Caution:Artist at Play-Artwork by Shana Rowe Jackson

  A different way to use dry media!   Did you know that chalk pastels, soft pastels, and charcoal are all actually water-soluble? I learned this little trick in one of my drawing classes in college and I was flabbergasted the first time I heard about it!    Left-Right-Top-Bottom- Generals charcoal pencil, Pan Pastels, Conte pencil, Royal Langnickel pastel pencil, Derwent pastel pencil, Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel pencil,Blick charcoal, Koh I Noor extra soft pastel, Sennelier extra soft pastel, No name student grade chalk pastel, Grumbacher chalk pastel.    Using water with these very dry mediums can open up a lot of doors for creativity. It's an excellent way to blend, create expressive marks, and to create a painterly feel with your sketches. I love using this technique when I am feeling particularly experimental with my work. You can introduce brush marks, splatters, and washes into your drawings. This technique is also great for plein-air sketching as it requires very little tools

         Crayons aren't just for kids!      I recently had the pleasure of trying the Caran d'Ache Neocolor I wax pastels and reviewed them for my YouTube channel. The Neocolor I wax pastels are just what they sound like, pastels made of wax, IE: crayons. This line is Caran d'Ache's water resistant line of wax pastels but they also offer a water-soluble line called Neocolor II. Their Neocolor II line seems to be a bit more popular amongst enthusiasts because of their versatility and ability to be blended with water. That being said, the Neocolor I line has many attributes of it's own.       My first impression of these pastels was that they are very highly pigmented. I got the largest set, which consists of 40 colors and within that range there seems to be a good selection. I was particularly excited about the amount of colors that could be used for landscape drawings, but there is enough variety to also do a number of other subjects as well.     For my project I d

Wow! Can you believe we are already into 2022? The past couple of years have been crazy for everyone. With a world-wide pandemic and growing political tensions, it can be hard to look forward to the future. However, I find that the only way I can personally combat the negativity that comes along with events that are out of my control, is to focus on the things that I can control. That is where making goals comes in handy.   "Tree Song" Acrylics on Panel, © Shana Rowe Jackson 2021 Times are tough, so I have made a vow to be gentle with myself when it comes to setting and achieving my goals. When it came time to sit down and brainstorm my art goals for 2022, I tried to come up with a variety that will not only help me grow as a businesswoman but are also reasonably obtainable in a years’ time. There are some goals that I like to call bite sized goals. Ones that involve using certain media more often or adding to an already existing series of mine. A key phrase when making m

   1.   Start small! Start with an item and draw it everyday until you are confident. When you first do a full picture start with a small canvas so you do not feel overwhelmed.     2.   Break your piece down into individual sections, this will also help you “see” what you are drawing instead of what you think you should see.    3.   Realism is like a puzzle made up of small abstract shapes. Train your eye to look for those shapes.    4.   Do not be afraid to push your values! High contrast usually makes for a more interesting image!!    5.   When starting out, if you struggle with color, work in black and white to get a feel for detail and values. You can always glaze later if you want to.     6.   When working in color, use a view finder if you are having trouble figuring out what color you are trying to recreate. Take a white piece of paper, punch a hole in it and put it up to your reference, this will help you to identify the color more easily.