A WAY TO SAY "THANK YOU"

"The Quaid Home"

7.5" x 10"

Colored Pencil on Black, Crescent Mat Board

We are extremely blessed to have friends in Santa Fe, NM who invite us to frequently visit.  Santa Fe has always been a special place for my husband and I so having such generous friends is a real treat.

To say thank you I created a little, colored pencil rendering of their home while I was demonstrating colored pencil techniques with my students.  I love drawing on crescent mat board with colored pencils.  The heavier support takes lots of pressure and holds up well to handling.  I prefer to use Derwent colored pencils but also use some Prismacolor and Prismacolor Verithin pencils.  Derwent are a creamy, artist grade pencil that blends and layers well without having the waxy bloom that Prismacolor's tend to develop over time.

While we were visiting Santa Fe last fall I took a series of photographs of the home early in the morning.  I like early morning or late evening landscape images with strong, long shadows.  I invented the sky to reflect one of the brilliant skies often seen around Santa Fe.  It was important then to use the same sky color scheme in the building and plant life.

As with all art gifts, I don't know if this piece will ever be framed and displayed but I do hope the recipient will appreciate the time and effort spent on creating an original gift.