Art by Gwen
My professional training is all related to engineering and science, and that's all I was interested in as a kid. I made very few art projects that were magnetically attached to the family fridge. I didn't develop even the slightest interest until I was in my thirties.
A friend, John Mountain, imparted all he knew from his Drawing 101 class in college in half hour lesson. I practiced a bit and decided I could draw a thing and it would look like the thing it was supposed to represent. And, I dropped the art hobby again for another fifteen years.
My daughter likes to draw, so I enrolled her and I in a drawing class together. And what do you know, I became interested in drawing again.
So, here's my work. It's kind of cool to see it improve over time.
Red Finches
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- Created: 31 October 2022 31 October 2022
Bird, blue
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- Created: 31 October 2022 31 October 2022
Red Finch
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- Created: 31 October 2022 31 October 2022
Spots
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- Created: 31 October 2022 31 October 2022
Ferret
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- Created: 31 October 2022 31 October 2022
Sun Conure
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- Created: 31 October 2022 31 October 2022
Two Bluejays
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- Created: 31 October 2022 31 October 2022
Emu No. 2
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- Created: 19 November 2018 19 November 2018
Snow Owl
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- Created: 12 November 2018 12 November 2018
It's a bird, not a plane.
Blue flower
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- Created: 10 November 2018 10 November 2018
Blue flower. The referene photo I used is on pixabay.
Three columbines
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- Created: 10 November 2018 10 November 2018
This is a second stab at my earlier attempt at three columbines.
Second Giraffe
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- Created: 07 November 2018 07 November 2018
My favorite artist, Lisa Clough, made a video on pencil painting a giraffe. here's my attempt.
Mana Wrym
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- Created: 30 January 2018 30 January 2018
Energetic beings.
Shiny Newt
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- Created: 13 November 2017 13 November 2017
I used to freelance under the name "Shiny Newts."
Second Koala
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- Created: 31 October 2017 31 October 2017
Trying the same picture for the funny animals theme.
Leaf insect
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- Created: 07 October 2017 07 October 2017
"Mom, look!"
Giraffe
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- Created: 07 October 2017 07 October 2017
I like the bizarre perspective of this giraffe.
Transparent bugs
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- Created: 14 September 2017 14 September 2017
I think buys with transparent wings look funny.
Emus look funny
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- Created: 11 September 2017 11 September 2017
I'm starting a series of "animals that look funny" pictures. Well, emus definately look funny.
Bee drinks
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- Created: 04 September 2017 04 September 2017
The bee likes the nectar. I like purple and yellow together.
Apollo poses
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- Created: 29 August 2017 29 August 2017
Apollo tried to sniff the camera.
Sparky tunnels
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- Created: 18 August 2017 18 August 2017
Sparky tunnels.
Jeanne peeks
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- Created: 07 August 2017 07 August 2017
Jeanne pops her head up.
Casper's hungry
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- Created: 22 June 2017 22 June 2017
Casper's always hungry.
Blue Columbines
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- Created: 12 May 2017 12 May 2017
Again, with the blue columbines.
Blue jesters
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- Created: 28 April 2017 28 April 2017
Colorado's state flower is a joke.
Butterfly tulips
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- Created: 10 April 2017 10 April 2017
Tulips are tasty.
Lavender butterfly
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- Created: 09 April 2017 09 April 2017
Butterfly on lavender.
Monarch butterfly
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- Created: 04 April 2017 04 April 2017
Sandpaper sucks so far.
Contrasting tulips
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- Created: 31 March 2017 31 March 2017
March's challenge.
Abstract face
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- Created: 30 March 2017 30 March 2017
Where did this come from?
Beauregard
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- Created: 17 March 2017 17 March 2017
Beauregard, a stray ferret on drafting film.
Horse bridle
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- Created: 16 March 2017 16 March 2017
Life drawings are good; not-life drawings, not so much.
Heart flamingos
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- Created: 10 March 2017 10 March 2017
Hearts. I just wanted to draw a heart.
Two birds
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- Created: 10 March 2017 10 March 2017
Birds and feathers are still my nemesis.
Bird
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- Created: 22 February 2017 22 February 2017
Feathers are tough.
Purple flower
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- Created: 18 February 2017 18 February 2017
I'll have to concentrate on learning flowers soon.
Sea turtle
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- Created: 16 February 2017 16 February 2017
Finshed and done. I finished it. That's about all I can say.
Feathers
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- Created: 08 February 2017 08 February 2017
Feathers are next. I need to learn how to draw feathers.
Sunflowers
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- Created: 04 February 2017 04 February 2017
This was an experiment with Canson mi-tentes paper. It's colored.
I either didn't use a reference flower or I used hundreds. I mean, they're sunflowers.
