From the Sketchbook

Since my last few attempts at drawing Joseph Smith have been so horrendous, I decided to take a small break and sketch something else. I found some great photos and spent about 10 minutes on each one. The above sketches are the result. Now, hopefully my confidence and my creativity have been re-booted and I can get back to work!

Try Try Again

I decided to start working on the drawing that will be used for the actual painting. So far, I have made two attempts, and they have both been terrible! In fact, they are down right humiliating, so I will not be posting them. There is nothing left for me to do but get back to work and try again. When I do get the drawing just right, I will post it before I get down to the business of pushing paint around. Stay posted!

A Couple of Sketches

Every day I work on my Joseph Smith project a little bit more. Here are a couple of sketches that I did, trying to get my drawing closer to his actual appearance. This is very time consuming, but I believe that the results will be worth all the work!

This is a "thummy" of what I would like the finished painting to look like. As you can see, this will be an impressionistic portrait of Joseph Smith. I wanted to create a fine art painting, rather than an illustrative painting. I am really excited about how this is going to turn out. I will keep posting my progress as I work along.

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River Art Competition

Waterton Park - 16 x 20

Oil on Canvas

Copyright Dena McMurdie

Sunset over the Bridge - 12 x 16

Oil on Canvas

Copyright Dena McMurdie

A few weeks ago, I entered three paintings into the Susquehanna International Art Competition. The theme was River Art. The two paintings I have posted are the ones that were chosen for publication in the River Art book and accepted into the exhibition that will take place at the West Shore Gallery in Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania.

Although both paintings were accepted into the exhibit, I will only be sending one of them out there. Sunset over the Bridge is packed and ready to be shipped off to Pennsylvania for the exhibit that will run from Friday, February 11 to Thursday, March 10. If you are in the area, stop by and see all the beautiful river art that will be on display!

Study

My Joseph Smith project has been in the back of my mind for the past few weeks, nagging and nagging at me, in hopes of being worked on. I finally got a chance, and designated today as the day that I would start seriously working on my drawings. So since this was going to be the first time that I’ve seriously drawn in a long time, I needed to warm up and see where I was. So I drew this portrait of my husband. It has some problems that I can see, and I know where I need to make changes for next time. Some of the values contrast too much in some places and not enough in others. But, I did think that it turned out pretty well for being my first drawing in quite a while. Now I know where I’m at and I can proceed with more caution (and more skill) when I start on the actual Joseph Smith drawings. I will be completing a series of three paintings, one of which will be based off of this pose (which is why I decided to practice on this one). I know it is going to take a lot more work, but I am ready for it. This is one project that continues to pop to the forefront of my mind throughout the day. I want to get it finished!