(Updated) Fantasy work on glass.

[adien]

Hey Guys, these are some digital pictures of some of my mom's artwork. I think she's a pretty amazing artist myself. :)

We were having trouble registering her an account, she didn't get the confirmation email. If she doesn't get the email by tomorrow, I'll give her an email address from my cable company that she can access remotely and we'll set up a CA account for her that way. :)

Anyways, on to the artwork!! She just got herself a digital camera, and so took some pictures of some of her work that is around the house. She setting up a room where she can take pictures in diffuse light, but hasn't gotten that done yet, so there are some big highlights and reflections in some of them.

These first ones are of a Vase she engraved:
(it's mine hands off!! :) )
http://members.shaw.ca/ohms123/KatherineNicholson-Vase1.jpg http://members.shaw.ca/ohms123/KatherineNicholson-Vase2.jpg http://members.shaw.ca/ohms123/KatherineNicholson-Vase3.jpg

Ok This next one is a Backlit Mirror that she engraved. The frame is handmade as well. She tried to get an angle that didn't have anything reflected in it, but still ended up having the ceiling light fixture in the middle. It's an orange light behind the mirror, looks awesome when it's lit up.
(I think my sister has claimed this one. :rolleyes: )
http://members.shaw.ca/ohms123/KatherineNicholson-Mirror1.jpg

Ok this one is a painting that mom did quite a few years back. One of her personal favoriites I think. Her Fire Horses.
(edit: my mistake, she called me to tell me this one was done in Pencil Crayon! :eek: )
http://members.shaw.ca/ohms123/KatherineNicholson-FireHorses.jpg

Here's a mural she painted in the kitchen to brighten the place up.

http://members.shaw.ca/ohms123/KatherineNicholson-Kitchen_Mural-Fairies.jpg

And finally, these last 3 should really be in the WIP section, but I didn't want to start a new thread. This is a canvas she's been working on for a long time. Mostly because the relative she's been doing it for wants alot in the picture, so mom keeps reworking it trying to add more stuff without making too cluttered. I think she's close to painting. Now that shes got her camera she's going to try some color tests on the computer before she paints. Alot of the stuff in this wip is based on old old family photographs. Most of which are hard to see detail in. She has some proportion issues that she's trying to fix up, but I think it looks pretty good.

http://members.shaw.ca/ohms123/KatherineNicholson-Sketch1.jpg http://members.shaw.ca/ohms123/KatherineNicholson-Sketch2.jpg http://members.shaw.ca/ohms123/KatherineNicholson-Sketch3.jpg

She uses her maiden name with her art. Her name is Katherine Nicholson, and she lives in Powell River, BC. Great stuff huh? I'm sending her the link to this page as soon as I finish this. Hopefully by tomorrow she will have her own username to respond to you guys with. :)

Thanks for looking guys. :chug:

[Triton]

I wish my mother could draw like that. Cool art!

[adien]

No crits? nothing that she should keep in mind for future artwork? :)

[bwkeough]

The ones I like the best have horses in them. She seems to really enjoy drawing them and they have great energy. I would suggest she work as much as possible with photos with action-poses as the anatomy sometimes isn't entirely accurate.

the WIP image seems to be suffering from the "shotgun composition" blues. The best way to approach an image like this is to chose one shape/person and build an abstract compostion around it of pieces that decrease in size and contrast as their importance to the central theme diminishes. Right now the dominant shape to my eye is the empty space that circles the lake.

I hope this helps.

[tomi]

i really like them very much! i would love to see the one with the orange backlight lit...that must look awesome.
t.

[nikia]

Hey Tomi, Thanks for the thumbs up. Right now the light in the mirror is burnt out. I'm going to replace it, but have to take a trip out of town for that. I live in an isolated area and sometimes it takes weeks or months for me to get out for supplies. I'll take a picture of it as soon as I do and post it.

