New Ideas and Lessons Learned

My apologies for forgetting to post since early November! From now on I will just post whenever I feel like it. There's a lot to cover since November, so I'll keep it brief.

This was my midterm for my Drawing I class done in conte crayon. Now I'm in Drawing II, so be expecting some more Drawing class work.

This one is a large graphite pencil drawing done using the grid method, also drawn in Drawing I.
Next are some photos I took of puppies at Christmas. I'm so happy with how they turned out!

The top and bottom pictures I took in front of the Christmas trees. All of them were taken with natural lighting as well as a reflector.

This acrylic painting of a horse's eye was just for practice. I didn't think it looked very good. I shared it on facebook, and I was so surprised by all of the wonderful comments. Shows how sometimes I should just stop being stressed about making it look perfect and just have fun doing it.

Here is a recent acrylic painting I did, titled "Fury". The top picture is the reference photo (LP Landry Photography) free for artists' use. The horse is a Paint stallion named CW River of Gold. I saw an idea on Pinterest of using Super Sculpey clay and acrylic modeling paste to add some 3D art onto a canvas. I had the idea of a clay rose and horse painting for a long time. I ordered the supplies special for it. I found this reference photo and got the idea for this painting. I wanted to convey the horse's spirit, the fierceness, the strength, the fury. That's why I chose the red background, and I'm glad I did, because it really makes the horse pop. I love to do the drippy, messy background and it was the perfect technique for this painting. I'm not quite sure what made the idea of black roses pop into my head, but there was so much going on in the background that I did not want to distract any more from the horse. I'm very happy that they turned out looking pretty realistic. Black and red is a good color scheme to communicate fury as well. I was a little discouraged at first, thinking it wasn't turning out very well, but as I went on it was getting better and better. By the time I started painting the mane, I knew this would be my best painting yet. I have found that my best paintings come from not only trying to show the subject, but what the subject is feeling.

Here is my favorite charcoal drawing, also of CW River of Gold. It is 18x24". These last two pieces, as well as the drawing of the little girl and my other acrylic painting of a Pintabian, will be entered in the Vasaloppet Art Show, it's a local show coming up very soon. They will be for sale, and if "Fury" doesn't sell there, I've already got a buyer lined up for it.

And finally, here is a drawing that I did today on my new tan drawing paper, with black and white charcoal. 11x14", for sale. I was also thinking this one wasn't going to look very good but when I finished, I liked it a lot. I am my worst critic... at times it makes me feel like I'll never get past my weaknesses with drawing, painting, and photography. Like I'll never be good enough. But, at other times it makes me strive to practice very hard to improve, and nothing can stop me, not even my own doubts.

Now, I need to stop getting new ideas for now and just do all of the commissions that I have to do...

Thanks for reading!

Wildlife Art and Puppies

Hello again!
This week there was not much production with art, although I have been granted permission by a wildlife photographer to create artwork from his photographs! Check out his facebook page www.facebook.com/brianshultsphotography or his website www.brianshultsphotography.com. He has amazing photographs! And also a wildlife photographer from the UK. Follow him on facebook www.facebook.com/paul.sawford.5. Now I can sell wildlife artwork!

I also thought I would share my favorite photo from today taking pictures of adorable puppies! www.facebook.com/kountrypuppy.

Thank you for reading! I post every Saturday.

 

~Andrea J. Anderson

 

Acrylic paintings and Family photos

Blog-post Saturday is finally here! I have much to write about this week.

First of all, Sunday I went with my Grandma +Dixie Koch to a church that we were invited to for a book signing. They hosted an event just for us! My grandma sold and signed books, and I displayed some of my artwork. I sold this charcoal drawing as well (reference photo: Alice Loder Photography):

Right before the event, during the service, was when we had to speak in front of everyone there. I was beyond scared! I have many talents, one of them not being public speaking! Everything turned out all right though and the speech actually went well. I had a great time afterward talking to people and overall it was a wonderful time! And, the nacho tacos were delicious!

