“Long Morning Shadows”, white and black and soft, vine and compressed charcoal on toned paper, 5.5″ x 8.5″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Long Morning Shadows, Charcoal

This art is “Long Morning Shadows”, white and black and soft, vine and compressed charcoal on toned paper, 5.5″ x 8.5″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski, signed and dated 3/22/14. The original is available but prints are made in archival inks on Epson Cold Press Watercolor Paper, Hot Press Digital Giclee Paper or Artist Canvas.



ABOUT THE ART

Click to see a larger image.

“Long Morning Shadows”, white and black and soft, vine and compressed charcoal on toned paper, 5.5″ x 8.5″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

“Long Morning Shadows”, white and black and soft, vine and compressed charcoal on toned paper, 5.5″ x 8.5″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

It was decidedly difficult to choose which one of Mimi’s wanderings in the sunlight this morning I would sketch. She wandered around making the most wonderful elongated and distorted shadows of herself in the long streams of sunlight and they were all wonderful. Of course, this has been going on for days. Interpreting this morning sundance at the back door has been years in the making and sketched in pencil, ink, pastel and more.

I chose the toned paper because of the mid-range warm tone and the ability to blend on it, though I wish it had been darker to start with; the lightness kind of threw me off at first. The base in shadow is entirely vine charcoal which dusts off but repeated layers can be built up and burnished into the paper surface. I then applied soft 6B charcoal pencil atop that and blended for extra darkness right around the edges of the shadows, and drew Mimi’s tiny shape entirely in that pencil, blending and filling two or three times to make sure she was darker than the background and solid. A few highlights distinguish Mimi from her shadow.

Looking at it full size I can see it still needs some refinement but while I’d been picturing something more smooth and clear I like it for its roughness, especially where it blends out around the edges.

I left it as it was. When I went back to it, I liked it just as I’d done it.

 

SHIPPING

Shipping within the US is included in all the prices listed. All shipping is via Priority Mail. Prints are shipped flat in a rigid envelope. Canvases are shipped in a box to fit with padding. Since this original is small it is also shipped in a box with extra padding.

PRINTS

Note that prints are not the same dimensions as the original and may be cropped on the top or sides to fit the dimensions of the print size.

GICLEE PRINTS

The giclees are printed on acid-free hot press art paper for a smooth matte finish using archival inks. Giclee is the highest quality print available because the technique uses a dozen or more ink ports to capture all the nuances of the original painting, including details of the texture, far more sensitive than any other printing medium. Sometimes my giclees look so much like my originals that even I have a difficult time telling them apart when they are in frames.

I don’t keep giclee prints in stock for most of my works. Usually I have giclees printed as they are ordered unless I have an exhibit where I’ll be selling a particular print so there is a wait of up to two weeks before receipt of your print to allow for time to print and ship.

DIGITAL PRINTS

Digital prints are made on acid-free matte-finish natural white 100# cover using archival digital inks. While digital prints are not the quality of a giclee in capturing every nuance and detail of color, texture and shading, I am still very pleased with the outcome and usually only I as the artist, could tell where detail and color were not as sharp as the original.

The giclees have 2″ of white around the outside edges. The 5″ x 7″ and 8″ x 10″ digital prints are centered on 8.5″ x 11″ digital cover while the 11″ x 14″ has 1″ around the edges because the digital paper is 12″ wide. All are countersigned by me.

CANVAS PRINTS

I usually have at least one of the smaller sizes of canvases on hand, but order larger ones as they are ordered here because customers often want a custom size. Smaller canvases are a 3/4″ in depth, Canvases 12 x 16 and larger are 1-1/2″ in depth. I set them up so the image runs from edge to edge, then the sides are black or white or sometimes I slip in a color that coordinates with the painting. This canvas is white on the sides.

FRAMED PRINT

All framing is done by me in my studio. This print is matted with a double mat 1.5″ wide, white on top with a rust underneath to match the outline of the two cats. The frame is a molded 1.25″ natural white flat painted wood. The backing is acid-free foam core and the glass is premium clear glass. On this piece, the frame and mats may vary slightly since both the mat and frame are on the list to be discontinued, though that may take more than a year. The framed pieces will definitely resemble the one shown here.

MOUSEPADS

Mousepads are 8″ x 7″, always horizontal, 1/4″ black foam rubber with the image printed on a flexible fabric on top.

DAILY SKETCHES

I endeavor to do at least a small sketch each day as a warm-up to my aesthetic senses, so I have a small pouch of art materials and a few various sized sketchbooks available in the house and out. Usually, these are done in pencil, my first and favorite medium, though sometimes it’s charcoal, ink, colored pencil, ink and brush, whatever strikes my fancy at the moment, the greatest challenge to keep it quick and not get caught up in details, let the idea flow onto the paper.

Most often, the subjects are my cats because they are such willing models, though sometimes I’ll also wander afield, literally, and sketch in my yard or anywhere I go for errands. Medium and especially style vary just so I get a chance to do something new.

Every once in a while, they are meant for framing, and I’ve designed a series of notecards, notepaper and notepads using other daily sketches (see my notecards section). Often I use them as illustrations for graphics projects I’m designing.