<![CDATA[Kathy Shell, Artist, Author, A Creative Life.

<![CDATA[Kathy Shell, Artist, Author, A Creative Life. - A Creative life blog]]>Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:40:48 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[A Foundation Course in Drawing, Techniques and Skills.]]>Thu, 22 Jul 2010 06:09:09 -0800http://www.kathy-shell.net/1/post/2010/07/a-foundation-course-in-drawing-techniques-and-skills.html

Probably you have ideas on what you want to draw but might like some more guidance to get you moving in the right direction.

Think for a minute of all the different things you would like to record on paper. You can learn all the skils required.

Perhaps, like me, you especially love the beauty of nature scenes in the country of fields and trees, mountains and clouds. Maybe your interest is centred in people, the faces of your family, or the exciting and glamorous activities of people look like they attend a charlotte cosmetic dentist, or prefer caricature studies, water jet planes, bouquets of flowers, animals, or comics with your mind.

If you study drawing lessons and practice faithfully, you soon be putting on paper the pictures you have dreamed of.

I will be continuing step by easy step art lessons though this blog and I will eventually have art EBooks available.
In the mean time I add a few books by other authors, as suggestions to help you get started. You can order this drawing book, A Foundation Course in Drawing, Techniques and Skills', by clicking on the image below.

A Foundation Course in Drawing: A Complete Programme of Techniques and Skills

]]><![CDATA[Lesson One, Drawing, Strokes and Shapes. Part B.]]>Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:25:37 -0800http://www.kathy-shell.net/1/post/2010/07/lesson-one-drawing-strokes-and-shapes-part-b.html

See how the large shapes were first lightly blocked in, then the contours were sketched, and last lines were straightened and accentuated.

The straight construction lines help a lot when you are drawing the symmetrical object model whose two sides are alike; such as straight lines help you draw the ovals properly.

Remember always observe the model carefully; this is the secret of good drawing. Ask questions, such as:-

”Is a top larger than the bottom, or not?”

“Are the sides straight and parallel, or are they slanted?”

“Do the top and bottom lines slant or are they horizontal?”

“Do I see a true circle, or an oval?”

Be sure you really know the shape of the model before you draw a line on your paper. Look carefully, be sure of what you see, then draw it. These are the fundamental steps in making a good drawing.

The straight lines help you draw the shapes that you seem more easily will stop block them in likely.

The final touch darkened some of the contrast lines for interesting accents.

]]><![CDATA[Lesson One, Learn to Draw, Strokes and Shapes.]]>Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:51:49 -0800http://www.kathy-shell.net/1/post/2010/07/lesson-one-learn-to-draw-strokes-and-shapes.html

Revision of a previous lesson
Artist's Way of holding the pencil.

Do not grip the pencil tightly like you do when writing.

Also hold the pencil several inches away from the point.

Pencil should be able to be pulled out of your hand easily.

Revision of a previous lesson
Place your drawing board in position (see previous drawing lessons) and you are ready to begin.

Do the warm-up, exercises on this page to get the feel of the pencil. Use firm, sweeping pencil movements for these lines and strokes.

First your lines may not look much like the examples shown here. But with a little practice, you will soon be able to draw them with reasonable success. Don't tighten up __ don't draw each line slowly and tedious __ don't use short, timid strokes. Make your pencil glide across the paper.

I used to have video art tuition available and it was great being able to play it on televisions. I am currently compiling an e-Book style art lessons series and I miss not having my art lessons to show on our lcd tv. I will take a look at camcorder reviews and decide if I want to web video lessons in the future. In the meanwhile I am providing these art lessons on line, here, free of charge.

Exercises.

1/long, smooth, strokes. Draw each line with one sweep of the pencil. Try pencil position B or D.

2/Swing the pencil, in the circles. Use pencil position, B or E. for many circles, fill pages of practice paper. Soon yours will be smooth and round.

3/horizontal and vertical lines __ line them up with the edges of the drawing paper.

4/finally some slanting, lines.

5/and looping curves.

Strokes and Shapes.

Now put some of these lines together.

1/horizontal and vertical picture frame

2/circles large and small with some lines accented, (darkened) with a 3B pencil.

3/lines with verticals make a box ... a house. Sketch very lightly until you get the right slant then darken the line.

4/Draw round circles... you can do this easily now.

5/Next __ swing an oval.

Then a thinner oval __ still thinner___very thin indeed.

To draw a flower pot.

1/"vertical and two horizontal lines. Add slanting lines. Swing oval in top and bottom. Accent with the darker pencil. Draw a daisy, without lifting the pencil.

