Justus Portraits a Pencil Artist

Happy Birthday Tommy

2011-01-16T12:17:00.000-06:00

My oldest child just turned 12 years old. I had to capture his age with a pencil drawing. I quickly took a picture of him with my iPhone. Printed the picture using my HP wireless connection app. I just love technology. Useing this picture as a reference for my drawing, I got started right away. Now I used my iPhone to take a picture of drawing, upload it to blogger and post my blog.

My son was planning a sledding/sleepover for 8 other boys. Yes, I am crazy, but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. They stayed up all night sledding, playing video games, and drinking multiple caffeinated beverages. With all that, they were all polite, no damage was done, and no one argued. Great group of young men. Look forward to watching them all grow.

Happy Birthday Tommy. We love you

If anyone is interested in a pencil portrait of someone they love. Let me know. I would love to capture a charished memory for you.

Easy Pencil Portrait Gift

2011-01-10T17:09:00.000-06:00

Are you looking for a gift idea? A $40 5"X7" pencil portrait is quick and easy.

1. Choose or take a clear, close up photo of someones beautiful face you would love to have captured in pencil.
(Technology has helped a lot. Most smart phones take nice pictures that can be emailed right from your phone)

2. Email me the photo, at justusportraits@hotmail.com

3. Pay 50% of 5" X 7" price. ($20) by clicking on my sites PayPal button or using my email to send money on PayPal website. www.paypal.com

4. I will email you a reply and get started. In a short time, I will email you a photocopy of your portrait for approval.

5. If you are happy, pay the remaining $20. And email me a mailing address.

6. Your portrait is mailed out promptly.

Easy and quick. Most portraits are in your hands in about a week.

Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing the portraits I can create for you that you will cherished for a life time.

Great Christmas Gift / Pencil Portriats

2010-11-20T18:40:00.001-06:00

Looking for a great Christmas Gift. How about a personalize portrait. I have many sizes to choose from, and I accept credit cards through PayPal.

FAMILY PORTRAIT GIFT / FINE ART PENCIL PORTRAIT ARTIST

2010-05-09T11:39:00.002-05:00

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Hello my readers,

Happy Mothers Day! I am wishing you a wonderful Mothers Day and pray that it fills you with blessed memories or at least a gift or two. If you are like me, I like the gift of hugs, kisses, and I love you’s. Maybe a little time to reflect on my life as a mother. I would love to hear from you about what Mothers Day means to you. Just post a comment or two and share.

It has been some time since my last post. Life keeps going and my priorities changed a little over the last few months and time slipped away. Now that I am back on track, I would like to share a portrait I drew for a mother of three. Enjoy.

Johnny Cash sketch / Pencil Portrait Artist

2010-02-24T21:14:00.001-06:00

A little while ago on Facebook I asked if anyone had any good ideas on
celebrities to draw. Johnny Cash was the one celebrity that stuck with
me. Below is just the first step. I will up date each step as I go. I
would love the feedback here, Facebook, or Twitter. Thank you for
viewing.

Three / Pencil Portrait Artist

2010-02-23T16:09:00.003-06:00

My first attempt at blogging through my new Iphone.

Drawing is about done. It took way to long to finish. It sat
unfinished for at least 2 weeks. Usually when I do this the final
product in not satisfactory. If I was drawing for a commission, I
would have not procrastinated and would have started over. Maybe
someday I will do this one over. It must be all this cold weather and
snow.

Valentine’s Pencil Portrait / Fine Art Wedding Gift

2010-02-08T19:25:00.001-06:00

A friend of mine recently got married to a wonderful man, and I wanted to do something special for them. She had asked if my children would be in their wedding, and what a joy it was to see my two kids all dressed up and being their best. I decided to draw a portrait that was truly them. Not a fancy posed picture, but one where they were having fun and being themselves. They both don’t seem like the fancy type. After a lot of searching, I found this on her Facebook album and new that it would be a great one.

Now that Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, I have found that a portrait is a great gift to someone you love. I have drawn portraits for Christmas, anniversaries, weddings, birthdays, and even funerals.

