Contact Teresa Information

Hi everyone!

It is definitely spring here in Ottawa and after the winter we have had, it is wonderful to see plants coming to life.

As you know, we moved last fall to our current home. This is my first spring here and I am eagerly awaiting the flowering of all the shrubs and bushes. There are crabapple and apple trees, lots of lilacs etc. This wonderful forsythia shrub must be fairly old as it is quite large. It is located at the edge of our rear deck and it is truly delightful.

Some of the plants that are poking up through the soil are a mystery to me so that is exciting...I shall just have to wait and see...

I am quite pleased that the perennials I divided last fall and moved from our former garden have survived the transplanting. Ah spring...

Okay, lets talk art.

www.teresamallenstudio.com

I have a couple of great photos to share. Carol E. of Ottawa completed the Red Pepper Kit last month. In this kit, I teach the grisaille technique of creating an underpainting to establish values. The values are created in green and later the pepper is coloured red. The underlying complementary colour adds a richness to the dark areas. Carol took a picture of her pepper when it was at the green stage and then again later when it was finished. She did a fantastic job! She achieved luscious dark colour in her pepper and I love her stroke technique in the background.

If you have completed a kit and you would like to share your results, please send them along. I would love to see what you have done. Everyone brings to these kits their own style, so each finished image looks different from others.

If you would like to purchase a kit to try this yourself, check out the kit section of my website by clicking here.

Now would be a good time to mention that I recently finished a new kit. You can see it develop as a work in progress on my blog under the April posts.

This new kit gives practice in working on black paper as well as practice in painting glass. Don't be frightened off at the thought of rendering glass. Just follow the line drawing and follow the detailed steps and you will be fine. Honestly! Actually you will be surprised at how easy this kit is. Here is a picture of the completed kit:

The kit package includes the black paper you need, a sheet of white transfer paper, a line drawing, a copy of the finished work, a reference photo, images of the work in progress as well as four pages of detailed step by step instructions.

Why not give it a try? You will be amazed at how easy it is and how wonderful your finished image looks!

Sad to say but there is nothing for the feedback section...and we got off to such a wonderful start with Sandi's portrait last month. :-(

Need some reminding on how this works? Do you have a work that you would like me to review and to give some feedback on? Perhaps you have a piece started that you would like some advice on. Maybe you have a photo picked out and you are wondering if it would make a good painting. We learn from following another's process and this feedback is being offered as a way to learn from each other. If you have something you would like help with, email me a photo or a scanned image and we will go from there. You can always remain anonymous in the newsletter if desired. I look forward to hearing from you. The June issue needs your input!

"That nagging doubt slips in at times...but each year I become a better painter and each year I have more fun doing it." (Penny Otwell)

Note that she measures her progress in 'years'. So if you have painted a few stinkers in a row, don't give up, you have all year to get better!! :-) Also, notice that it gets more fun as time passes. Yippee! Don't let doubts stop you!

A schedule for classes in 2008 has been posted on my website. You can find complete details on each course there.

Please note that the Introduction to Coloured Pencil course is just one month away. I don't plan on repeating it in 2008 so if you are interested, now is your chance to come and learn all the basics of working in coloured pencil.

A reminder: While my new studio is very spacious, space is still limited. So...in order to avoid disappointment, please register early to secure your spot. This also lets me know how much art supplies will be needed for a course. Post dated cheques are fine.

I hope you are enjoying my blog, www.teresamallenstudio.blogspot.com. Please note the blog entry for May 1st. Here I explain how you can register your email address. Once registered you receive a notice in your in-box whenever I have made a new post. If you chose to do this, it will save you having to check in to see if I have written anything.

"I was reading your blog back in March where you were giving the step by step process of working on your orchids on Stonehenge paper. You mentioned using a lightbox and I was wondering if you could tell me where you purchased yours and if there is a company name you recommend?"

Joanne, that is a great question. I don't actually own a 'real' lightbox so I can't help you with recommending a particular manufacturer. When I first started out on this whole art thing, I found that my local art supply store didn't stock them. I finally did find one but I wasn't keen on the price!

I came up with a compromise that was quite inexpensive indeed and this is what I still use.