Begin to work using a still life model.

Each of these outline drawings was done directly from a model. Notice how the lightly sketched, construction lines were used.

]]><![CDATA[My 8 Step, Plan to Writing a Novel.]]>Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:19:30 -0800http://www.kathy-shell.net/1/post/2010/07/my-8-step-plan-to-writing-a-novel.html

I have random scrap booking notes to compile that can be used towards a novel, I am testing these to see if they are worth using, for a strong original interesting novel.
I have created time and periods of solitude to develop my story ideas.
I will work on and define my story line, genre.
I expand the idea by asking questions of it. I keep turning it in my mind. A neglected idea will go cold. I am starting to live with the story, developing it in my mind, as I go to sleep, when i wake, when i walk, drive and swim it is with me, growing. I bought a tape recorder so I could talk my ideas then load them via my voice to text program, into my draft notes..
At each stage of development, I test the idea against real life, especially against my childhood and the children and adults I know, to see if it sounds authentic.
Using, a series of post it note or index cards or a post it note style computer program I will interweave my short stories and notes, then turn this patchwork quilt of information from life, onto a fiction that tells a story I feel is worth saying. This is the time I form the backbone of the story, the all important, PLOT. Everything else in the story will hang from this spine, I still have a lot to learn to produce a good plot for fiction.
I hope to get the story line feeling, so real to me that it has a life of its own, by November when I will begin to write the novel as a participant in NoNoWriMo .
Edit, Edit Edit. trimming away material that does not further the plot and perhaps adding where impact is lacking. I have read some authors can do this up to 300 times, I have also read that no novel was ever published that did not have an error in it.
I guess this will be like an artist, painter, never being 100% happy with the the finished painting but knowing what it needs and knowing when to stop working on it.

Useful 'How to', Links
Links to learn about, Good Plots for Novels.

How to Create a Workable Outline

Plot, Theme, Character, Voice.

Good Plots for Novels.

Plotting a Novel.

How do writers make good plots for stories?

Good Books, Don’t Have to be Hard.

Creating Good Plot.

Top Tips for a Good Plot (pdf file)

Good Plots take Time.

Searches related to good plots for novels

good fiction books

good novel books

best book plots

good story plots

novel plot graph

good biography books

good fiction writer

movies good plot

My handwritten notes that I am converting to printed text using Dragon Naturally Speaking software, see headphones above. Below is my pile of finished with notes, scrunched up ready for the rubbish and my words are all safely stored and backed up, as printed text.

]]><![CDATA[Asia link, Arts Residency Application Information for 2011]]>Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:36:07 -0800http://www.kathy-shell.net/1/post/2010/07/asia-link-arts-residency-application-information-for-2011.html

Would you love a three to four month working holiday in Asia, as an artist in residence?

Arts Residency Application Information for 2011 Each year the Asialink Residency program sends 40 Australian writers, performers, artists and arts managers to live and work throughout Asia. Since its inception in 1991 the program has sent more than 550 people to hosts in 19 countries. The grant of up to $12,000 goes towards travel, living and project expenses, and affords recipients the opportunity for in-depth research, stimulating cultural exchanges, international collaboration and uninterrupted time for creativity.

Applications for 2011 residencies are now open, and close on 10 September 2010.

Arts Residency Application Information.

]]><![CDATA[Australian visual artists, resale royalty scheme.]]>Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:13:52 -0800http://www.kathy-shell.net/1/post/2010/07/australian-visual-artists-resale-royalty-scheme.html

Copyright Agency Ltd (CAL) will be hosting a series of information sessions on the Australian visual artists' resale royalty scheme during July, August and September. Artists who attend these seminars will be able to find out what the scheme means for them and what they need to do to participate.

There will be one session for artists and another for ‘art market professionals’ (art dealers, galleries, auction houses and Indigenous art centres). Sessions will be held in all the Australian capital cities, as well as Darwin, Cairns and Alice Springs.

CAL has been appointed by the government to administer the scheme, which commenced on 9 June 2010. The scheme entitles visual artists to receive payment of a 5% royalty on certain resales of their works. It also requires art dealers, galleries, auction houses and Indigenous Art Centres to report certain information about their commercial resales. You can register to participate in the scheme, and report resales online at www.resaleroyalty.org.au

This post is illustrated with images of the copyright fridge magents from the art of artist and author, Kathy Shell.

