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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!

Pete, Jessica, Crystal, Penny, Leo, and Maddie

sometimes a lot of times i get obsessed with the undertaking of certain drawings and i just have to work on it despite other commission obligations...this time it's Pete! 

at the beginning i just sneaked in a half hour or so in on it, but then i launch into it full blast, so i got a fair amount completed on Pete over the weekend.

but in my defense i also got in a good amount on my commission and should be able to finish it up this week.

Jessica and Crystal

this weekend we also received 3 new fosters, a mama and her two kittens. it all happened in a blur as we got a frantic text pleading if we could take them in as they were on the list to be put down at our local human society and there were no other available volunteers to take them in. how could i say no! we named the mama Penny. i don't think she is even a year old and she was very tired and weary...but friendly, loving her ears scratched and even some kisses on top of her head! the babies, about 5 weeks old were unfazed and just loved the millions of toys we have accrued over the years for our fosters to play with. i think just a bit of time, love and good food will bring Penny around to being happy!

Penny and her babies, Madie & Leo

so this weekend was filled to overflowing with lots of animal energy, from pelicans to dogs to cats!!

you remember Pete

you may recall a recent post of mine, filled with photographs from one of the most beautiful beaches (i think) in southern california. a private beach in palos verdes. 

that's where i met pete!

 it was a warm overcast afternoon, he was just hanging out with his pelican buddies and seagulls on the rocky shoreline discussing the days catch. pete was the only pelican who didn't fly away when i approached them stealth-like, as i didn't have my zoom lens with me. he definitely was not camera shy!

for being soo cooperative and gorgeous, i am creating a drawing of pete (in between my commissions). there will be a surprise twist to this drawing that i am very eager to add! i'm not going to say what it is yet, so we can all be surprised with the end results. for you because you've never seen it here before and for me to see if it actually works!! 

you won't see it till the very end so please stay tuned to this channel for the final results!