It is so easy to commission a portrait from me. First step is to pick out a photo that captures your subjects well, or if I live close I would love to snap some shots to use for reference. Second step is email me the digital photo or mail it. Then the rest is all up to me. You just sit back and relax, knowing that you will be given a unique gift to someone. Or just yourself.

justusportraits@hotmail.com

Rough Draft of Pencil Portrait #3 / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist

2010-02-05T15:38:00.002-06:00

I am starting to draw my Mom. Not done yet, still am working on shadowing. Her mouth is not quite right and I will need to step back and see what needs adjusting.

Oh how I love my Mom. She still is beautiful after all these years. I have on many occasions told her that she glows. It might be because of all the healthy foods she eats. Growing up, I don’t think store bought possessed foods were allowed in our house. Maybe every once in awhile, but for the most part green veggies, fresh eggs & milk, home baked bread, and many other whole foods. Now, every time I visit Dad and Mom’s farm I go away feeling healthy. You can not leave that place without being well fed and your soul at peace.

Rough Draft of Pencil Portrait #2 / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist

2010-02-02T15:45:00.002-06:00

Did I have to start with my portrait first? Well yes, it is because I am right handed and to keep from smudging what I have already finish, you start top left corner. Oh, but I still smudge at times. My redoing and erasing what I thought I was done with seems to get the best of me sometimes.That is why I am in love with my erasers. I have 3 kinds. Kneading eraser, professional stick eraser, and a sharp sliver I cut from the stick eraser. Going over and over. Turning the drawing upside down, setting it up to look at it at a distance. Stepping away when not getting it right is the best. You come back with new eyes.

Right now, looking at my portrait, I will need to still shade a little more and I am not quite happy with the eyes, yet. I always remind myself that I will never be perfect, but will always strive to grow and learn.

Rough Draft of Pencil Portrait #1

2010-01-29T17:21:00.002-06:00

Ok,

It has been a real tough week. Tax season, if that explains it. Well, I will trust in God that everything will work out. After sulking for a few days I decided I better get drawing again.

Here is the first rough sketch of my newest portrait. This will be for my Mom. Love ya mom. She is awesome! Her and my Dad moved to Kansas and bought a farm and are truly living their dream. Cows, chickens, goats, hay, and a garden. They even have a country store that locals can come and get some fresh products on an honor system. Mom makes and sells cheese, milk, butter, and her fabulous all natural soap. She is also in the process of putting together her facial cream, toner, and body lotion to go with her moisturizing facial soap. I can’t wait. You can visit http://www.carolynsnaturalsoap.com to see more.

Enough of my parents and their farm. My mom is in the middle. Can you guess where I am? …………….Give up…………I’m the brunette. The oldest of 4. Two brothers and a beautiful sister. She’s the one with the blondness.

Mom, I hope you love your portrait. After I am done with this one I plan on drawing one of Dad and my brothers. I know just where you can hang them. LOL

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME

2010-01-22T15:44:00.001-06:00

Hi, I am married to a wonderful man for almost 18 years and have two beautiful children. A young boy, 11 and a daughter, 6. I grew up in California to a very musically talented family. My sister sings, both brothers sing and play guitar, with my youngest brother playing the drums. My parents sing and play instruments also. I can sing and play a little piano and guitar.When I was young my family lead worship service at Church for many years and also had home worship time on Fridays. My family still gets together and sing as often as we can.

MY BROTHERS PLAYING A FEW SONGS THEY WROTE

I am an active community & arts and crafts leader in our 4H Club that I love so much. My son and daughter are members and we are kept quite busy. 4H is one of those clubs that I was never interested in as a child and thought that you had to have animals to join. I was so wrong. 4H is more that animals. It’s about community leadership, public speaking, learning how to lead a meeting, and growing as an individual. My son is in Geology project & Entomology project. No animals this year. We travel all over this great state of Kansas in search of rocks, fossils, minerals and bugs. My daughter is very creative and is a part of the arts & crafts project. She currently is not old enough for 4H, you have to be 7, so she has joined Cloverbuds. We had no leader to head this so I volunteered to lead these young future 4Hers. So far we are having fun.