I've had a wonderful opportunity given to me! I have not shared this on facebook, but I have been chosen to illustrate a children's book! It's a book about cats. Although I haven't drawn cats since I was a kid, I practiced and these are just a couple rough sketches of what they will look like (created digitally):

This week I started working with a photographer who resides in the UK. She posted in an Equine Artists group on facebook that her photos can be used to create works of art under a few conditions. I will be doing a few more paintings and drawings from her wonderful photographs. Like her page on facebook!

On Wednesday I started following an artist named Elise Genest, who does lifesize acrylic paintings of horses. I fell in love with her style. You should like her page on facebook too! Here are a couple of her paintings:

I wanted to experiment with her style and how she does her backgrounds. So Wednesday on a whim I decided to paint this Pintabian (reference photo: Alice Loder Photography, UK):

I love just being free playing with the background. On this piece I also put in some paint that has little beads in it, so the ground the horse is running on is raised and has a sandy texture. I love how this turned out.

Yesterday I decided instead of doing homework, to do another painting (So that means I have to  do my homework today! Ugh.). I used a free reference photo, by an equine photographer named Janina Suuronen. Again, I experimented with the background:

I think this one turned out even better than the one above! This painting took approximately 5 hours to complete and it was a little harder, because when the horse is closer, the detail increases. I think I have a new favorite medium!

After posting these two paintings on facebook, I got more likes on my page and more people interested in paintings. I wish I could do a painting every day, BUT college life is so demanding! But hey, I'm making time to do them anyway.


And now for photography, I reached 100 likes on my photography facebook page (www.facebook.com/AndreaPhotos) in just a few days! I have been busy editing the Hager family session and I thought I would share them:

That is all for now. Thank you for reading and be sure to read my next post next Saturday!
Have a wonderful day!

~Andrea J. Anderson

Introduction: Artist and Photographer

Welcome to my blog! Every Saturday I will have a new blog post. I will be posting about my artwork and my photography. A little bit about me... I am in college at a community college earning my Associate's degree and will then move on to major in Art Education. Art has always been my hobby until a few years ago when I started selling my artwork. I specialize in horses (I'm a horse nerd, and a proud owner of two Half-Arabians that I am training myself), but can do just about anything. I can use a variety of mediums, my favorites being charcoal, oils, and pyrography (wood-burning). I am still exploring different mediums and finding new favorites. The covers I illustrated for my grandma's books.

Photography is another hobby I have had for a long time. When I was a kid I would always take my point-and-shoot or my parents' canon and just go for a stroll around the farm, looking for things to take pictures of. I have entered both my artwork and photography in the county fair through 4-H. 2014 will be my last year of 4-H. During the last few years people have paid me to take photos of them. I never considered myself a professional, though. It was just my hobby, and if people wanted to pay me to take photos of them, then great! I was much too critical of myself to consider myself as a professional. I thought I would never be good enough. Truth is, when it comes to art and photography, you can never be good enough. You are always learning and trying to improve. This spring I decided to invest in a canon 60D. I have researched and read many articles on the internet about photography. I gained experience through my relatives being my models. I have bought books and incorporated the knowledge from them into my practice. Now I can say that I am a professional photographer. It is a journey, and I learn from every photo shoot just as I learn from every drawing or painting I create. A bit about my photography... I love all types of photography. Wildlife, landscape, people, pets, etc. My dream is to do wildlife and mustang photography, but the equipment is very expensive. I doubt it will happen, but who knows? I thought I would never become a pro photographer, either.

My biggest obstacle now is to reach people. The hardest part about having an art and/or photography business, is getting your name out there. Please do me a favor if you like my work, please share it with your friends! I do believe that God has given me the gift to see, and the passion to create. And, what God has given me, I will put to use for His glory.

I have a facebook page as well. If you would like to check it out or like it, visit www.facebook.com/AndreaEquineArt. If you are interested in a custom piece of artwork, photography, or a photoshoot, please email aj95anderson@gmail.com. Thank you for reading!