The Art of Vicki

SketchBook Project: World tour 2012

2011-06-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

So,
whilst browsing a few of my favorite art blogs, I came across a website http://www.arthousecoop.com. Here they are promoting a sketchbook tour across the country to all artists whom want to participate. You have to pay a nominal fee to garner a sketchbook with your desired theme, and upon completion, your sketchbook goes on tour across the country to find its final resting place in the permanent art collection at the Brooklyn art library.
     Long story short, I thought this would be a divine way to keep working, and keep myself sketching. I will be posting my work in the sketchbook here. It's a win win for me, I get to participate in a fantastic art tour, and keep working, as well as keep this blog ( which I always shamefully neglect ) updated.
    Keep in tune, I will start posting as soon as I receive my customized sketchbook for this project. In the meantime I will try to post some current works preceding this project.
Thank you you for patiently awaiting my next post ( as well as customized revamping of this blog which is greatly needed. )

    ~ Vicki

Digital Painting of Steven

2011-03-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

Hello folks!
I intend to start a blog with my digital painting works, but for the time being, I am going to keep my work posted here :) This is a portrait I completed of Steven, using a wacom bamboo tablet ( love love love their products ). Took me about 4 hours to complete.
Ciao~

Ross

2011-01-15T21:22:00.000-08:00

Here is a pastel "portrait" if you will, of a friends pup. Completed on colorfix paper, size: 8 x 10. I always like to work with "whites", and pushing color to go beyond a dull white/grey pallet when trying to interpret a fully white subject.
I'm going to be finishing a self portrait in colored pencil quite soon, and hope to keep working as much as I can as the semester ( and my last, yippee!) starts up again this week.

Ciao! ~

Gillian Anderson

2011-01-14T15:47:00.000-08:00

I've been working on expanding my color pallet and application techniques with pastel these last few weeks. This is a portrait I finished of Gillian Anderson ( in X-files Scully garb ). Completed on colorfix paper ( of course, I absolutely love the toothy texture of this paper, and would highly recommend its use to any of you whom enjoy working with pastels ), the size is roughly 9 x 12.

I am currently working on a portrait of a friends pup, and will post soon. I always enjoy the transition between working on the human and animal form. Handling fur is quite different then handling skin, and its important to create a pallet that successfully represents the seperate dimensions between the two!

G'day lovelies ~

It feels so good to get back into pastels

2011-01-05T17:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a dreadfully long time since I have last posted work on here. Funny how the subject matter I last left you with, is now the same subject matter for my new work. This is a pastel portrait I completed today, in about 6 1/2 hours. The size is 24 x 36 on colorfix paper ( my favorite ). I decided to have a bit of fun with this piece, and played around with color and tonal values. Even though I did this in crummy lighting, and took an equally crummy picture with my camera phone, I think this piece turned out fairly well. I just hope my dear hubby to be is happy with it, he is after all the main attraction in this piece :)
Cheers ~
V

Mr.Liu

2010-05-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

I know its been a while, but the semesters finally over and I will now have more time to dedicate to my work! Which is super exciting. I decided to work on a graphite drawing of my dear Mr.Liu. I hope he thinks its a reasonable likeness :) This was done on illustration board. Square format, 6in by 6in.
I will be working with a model tomorrow (another yay) and will have that work posted in the next day or two. In the meantime I am working on my custom banner and blog "reworkings" so thank you for your patience, and for visiting!

Have a blessed day ~ V

New Cityscapes in Progress

2010-04-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Hola~ I've been working on these two paintings for a little while, and wanted to share their "in progress" state. The first painting is an Oil Painting on Panel of the Third Ward (Buffalo St) in my beloved Milwaukee. The second painting is a Water Color, of yes..some awesome old Third Ward buildings (Water St).
I will be posting the finished paintings soon, and will have a more consistent flow of work posted once this semester is over. I'm contemplating sharing some of my Graphic Design work somewhere at some point, but thats TBD :)
I'm working on a new banner for this blog as well as a color scheme overhaul. That will be up soon
as well.
Thanks for stopping by, have a blessed day!