My 'lightbox' consists of a length of fluorescent tubing and a sheet of acrylic glass (perhaps you are familiar with the brand name Plexiglass). When I want to use the lightbox, I place the fluorescent tubing on a table. I place the acrylic glass over top of it. I actually rest the acrylic sheet right on top of the tubing. I tape my sketch onto the acrylic glass, I cover it with my paper, turn on my light and I am good to go. You can put this together for as little as $25.00 or $30.00, depending on the size of the acrylic you buy. I bought my acrylic sheeting at Home Depot. They have a variety of sizes and I understand they will even cut a size for you. Ask a salesperson at your local hardware store for help. I bought my supplies some years ago now, so I recently checked out the prices at my local Home Depot in order to give you some current info. An 18 inch length of fluorescent tubing costs $3.58. Here are some examples of acrylic sheeting prices: 11 x 14 inches $9.48; 18 x 14 inches $22.98, 18 x 24 inches, high impact 'glass': $25.78. Please note that some acrylic glass is more sturdy that others. Buy one that is stiff enough to take the pressure of you transferring the drawing (remember that you might be leaning your arm on it).

-This 'lightbox' is custom - you can choose the length of light tubing and acrylic that will suit your needs.

-It is easy to store as it only consists of two parts and each can be stored upright in a closet.

-You can use the acrylic glass for other purposes. I use mine as a work surface when I am on the road with my art and also as a lap table for when I leave my studio and choose to work in a chair in the familyroom...sometimes it is nice to sit by the fire on a cold winter's night :-)

Even though the product is referred to as glass, remember that this is a plastic product. The edges are not sharp like glass, it isn't heavy like glass and it isn't as fragile as glass either.

Of course if you are handy with wood you could create a frame for this lightbox. You could also buy another light tube for the bottom end to add further light.

Here are two pictures of my setup. If you can see pink and blue tones on the white paper, ignore this...guess it is just the wonders of photography.

There is another option, which is what I used for a long time before buying my 'lightbox' components. I refer to it as the 'poor man's lightbox'. Use a window! Tape your line drawing to a window, cover with your good paper and voila, you can see the lines. Of course this only works with certain papers, but then so does the lightbox. Pick a window without a screen and of course you have to do this during the day. It isn't the most comfortable position to work in if you have a lot of lines to transfer but as I said, I did this for a long time and it does work. I would transfer part of a drawing and when my hand cramped up I would go do something else and then come back to it.

*Okay, newsletter group members, I have given my lightbox suggestion. Do any of you have a store bought one that you could recommend to Joanne? If so, just email me with the name of the product and where you purchased it. If you can remember how much you paid, that would be helpful. A picture would be nice as well. I will post the info in the next newsletter. Thank you!

Jan Brett is an illustrator whose work was featured in the April issue of The Artist's Magazine. While she is not a coloured pencil artist, her website www.janbrett.com is a must see if you have children or grandchildren in your life. Jan is a very accomplished children's book illustrator and author. On her website, Jan has printable games, activities pages, colouring pages you can download, videos, on screen computer games and lots more. Imagine a rainy day with kids stuck inside...what a resource to turn to for some creative fun. Do check it out.

Want to see just how far the boundaries of coloured pencil work can be stretched? Check out these two talented women. Their styles and subject matter couldn't be more different. Susan Brooks at www.susanbrooksfineart.com and Gail Collier at www.gailcollier.com. Prepare to be amazed! Susan's work reminds me of pastel (she works on sanded pastel paper) and Gail's work looks like watercolour. You can do so much with coloured pencils!

I came across this website and her work makes me smile so I want to share it with you. Anne Leuck Feldhaus paints contemporary folk and urban pop art. I especially love her pet portraits and her pet portrait blog. I love dogs so maybe that's why! Her web address is: annesart.com.

If you are in the Ottawa area the weekend of May 10th and 11th, plan on checking out the various studios and garden stops that make up the Red Trillium Studio and Garden Tour. I am normally on this tour but I am taking a year off. Moving last year really got in the way of my productivity and I just don't have enough new stuff ready and framed to show. This is a great tour and you can get details by visiting www.redtrilliumst.com.

Other tours in the Ottawa valley this month are the Country Lanes Studio Tour (Perth and area, www.countrylanestour.ca) the Dandelion Gardens Studio Tour (Westport area, www.artatwork.ca/westport_studiotours) and Brook Valley Spring Tour (rural Perth area, www.brookevalleyspringtour.ca). These last three tours all take place on the Victoria Day weekend May 17 -19th, 2008. Why not forget about the price of gas for a few days and go visit these artists? They will appreciate your support and you will come away inspired.

"Hi Teresa, I saw one of your ads and I looked up your blog. I wanted to write and tell you that I appreciated the advice you gave on keeping it simple. I have a lot of trouble staying motivated. I get easily overwhelmed, just like you said. Since reading your post I have been trying to just enjoy doing a sketch here and there and I am trying not to be so critical. I think it would be a good idea to print this in your newsletter so everyone will read it. Thank you."

