A Portrait of The Cheetah, Wonder Woman's Fierce Enemy

Readers young and old of the DC Comics book Wonder Woman will know that The Cheetah has been one of Wonder Woman's greatest foes, spanning her entire career as a comics super heroine, which started in the 1940s during World War Two. The original Cheetah from that era was a wealthy, beautiful blonde socialite named Priscilla Rich who suffered from a mental disorder that made her turn evil when she was stressed. She would become The Cheetah, and she was an implacable foe.

Quite some time passed before another Cheetah appeared on the scene, but in 1987, a character named Debi Domaine appeared. Debi, who had long brunette hair, as opposed to the marcel-waved golden locks of Priscilla, was actually Priscilla's niece. Debi was a good person who was an active volunteer for green causes, and she originally meant Wonder Woman no harm. However, she was captured by Cobra, another major villain in the Wonder Woman books, and tortured until she was literally driven mad. Cobra unleashed her on the world, where she started performing acts of "environmental terrorism" that hurt people whom she felt were ruining the planet. She fell afoul of Wonder Woman, who understood her love for the Earth but who could not condone her practices.

Like Priscilla's character before her, Debi was actually quite a tragic figure. A good person at heart, she was driven by her madness to commit crimes that would appall her "normal" self. I have rendered Debi in her full Cheetah regalia, looking very snarly and kinda sexy (DC gleefully lowered the neckline of the Cheetah costume, even though the original showed plenty of cleavage) in mixed media (marker and colored pencil) on bristol board.. Enjoy!

Artwork is my original work. Click to enlarge!
For more examples of my original comic art, go here:  http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/01/batgirl-black-canary-bat-canary.html
and here: http://personapaper.com/article/12530-original-comic-art---silver-age-wonder-woman

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A Portrait of Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore, born in 1975 into the famous Barrymore acting dynasty, has been on screen since she was a small child. She made her screen debut in the 1980 film Altered States, but it is generally her role in E.T. that we all remember. Being a child star was not easy on Drew; she got pulled in to a scene that included drug and alcohol abuse, but she pulled herself right back out, and she has been a champ ever since!

Her looks are lovely, of course, but her sweet and spunky personality and gentle but strong soul show through, as well. Not only is she a wonderful and appealing actress, she is a person who I think would really be a lot of fun to just hang out with. I tried to capture her beautiful spirit in this portrait I drew a few years ago. For those of you who like the technical info, it is graphite on Strathmore 400 Series drawing paper.

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Image my original artwork. Click to enlarge!

Art History Notes: How Impressionism Got Its Name

Do you like French Impressionism? The water lilies of Claude Monet, the dancers of Edgar Degas, the mother and child portraits by Mary Cassatt (who was American, by the way, but who painted in this style in Paris)--the light, the color, and the distinctive brushwork all serve to make this an attractive and appealing style. "Impressionism" does seem to fit, as the loose brushwork gives more of an impression of a scene rather than the painstaking detail. But did you know that it was not the Impressionists who named it that? In actuality, that name started out as a sarcastic slam.

In the 1860s and 1870s in Paris, several artists who were experimenting with a new style of looser, freer painting with landscapes and other non-formal subjects were refused entry to the exhibition sponsored by the Academie des Beaux-Arts, called the Salon de Paris. The Salon was a prestigious exhibition, and that is where most artists were able to connect with patrons, thus earning a livelihood. But the Academie was very rigid in its choices, demanding that only the approved style and subject matter be adhered to--it did not favor anything new, so these artists were outsiders.

Taking matters into their own hands, several of these young artists organized their own group, the Cooperative and Anonymous Association of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers, and held their own exhibition in 1874. Included in this exhibition was a work by Monet called "Impression, Sunrise" (pictured above), and Louis Leroy, a snarky journalist who wrote a sarcastic review of the exhibition, dismissively labelled the new style as "Impressionism" based on that. However, the artists were not terribly offended and decided that wasn't a bad name for the style. The joke was eventually on the Academie and on Louis Leroy, as the style caught on and became quite accepted and admired!