Lilac breasted roller
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- Created: 25 January 2017 25 January 2017
This picture sucks for two reasons. Firstly, I'm bad at birds. I think I've learned how to do fur pretty well, but feathers are not yet my thing. So, guess what? I'll be doing a lot of birds for a while.
Shiny pencils
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- Created: 24 January 2017 24 January 2017
New toys!
Dolphin
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- Created: 16 January 2017 16 January 2017
This was an experiment with Brush & Pencil products. Even with the seller's help, I still didn't get the stuff to work correctly. I'm told it takes a bit of practice, and I know I made several pilot errors. The idea behind the products is very cool, and I want the products to work. So, I'll try again another time.
Second abstract
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- Created: 15 January 2017 15 January 2017
The first abstract didn't relate to the real world at all, so I tried another one. I like the first one better, I think.
My first abstract
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- Created: 13 January 2017 13 January 2017
The monthly challenge for the colored pencil group I'm in is "Abstract." Abstracts make my brain hurt.
There's no original to compare to this time.
Casper's trophy
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- Created: 09 January 2017 09 January 2017
Happy dog.
Squirlock
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- Created: 05 January 2017 05 January 2017
This is Squirlock. I asked the family what to do with a squirrel and the husband suggested the pipe and a kid suggested a Sherlock Holmes hat.
The original picture was posted as the January 2017 monthly art challenge at Colored Pencil Magazine.
Sunflower
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- Created: 19 December 2016 19 December 2016
I've been wanting to try Brush & Pencil's powder blender for a while. I have, in fact, tried it, but it didn't work. More research clued me in that the paper is a big deal. So, I finally got the right paper, UART 600, archival sanded paper. I picked a sunflower because it's a fairly easy thing to draw. As I played with the blender, it still didn't work right for me. I also tried the texture fixative, and if you look closely at the picture, that didn't work out all that great for me either.
Watercolor Sunset
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- Created: 18 December 2016 18 December 2016
This is an experiment with watercolors. I used my new NeoColor II crayons. There is no original photo for this.
Raptor
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- Created: 17 December 2016 17 December 2016
I experimented with doing a watercolor background. i got new watercolor pencils called NeoColor II. I like the watercolors. I msked out the bird with masking fluid, did the background, removed the masking fluid, and then did the bird with Polychromos pencils. I'm not sure about this mixing media idea.
Bird
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- Created: 08 December 2016 08 December 2016
Here's a bird. This was my first experiment using orange to gray up blue. The original, a wikipedia commons photo, is below.
Failed: First attempt at a human portrait
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- Created: 05 December 2016 05 December 2016
Well, my first attempt at a portrait failed. I tried using the texture fixative on the paper, but apparently it wasn't sealed enough. I was hoping the pencil oil and binder would seal the pores in the paper.
Der Schmetterling
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- Created: 01 December 2016 01 December 2016
This is supposed to be a monarch butterfly. The original photo is in the wikimedia commons, also below.
Rexxar with bubbles
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- Created: 25 November 2016 25 November 2016
Colorful bubbles make me happy. Ferrets make me happy. Merge the two and I'm thrilled.
Koala
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- Created: 16 November 2016 16 November 2016
So, this is my koala in colored picture. I like the background, star-like dust, and the leaves. I don't like my koala. In the picture, the koala looks fuzzy, not furry. I haven't figured out how to do fuzzy yet.
Basket boy
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- Created: 11 November 2016 11 November 2016
Photographing a moving, squirming, small creature is difficult. Rexxar is a moving, squirming, small creature.
Evie's bubbles
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- Created: 02 November 2016 02 November 2016
Happy kitten.
Evening
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- Created: 28 October 2016 28 October 2016
Evening is my new kitten. Her job description is twofold: pet me and stalk, terrorize, and murderize mice. So far, she excels at one task and sucks at the othe
Bird
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- Created: 14 October 2016 14 October 2016
Lauren went to Africa and took a bunch of pictures. Some were of this little red bird. So, that was my next drawing experiment. I was trying to keep the background trees in the background and stuff like that. This is colored pencil. I'm going to try this with acrylic paints too.
Harvest Moon
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- Created: 01 October 2016 01 October 2016
My favorite artist did a video on how to make this moon painting, kind of Bob Ross style but with acrylics.
Forest and Fireflies
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- Created: 28 September 2016 28 September 2016
My favorite artist made a tutorial on how to do this paiting. It's kind of a Bob Ross style, but with acrylics.
Ms. Ellie
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- Created: 26 September 2016 26 September 2016
Ellie is a foster ferret I have. I "copied" this picture from her mug shot for the humane society. I didn't do too great. I have problems delineating fur vs. body. I'm learning. It's a process.
Two flowers and a fence
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- Created: 17 September 2016 17 September 2016
Three days after she moved in with me, grandma had a stroke.
