Belinda Lindhardt

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Eggs for You




egg series by Belinda Lindhardt, Oils and Acrylics

Here are my egg series. Finally finished i cant believe these took me so long, i kept getting interrupted with other jobs, birthdays, colds etc. The one with the petal is acrylic the other two are oils. I will get some better shots tomorrow if its a nice day .. once the varnish has dried. All are 31 X31cm these ones are really cute :) i like them :) They all vary in colour slightly this was on purpose i really like how they came out they look really good on the wall, even if i do say so myself :)

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Masterful Color by Arlene Steinberg

Today i am very excited i finally received Arlene's new book "Masterful Color".
I wrote about in an earlier post here and also on my ACP blog here. Can't wait to get stuck into it once i do i will let you know all about it! WOOT

Friday, March 21, 2008

Top of the World WIP, Coloured Pencil on Pastelbord

"Top of the World" WIP, 8X10" Ampersand Pastelbord

Apologies for the photo in this one its raining today and not so good time to get a good pic, but it is a good time to do some art :) So i am working on this one and my other final eggs piece. Its nice to actually get some work done rather than just the business side of things.

Birds, eggs, maybe i will do bunnies next it seem very appropriate for Easter. I hope the Easter bunny comes to everyone's house and fills it up with lots of yummy chocolate. We made Easter baskets yesterday lets hope he leaves some eggs to fill them with at our house :)

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Call for Australian Coloured Pencil Artists



So i started a new blog :)
It's for Australian coloured pencil artists :)
Read all about it here
http://auscolouredpencils.blogspot.com/

It wont replace this blog, more of a resource / see if there is any interest out there :)

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Tracking Your Artwork and Website - My Web Update

This weekend i updated my website (AGAIN :) This time the update isn't visual ,its in the functionality or what we web people call the "backend", so for this blog post i thought you might all like a bit of insight as to how I have worked my website and how it all integrates with the way my artwork and files "tracked" or organised. So stay with me, here we go :)

Some of you may remember my post last year about - Keeping Track of Your Work, which details a system for the way that i (and YOU) can track artwork, files, filenames etc. and generally make life a bit easier.
I developed the system after years of working with my and other peoples files for websites etc and i know that o
nce you have the system in place if you stick to it, it works :) I have had lots of people write to me to tell me that this kind of system has helped them organise their work and files and this makes me happy as i love being able to help people out this way :)

Just to recap for those who missed it, in my post i talk about my tracking document (i used a word document) which keeps a record of details for each artwork that is produced or displayed on my site. The details in the document are things like reference numbers, price, medium, size etc. I recently found that this version of the document was no longer working for me as some of my pieces are no longer all kept at my studio (some are in cafes etc) and i have been exhibiting more so i need to keep better track of where the physcial location of artworks are and for how long. I also have smaller artworks for sale on my website and wanted to track what i was selling where ... so basically the previous document didn't contain all of the information i needed and worse off as i wasn't updating it.

Before i go any further, i need to elaborate on how my website works. :)
I am lucky enough to have a database drive website, so here is how that works.
Each artwork has an entry the database. It has fields for all the information you see displayed on my site ie. Title, Medium, Description, Prices etc. So each time i add new works to my site i fillout the form and a new entry is added with all the relevant information and it is "published" if you like.
Previously i was coming up with my own reference numbers, but one of the new functions is that the site assigns a reference number to ensuring each one is unique. The ref no. system is important not only does each artwork contain the unique number for the site, the number also corresponds to my file system on my computer so its easy to find all the files for the artwork and all the details are displayed in a word document to quickly and easily find out things like sizes titles etc (see the previous post on ways how i name files etc to do this ). My dilemma was that i was having to update two different areas, 1 the website and 1 the word document there was a crossover of information happening between the two and for admin purposes i needed more information to be displayed privately rather than than it all being displayed to the public.

So, i sat down and worked out what extra "fields" i needed. They were:
Location ie. Studio / shop address
Contact (name if applicable)
Selling Description : (sold, NFS, For sale via site )
Price: (Prices aren't always displayed on my site and i need contain whether they include commission)
Medium: (this one was a quick reference for myself rather than the detailed description for my site)
Link: (link to the page so i can get to it or give it out if need be for blog posts and wot not)

After doing this I went to my hubby Daniel with big woeful eyes in a nice pleasant voice saying "HONEY, Can you please.... " (Dan handles all the database and tough technical stuff :) and asked him whether he would do it all for me. So, i must stop to say a big thankyou to my hubby if your reading this, who created all the extra fields i needed. Then he created the ability for me to generate a "report" of all my artworks on the website which basically spits all my information onto a html page and allows me to look up the status / or details as needed, or periodically I can also do a print out that i can refer to quickly when starting a new artwork or adding it to the site.