I really appreciated Judy's email and I am happy to report that she is still creating her art. Nice to know someone is reading my blog! :-)

I could write a book about staying motivated. I wasted more time that I care to think about in my past, stuck in a pit of believed impossibility. If I can do this, you can too! I hope to write a series of motivation pieces on my blog this summer, sharing what worked for me. I will keep you posted... anyway, here is the Keeping It Simple blog entry from March 29th...

Saturday, March 29, 2008
Keep it simple

Yesterday I mentioned that I would post an entry entitled 'keeping it simple' and that I would explain my art magazine ritual.

First of all, my art magazine ritual is a treat I give myself on days when I am running errands. I try to do this at least once a month. That way I can be sure that I don't miss issues. The treat is quite simple. Sometime in the midst of dashing to the pet store, to the grocery store, to the art supply store etc. I visit my local Starbucks/Chapters store. I buy a cup of something and then I sit and browse through the latest art magazines. This doesn't need to take a long time but I find it quite refreshing to sit and look at the art and to skim articles. I do buy magazines but I enjoy briefly looking at them as a bit of respite in amongst the errands. This is one of my 'add beauty to your life' actions :-) (in addition to the ones mentioned in the March newsletter).

I try to offer suggestions to my students as to how they can stay motivated and enthusiastic about their art journey once a course has ended. Buying art magazines is one of them. You can learn a lot about the making of art by reading the articles and it is a great opportunity to see the work of other artists. You can see how others approach a subject, the colours they used, the composition they chose etc. Even if you work exclusively in coloured pencil, you can learn a lot from artists working in other media. Having said this, I should also mention that there can be a down side...

Thursday night I was looking through the latest International Artist Magazine. While browsing through all of the informative sections in the magazine, it struck me how all of this can be rather overwhelming. There are so many artists out there and so many ways to do this art stuff. How do you master it? To a beginner, this is probably all new information. I imagine that one could be left with a sense of how on earth can I learn all of this. Perspective, hard lines, soft edges, value, composition, mixing colour, warm temperatures, cool temperatures, focal points...on and on it goes.

So here is my advice, if you have a desire to learn about art and you would love to actually be able to create your own work...keep it simple! Don't let everything you have yet to learn frustrate you or worse, defeat you. As one who was a beginner (and we all were, and yes I am still learning) I can honestly say that you will eventually get understanding in these areas, but it doesn't need to happen all at once. Keep it simple right? Just isolate one area that you wish to improve in. Perhaps you need to just focus on your medium. If it is coloured pencil, work on getting more comfortable with your paper, or your stroke or how to build colour. Don't think that you need to create a masterpiece. Don't worry about perfect perspective, or composition. If this stuff overwhelms you, just ignore it. You can deal with it later. Once you gain a bit of mastery in one area, then add something else. Lets say you have been playing with your pencils for a while and you think you are getting the hang of it. Pick an area that you think you need to grow in...maybe you think you need to learn how to compose more interesting still lifes or you would like to improve your photo references. Then take a step in this direction and look for resources that will help you in this area. Once you have learned a bit in this area and are ready to tackle something else, move forward into the next area. Don't overthink this whole art thing. Don't overcomplicate it or you will give up. The key to enjoying your art journey is accepting where you are now. Have fun exploring and taking small steps. I promise you that if you keep at it, adding to your knowledge little by little, where you will end up will amaze you. Just enjoy the process. So read those art magazines for inspiration but don't let all the info scare you. Buy the odd one and then you can refer back to it over and over. It will start making sense eventually. Please...keep it simple!

Whatever is beautiful to you, add it to your daily life! (Why not add some beautiful sound to your life? May I suggest that one day soon you get up a little earlier than normal, grab a coffee and pause outside to listen to all the birds warbling their spring songs. What a delight and it doesn't cost a cent!)

I sincerely hope you have enjoyed this newsletter and that you were inspired. My goal in this newsletter is to encourage you and to provide with helpful ideas and resources that will aid you on your artistic journey. This newsletter is for you so please feel free to participate. If you have a question, please ask. If you need help, just shout. If you have a work that you would like to share (that is, you don't require 'feedback'), please send it along. We would all love to see it! If you have a helpful tip or suggestion, send it along. Don't be shy, why not get involved?

I leave you with two pictures of my studio set up for teaching and a picture of hyacinths in my garden.

(If you would prefer to not receive a newsletter in future, please email me. Put 'remove' in the subject line and you will be deleted from my mailing list.)

Teresa Mallen Studio	Coloured Pencil Artist
	www.teresamallenstudio.com