Caution:Artist at Play-Artwork by Shana Rowe Jackson

   This project has been such a crazy ride for me. It has been a long time since I have been this engulfed in a body of work. My inspiration and my drive have been through the roof. It is both exhilarating and exhausting. Everywhere I go I am looking at the sky, even more than usual. Currently I have completed ten pieces in the series and am a little over half way done with the eleventh. I also have plans for at least six more pieces, but this of course will depend on time constraints. I need to be done by mid April. My main aim has been to choose skies that tie in to personal memories for me. It hasn't been easy though because I am somewhat limited to my references. However, this has also pushed me to become a better and more creative photographer. None of my paintings will be exact replicas of the photos of course, however, the photographs are a great bouncing off point. Overall, I have been growing in many ways as an artist, I taught myself how to do star photography

Comparing Colored Pencil Lightfast Ratings (4 popular lines)             I am comparing the lightfast ratings of four popular colored pencil lines, and the results are quite surprising!           I will be comparing the lightfast ratings as well as pricing on Faber-Castell Polychromos, Prismacolor Premier, Caran d'Ache Pablos, and Derwent Coloursoft colored pencils. The purpose of this exercise is to compare the general lightfast ratings of the complete lines of four of the most popular brands of colored pencil. I am not including lightfast information on each individual color of these lines. This is merely an overview to gauge what lines are worth investing in and what lines are not.           I am basing my comparison on my own calculations done from information on lightfast ratings from each company (when applicable) combined with lightfast information set out by the Colored Pencil Society of America. If you would like to see the Colored Pencil Society’s co

   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.