watercolor to the linoleum block print

The lino print after the ink dried

My printing set up for this linocut

Have I ever mentioned how proud I am of my daughter Melanie? No? Well, let me fawn a bit. She's a busy mommy of two (2 & 4), married to a wonderful man named Robert who is an Army Sargeant Combat Correspondent. She's as talented as she is lovely, and she juggles. Not bowling pins or balls - but she juggles life; she maintains a lovely home for her little family, and balances teaching her children - and playtime - in an impressively structured manner (I often wonder how much I could accomplish if I was as organized with scheduling as she is).

Choo-Choo Train Mom, Reading time Mom & Etsy store crafter/designer

Not long ago, during nap time, she taught herself to crochet and learned how to sew. She blogs about her creations here, and does video tutorials on a YouTube Channel, like this one on how to make an easy envelope pillow cover. She also has an Etsy shop, so stop by if you're in the market for useful little cotton zipper pouches (I keep all my ipad chargers and adapters in one) or quilted baby loveys (security blankets) - all hand made in her little Honolulu house, usually during nap time. Leave her a comment & tell her I sent you over to say hello.
Thanks for sharing!
Belinda

Studio & Art happenings in between posts

Watercolor: Cocoon Plant & Roses

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Cocoon Plant & Roses 7x13 Watercolor

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This is an older painting, based on the usual line up of flowers and bud vases and cacti that lined the window of my kitchen in the house where we raised our kids. We're three years into a different home - one without the white tiles and the west-facing windows. I miss the flood of sunlight, but i'm enjoying other elements about this current nest. I still think I'd like to paint this one larger, and I have the sketches and reference photos to do it, so I pulled this out to ponder what I'd do differently. At the time, I was focused on the light passing through the green vase onto the tiles. The arrangement reminded me of a dance hall scene; the cactus fixed like a soldier in uniform with a day pass, and the roses twirling and flirting like a blushing debutant. With that in mind, if I *do* paint it larger, I'll come up with a more fitting title. What do you think? Larger? And what title if I do that?

Art Quote

Whenever I did however sell a picture, I always felt rather like a criminal. I must have cheated, for if they had seen that picture as I did with all its faults continually staring at me, they certainly would not have bought it. I, however, tried to sell them, but with little success. I was sending black and white drawings every month or so to New York publishers. As fast as they would be returned with thanks by one, I sent them off to another. Very few stayed, but I remember the first one that did - and the check for forty dollars that came with the letter of acceptance made me wonder how they could pay such high prices. Then soon afterwards I sold A Lion at Home, from an exhibit at the Academy of Design, for eighty dollars. I began to look up, and I commenced the most ambitious canvas, of "Androcles" and I spent all of my money on models, and learned some things of my failures.

I have had brilliant ideas in my life. One of them was to unite business with art. The thing to do was to have an occupation that would furnish a small income - a business that would not take all my time. So it was - I established a very modest photograph gallery at Atlanta, Geogia. The calculation that I should have some time was well made. The calculation that I should take some photos was a mistake. I had so much more leisure time than I had calculated upon, and this so distressed me that I could not work. So it turned out that I did nothing. I could neither make it go, nor dare let it go - because with "blood & tears" I got enough out of it to pay my board each week. It was at this most distressing period that it was my good fortune to meet Bishop & Mrs. J.C. Hartzell, and for the next few years, they became my patron saints.

The gallery was sold. I was back to life. What had perhaps helped to make the situation more tantalizing was the fact that a picture of mine had been sold in Philadelphia, at an auction sale, for two hundred and fifty dollars; true, I had received but fifteen, the incident had given me hope, and me more than ever dissatisfied with the four five dollars a week I was making in that miserable gallery.

The World's Work; The Story of an Artist's Life ~ Walter Hines Page (1909), transcribing letters from the artist Henry Ossawa Tanner

Monotype: Op-Ed Page

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 01:11:00 +0000

Op-Ed Page 4x4 Monotype Ghost with colored pencil

Available in my Etsy Shop.

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Process shots start at the bottom of this post - below.

After the second run through the press, I pulled a sweet little ghost print.
When the ink is dry, this is a lovely under-painting for other media;
colored pencil, watercolor, gouache, pastel, etc. For the piece above, I
used colored pencil.

