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Rocky shoreline, dramatic scenery, salty breezes, cool temps. A breathtaking home for a clever brown pelican like Nigel Pellie, who lives unconstrained with dozens and dozens of other seabirds on a private beach in Palos Verdes. Nigel is one of the most recognized birds with his long neck and iconic throat pouch. He is sleek and well fed...an ace diver...those fish never see him coming. He spends most of his carefree days fishing and preening and is known as being very social in the flock he travels with. But there is more to Nigel then just that. Nigel is a collector. Seashells, feathers, colorful pebbles and small trinkets left behind by local beachcombers. He stashes his treasures undetected beneath a large misshaped sepia colored rock close to the shoreline. No one the wiser. Yes, his days are full and quite satisfying, a life he feels is well lived indeed.

Pete got leafed

Rocky Shores   Kathryn Hansen  7.5x10.5  (c) 2013

many years ago i attended an art exhibit at a local gallery and saw the coolest thing ever! it was a pencil drawing with gold leafing accenting a male figure. ever since then i have been dying to try this technique...well 8 years later i finally did it!!!

sarah petruziello from cheaper than therapy posted information on how she gold leafed one of her drawings, so i followed her directions to a t! 

here are some of my observations about gold leafing a drawing: it's a REALLY messy process!! i had little bits of silver paper every where...i even found one inside my computer this morning! also i didn't have enough brushes...i need at least two more larger, very soft round brushes for sweeping away the paper that's not glued down (the little brush i had didn't cut it!). apply a thicker coat of adhesive...i went too thin on the application. only do this process during daylight hours as it's really hard to see where the silver leaf ended and the graphite started even tho i had plenty of lights on! and most of all, which sarah points out, embrace the flaws...in fact i actually really liked that it wasn't perfect (unusual for me!)!

supplies: silver leaf, brushes,  razor blade for scraping the paper off the bird and rocks, matte medium, adhesive and sealant

after i sprayed fixative on Pete, i applied a thin layer of matte medium

next came the adhesive, layering the sheets on top, then gently brushing away the leafing that wasn't glued down. 

most of the extra silver leaf is brushed off

fixed areas that didn't attach by adding more adhesive and silver leaf

and voila!! a silver leafed pelican! 

i wish you could see pete in person...it really does look pretty cool! i can hardly wait to see him framed up in a silver frame to accent the background!!

i will be trying my hand at this technique again with the next few drawings and hopefully perfect the process!

A drawing is simply a line going for a walk.

~Paul Klee~

here's all my walking lines in various stages of progress

beaucoup, a very furry, sweet face pooch!

a beautiful feral kitty that looks like a ragdoll or snowshoe cat

and a pelican who posed so regally for me at the beach...while all his friends scattered!