Nikia or Adien's Mom

[nikia]

Hi Bwkeough, nice to hear from you. I was getting worried there for a while that nobody was going to critisize my work. I used to get my kids to do it for me, but since they all grew up and moved away from home, I've had no one to tell me what's wrong with my drawings. Something I've badly missed!
You're right about the horses. I love horses and began riding them by the time I was 6 months old. And you're right on about the anatomy. It's good to be reminded that I need a refresher course on horses. I've been away from them for a lot of years now. I'll have to work on that the next time. Thanx for pointing it out.
Now for some background info about the wip. This painting is for my cousin. It's been in the works for a number of years. I've worked on it off and on when I have time. (Which I don't have a lot of!) It has also gotten changed a lot over the years, when my cousin or I decide something else has to go in.
The painting will basically be a history of the way our family was raised. We were pioneer ranchers living in the mountain wilderness of British Columbia. The nearest town was a 12 hour drive on rough gravel roads or 200 miles away at that time. We were raised on hunting, fishing, trapping and cattle ranching. And our Dad's were big game guides. We used horses for everything from haying to hunting. Grizzly bears, black bears, cougar, wolves and deer were our usual neighbours along with a couple other ranches. Our entertainment was rodeos, Gymkanas, dances, and musical get togethers. No TV, electricity, household plumbing etc . I don't want to be to long winded here, but need to give you a basic idea of where I'm going with this painting.
I NEED HELP ON THIS ONE GUYS. Somehow I have to fit all of this history into one painting. The mountain and lake are the main focus, with our Granmother (above the mountain in the circle and my father with the bear at the bottom as two of the main characters. I'm hoping to have everything within the circle as the most important feature and everthing without either semi transparent or fading away.
The painting has to tell a story. Any help, critisizm, info on how to pull this off would be greatly appreciated.

[nikia]

Hi Triton, glad you liked the artwork. Sorry it took so long to reply to you. I didn't think I could post as I haven't received an email confirmation yet. I have to say this is a wonderful site. There are some amazing artist on here. It's taken me 40 some odd years of trial and error to get this far in my art. All self taught. And seeing some of the work on here makes me itch to grab a pencil and start sketching again. I hope to post more in the future, but first I have to buy a new drawing pad, (mine have all gone to aspiring artist over the years) and then figure out how to work that crazy camera!

Nikia

[daniela]

Hi nikia, great work. I like to see people work in different mediums, and your artwork on glass is awesome! Are the designs on just the front of the vases, or do they go all the way around? If they do I would love to see multiple views. I agree with bwekeough about the anatomy of the horses, but I find that it doesn't detract at all from my enjoyment of the pieces as they are Fantasy. As for the WIP, I think you are trying to fit to many images in one painting. Maybe you could pick one scene that sums up everything you said about growing up in BC in your post. It's hard for me to tell though because the pictures that your son posted are so small. You really should post them in the WIP section in a larger size. People are too focused on your finished works to give you crits on the project you want help with.

I hope to see much more from you in the future. Your work is very inspiring.

[nikia]

Hi Daniela, nice to hear from you. The engraving on the vase does go all the way around. The unicorn is on one side and the dragon on the other. I'm new to working with a digital camera. It took me 2 weeks to figure out how to take these pics with it. I freehand sketch on all of the glass, and even when drawing on the contoured glass it's hard to keep the image from warping or being out of proportion. I can't take a pic of the sides of the glass as it would look warped or out of proportion because of the contour, even if the drawing itself is actually in proportion. If that makes sense. As for the anatomy of the horses, you're right. I don't worry to much about it as they're pure fantasy. I am mainly concerned with scratching in the right places. Any shading is almost impossible. The only way to acomplish shading is to go lighter or deeper into the glass. Old glass works best for deep scratches.
As for the wip, my cousin would really like to have all these scenes in the picture. I will try to accomodate her if I can. I was thinking last night, maybe putting scenes partially behind other scenes would work. I'll have to give that a try. I think my son is going to post this one to the wip section once I get my confirmation email. It should be interesting working on this painting because, although I've drawn a lot of people over the years, I've never had time to try and paint one.
It will take some time before I can get back to the wip, as I have to work on some eggs for customers. They have to be finished by mid Nov. I create music boxes, shadow boxes and jewelery boxes out of real eggshells. If I can I'll work on the painting weekends for a while.

Nikia



Where there's a will, There's a way!

[nikia]

We've replaced the backlight in the Bronze mirror (see picture above). not as bright as it should be, as the lower section is not quite as bright as it should be. We'll try to find another one.

http://members.shaw.ca/nikia/litmirror-KatherineNicholson.jpg

High Res picture (big download): Bronze Mirror High Res (http://members.shaw.ca/nikia/litmirrorHIGHRES-KatherineNicholson.jpg)