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"Impression, Sunrise" by Claude Monet from Wikimedia Commons en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Claude_Monet,_Impression,_soleil_levant,_1872.jpg

The Busted Bust (A Poem of a Story of a Painting of a Photograph of a Sculpture)

Yuri was a handsome boy
And Benny studied art
Benny sculpted Achilles
While Yuri played the part

Nita, a photographer,
Captured the bust of Yuri
Before Charles, Benny's lover,
Smashed it in a jealous fury.

Charles got Cassandra
(Feeling sorry for his gaffe)
To make a painting of the bust
From Nita's photograph

Cassie's realistic style
Breathed life into Achilles
Benny welcomed Charles back
With tearful hugs and lillies

It's nice to see that everything
Worked out so well, but might
I ask: With all those artists in,
Who owns the copyright?

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Photo from freepik www.freepik.com/free-photo/statue_351817.htm

The Unusual Compositions of Edgar Degas Show the Growing Influence of Photography in 19th-Century Painting

Although a camera that could produce permanent images was invented as early as 1790 by Thomas Wedgwood, it wasn't until the 1800s that photography became more widespread as technology advanced to make it more accessible. There was not yet a camera in every home, as there would be by the snapshot-crazy 1960s and 70s, but by the late 19th century, people who were not necessarily photographers could at least start to dabble.

The French artist Edgar Degas, who exhibited with the Impressionists but did not consider himself one, was enamored of photography and frequently used a camera to record his subjects for later reference. This can be easily seen by observing the composition of many of paintings. Many artists still used the more formal, traditionally posed compositions for their paintings, but the work of Degas shows a more immediate, casual glimpse at his subjects, as they are captured at a moment in their normal lives.

Degas was famous for his paintings of ballet dancers, many of which he produced owing both to an interest in the subject and because the subject sold well. Considering that the stage settings and costumes could certainly have been easily used as props for attractively staged compositions, Degas chose instead to go behind the scenes, giving us a look at the more raw, unfinished, and ultimately more lively rehearsal scenes. As can be seen in this pastel from 1874, The Rehearsal Onstage, the uneven bunching of subjects, active poses, abrupt cropping, and even the unexpected intrusion into the foreground of the neck of an instrument,  gives this work an immediate, informal feel, like a candid snapshot.

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Image from Wikimedia Commons en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edgar_Germain_Hilaire_Degas_009.jpg

Misadventure at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul: How I Offended a Nun

Philadelphia is an historic American city, full of wonderful old, majestic places. One of these places is the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, a Renaissance-style Catholic church that dates back to 1864 (pictured above). It happens to be located very near Moore College of Art and Design, where I attended school. One sunny spring day, one of my professors took our drawing class over to the cathedral, from whom we had received permission to spend the afternoon drawing the lovely architecture.

Packing our large pads of newsprint, drawing boards, charcoal and other drawing supplies, we trotted the block and a half or so to the cathedral and entered. Not being Catholic or a tourist, I had not visited the cathedral before, and I was impressed by the size and beauty of the church. Its dark, cool and quiet interior was a sharp contrast to the bright day and omnipresent traffic noise of downtown Philadelphia.

My classmates and I wandered around, looking at arches and columns and various other bits of adornment, trying to determine which design element "sang" to us enough to stake out a spot and start drawing. Everyone else stayed within the main body of the church, but I considered myself a maverick and didn't want to run with the crowd, so I wandered farther afield, finding a smaller chapel to the side.

The chapel was much simpler in style, but a row of windows along a side wall made it sunny and cheerful, and there was a lovely arrangement of white lilies up at the altar. Feeling more comfortable in this serene place than in the dark, cavernous main church, I settled happily into a pew and began sketching. Every now and then, someone would enter the chapel, genuflecting at the doorway, and take a seat farther back in the pews. Most of these people gave me an interested glance when they saw what I was doing, but no one approached me, and I figured they didn't want to disturb my work. I expected they'd come to pray or to say some silent rosaries, which I thought was very devout of them, and I certainly would not want them to be interrupted, either, so I worked as quietly as I could.