Blog Overhaul

2010-03-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be changing the look and content of this blog over the next few days, I have so many old pieces up here and my work has evolved quite a bit since my college days :). Thusly I feel the need to change this blog to keep it current...Check back soon for my updated blog! Thank you!

I'm working, I promise!

2010-03-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

Dear ones,
I have been working on a million projects lately..and have not been able to post any relevant work on here yes ( obviously :). I am still working, am actually starting a new large scale pastel tomorrow, which I will post hopefully in the next two weeks. Working on a sewing project ( which I will post here as well ) and wishing I could do one of those little "a painting a day" here, but since I am not online everyday a problem is ultimately created. So...with that I am just sending a little note out into the internet void, I will be posting to and I thank you for sticking with me!
~V

A study in Color

2010-02-03T15:46:00.000-08:00

Hello again! I know, I let one week go by, but I promise I was working on this, and was a little tied with homework ( Working with Flash for my web design/animation class takes an extraordinary amount of time out of my week!) But, I did manage to squeeze this out! I wanted to do a play with color, as I enjoy working with a bright palette. This is a cornfield, of which I took a photo ( No I didnt copy the photo exactly, the colors were a bit to flat!) last fall. Amazing sunset. So, I thought this would be perfect for a color study piece! I'm going to work on a portrait in pastel next...more to come very soon!
Ciao lovelies.
~ V

Back to basics

2010-01-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

Hello dear ones, I know, what a suprise, almost half a year without posts, then two in one week! I'm serious about keeping this up!!! I wanted to get back to working with the bare foundations, meaning graphite and portraits. This is a 8 x 10 drawing of my sister, on Canson paper. My camera is no where near adequate, in taking proper photos of my work, but this is more of a " here's a snapshot of what I'm doing, and yes I am still working! " I'll be posting more work, hopefully integrating some handbags I've designed as well!

New Work for 2010

2010-01-19T17:17:00.001-08:00

First and foremost, to those of you who haven't given up on reading this blog, thank you for your patience. One of my New Years resolutions is to keep this blog current, and the second part of that is creating more work this year, without excuse. So... with that, here is my first piece of 2010. A 9 x 12 Pastel of a, well I know it's hard to guess... Horse. I wanted to get back into "portraiture", if you will.. and wanted to do something fun. So here it is my dear ones. More to come :)

Art Fair Musings in Wisconsin this Summer...

2009-08-10T17:41:00.000-07:00

Greetings, It's been a long time. I seem to be quite aweful at keeping my word, and keeping up with my blog. That is going to change as I am going back to school, have had some recent commissions, and a more reliable source of connection to the net now.
So... with that I wanted to post a bit of my musings from different Art Fairs I have had the pleasure of attending this Summer. The first three photos you see are of Milwaukee's Lake Front Art Festival. I love this art fair, because not only is it right next to the Milwaukee Art Museum, but it is on Lake Michigan as well. All of the artists participating have booths inside a large tent, so rain or shine the show goes on! There are art demonstrations, music, food, and admission to the Art Museum is half off with admission to the Festival. I highly recommend this show if you happen to be in the area.
Second, is Madison's Art Fair on the Square. Another great fair, all booths are outside, under individual tents, right off of the Capitol on the square. Outdoor food vendors, live music, and great location downtown also makes this one of the best art fairs in Wisconsin.
As always these shows and others I have attended have inspired and reinvigorated the need to not only create more work, but to do so without excuse. Art makes the world more beautiful, it gives us all a place to celebrate the act of creating.
I am working on a new series of cityscapes, and will be posting images in the following weeks. I hope you visit again, and send this with love and gratitude to you..the reader.
~ Vicki

New Work!