On the Kansas State Wide 4H Geology Trip

There are around 200 people and 70 cars driving all over the state of Kansas until we come across and area to dig for rocks, fossils, and minerals.

My son Tommy at Castle Rock, Kansas

Here I am helping some young 4Hers with rock identification.

Last but not least, I work part time for the USPS as a Rural Mail Associate. I deliver mail all over the back country roads and actually love doing it.

I want to thank God for my wonderful life.

Vintage Challenge Portrait / Vintage Pencil Portrait

2010-01-21T15:34:00.000-06:00

Flickr Tags: Vintage Photo,Pencil Portrat,Portrait Children,Pencil Artist

What a fun project. As you can see in the original photo the young girls nose was digitally given quite a large nose for a small face. I believe I did fix the young girls appearance and created a portrait to cherish.

The drawing on this blog looks a little bright compared to the actual 5” x 7” portrait. I still have not figured out how to get a good match. Cameras, scanners, and editing tools are not able to get it right. I might be doing something wrong, but I will continue to practice.

COUPLE OF VALENTINES / PENCIL PORTRAIT

2010-01-20T15:40:00.001-06:00

With Valentine’s Day approaching I wanted to share a portrait I drew a few months ago. I was asked by this young man if I could draw a portrait for his girlfriend. It was to be a gift for their 2nd anniversary of being together. She loved it!

Vintage Photo Challenge 2 / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist

2010-01-18T16:03:00.002-06:00

Rough drawing on sketch paper

Here is my rough draft of the vintage photo that I am fixing for a client. I started with drawing from a few reference photos on sketch paper. I did this to see if I could reconstruct the nose of this young girl and get all proportions right. The young girl is looking up slightly so her cheeks are going to be lower. Her chin will be narrower and closer to lower lips. Eyes will be slightly looking up with shadows under eyes, nose and chin.

Tomorrow I am going to work on the babies feet. The photo I have is not clear with the feet blurred. What I could see, is what I drew above. Just not sure yet on where the toes land. I think after I get the girls face and the babies feet down, I will be ready to start on smooth heavy weight paper. The client is wanting a 5” x 7” portrait, so it should not take to long once I get going.

Vintage Photo Challenge / Pencil Portraits Artist

2010-01-15T11:43:00.001-06:00

Today I start a challenging project. Above is a photo that a customer would like drawn of her mother and aunt. It was damaged, due to age, and had been digitally fixed some years ago. Her aunt is the young girl and if you look closely, you can see that her nose was missing at one time. The digital correction tried to fix it but did not get it right. I was ask if I could draw this photo and help fix her aunts appearance.

As you can see, it will be a challenge. One because this photo is hard to see, and two the girl’s nose is not hers. I asked the client if she had another photo of her aunt. She said that she did, but that it is of her when she is older. I replied by saying that the nose does not change much as we age, and that it could help. Below is the aunt a bit older.

I plan on updating my blog with the progress of this drawing. I feel a strong connection with restoring history. There are a few other vintage photos that I would love to put pencil too. Some of these photos are very small , but carry so much weight on the memory.

If any of you who are reading this have an older photo that is in need, let me know and I will see what I can do.

CHRISTMAS GIFT / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist/ Child Portriat

2010-01-10T16:37:00.006-06:00

Hi,

Sorry it has been some time between my last post. December was a busy month with work, drawing, and vacationing to my home state of California. I work for the USPS as a rural carrier associate (RCA), and because of the mass volume of parcels and letters, I worked many days with long hours. Then we traveled to California to visit family and friends for Christmas and New Years. Before we left, I filled any remaining time taking care of my own family and drawing a few commissioned portraits.

For one of my commissioned portrait, I was asked to draw a 5" x 7" portrait of a young boy for a Christmas gift. The original photo was small, and did not show the detail that help capture the true character of a person. I knew I could still produce a well drawn portrait and I believe I did. What a cute kid.

The new year is here and life will gradually get back to normal. I have already finished my first pencil portrait and working on my second. These portraits I will blog about later, for if I share everything on one blog I will not have anything else to blog.

