Just Like a Rainbow in a Box

I don't know, but I think I just might have enough colors now when I sit down to do my next sketch.  Just look how beautiful they look.  It's like a rainbow in a box and and I'm SO EXCITED!   This is the REALLY big box of Prismacolor pencil.  There are 150 to be exact and I can't wait to start using them. Just look at all those shades of gray and blue! 

Lately, I have been watching a talented color pencil artist from Australia by the name of Sheldene Visage at Sheldene Fine Art.  She has a number of excellent tutorials on YouTube and I'm learning a great deal from her.  I decided that if I was serious about the medium of color pencils then I needed to invest in the largest set they sell. I guess I'm just going to have to get busy and sell a bunch of greeting cards or a couple cowbells to cover my investment.   

To make myself familiar with all the colors available in the set I decided that I was going to make my own color reference chart to go along with my pencil set.  I used 4 inch strips of poster board separated in 1/2" sections.  Each try contains 25 pencils and so my color chart follows that same order that they were shipped.  I'm really hoping that Prismacolor wouldn't steer me wrong.  I can use the little swatches of color when trying to determine the closest shade.  I can just lay the card up to the reference photo or still life and find the right color.  

Sheldene has her color charts hole punched and on a ring so that they stay together but she can have access to each card separately.  I was even considering the possibility of having them lamented so that they are protected so they stay clean and intact.  Maybe I will do that as soon as I'm sure I have them organized correctly and that they are functional.  I may decide that I need to expand the color to include both a dark and light tone for each color.  So many decisions just to get organized.  At this point, I'm not even certain the best way to keep my pencils organized.  Maybe that is a good question to ask several experience CP artists and include their answers on a future blog post. 

Example of Color Swatches done by Sheldene

Veggies are the Bomb Diggity

This past week I have found myself busy and distracted so not much art has really gotten done.  I did manage to write this little poem (which I hope you read at the bottom of this post)  to go along with one of my favorite sketches that I have done this year.    There is something just so cute about this little bunny sitting among a pile of fresh carrots.

This weekend I was blessed to be invited to attend a baby shower for the grandson of a dear friend.  I purchased a couple of very cute outfits to give the new mother as a gift but at the last moment decided to also include this piece and my sketch of a calf licking his nose.  I printed them out on acid free art paper, matted them and signed them.  I also included the poem I wrote for "Who Needs a Tissue". (To read that poem just scroll down to my May 7, 2016 post)  I think that these two prints make wonderful nursery art or would look great hanging in a country kitchen.

So this got me thinking about the holiday weekend coming up and so I decided to put together a blog special offer.  I usually sell these 8 x 10 matted to 11 x 14 inch prints for $45 each but for the next two weeks (ends May 31, 2016)  I am offering a special package to my online blog and website visitors only.  Both numbered and hand signed prints, along with a copy of both of my poems for $50 (plus $13 shipping in the good old USA). Here is the link to my Down Country Roads Gallery.  Just click on the Paypal button located at the top of the gallery to make your purchase.  While you are there, please feel free to checkout my other gallery tabs for my other works at JulieTownsendStudio.com.

"Don't Forget Your Vegetables"

"Who Needs a Tissue"

Don't Forget Your Vegetables

By 

Julie Townsend

I don’t understand it at all when I say
There are people I know that are not at all keen
To eating anything that is leafy and green
It is perplexing to consider the price they may pay
For eating our veggies is one way to stay
With your body fueled and your muscles lean

Packed full of good stuff with very long names
Plenty of essential acids, vitamins and minerals galore
All vital and important items needed to fuel your core
I’m not joking, pulling your leg or making false claims
This is for real and I’m not playing games
Eating the colors of the rainbow will help you soar

Red is good for your heart
Blue and purple work wonders for you brain
Green is packed with essential minerals so you don’t feel the drain
Filling your plate with lots of bright colors will get off to a good start
To keep your eyes healthy and reading off the chart
Orange and yellow are the colors for vision that will bring the most gain

All that about color just to say
Don’t forget to eat them 5 times a day

The

 Incredible

Very Digestible,

Always Sustainable,

The tasty and edible

Yellow, Orange

Purple, Blue

Green and

Red

V

E

G

E

T

A

B

L

E

Leave me a comment below to let me know if you like either the artwork or my feeble attempts at writing poetry.  Catch you on the next blog post.

An Apple a Day

"An Apple a Day" is a 16 x 20 acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas that was inspired by our regular September trips to the Bradshaw's End of the Rainbow Apple Orchard near Caliente, Nevada.  This trip is an annual family favorite of ours.  As I began this piece, I couldn't help but remember all the family memories that are reflected by these three simple apples ripening on the branch.

In the painting, the warm sunlight reflects through the branches and seems to  kiss the apples with a warm glow of yellow and orange.  I know if you listen carefully, you can almost hear the warm afternoon breezes rustling through the leaves as you strain to reach for the really good apples that hang high above your head.  If you ever have a chance to take a drive out on Nevada Highway 317, through the "Rainbow Canyon", and it is during apple picking time you have to stop in at the Ranch, grab a bucket and head off through the tall grasses to hunt these beautiful treasures.


http://agri.nv.gov/Brochures/Nevada_Organic_ReviewJan05.pdf