Darla Dixon Art and Words Blog

I have moved my blog over to http://darla-dixon-artist.blogspot.com - It's one blog with pretty much all my stuff in it - from art to writing. Having a good time over there, hope you'll stop by :)

Summer art assignments

My daughter is taking Advanced Placement Art classes next year. So her instructor has given her a list of AP Drawing Art Summer Assignments. I thought they looked pretty good. Excellent if you want to work on something to help stay out of an art rut. Helps one branch out a bit, if you know what I mean.
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Complete 10 assignments over the summer. For each work, make a drawing that is at least 9"x12" and uses the entire page.

• Make a still life with a good variety of objects that have different textures, sizes, and shapes. Set up the objects so you have an interesting and visually pleasing arrangement. Set up a cloth in the background. Use the whole page, drawing a still life that focuses on value, texture and form. Make the objects look three dimensional through accurate shading. Show the different textures and surfaces of the objects.
  

• Look at the animal images of Durer. Draw an animal with equal attention to detail, using pen.

• Draw 100 things on one page.

• Look straight down at your feet. Fill a page with what you see.

• In oil pastel, draw a jacket that is draped over a piece of furniture. Draw both with careful shading and contour line.
  

• Make a drawing of an unusual interior that contains a good number of interesting objects. Look inside a cabinet, a closet, a drawer, a wardrobe, or in a box of things.
  

• Take a photo of yourself showing extreme emotion. Make a drawing in the style of Van Gogh based on the photo. Use expressive colors.
  

• Look at the collage and paint works of Benny Andrews. Make a collage, mixed media work in his style that shows people you know engaged in everyday activities.
  

• Make a drawing of a tree.
  

• Make a detailed self portrait from life in the style of Rembrandt.

Busy times, great times

I will be finishing up the portrait of Alexander Hamilton - someday. I've just been so busy that I don't have time for art projects that are "just for fun." Working on portrait commissions and have a big charity live art event and auction on June 5th that I'm getting ready for. The kids are all out of school after tomorrow. I am taking Tae Kwon Do classes. Having a great time, enjoying life...so everything's good, just really busy. Thanks for hanging in there and supporting my art!

Pencil drawing of Alexander Hamilton

I had a lot of fun working on this pencil drawing of Alexander Hamilton last night. Just drawing him for the fun of it. I saw an episode of American Experience on PBS about Hamilton, and found him to be a fascinating character. This is on 11x14 paper. I still need to work a bit more on his face, and do a lot more in his hair and coat/cravat. The background is being done by crosshatching. I threw in a bit of CretaColor charcoal in this one too.

From Wikipedia: Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1757 – July 12, 1804) was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, a Founding Father, economist, and political philosopher. The chief of staff to General George Washington during the American Revolution, he was a leader of nationalist forces calling for a new Constitution; he was one of America's first lawyers, and wrote half of the Federalist Papers, a primary source for Constitutional interpretation. He was more influential than the other three members of Washington's Cabinet, and the financial expert; the Federalist Party formed to support his policies.

Blick art supply low shipping fee and sale

Blick Art Supplies is having a sale with sliding discounts, based on what you buy.
However, they also have $4.95 shipping with no minimum purchase for that low shipping price.
The reduced shipping fee expires at Midnight. I know I will be taking advantage of this! I love Blick art supply.

New blog posts

I've been posting more to my main blog lately because I just had it re-designed and I need to make that worthwhile! ;-) Some new posts on my main blog:

Portrait Art Show
I went to The Portrait Society of Atlanta's juried portrait show (includes photos)

Portraits of buildings as gifts
The story of how I was hired by a business to draw my biggest artwork ever.

House portrait in pencil
A house portrait commission I recently completed.

Dog pencil portrait

Here's a dog portrait of a mixed-breed dog. My client said she was told that Chester was a Labrador/Dalmatian mix. I think I see some Great Dane in him, though - especially in his snout area. But whatever he is, he's a gorgeous dog, and I really enjoyed drawing him. I used 2B and...Read more>>>