Now i can hear you all murmuring through the computer .. great ! well thats fine for you .. not everyone is a superfantastic web designer like you and your hubby ! (and yeah i know to be honest its hard being this good (as he always says) HA HA. I realise we are lucky for the fact that we can do these things ourselves, the reason for myself posting this post to talk more about the way it works (plus i am excited and think its cool).

I know many people struggle with managing files, images, finding details and as artists the more artwork we create the more data/files you have to wade through to find what you need. So, i am sharing to let you know the possibilities of how you CAN organise your data, sure your site might not be able to do all of this detailed here, but you may be able to modify this system to suit you :) OR simply start organising your system now so that when you get to the point when you need some type of super organisation or super website it will be easier to manage if your already thinking ahead.

Here is a pic of my report, its not supposed to be fancy or look pretty, it allows me to print the info i need :) and i am sure i will be making more changes in the future. :) Does organising ever end ?

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Eggs with Petal and some Reflection WIP

Eggs with Petal - by Belinda Lindhardt, Acrylic on Gallery wrapped canvas, 31X31cm

Here is the second piece in my eggs series, you may remember my first one in this post.

As i mentioned in my previous post this series started with a commission and just kinda evolved. I have one final piece to do which i have already started, the final piece will only contain 3 eggs as opposed to the 4 and i am going to offer the client their choice of whichever ones they would like. The above piece is different from the other ones i will have done, this one was kind of an experiment in that it is in acrylic rather than in oils. I wanted to try achieving a similar effect with my new interactive acrylics as opposed to the oils and see what i came up with.

During the process whilst it was slightly quicker in terms of drying times between layers than with the oils, i found i did struggle slightly with getting the paint to behave the way i wanted and probably spent just as much if not more time on the piece. While the interactive acrylics are good, they do often come out as a thin wash much like watercolours so i found that i had to adjust the way i worked to achieve the smooth round effects that i was after without seeing everything underneath and I found I was reworking areas often. In saying that though i used this to its advantage in other areas and it was really great to apply thin washes over areas i had already covered and make them "pop". Maybe i just need to adjust the way i work more when using these acrylics.


"Reflection" WIP by Belinda Lindhardt, Oils on gallery wrapped canvas - 25.5 X 25.5cm

This painting is called "Reflection" its still a WIP and i am not entirely sure where its going i have no reference for this one.. its all just in my head and one of those ones i couldn't get out until i painted it. I wanted really flowing wild hair, i am not sure i will get to that, and i really don't know what to do with the face, so its by no means finished and posting lets me see bits i need to change :)
It's been fun though, I like doing ones like this with no particular structure and for it just to grow, it's a bit like my "contemplation" i did last year. i do wish i could settle on my "style" though i seem to be changing all the time, i did notice this is a bit like my monet one down in the corner where i am doing the foliage, but the sky is more smooth like my other recent pieces maybe my style is going to be a combination of all these things :)

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Easter Bunnies



I actually managed to do a bit of art today but nothing worthy of posting just yet. We all have terrible head colds still and the world seems like its a bit of a fog atm.

We had a nice little craft session in between it all and made some Easter bunny masks :) They were good fun, i was very proud of Maxy he cut those ears out all by himself without any help from Mum whatsoever, he stuck very close to the line.

mmmm chocolate i can hear it calling already, only dark though i don't like the milk stuff at all.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Happy Birthday To Me!



Today is my Birthday.

My eldest son took these lovely photos he always seems to get some good shots. This is a lovely mango cheese cake we celebrated with and they all sang happy birthday.

My garage sale didn't happen it got rained out and i have spent all of the day and the weekend sporting a cold which isn't the greatest, but i spent it with my little family so its been good.

Friday, March 07, 2008

Doodling

Well i am still no further with my garage sale, i have just been run off my feet for days. Yesterday i was busying cutting matts and framing for the exhibition. I really keep getting surprised just how long this part of the process takes, and i was only doing 2 pieces! The pieces really look great framed :) I tried to take a couple of pics of them but they really didn't come out very good with the glass reflecting :( So if i get any good ones i will post them.

I am not going to go into the debate thats going on in the CP world atm about the new rules to the CPSA and UKCPS. I had my say at ST, tbh i think its just abit of a wording change thats needed on the rules and they need to be defined a bit better, i am sure they will sort it all out.