2009-04-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

And here it is.... I have completed 4 new colored pencil drawings this last week, and one ceramic piece. The drawings are of Time Square, Capitol building in Madison, and two California Coast drawings. All inspired by trips I have taken in the past :) The ceramics piece I completed about 2 weeks ago, it's a little bird.. part of my "Eggimals" series :) There will be more of these critters to come!
Blessings~
V

Chicago Art Institute/Lilstreet Gallery

2009-03-27T09:13:00.001-07:00

I thought I would post a few shots of some work I enjoyed on my visit last week to Chicago. These were taken from the Chicago Art Institute and the Lilstreet gallery in Ravenswood. As always I left utterly inspired! :)

Painting a week, and revisiting past themes

2009-02-28T22:51:00.000-08:00

So much for being an awesome art blogger, one post every 3 months is quite aweful, and now, with priorities fully set in place.. you will be seeing quite a bit more on here! I have vowed to:
1. Complete a painting a week. Which will of course be posted on here.

2. Work on my series of hollowed form animals, and post em!

3. Continue a blog on my art ventures ( perhaps start a seperate blog for this?)

So... with this being said my lovelies... here is a photo of 2 little ceramic critters, with new additions to be added to the family. I have a hawk that is being fired and glazed next week and will post him when he's fully incubated!

Paintfullyours~
V

A gift

2008-12-14T11:12:00.000-08:00

Here is a painting I did for my lovely friend Megan, for her anniversary. It's 9x12 oil on panel. I used a series of light washes, layering "fat over lean". Its the second time I have used this proccess, and really enjoy it! I will be posting some new work very soon! Feliz Navidad ~ V

Pastel-in-Progress

2008-08-31T09:10:00.000-07:00

Hello darlings,
Just thought i would post a shot of a new portrait I am working on! I have a bit of work to do on it yet, but wanted to share this little beauty as it is at the moment.
~V

Plein Air Flowers

2008-08-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

Hola~ Here is a painting of some flowers I did from life. I'm going to be working on more plein air/ direct observation pieces in the future, as its beneficial for all artists. To paint the seen not the "knowledge of". More to come!

Attack of the Graphite!

2008-07-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

I dont know how long its been since I have posted ( maybe i havent hrmmm) any pencil drawings here on my blog. And since its the foundation ( and my first passion ) of every work, here are a few recent drawings. One of our family dog Kipper, the Second a drawing of New York City when I visited in 2000, and the last a shark. Why a shark? Why not?! I say. Well, here you have it. I will posty some more soon.
Big love~
V

New Pastels

2008-07-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

Wow, I know, its about time i post some more work! I have been working on a few pieces simultaneously, and feel that the large pastel of the New Moon Cafe in Oshkosh,Wi is about 90 percent finished. I blended in this one, adding about 5 to 6 layers of colors initially then blending with my fingers. I then reworked ( and am in the process ) some of the harder edges with straight pastel to create a more believable sense of dimension.The next piece is a self portrait that I actually did about 4 months ago, but never took the time to post. This was done in about 6 hours, and is not blended ( my choice of application for the most part ).
WIth love~
V

Paoli Artisan gallery

2008-07-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hello again! I wanted to share with you some photos from my visit to a fantastic civil war area town called Paoli just outside of Madison. It was so charming, and the Artisan Gallery was seriously one of the best galleries I have been to in a very long time. I thought I would share some photos of the Gallery, highlighting some of my favorite pieces. If your ever in the Madison area please make it a point to visit this great gallery!
~V

Art fair on the Madtown Square!

2008-07-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

Art Fair on the Square here in Madtown is one of my favorite art fairs/events. This year was particularily wonderful, Music by Tift Merrit, Flemenco dancing, dijeredoo playing goodness, scary troll sculptures, and really great art! Here are some shots I took of the event to share with you lovelies. I am finishing up my latest large pastel and have a few sketchbook drawings I will post as well :)! Artfullyours!
~V

Ta da!

