Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! What a perfect day to be talking about my recent drawing, the Macaws Heart! There’s only two weeks to bid for my Macaws Heart colored pencil drawing, so get your bids in soon! Click here to bid. (Deadline February 28th, 2018!)
About The Auction/Exhibit
Rustic Roots, a fantastic little restaurant in Shelburne, VT, is currently having its second annual heART Show. This exhibit is a charity event with over 80 artists (WOW!) who participated to draw, paint, or otherwise create an original piece of artwork on wooden hearts. Each piece is being auctioned off HERE, and 50%-100% of the proceeds from each one will benefit this year’s charity.
Last year you may recall the Kitten Heart drawing I created for the inaugural heART Show, and the proceeds from that auction benefited Spectrum – Youth & Family Services.
In colored pencil on wood
Sold
This year I decided to draw two Macaws on my heart, and the proceeds from all the works of this auction will be donated to the Janet S. Munt Family Room in Burlington.
All 80+ pieces of heARTwork are currently on display at Rustic Roots, so make sure to go check it out! It is a sight to behold!
But also don’t forget to MAKE YOUR BIDS NOW for the online auction, as time will run out soon!
It’s Valentine’s Day. Will you show the love for this charity (while also snagging yourself an awesome original piece of artwork)?
The Drawing Process
The Initial Idea
As always, the first task of creating this piece was to decide what I wanted to draw!
This year I really wanted to take the heart shape of my wooden canvas into consideration, so as I sifted through my piles and piles of reference photos, I kept the heart shape in mind for what would be the best composition.
When I came upon this saved image of the two Macaws, a photo by photographer Emmanuel Keller, I knew I had a winner. So I bought the right to use this image for a reference photo, with permission, and got to work.
Working On The Drawing
As with every drawing, I started out with a line drawing to map out the proportions of my animal subjects. This is slightly more difficult on wood because it’s harder to see my initial drawing, but it’s also harder to erase those marks when I want to get rid of them as I draw over those areas. So it’s a bit tricky!
Then I began to add color, working on the left parrot first, and moving to the one on the right second.
Pencil lays down differently on wood than on paper or mixed media board, it doesn’t allow for nearly as many layers, so I’ve learned to choose my colors differently than I would for a normal drawing. Instead of layering up in a number of shades of color, only a few are used to create the full color and effect.
Also, an x-acto knife is not nearly as effective on wood as on my regular drawing surfaces, so I decided not to use it at all. Both of these things means that there’s less tiny details in this drawing than there might be if I drew it on media board, but the overall image and impression is the same and still striking.
I like how it turned out and working on wood gives me the freedom to move a little more quickly, laying down color in fewer layers and not worrying quite so much about all the tiny details, while still making a vibrant, fun finished drawing that shows the animals’ character (final image below).
Finishing
Once the drawing was finished, I let it sit overnight to make sure it was done. I decided to leave the little bit of background blank and have the wood grain be the background.
Then I varnished it with an acrylic varnish to make it shinier and seal in the colors, while also protecting them from damage and sunlight.
Finally, I put two layers of polyurethane on the piece to seal the whole piece and bring out the color and grain of the wood background a little more.
The last step was to sign it and hand it back to Rustic Roots for them to put it on display.
Auction DEADLINE
Bidding on each of the 80+ heARTworks starts at only $75, for an original piece of artwork, one that may not have reproductions made because of the unique shape.
Interested in making a bid? Check out my piece in the auction here, and the whole selection of heARTworks available here!
Make your bids now, as the deadline is February 28th, 2018! And feel good that 50-100% of the proceeds from each of the pieces sold are going to such a great cause!
Make your bid for my Macaws Heart now.