]]><![CDATA[Preparing to Write a Novel, The Time Management Plan.]]>Sun, 11 Jul 2010 10:52:55 -0800http://www.kathy-shell.net/1/post/2010/07/preparing-to-write-a-novel-the-time-management-plan.html

Like my art fridge magnets? Find a typo in my post and let me know, and I'll post one of these to you. :-). This one is of snow in Venice.

The title of my novel will remain a secret until I am ready to publish so I will simply call my first novel, “Secret”, to give it a name, to talk about it here..

Tonight I have spent 4.5 hours in preparation time on my novel, “Secret”..

I have not written a word of my novel, I do not intend to write the novel until November,

Tonight I completed the time management planning to write the novel and allocated other aspects of my life into a secondary position in my life to give the novel, a primary focus

The division of Time I have allocated to each stage.

I have generously allowed myself 21 hours a week to work on the novel.

1/ Preparation and research - 3 months, Begun.

2/ 1 month to write, the novel, in November.

3/ 5 months to get it properly, edited and re written to a finished stage.

Total of 9 months, lol, ‘that would be right, that is how long it takes to produce a child’.

· What have I achieved tonight, doing the past midnight oil fat burner?

Time Management Plan to Gain a 21 Hour Novel writing working week.

1/I have allocated 3 hours x 7 days a week to my novel writing project, giving me a 21 hour novel writing week. This should be more than adequate to do a good job. 2/ I will continue to blog and I will do EBooks and art prints for sale from my blogs also free form link work and advertising as I will need to save my money in case I self publish a book

3/ I will discontinue my gym and focus on ¾ of an hour of cardio exercise and ¾ of an hour of strength training exercises on alternate days, from ‘home’ as this will save me time. I will not be active in the 12wbt forums as I need to find additional time I have to cut back on some actions. Similarly, I may move entirely into my Kathy Shell page on facebook to chat, my site I publish my blogs to, purely due to needing to find this extra 3 hours a day.

4/ As my time for exercising will be reduced I will need to be more focused on eating clean.

5/ I will be packing my paints away, for some time. A novel will be my major work of art for the year, I have achieved painting I am ready for new achievements.

6/I may learn how to download audio books to an IPod or get a portable CD player to listen to audio books while exercising fulfilling some additional exercise benefit and learning more about the craft of novel writing by listening to the work of good authors.

7/ After an initial stop start attept to begin the novel preparation work, earlier in the night I realized that this work will have to happen after reg retires for the night.

8/I discovered as I researched my novel, I found great ideas for blogs so I actually deviated and did some blog topics while they were flowing off my fingers into print easily, that 'works for me', in the same way as sharing how I write this novel, can be a useful blog topic for those interested.

Happy with the time management plan above and placing it into action immediately, I am ready to write the

Plot Chart

I am ready to begin to write the rough plot chart for the novel, plan where it will start and how it will end and prepare my character descriptions.

]]><![CDATA[GIVEAWAY Of The DAY. Brachina Gorge, Fridge Magnet from Kathy Shell, Art.]]>Sun, 11 Jul 2010 01:30:55 -0800http://www.kathy-shell.net/1/post/2010/07/giveaway-of-the-day-brachina-gorge-fridge-magnet-from-kathy-shell-art.html

Giveaway of the Day.

Brachina Gorge, Flinders Ranges, South Australia,

A Fridge Magnet from the Art of Kathy Shell.

My Giveaway to be drawn this time tomorrow is as a thank you, for any input you would like to give, as advice to me, as a reader or writer of historical novels.

I want your opinion of the best order in which to write a series.

Here are my thoughts

I feel writing from 1950 forward, given I can remember this time well would be the easiest place to begin a series, for me.

Then I thought I would write a novel that went from 1910, until 1950, a time described to me by my mum who intended to write a novel from this time, but never did. After that, I have a lot of early Australia, and Scottish oral history I would love to research for accuracy and write. All the main characters to be, inter-connected to make a series, written forward initially then a jump back into time with each book that followed.

I would love reader and writers opinions before I choose my time and make the official start and am offering this fridge magnet of Brachina Gorge in the Flinders ranges as my thank you for the best advice I am given J, or if there is equally useful advice I will draw a thank you prize winner. J

I also plan to write an EBook, About :-

Getting Fit, Past Sixty.
I am taking about 5 years, to make a transformation, from morbidly obese to slim and fit journey, I am just over the three-year mark, into my progress and I have used my creativity to write my journey in what has become a successful and award winning blog, artslim. Soon I will write and launch an Ebook from this and my gray-nomad.com, seniors and travel interest, blog.