2008-05-31T09:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some newer pieces of work I have completed in the last couple of weeks. The first is a painting that i started and finished last night, title is tentative. I wanted to work in a somewhat representational abstract construct, playing around with color and shape. An experiment of sorts. The second is a painting I did for my mother of our dog Kipper, its dont on a square canvas, and took about 8 hours to complete. Lastly another pastel of downtown milwaukee off of water street. I love this spot and visit it often, alot of good memories tied to this place, which is why I love working on downtown milwaukee images so much. Everything is relevant when tied to the emotional response we have with the subject matter we are projecting. I will be posting more soon, in the meantime thanks for checkin in!!!

Madtown Gallery Night Musings

2008-05-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,
I am going to start posting more then just my work on this blog.. the reason is that, as an artist, i not only create, but am constantly inspired by daily experiences. As an art gallery, museum, festival junkie, I feel like, in order to keep this blog relevant, and customized to me and my artistic musings, its only right ( and a bit less dull) to post my artistic thoughts, journeys,as well as tangible creations! So, with that little note, I wanted to post a few pics from the Madison Gallery Night, Friday May 2nd. Let me just say 4 hours is not enough to check out the 58 participating locations for the night, but I did find a few gems, met some great people, and saw some pretty awesome art. Here are some photos of some of my favorites of the night. The first photo is of some great musicians at this fabulous gallery housing local artists work ( and FABULOUS ) diachroic jewlery, Absolutely Art on Atwood ave.... The second photo is of a piece called Space pup at the Overture Center for the Arts off of State Street.... Third some beautiful glass pieces at the Overture Center ( they look like they came fresh from the ocean floor!), and lastly a photo of one of my favorite Wisconsin artists.. Tom Uttecht.. his paintings of wildlife and the great outdoors greatly inspire me.
Overall the night was great, the streets of downtown and around campus were filled with the music of street musicians, performace artists dancing to the musings of "candy shop" in the windows of a local gallery, wine flowed freely from place to place, and the company of a great friend, topped off the night. All of this talk is making me want to go home and paint!

Duncan Mansion

2008-05-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

A pastel I just finished, part of a series of pieces I will be doing for my upcoming show in Jacksonville Illinois on the 14th... I will post more as they come to fruition!
~V

Colored Pencils.. woot.

2008-04-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hello again friends, I know, two posts in one day.. its overwhelming now isnt it?! I just wanted to post a drawing I did of my friend Guy. I've ventured back into colored pencil territory and this is the result of a hiatus of about, well, 10 years or so.. no joke. Ive been trying to dabble in a lot of different mediums, and since drawing/illustration is my foundation, I thought i should revisit it. I am working on a few more portraits which i will post soon. Namaste~ V

More Cityscape goodness

2008-02-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of cityscapes i did in the last couple of months.... Im working on some new pieces and will post more soon ( Ive been slacking due to moving and starting a new job...). The first piece here is from Halstead St in Chicago, and the Second is of my beloved Milwaukee Art Museum... Both are pastel on Colorfix paper.

Figurative study from life~

2007-12-05T11:31:00.001-08:00

Hello again! I wanted to post this, a new piece I finished it last week. This took about two and half hours,from life, size, 18x24.
Ciao~

Guess who?

2007-11-20T16:09:00.000-08:00

yes, a self portrait of yours truly. I did this one in about 2 hours. What cheaper model, then using thine own self :) I worked on a violet/yellow tonality in the flesh, and tried amongst all will not to get to "detail" oriented.

A Portrait of Kelly~

2007-11-05T22:08:00.000-08:00

It's been quite sometime ( i say ashamed, head looking twords the ground ) since I've done a portrait from life. I was lucky indeed when my lovely friend Kelly allowed me to paint her. This piece was done in about 2 and a half hours, measuring 16x20. I find I approach the painting much differently then I do when working from a photo ( yes still ashamed here ), and can't wait to work on many more portraits like this in the future.
~V

Fruits of the semester

2007-10-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

Alas, two paintings for you.. The painting of my friend Guy is complete, give or take a little work on the pillow in the background, and another, a portrait of my friend Laura and her fiance. This one is still in the process of its finality, work still needing to be done to their faces, hands.... lets just say skin in general. I'm feeling pretty positive about the direction I've taken in these two pieces, and look forward to the possibilities that lay ahead as the semester progresses!
~V

New Pastel Cityscapes!

