Detail

This shows a little more detail.

Portrait

Wanted to show the progression of a portrait I am working on. Here is the beginning of a 24 x 30 oil portrait of two brothers. I apply a wash of Viridan green, and then draw with a brown colored pencil the image. I am using a photograph as source and enlarging.

Typically, I apply a grid to the small photo and a grid to the canvas to scale before drawing.

New Series

I am starting a new series of prints about children's activities--Dance, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Cheerleading, artists, etc. If you know a child who could pose for these illustrations, please contact me. Or maybe be you already have a photograph of your Dancer or Baseball player. Anyone who is used as a model will receive a special price on artwork. Email info@janeeckles.com or call 217-416-7287

Art Fair

Our local art fair was this weekend. It was interesting working in the Kid's Art Shop. It surprised me how many adults wanted to purchase the $3-$5 items slated for children's shopping. The artists of central Illinois are very generous and donate so much of their time and talent to provide an educational art experience for small folks. It would be nice if they were supported as well by the entire community.

Graphic design

Updated my website to include pricing for graphic design projects. I really think it can be pretty straight forward. Most print pieces need to start at $200.00 for design. That is very competitive with other design offerings, such as Office Depot. Printing costs are additional.

Art project

Here is a basic art project focusing on the art element of shape. Students cut oout of board a geometric shape of their choice. It is traced with a permanent marker or crayon utilizying the principle of overlapping to create an abstract design. Then, watercolor paint is applied to the shapes and students can see how overlapping shapes create new shapes.

It is simple, and a basic art concept, but the outcome can be nice particularly if the student selects a nice color pallette.

Graphic design

Just finished several print pieces for a new graphics client. Her business is a physician supervised weightloss program. I really enjoy helping new business start-ups with their visual identity, even though my main focus is children's illustration.

Sketchbooks on time payments

As an art teacher, I bought sketchbooks for $2.00 each, making them easily available to my students. Several students came up with a quarter or two, and a payment plan to purchase sketchbooks was initiated!

Actually, most of the books were just given to the students. Although, one of my best art students has paid his off in full!

...and I thought this wouldn't be as much fun as elementary school!

High school art

Friday's afternoon art classes were over the top! Our assignment was to create a logo for the Poms...a dancing Panther. The first period class took this task in stride and gave it their best shot. The third hour intro class was loud and complained about the project more than they created. Fourth hour juniors and seniors seem to be so cool--they will not take a risk doing something that others may laugh at, so they did not produce too much either.

It's the weekend, and now I have to strategize how to make risk takers out of my art students!

Hansel and Gretel

Finished the Hansel and Gretel Illustration. Now there is a series of three Childrens' Fairy Tales. I plan to create more these children's pieces. The arts and crafts aesthetic is perfect for a nursury or children's room in a bungalow style home.