I do not diet, think diet, nor take apidexin, I just strive to eat healthy and portion control my meals to 300 to 350-calorie size x 3 times a day. I allow 100 to 150 calorie healthy snacks if I feel I need them, any drinks I have, like tea or coffee with skim milk and no sugar, or a small glass or red wine, occasionally, are counted, as these snacks.

I work out, quite hard; at least one hour of every day alternating strength and cardio exercises and I do other exercise, incidental exercise to my day. I do a program of three strength training days, alternating with 2 cardio and 1 flexibility training day both of those having some core strength training involved.

Comments VERY WELCOME.

A friend, Oanh Nguyen has already replied to this question on facebook with her comment “sounds good. I'm not a writer but many series are written that way...” So Oanh is in the draw J Thank you.

]]><![CDATA[FREE, Black Swans, Fridge Magnet, from the Art of Kathy Shell.]]>Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:04:02 -0800http://www.kathy-shell.net/1/post/2010/07/free-black-swans-fridge-magnet-from-the-art-of-kathy-shell.html

Place a comment on this post, for a chance to be in the draw to win this SPOT PRIZE.

I have two fridge magnets from my art; I am giving away as spot prizes, this weekend. (Eastern, Australian time).

This compertition is for the one illustrated above. One Winner will be drawn from those people who comment on this post and who click that they "Like", my Kathy Shell page on facebook, (see link below, and at top of side bar.

Postage will be FREE for the winner (worldwide).

The first Spot Prize Giveaway is a reproduction of a small work I made using acrylic paint on paper, of the black swans on the lake near my home in the northern Victoria, Australia.

You need to go to my Kathy Shell page on facebook, “like”, the page then come here and leave a comment in this post to be in the draw to win this fridge magnet from my artwork, of Black Swans.

Reg and I are heading out to dinner tomorrow night, to a ‘hat’, party with roast pork and BYO salad. It is held, here in the Flying Fish Point caravan park we are staying at. As I have a new pink hat I bought a couple of months ago, on sale, when I was visiting friends, on the south coast below Sydney and a new pink dress I bought 2 weeks ago, at a closing sale. The pink dress, was a little too tight at the time, lol I will hope that the fat burner exercise today, of climbing the steep steps, at Paronella Park and all my pervious hard work, this fortnight, has me ready to fit into that dress, in time for tomorrow nightJ.

The dinner will not go late, I will be back, chatting through my blog posts and in my Kathy Shell page on facebook and draw the winner in about 24 hours after posting this blog notice of the spot prize.

Enjoy participating, I plan to do lots more, so you can strive to collect these magnets FREE or buy them from my Fridge Magnet Art website.

The winner will need to contact me quickly

]]><![CDATA[Grandma, Outwits the Smokes Inspector, 1920's Style.]]>Thu, 08 Jul 2010 06:30:28 -0800http://www.kathy-shell.net/1/post/2010/07/grandma-outwits-the-smokes-inspector-1920s-style.html

Today I began more advance planning and preparation to make extensive notes for the novel I want to write in November. Tonight I am striving to work out how I can fit this in with the bread and butter writing I do each day.

I have decided the time frame for the novel, this is a big step considering the huge time frame of ideas in my mind, Simplifying to a 10 year time frame and a child as my main character, out of a potential 100 year several generations of stories I want to tell, gives me a realistic starting point.

I have so many great stories that were told, to me by my mum as well as those stories I accumulate through my Australian travels that I could use in novels. Too wide a time frame for just one, so learning to simplify and focus on a period of time, is a step forward in my novel planning.

My mum’s mother, (I never met her, so tis is what I always called her), ran a mixed business, a combination milk bar and smoke shop and apparently, there were laws that the milk bar section could stay open any hours but the smokes were not allowed, to be sold, after 10pm at night. They would send inspectors around late at night trying to catch milk bars selling smokes after hours and they would fine them.

My mum was born in 1910 this was during the mid 1920’s. Late at night cigarette sales was apparently the main business for milk bars in the mid 1920's. Late one night a stranger called at my grandmother’s shop and asked to be served smokes.

He was asked, to wait awhile; grandma said she was busy with the children. She popped back and forth from the back room to the shop, chatting to this man each time she reappeared in the shop, kept him there, talking for a good 20 minutes.

Then she went and got his smokes, and served him. He pulled out his badge and showed he was a afterhours smoke sales, inspector. Grand mum, pointed to the clock on the wall. It was 2 minutes after midnight and there were no laws about how early in the day smokes could be sold.

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