2007-10-04T23:30:00.000-07:00

My apologies for not posting more work on here! I've been all consumed with my research grant project this summer, and now working twords getting things together for my senior show this winter..... I thought it best to post a couple of new pastels I've completed so far, as part of my cityscape portion of my senior show..... One of them is the new public market in downtown milwaukee, and the other, the lovely coffee shop "the new moon" in Oshkosh. I will post new works as they come, and thank you dear ones for your patience and checking in on me and my work!
love~
V

Yes, I am still painting!!!!

2007-07-25T21:16:00.001-07:00

Ahh, yes dearest ones, it is finished. I think this piece is pretty successful, and has encouraged me to work more from my sketches, then working soley on immediate and actual figurative pieces ( i.e. photo taken, etc). Adding elements of surrealism allowed me to play with light and color, and crack the monotany of past works.

Love to you all~
V

Guy!

2007-06-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

I'm on a roll, this painting is of my dear friend Guy. I rocked this out in about 2 and a half hours, and am quite satisfied with it. Working this size (5x5) allows me to work fast, and the gesso board is a wonderfully smooth surface to work on.

Elizabeth

2007-06-26T00:43:00.000-07:00

This painting is Oil on Gesso Board. I logged in about 4 hours on this painting. The dimension is 5x5. I liked working on this surface, and painting the figure in a 3 dimensional form was fabulously enjoyable. I hope to continue with a series of friends on the same material/dimensions. Hugs to you all ~ me

Downtown chicago~

2007-06-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

Hello dear friends and blog readers alike. This is a new painting, that I started and finished on the 18th. I find myself really enjoying the cityscape again, and am having fun with new color application, and a play on light. I think this is one of my favorite pieces, if not for its suggestive and simplistic attributes.

Oshkosh in the Evening

2007-06-14T22:23:00.000-07:00

I started this painting today, and finished it, well, today! I havent done a cityscape in a while, so I thought it was about time to do one! Oil on Canvas.

Christina

2007-05-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

This portrait was done as a study of sorts. I wanted to work fast, with loose brush strokes and lots of paint. This piece took me about 2 days to do, and while there are aspects of it I would like to revisit, I think it was a successful "experiment" :) ( This is my older sister ).

Lindsey!

2007-04-24T22:54:00.000-07:00

I finished this painting near sememsters end, about a month ago. My sister, even though she is very camera shy, and was quite overwhelmed that I would paint her, let alone do it in a space where many could see it, likes it. And hey, that's all I ask for, she's a hard one to please! ( love u lin! )

Self Portrait, complete

2007-04-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished self portrait that I started last week. (4/18/07). I definetly work a lot looser when working from life!!! Perhaps that's why its encouraged over the use of photos ( which I use quite a bit! ).

Family Portrait

2007-04-11T23:04:00.000-07:00

Finished painting. I completed it this week.... A bit of a smoother approach to the paint, and a limited color palette, but I'm pretty happy with it over all!

Self~

2007-03-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

Howdy~ Self portrait I did today. I approached it with simple lines, and broke the habit of being anal-rentative with highly detailed line use.

More work :)

2007-03-06T23:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, there will be quite a few posts filled with random pieces. I'm trying to start a bit of a collective, bear with me :) I heart you all ~ V

Current Work in Progress.....

2007-03-06T20:11:00.000-08:00

This is a painting I started on Tuesday, and is almost near completion.

Older works I completed last semester

2007-03-06T20:05:00.000-08:00

These are 3 paintings I completed last semester, all of which are portraits of friends :)