This is the monotype (sold) next to the plate. See all that ink still on the plate?
That means I can lay another sheet of paper on the plate, tighten the pressure
on the press, and pull what's called a ghost print. A fainter version of the monotype.

The ink is still wet, so running the plate through a press against paper
will transfer the image from the plate to the paper, with all sorts of little
mark-making & ink surprises from the pressure as it rolls through.

After removing ink in a subtractive process to produce my little newspaper reader.

The ink covered plate is now ready for a little drawing, scrapping and blotting.

Rolling black, oil-based etching ink onto a copper plate.

Studio & Art happenings in between posts

Art Quote

I did all sorts of things. I purchased a goose from which I made a picture. I made a sheep picture. I became the owner of a sheep. Do you know anything about a lone, solitary sheep? Well, I will tell you something - that while a flock of sheep is the personification of peace, docility and all that is quietude - from my (unscientific) study, I have come to the conclusion that one sheep has none of the qualities of a flock of sheep - no, not one. Except maybe their stupidity. One sheep is not "sheepish", no, he is a most stubborn, balky, run away, befuddled animal you can imagine. I have had other animals to serve as models, but never an animal that furnished as many alarms, by day and night, as that "peaceful" sheep. He was escaping from his stable (stable by courtesy), breaking his tether, trespassing in neighbor's gardens, and eating down the very things they prized the most, or the contrary of all activity - refusing to be lead to pasture and causing a giggling crowd to collect - as if by magic. To the question of those on the outside who could not see what was going on - it was "Oh! It's Henry Tanner's sheep. "

In spite of the difficulties, I got a sheep picture and finally traded it for a pair of antlers worth ten dollars. I was happy to trade it for anything. It seemed to me that everything but pictures had a certain market value. I was sure I could sell the antlers for five dollars - at least. I doubted very much whether I could sell the picture. It may be that I should have refused to sell the picture for that sum, but after having traded it, I should have been glad to sell the object which I had acquired by trade for five dollars. I had been saved, at any rate, the depressed feeling of selling a picture for 10 per cent of what it had actually cost me.

The World's Work; The Story of an Artist's Life ~ Walter Hines Page (1909), transcribing letters from the artist Henry Ossawa Tanner

Watercolor: Nik-Nik, Lounging

noreply@blogger.com (Belinda Del Pesco) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:46:00 +0000

Nik-Nik, Lounging

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This handsome guy is a real lover-boy. The first time I met him, he flopped over, stretched his paws into an extra-long, all-over-me-is-good, pet-me-now-pose, and purred with his mouth open while I rubbed his belly. It was love at first sight (for me). Now, the portrait of him (above) hangs in his house, where he and his siblings can admire it any time. :)

I think most of the regular visitors of this blog know that I have an Etsy shop, where I list & sell some of my printmaking, and a few framed watercolors during segments of the season when I'm making instead of showing in exhibits or art festivals. I also really enjoy the community of Etsy, and the online collective of creative souls posting and writing and selling on that site. This week, an essay written by Linzee McCray caught my attention; she profiles Tim Fay, a print man in the midwest who singlehandedly harvests content, assembles, prints & publishes an annual 160 page almanac from his printshop-home. If you're curious, you can read the article - Making a Life in Print here. And if you're even more curious, rent the film Linotype on iTunes, where Tim and his shop are one of the featured printmaker profiles in this feature length documentary about the origins and history of Linotype.

Art Quote

The linotype machine is a "line casting" machine used in printing. Along with letterpress printing, linotype was the industry standard for newspapers, magazines and posters from the late 19th century to the 1960s and 70s, when it was largely replaced by offset lithography printing and computer typesetting. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a line-o'-type, a significant improvement over the previous industry standard, i.e., manual, letter-by-letter typesetting using a composing stick and drawers of letters.

The linotype machine operator enters text on a 90-character keyboard. The machine assembles matrices, which are molds for the letter forms, in a line. The assembled line is then cast as a single piece, called a slug, of type metal in a process known as "hot metal" typesetting. The matrices are then returned to the type magazine from which they came, to be reused later. This allows much faster typesetting and composition than original hand composition in which operators place down one pre-cast metal letter, punctuation mark or space at a time.

The machine revolutionized typesetting and with it especially newspaper publishing, making it possible for a relatively small number of operators to set type for many pages on a daily basis. Before Mergenthaler's invention of the linotype in 1884, no newspaper in the world had more than eight pages.

~Wikipedia