Quite a few folks had entered by the time I was about halfway through my three-hour drawing; not nearly enough to actually fill the chapel, of course, but I was really impressed with how many people came in on a random afternoon to spend some time in quiet prayer. A nun entered, genuflected, and sat down in the pew in front of me, giving me a sour look. Did she think I was desecrating the place by making a drawing there? I wondered. She couldn't think that, could she? There's such a long tradition of reverential religious art, I couldn't understand how anyone could take offense.

Right about now, some of you are feeling that I am frightfully dim. First of all, I will stipulate to that, but by way of explanation, let me state a couple of things: I was 18 years old and had never been in a Catholic church in my life. I was raised Presbyterian, and in our church, if nobody was getting married, buried, or baptized, you only went to church on Sunday morning, unless you worked there. 

I was also laboring under the impression that Catholic people are quite likely to enter a church at any given time to sit in a pew and say their devotions, such impression having been given to me by every movie and TV show I've ever seen that features a scene set in such a place. There always manages to be a few devout extras sprinkled throughout any given house of God, praying quietly in the background while the main characters go to confession, question a priest about a murdered nun, or some such, so please, people, allow me my naiveté; I come by it honestly, I swear.

It was not until a priest entered, smiled at me, and then another priest entered and smiled at me that I began to have a clue that MASS WAS ABOUT TO START. The clue was that they entered behind the railing, at the altar! And sure enough, the mass started, and there I sat, drawing board propped on the back of the pew in front of me; rather good rendering, if I do say it myself, of lilies at the altar taking shape on my paper; and an angry nun who turned full around in her pew and hissed, "This is a mass!"

Yes. Yes, it was. I continued drawing, because, pissed nun aside, I knew that what I was doing was not wrong or disrespectful because I meant no harm or disrespect, and furthermore, that those priests had smiled at me. I also was quite sure that getting up and walking out of a religious service was howlingly inappropriate, rude, and possibly even blasphemous, so I stayed put and drew the best, most reverential drawing I possibly could. In time, the mass ended, the huffy nun cast one more baleful glare in my direction and flounced from the chapel, and several people came over to look at my work. No one seemed put out except that nun, who might have mentioned that a mass was coming in enough time for me to decamp, by the way. Poorly played, Sister Prevacid! Even the cheerful priests enjoyed my lily-and-altar drawing, so all's well that ends well.

And that is how I attended my very first Catholic mass, in the venerable Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in historic Philadelphia, PA. I'm still frightfully dim, by the way.

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Image is my own photograph of the cathedral 

"The Miracle of Completion" - A Christmas Poem

'Twas a week before Christmas, and I sat here, amazed;

I thought I'd be busy; I thought I'd be crazed!

But if you can believe it, all my stuff has been done!

Not one thing's unfinished! Not one single one!

The cards were done early,

Shopping was a breeze,

The gifts are all wrapped up as neat as you please.

But the thing that amazes and shocks me the most

Is--well, I don't want it to sound like a boast--

But: The portraits are done! Every single last one!

And that last one--a pastel--it really was fun!

There was one of eight people--aunts, cousins and nieces

(I worked from a pic that was falling to pieces)

There was one of six ladies who all work together

From three different photos; I wondered if whether

I'd get them all finished-it made me perspire!

I figured I'd run it right down to the wire

(I've done that before, and it's really not fun.)

But I'm happy to say that MY CRAP IS ALL DONE!!!




Image is of the pastel portrait I did--and yes, you got me--I wrote this years ago (you can see the date in the corner of the picture). Still a nice seasonal bit, innit? It's all accurate, anyway--the falling-apart family photograph and the group portrait from three different photographs were done for the same Christmas as this bridal picture and are very typical of things that I have to deal with...you can see why I enjoyed doing the pastel bridal portrait the most, but even that one was consolidated from two or three different reference photos! 