Moon rat
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- Created: 01 May 2016 01 May 2016
Rat and moon
Colorful bird
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- Created: 29 April 2016 29 April 2016
The background is colored pencil and I kind of like it. I like the wood too, but I don't like the leaves this time.
Sting moves
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- Created: 26 April 2016 26 April 2016
Puppies like to move and Sting is a puppy.
Horse
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- Created: 23 April 2016 23 April 2016
The reference photo was included in the challenge.
Blueberries
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- Created: 19 April 2016 19 April 2016
Simple. I wanted to draw something simple.
Kids' Crayola colored pencils
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- Created: 15 April 2016 15 April 2016
Crayola colored pencils don't blend very well, which is probably why they are so cheap.
Donut planet
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- Created: 12 April 2016 12 April 2016
Imagine living on a torroid, or donut-shaped, planet.
Captivation bubbles
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- Created: 08 April 2016 08 April 2016
Mantis shrimp can make super captivtion bubbles.
Underwater scene
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- Created: 01 April 2016 01 April 2016
Here's a sea turtle and a boxy fish.
Closeup of a ferret face
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- Created: 30 March 2016 30 March 2016
Ferret face closeup
Odin, Hugin, Munin
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- Created: 28 March 2016 28 March 2016
March challenge
Something swimming, something flying, sun or moon
Seagull and flying fish
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- Created: 21 March 2016 21 March 2016
March challenge
Something flying, something swimming, sun or moon
Ornamental cabbage
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- Created: 20 March 2016 20 March 2016
Yikes, I don't think I could have done any worse on this one.
Three purple flowers
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- Created: 19 March 2016 19 March 2016
Colored pencil
What's that on the TV?
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- Created: 19 March 2016 19 March 2016
Okay, I think I got the bricks done fairly well and the ledge. But the left most ferret is definitely out of proportion, even if we pretend it's a small female. As usual, the photograph isn't that great.
Hummingbird
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- Created: 18 March 2016 18 March 2016
Hummingbird. Colored pencil foreground and watercolor background
Lady-bugged leaf
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- Created: 15 March 2016 15 March 2016
Lady bug on leaf
Ferret with red flowers
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- Created: 13 March 2016 13 March 2016
Here's a ferret with red flowers. Now, this ferret was a "new media" projected. I did this in colored pencils, but I tried a new blending powder and a texture spray. The texture spray left funny things on the paper and made it difficult to layer. I'm hoping it was just because I used the wrong type of paper.
Marbles
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- Created: 08 March 2016 08 March 2016
Colored pencils
Key
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- Created: 08 March 2016 08 March 2016
Key
Second try: Ferret coming out of a picture frame
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- Created: 07 March 2016 07 March 2016
Colored pencil
Ferret coming out of a picture frame
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- Created: 06 March 2016 06 March 2016
Watercolor background and colored pencil foreground
Mouse, moon, flower
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- Created: 01 March 2016 01 March 2016
This time in acrylics.
War dance
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- Created: 01 March 2016 01 March 2016
You can't tell with this crappy photo, but my husband actually deemed this picture wall worthy. It's in an actual frame and hanging in his office at work.
Blue Jay
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- Created: 26 February 2016 26 February 2016
Sometimes you want to use water as a solvent instead of gnarly chemicals.
Galaxy in a galaxy
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- Created: 26 February 2016 26 February 2016
I was doing so well until I started adding hair... Yes, I need to learn to sharpen my pencil, make sure the hair goes in the right direction, keep track of hair length on body parts, ... It looks so much better as a thumbnail.
Heart dish
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- Created: 22 February 2016 22 February 2016
Heart dish
Playing with a compass
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- Created: 18 February 2016 18 February 2016
Playing with a compass
Brigit's Cross
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- Created: 17 February 2016 17 February 2016
Brigit is sort of an Irish goddess, part of the Tuatha de Danann. I put in a symbol for each of the family members and did my best to phonetically spell out names out in old Irish letters.
Triskele
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- Created: 15 February 2016 15 February 2016
Triskele
Hex nut
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- Created: 14 February 2016 14 February 2016
Hex nut
Tunnel rat
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- Created: 06 February 2016 06 February 2016
Rat in a tunnel
Bow
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- Created: 28 January 2016 28 January 2016
Graphite bow, for a present
Eye
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- Created: 26 January 2016 26 January 2016
Anna and I copied eyes from a reference photo in drawing class.
Dog Parts
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- Created: 19 November 1999 19 November 1999
Great Danes are big. I wasn't up to drawing a whole dog, so I just did some parts of the dog.
Hummingbird
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- Created: 19 July 1999 19 July 1999
This was one of my first paintings. It's supposed to be a hummingbird.
Television trance
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- Created: 19 May 1999 19 May 1999
Television trance. Note that this picture was done about 18 years before I took up art.