Here is a sketch that i got to last night. Not really sure at all what it is i was more or less doodling, i don't often doodle in CP but i really enjoyed this. I recently was enjoying Paula Pertile's work on her blog where she did a commission for my one of my fellow CP artists Nicole Caulfield. Paula's work is just fabulous i have known of her for a while but only recently found her blog. Anyway, she was using Walnut brown in her piece for Nicole and i just seem to be loving browns and limited palette pieces atm so thought i would give it a go, sketching in brown.
Did i mention that i got new glasses ? Well i did, i am hoping to take a good photo for my blog etc (i really don't like the photo i have atm but for lack of getting another one i have left it). So i guess here you can see my glasses a bit anyway :)

So, did you see how i procrastinated during this post ? Thats why i havent done anything on the garage sale. If i am going to do it I better get a wriggle on. SIGH... i would much rather paint.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Peninsula International Women's Day Art Exhibition and Misc Stuff

Discovering Love - Acrylic on Colourfix Primed Board by Belinda Lindhardt

This weekend is the Peninsula International Women's Day Art Exhibition in my local town of Woy Woy.
The suggested theme for the exhibition is "Every Picture tells a Story" so with that theme in mind i have decided to enter two pieces one being the Discovering love artwork above and the other will be my Maxy's Bubbles.

For those in the local area the exhibition is at the Woy Woy Campus, Edward Street Woy Woy on 8/9 March. 10am-5pm on Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.

Sunday is also my birthday, another year older actually i am enjoying getting older this year, in some ways there is a bit of sorrow for my younger years passing by but at the same time there is also a sense of accomplishment and happiness that comes with doing what you want in life or at least discovering that this is your one shot and you have to go for it.
Thats not to say that its all joy and happiness quite the opposite atm in fact i am quite stressed ATM, I have alot of stuff going and on ontop of this i am planning to have a garage sale on saturday, which i am not at all organised for. In saying that though i feel like after a tough year i am working to plans and goals and i am slowly getting to things which need doing rather than sitting back and watching things go by. I am also planning to get away for a couple of days next week and just take a bit of time for myself so that will be a belated bday present to myself hopefully i can get to that.

Something else that i am excited about today is, one of my all time favourite CP artists Arlene Steinberg has just released her new book Masterful Colour.
I have been waiting for this one for a while, I had it on preorder and was thrilled when Arlene emailed me to say that it was ready to purchase.
Arlene is the queen of using complimentary colours in her artwork, her work is one of the first coloured pencil pieces i have ever seen and I can attribute much of my learning to Arlene's tutorials and guidance on forums etc. The knowledge i have learned from her carries on into my paintings and even into my design work to some extent just knowing more about colour and how colours interact etc they are invaluable lessons to learn for any artist.

Arlene was kind enough to supply me a synopsis of what she includes in the book here it is:

Chapter 1: The basics like in any book of course, but also how to shoot a still life (or anything), and working with photos
Chapter 2: COMPOSITION! LOL
Chapter 3: Color and Value including color wheels, value scales, color influencing other color, chiaroscuro, underpainting and using complements.
Chapter 4: Simple drawings: one in reds, one in blues, one in yellows and purples and one in pinks and salmons
Chapter 5: Richer Whites, Grays and Blacks as well as some things that the folks on ST asked for
Chapter 6: Textures and Patterns: Including busy patterns, mosaic, fuzz, damask, hairy parts, mottled surfaces, marble
Chapter 7: Reflections including glass and metals, colored glass, cut crystal
Chapter 8: I take the reader through the full process of getting ideas, setting up a still life and finally painting it.
I include outline drawings to follow along.


Sounds great doesnt it! I cant wait to get my copy in the mail.
You can buy Arlene's book from Arlene's website here: http://arlenesteinberg.com/MasterfulColorPage.htm

Monday, March 03, 2008

Update to Squidoo Lens

I updated my Squidoo lens tonight.
I added a framing section, a few more links here and there and edited things a little.
If your interested take a look.
http://www.squidoo.com/auscolouredpencils

Ann Kullberg's Online Magazine FMP

Guess who is the star of this month's member profile for Ann Kullberg's Magazine - From my Perspective ?

ME !! woo hoo, how exciting. You need to subscribe to see the magazine if you don't have a subscription and you love coloured pencils and want to learn more, subscribe today.

Also on coloured pencils i am now officially a member of the CPSA.
So now i feel like of one "club".