Pen Drawing Colored

I took the pen drawing and applied the color mostly by brush in photoshop. In the spirit of keeping things "loose" I avoided using the gradient tool that I had become so reliant on. It still looks very...careful? Purposeful? I don't know really what to call my style. Smooth? But it is leaning ever so slightly toward "loose."

Pen Drawing

This is a sketch for winter, done entirely in pen. Drawing in pen can be frustrating, but when you can't find your pencil...
The great thing about pen drawing is how you can see each step in the drawing, because there's no erasing. In the past, I saw this as a bad thing, making a drawing look unfinished, unpolished, but now I love it. Often I think my finished drawings and paintings are too polished and I've been working on letting go a bit, and allowing the construction to shine through.

Alumni Show

So the show went well. Apparently I didn't have anything to worry about. My painting was among the more skillful. There were some very beautiful and imaginative pieces and there were some that were not. I did notice, however that my painting was the only still life and had the second brightest in color palette. Alas, my painting was not purchased by anyone, and wasn't stolen either (it was insured, so I would have gotten paid) but it seemed as though none were sold. The school did not list the prices, so that probably had something to do with it.

Halloween Pencil

Seeing as most of the comic work I've been doing has copyright and confidentiality agreements, I can't show it off until it gets published. This drawing, however, was for fun; using a clothing catalogue for the pose reference, and my love of halloween for the rest. It is pencil on paper. In the coming weeks I will be inking it, and possibly coloring it as well.

Love the Jury

When I was in high school, and put my art in for a juried show, I was annoyed, because I was grrreeaaat! That's right. I beemed like the sun with confidence. And if there is anything school taught me is that I can always to better, and of course, someone else already is.
Now I have no confidence in my work, and I long for a juried show to give me that little pat on the back that says, someone thought you were as good as these guys, so don't worry about looking like a fool in comparison.
Unfortunately, my 'masterpiece,' aka the Neverending Still-life, is going to be in a non-juried show. Suddenly I have no confidence in the painting I loved only a few months ago. Quuestions fill my head, such as: Will people like it? Will they understand the broken glasses? Will they call me academic as an insult? Will they think the glasses hold an inner meaning? Will they think I'm trying to make it seem like there is an inner meaning to the glasses? Will they laugh at me?
Will I price it too high?
Will I sell it too low?
Too many questions. I miss the good old days.

My Cafe Press Store

Ever travel somewhere, like the Colosseum, and try to find a cool looking t-shirt? So you scour through the stacks of shirts at the gift shop (hoping that they're hiding the good ones) while a woman yells at you in Italian for no real reason (she's lazy and thinks you'll make a mess, even though your not). So then you leave her with a rude gesture and one of those Italian remarks your nana always made when she was angry, and head off to the street vendor's tent to find a cool shirt there. But all of their t-shirts have cheesy gladiator cartoons on them. How very disappointing. If only there was a way to get that cool shirt that seems to be non-existent. Well, now...there is a way! And after I opened my shop, I realized that there were already about 17,000 other ways. But mine is better. Trust me. Now, to figure out how to get mine to show up in keyword searches. The instructions were helpful, until I realized they had no effect. It's a process, I guess. Like everything else in the world. http://www.cafepress.com/KellerNiemanDesigns

Vacations are rough!

Think work is stressful? Try vacation. As a free-time only artist, any time I have that I'm not at work or sleeping is dedicated to trying to catch up on all of my art endeavors. Now, along comes a vacation...a chance to catch up, and get some art done...a chance like that doesn't come along very often. I have so much work planned for my time off, that any setback is infuriating. My computer keeps overheating, eating seems to be a time-wasting hassle, but hunger pangs become debilitating. My brain is working overtime and feels like it's going to explode. My back is aching from sitting in the same spot all day. Before my husband left for work, he challenged me to do no work, and just enjoy my day off. lol Not a chance. While it sounds like a good thing, at the of the day I would regret wasting all that time. So here I am, at the end of the day, still having nothing completed, but having done a lot. I feel like I got run over by a truck, but I guess I'm ok with that.

The Neverending Still-life ENDS

Summer 2007:
I carefully gathered objects for my first still life in my new studio (my parents basement). I had just graduated college and was excited to begin my artistic career. I was ready to challenge myself, to paint a masterpiece that would prove that I was no longer a student, but an artist!
Summer 2009:
My masterpiece, half finished, sat sadly on my easel, practically forgotten. The bottles and mirror were coated in dust. I had found my challenge to be too challenging. I had chosen colors I had never painted, odd shaped bottles, and to make wine glasses more difficult to paint...break them. Then throw in a mirror. The expensive wine was meant to be my reward when I finished, but was close to turning. I had two options, finish that summer...or take it down and drink the wine anyway. In my mind, if I gave up, I would never be an artist. It would be the beginning of a lifetime of starting and giving up before it's over.
Winter 2010:
Still unfinished, but much closer...The push to the finish was on, and extremely sporadic. All that remained was mostly details, and it was driving me nuts! I didn't have the time or patience to sit and stare at it for hours, making small changes now and again. It seemed hopeless. I felt sure that I would never finish and that the wine had spoiled. But still...I couldn't give up.
Oddly enough, I found my motivation...at work...from an employee. One of the guys in my department asked what I was doing that night. I answered, painting. When I explained that I meant painting a still-life, not changing the color of my livingroom, the whole story of the unfinished masterpiece came out. And that became the thing he loved to give me a hard time about. Every couple weeks, he would say, "Hey, Kate. Finish that painting yet? How long's it been? Five years?"
February 2010:
Finished! "In your face!" Yeah, I finished and I brought it in to work to show it off. Proof that maybe I can do this art thing. Maybe my next painting will only take one year.

Hands and Muses

Well, finally, a sample of what I can do. This is conte on newsprint.

If I could just get back in with my artistic muse, maybe I could do it again, or better. That's my goal for 2010, well...one of them.

A little about this pic, I did it in a hands and feet class at SCAD, taught by the all impressive Paul Hudson. Definitely one of the best professors I've had, and probably the most enthusiastic about art.