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Using Color in Your Home: Getting Started with Color, Part Two: Get to Know Your Color

Now that we have the basics out of the way (see http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2014/12/want-to-use-color-in-your-home-learn_93.html ), let's discuss how to get started actually getting color into your home. How much is appropriate? Is there a way to dip a toe in the color pool without going too deep?

When getting started, be patient. Don't just grab a swatch and decide you need 5 gallons of Passionfruit Sunrise, stat; first of all, don't ever just pick one color swatch. Take at least three (the kind that has a gradation of lighter and darker shades of the same color is best), and take them home with you. Look at them at your house, with your stuff. If your furniture clashes horribly with Passionfruit and you don't find this out until the whole place is drenched in it, that is not going to be happy times. Also note that the store's lighting is likely to be different from that in your home. As they say, "measure twice, cut once". The paint store is not going to give you the stinkeye for taking a half dozen swatches; they will probably breathe a sigh of relief that you are less likely to show up in tears, demanding your money back.

Once you have selected a color that seems to be the best fit, get a better idea how the paint will look by returning to the store and asking for a sample. Most stores will mix a small amount of color for a reasonable price; this should be enough for you to paint a decently-sized square on the wall. Be aware that paint can appear lighter or darker while it is wet. Allow your paint to dry overnight (use interior latex; oil-based paints and the solvents required to clean up after them are extremely smelly and not very good for you at all), which will "cure" it so that the finished color will be apparent. Please note that if you are using a new color that is significantly lighter or darker than the current wall color, you will need at least two coats (probably more in the case of light-over-dark), so you should paint as many coats as necessary on your sample area, as well.

If you are a bit more sure about the color, you can buy a quart and paint one wall. If you love the color but think the shade would be too overwhelming all over the room, you can leave that wall as an "accent wall" and get the next shade or two lighter for the other walls. Accent walls are commonly used to add interest to a room, creating a focal point to draw the eye, so choose a wall that would be a good place to display some prized artwork or furniture (the wall with the fireplace would also make a good accent wall, as that is already a natural focal point). You can even use color for one wall and leave everything else white.

If you aren't yet ready to commit to wall color, start small. Pretty easy; you don't have to make the leap to an entire honeydew-colored sitting room. If you aren't sure, just invest in some green accessories: some throw pillows, maybe a lamp. This will also help you satisfy your color jones if you are renting and your landlord won't let you paint. So, get a little color happening in your surroundings, and don't stress-decorating is supposed to be fun!

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Image from freepik  http://www.freepik.com/free-photo/color-swatches_390574.htm

Vincent van Gogh's Irises Shows How to Use Color to Create a Focal Point

Now that we have learned how to use definition to create a focal point (http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2014/12/portrait-of-mad-woman-by-theodore.html), let's talk about using color to do so.

An effective way to attract attention to your focal point is the use of color. If your painting is full of blues and greens, as is a typical landscape, a red barn or bright yellow sunflower will provide an eye-catching burst of contrasting color (although be aware that a red barn is an extremely cliché subject). The color doesn't have to be bright, though, just different: In Vincent van Gogh's painting, Irises, shown above (click on photo for larger size), a lone white iris stands out from its colorful bluish-purple peers and the reddish-orange ground because it is so singular. The colors in this painting are already very vibrant, so it was a canny choice to make the flower white, instead.

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Les Irises by Vincent van Gogh from Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Irises_%281889%29.jpg

"Little Angels" Craft Project - Cheap Christmas Gift Idea

These are pictures of my craft project, "Little Angels", in progress. To decorate this plaque, I found a plastic candy mold that had little angel faces and bodies, but instead of using it to mold chocolates, I mixed up some plaster of paris and poured into the molds to make a little girl and boy angel and an angel face. When the plaster dried, I popped the forms out of the mold and painted them with acrylic paint.

