The Beheading

I did this piece--The Beheading-- in 2010, with a ball-point pen (biro) on Moleskin sketchbook paper.

It was an experiment for me in that I was trying to establish a color palate for myself. Since I spent so much of my time, in the past, drawing with pens and pencils I was used to working in black and white.

A friend of mine, a graphic designer said that I needed to improve my use of color. She suggested that I could look to nature for colors and I did. Most of the color in this drawing I got from a single dying leaf.

They are muted colors which I think work well together. Many people have said that they love the colors in this one so I guess I succeeded in my goal of better using color.

This drawing was also an experiment for me in that I had never used the biro together with colored pencils. (I used Prisma colored pencils which I like the best of the colored pencils.)

I was afraid, at first, to color in the drawing, because it was already working well in black and white. I thought that I might ruin it in the coloring.

However, so often when I am doing art, I reach the piont of fear when I am standing before the abyss of decision--then I plunge ahead. Sometimes I do ruin a drawing or painting, but it usually works out for the best.

So, here's to risk taking and experiments in creating.