Abstracted Realism - new cp wip

'rose flame', work in progress, 15" x 8", coloured pencil on Stonehenge

copyright Teresa Mallen

Isn't it wonderful to start a new piece? I thought I needed a break from working big but I missed a larger format so this one is 15 inches by 8 inches - lots of room to stretch out and breathe! So what am I doing with this and what do I mean by abstracted realism? Well, have a look at my rose photo below.

Using Photoshop, I played with some reference photos. I ended up with a composition that I really liked. I chose a close up view, a vertical slice of the center of the rose. This piece is all about shapes and curves. I saw curves that reminded me of a candle flame or smoke rising. That is the story I wish to tell with this new work. The piece is grounded in realism as I am drawing an actual rose but it is also undergoing a bit of abstraction as the cropping focuses on shapes and curves. I love the shapes and curves of the crop and it doesn't really matter to me if the source is a rose or a tree branch or whatever.

I have lots of yummy colour down already but for now the photo isn't showing it well. I am working on white Stonehenge and I am building up colour by applying light layers of pigment. I saw a few other compositions that appealed to me so I think there may be a rose series in the work here...maybe...

For those of you who are wondering if there is going to be a May issue of my newsletter...humm, I am quite busy right now with commitments outside of the studio so it may be a while before I can get writing another issue. For those of you who are subscribers, you will of course be notified as soon as a new issue has been published. The silver lining is that for those of you who are new members, you have more time to catch up with your reading of past newsletters. If you are new to my blog and you don't have a clue what I am talking about, hop on over to my website to read my newsletters for coloured pencil enthusiasts.

Finally, for the birders out there, not only did I hear a whip-poor-will this week, (as mentioned in a previous post) I actually saw a mother and her oh so adorable baby (half way between fluff and feathers). I was walking my dog one evening and we happened upon them resting in the grass. Mom flew off. I so wish I had my camera so I could have taken a picture of the baby. The site was close to the house and I could have returned to the spot but I didn't want to disturb them more than we had. Don't worry, I kept my dog from having a curious sniff. :-)