My last blog was about drawing another nature object, and this has been put on the shelf, literally, to draw another time. I believe I got ahead of myself when I had time on my hands. Thank you to those who kept me busy. I would rather draw a meaningful commissioned portrait than draw a rock for myself.

Thought of a Drawing Project

2009-11-21T13:56:00.014-06:00

I currently have one nature drawing and found it rewarding to capture it in pencil. Nature is full of detail if we stop to look. Even the smallest things can produce wonder.

Most of you remember this drawing.

I took a long walk/jog yesterday and saw a simple gravel rock on the road. I drive on many gravel roads here in Kansas and it struck me to ponder where these simple inorganic materials come from. That the gravel must be older than mankind. I looked closer to the detail and decided that I could draw this object and show the world the character of a modest over used item. I placed it in my hand and noticed that my moist supple hand was new and fragile and this rock was ancient and forever. Now should I draw a rock or a rock in a hand? A rock in itself would be interesting, but to show the contrast between organic and inorganic. Not sure? Took some pictures, and will decide when I have more time.

Now I know some might think that a simple rock would not make a good subject for a pencil drawing, but just wait. Maybe I can prove you wrong.

Ladies A Shopping / Vintage Photo

2009-11-20T10:52:00.002-06:00

As you can tell from past posts I am full of emotions when it comes to the past and the stories that are lost. What were these ladys shopping for, and most important, what were their names. I found this photo in an old family photo album of my Grandmothers. I love the hats. Each one is so different.

As an pencil artist I would love to bring this photo to life with a portriat, but I am short on time at this moment and this one would be a challange.

I am new to Postcard Friendship Friday idea, and am excited on hearing from you and what you are talking about. I have been using this blog to share my Pencil Portraits and future drawing ideas. I don't post as often as I would like, but will try more often with more subjects.

Goofy Girls From the 1920's / Mid West Pencil Portrait Artist / Vintage 1920's

2009-10-29T13:53:00.011-05:00

ORIGINAL PHOTO 5" X 3"

Just finished my 14" x 17" "Goofy Girls from the 20's" Portrait. This one took some time because of all the wrinkles in their clothing. Some of the details are hard to see in the original photo, so I had to spend a lot of time looking closely and guessing sometimes.

What a cute trio! A time when fun was simple and life was not as full of distractions. No TV, cell phone, internet, and video games. Just lots of outdoor fun with friends and family. I am sure, they had their chores done when this photo was taken. Fun was always after work. Right? Today most don't know what it was like to wake up in the morning and have to stoke a fire to start your coffee, or walk outside to use the bathroom. We call that camping, not life. They don't seem to be bothered by their life, do they. We sure have come a long way. Simple times were harder, but people may have been happier. Just a thought.

Fall Leaf / Pencil Portrait Drawing / Mid-West Pencil Portrait Artist

2009-10-22T18:36:00.004-05:00

FALL

It has been raining all day and I feel the fall season has truly arrived. I collected this leaf a few weeks ago and to celebrate the season I decided to draw it today.

I purchased a new digital camera that I just love. I have enjoyed taking pictures of leaves, bugs, trees, and my kids this wonderful season. Though it has rained all day today, I do believe Autumn is one of my favorite seasons. It is absolutely beautiful.

I am still working to the "Goofy Girls" Portrait. It has been very slow going. Lot of details in their dresses that are taking my time. Although, I have not worked on it everyday. The first few weeks in October have been busy. Now I have at least one more week of free time to get it done.

Goofy Girls From The Past / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist / 1920's Old Photo

2009-10-09T14:05:00.005-05:00

My blog has been sitting just waiting for me to add something. So I just had to share my portrait in progress. I have been working on this for 2 weeks and still have some time to go. Can't wait until I am done.

I just love these old photos. My passion is to capture these moments in time through my art. Something I can frame and share with the world. The drawing is 14" x 17" and easier to see than the small 2" x 3" old photo. If you have any photos that are sitting in your closet photo box that you would just love to share. Let me draw a portrait you can frame and display for all to see. A portrait with a wonderful story to tell. Names forgotten, faces not recognized, and time not remembered can now be brought to light.