To make the plaque itself, I used a piece of wood that I had cut to length (I purchased a larger piece and had several small pieces cut) at a hardware store, but you could also purchase a pre-made, unfinished plaque at a crafts store. I painted a blue sky background and added clouds with acrylic paint. I painted clouds for the boy and girl angels to sit on, and glued down the plaster angels in place. I put hangers on the back of the plaque, and now it is ready to be developed further. I could either use small hooks to make it a key holder, or larger hooks to let it hold towels or jackets. I also left space to personalize it with names or with a saying.

These plaques take a little while to make, but they are a lot of fun! You can find reusable candy molds of many different designs in most craft stores, and plaster of paris is a very inexpensive material--you can mix as much or as little as you want. It takes several steps to assemble a plaque like this, but it is very inexpensive. This is a great Christmas gift idea, isn't it? Everyone loves a handmade gift, especially one that is especially made for them. I think a child would love to have a personalized hanger for his or her jacket or bag.

My own photos - click to enlarge!

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Want to Use Color in Your Home? Learn the Basics

It's no surprise that folks get bored with the cookie-cutter neutral color scheme favored by builders of low-and-middle-income housing, especially when we see that upscale builders use custom color for their clients, rather than dishing out the same eggshell-finish off-white that everyone else in the subdivision got. There's something luxurious about a personalized color scheme, but some of us are leery of diving in, fearful that we may spend hours (not to mention some hard-earned money!) trying to make our dining room posh plum and ending up with Prince's-pantsuit purple, which is perhaps going to thrill your 11-year-old, but might not bring the right feel to your dinner party for the boss and her husband.

How is a nervous neophyte to start? First of all, it is necessary to understand that color has three characteristics: hue, value, and chroma. Hue is the easy one: it is basically what color it is, such as red, blue, chartreuse, "Regal Chariot", "Sandy Toes", or whatever terribly clever name the paint store came up with. Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. High-value colors are the pale ones; dark colors have low values. These are also referred to as high-key or low-key color schemes. There's no medium-key, as far as I know, but you can of course use colors that are mid-range in value. For the color-shy, my best piece of advice when it comes to value is this: When in doubt, go a shade or two lighter. Even when you are pretty sure, go one shade lighter, because a color that looks darling on a teeny paint swatch in the store is gonna be a whole different critter on your entire wall at home.

The third characteristic of color, and this is what can trip up a new user of color in the home, is chroma. This refers to the intensity of the color. Bright colors are great as accents, but as wall colors, they can be quite overpowering, such as the purple-pantsuit dining room. So, what you want is a color that is willing to be in the background, which is where the walls are, right? Chose less intense, grayer versions of the color you like. If you are not sure what a low-chroma, or grayer, version of the color is, check for clues in the name, like "dusty" or "dusky", and ask the salesperson for help. Paint people are extremely knowledgeable about color, and of course they are happy to help you. Good luck!

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Image from Pixabay http://pixabay.com/en/color-fan-color-picker-color-497004/

Portrait of a Mad Woman by Théodore Géricault Shows How to Use Definition as a Focal Point

In painting composition, the relative amount of definition, or enhanced detail, can be used to home in on a focal point, much like one's eye focuses naturally on a subject of interest and lets the other stuff blur out a bit.

In Portrait of a Mad Woman, shown above, Géricault renders the face of his subject with incredible sensitivity to detail, capturing the rough, age-spotted skin of her face, her red-rimmed eyes and her querulous expression perfectly. Her white cap (a framing device--another way to draw the eye to the focal point) is shown in slightly lesser detail, and the farther one travels from her face, the less focus there is: Her brown mantle is barely indicated in loose brushstrokes, and the background is featureless black. This lets the viewer know clearly what the most important part of the painting is. You can use this same technique of increased and decreased definition to draw the viewer's attention to the most important part of your painting, as well.

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Image is from Wikimedia Commons and is in the public domain http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_mad_woman-Theodore_Gericault-MBA_Lyon_B825-IMG_0477.jpg