I have so many other pictures that I someday would love to draw for my own family to Cherish. Decorate my home with stories from the past. What a wonderful gift to give to the ones you love.

Until finished

Julie Justus

Child Portrait / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist

2009-09-23T15:56:00.007-05:00

"Marek"

This portrait was drawn on an 8" x 10" 300lb acid free drawing paper for easy framing. I don't currently have pricing for this size but will in the near future. I am considering having my portraits categorized for easy pricing.

Category's
JUST LITTLE ME (5" X 7" single subject)
JUST FOR ME (8" X 10" 1 or 2 subjects)
JUST ME (11" x 14"single subject)
JUST US (14" x 17" multiple subjects)
JUST BECAUSE (Special requested portraits)
JUST REMEMBER (Drawings from old photos)

I am struggling to get my website up and running. I did not realize how much work it would be. Slowly moving forward, and will get it done soon.

Feel free to share this sight or my FaceBook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12545&id=1147481665&saved#/justusportraits?ref=ts

Now to work on the Goofy Girl Portrait.

Judy Garland/ The Wizard of Oz/ Kansas pencil portrait artist

2009-09-22T19:34:00.005-05:00

Judy Garland

Well, here she is. My way of celebrating the release of "The Wizard of Oz".

Today I had many hours to devote to drawing. My laundry is done, the house is clean, and my kids are at school. Back to my real job tomorrow.

Until next time..........

Tommy / Kansas Children Pencil Portrait

2009-09-22T07:52:00.004-05:00

Tommy

This pencil portrait was drawn in 2001.

I like this drawing, but it is not one of my best. Thought I would share some drawings from my past.

I am currently contemplating drawing a portrait of Judy Garland. The new release of "Wizard of Oz" is hitting the shelves soon, and I have always been a fan of her movies. One of my favorites is "Meet Me in St. Louis" If you have not see that old musical, you should. I am such a romantic some times.

I also have in the works a pencil portrait of my Grandmother, again. This time she and 2 other friends are acting goofy for the camera. They are wearing there 20's style dresses and smiling with silly grins.

I am looking for other candid old photos to draw. If anyone else out there has a photo from the past, I would love to draw it. I have not come up with a fee for old photo's yet, but for now just doing it for my own library and to share with everyone.

GIRL & HER HORSE / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist/ Horse Artist

2009-09-17T13:26:00.008-05:00

A "JUST ME" Portrait
17" X 14"

Original Photo

I just had to draw this girl. Emma has a beautiful face. She is daughter of a friend of mine, and I would love to draw her again in the future.

The main reason I chose this portrait is the horse. I have not drawn a horse in a very long time and needed the practice. This could be the start of something. I will challenge myself and draw a complete horse in the future.

This drawing was a little challenging, not only because I had not drawn a horse in a while, but because I added the nose and some mane that is not in the original photo. If you look closely, the photo does not show any body of the animal. I thought it looked funny as a drawing. So I added a few extras. I hope I got it right.

Below is the original photo I took of my drawing before I edited it. As you can see the drawing is not as dark. I might need a new camera.

Princess Adelaide / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist / Children Artist

2009-09-16T21:33:00.001-05:00

"Princess Adelaide"

5" x 7"

A "JUST LITTLE ME" Portrait

My princess Adelaide. I drew this portrait on my 5" x 7" paper to show what I could do for $30. It is easy to frame and does not cost a lot. For the month of Sept., FOUR "Just LITTLE ME"s and get a 5th one free.

My husband loves this photo, so I drew her for him. I think we took this picture last year around this time for her birthday. She turns 6 this weekend and is growing up so fast.

I would like to draw another picture this size of my son. I think it might be fun to have all nieces and nephews drawn on a 5" x 7" and hung on my wall in a grouping. Might end up being a fun project to draw a collection of "Just LITTLE ME" portraits for my wall.

My Kids / Kansas Children Portrait Pencil Artist

2009-09-11T19:15:00.003-05:00

"My Kids"

19" x 17"

A "JUST US" Portrait

I drew this picture sometime ago, because I needed a nice photo to hang of my children. Of course, when it was time to get a photo to use, they were not cooperating. So in the end, I took two pictures and put them together. I now have a nice portrait of them.

Alone they will pose, but to get them to work together and give me a good picture, was impossible.

Graphite Drawing of a Dog "Java" / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist

2009-09-08T15:29:00.001-05:00

Drawing of "Java"

Original Photo

I have not drawn an animal for a very long time, and wanted to try a new drawing technique. I saw this photo in Facebook of my friends Dog Java. What a cute face. I just had to draw her. I drew this portrait on smaller 5" x 7" piece of paper. I usually draw on 11 x 14" or 14" x 17" paper. It worked out great. I think I will add this size drawing to my commissioned work. I will charge a lot smaller fee, but will only accept one subject for a drawing.

I am still looking at getting a website together soon. I already bought my domain name. http://www.justusportraits.com/ Now I just need a web page to add it to.

My birthday is tomorrow and I will be 38. How did the time fly by so fast. I will be celebrating by drawing another animal. This time it will be a horse. I am going to use a 5" x 7" greeting card paper. Just something new to try. Check back soon to see.

VINTAGE DAY AT THE BEACH 1920's / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist

2009-09-02T15:43:00.004-05:00

DRAWING

ORIGINAL PHOTO

About a month ago, I was rummaging through my Mothers photos and came across this one of my Grandmother Eva and her friend. I loved the style. We definitely don't ware clothes like this on the beach anymore. The time period is about the late 20's, and my Grandmother was about 18.

This portrait took some time to draw. I found myself working quite a bit for the Post Office this last week, so I could not devote enough time to this piece as I would have liked. Not complaining, the PO is a great place to work. It still would have taken some time to do. The detail was what I was after. I would say about 25hrs of time on this one portrait.

I also found some other vintage pictures that would make great portrait drawings. Someday in the future I will get those done and posted. The next portrait will be of a dog. I have two photos to chose from and will be letting my FaceBook friends/family pic. One photo is of my Dad's dog "Albert" a lab/golden and my good friends Marcus and Denise's dog "Java" a boxer. So far the boxer is winning.

A final note, I would like to share what I will be doing for my Mom's business "Carolyn's Natural Soap". I am planning a product party at my house sometime soon. She has two face creams, toner to go with her facial soap. Emu oil is the magic ingredient. She has all purpose cleaner, bug repellent, bug bite healer, and room deodorizer. And of course her famous soap. I thought it would be nice for all of you to meet Carolyn and find out what she puts into her products and the benefits they have for your house and body. It is going to be a fun time.

COLOR PENCIL DRAWING

2009-08-30T14:29:00.008-05:00

"Cold Morning with Tommy" Drawing

Original photo

I have worked all week for the Post Office and have not had anytime to draw. The drawing I have been working on is of my Grandmother on the beach in the 1920's. It still sits on my desk. It will take about 20-30 drawing hours to finish, because I am placing all the background in it. So far it is turning out great. Can not wait to show you all.

So I am posting a drawing I did years ago. This is a color pencil portrait I did of my son. I have not drawn in color pencil in a long time, but I thought this one turned out ok. Someday I will venture back into using color pencil, but I will have to practice more and find the time. Color pencil takes twice as long as graphite/charcoal pencil.

I am planning on drawing some animals soon. I have one of my mom's lab Albert to try out. Also, I am thinking of drawing minnie portraits for a smaller price. Maybe more of a scetch and not so much detail. Just a thought I am thinking over. I have also registered a domain name. http://www.justusportraits.com/ . No website yet. I was thinking maybe I don't need a website, just use this blog. I can set this domain name to this blog if I want. What do you think? I can use any suggesting.

Baby Ken 1930's / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist

2009-08-18T16:20:00.006-05:00

Original photo

"Baby Ken"

This is a drawing I did a few years ago of my Father-in-law Ken Justus. The original photo was very old and this drawing brought it back to life. If anyone else has an old photo that can be drawn, let me know.

I have been pondering about drawing more and more older photos that might have sentimental value. I went to my Mom and Dad's farm, and went through some of mom's old photos. What a mess! She seriously needs to organize. (Denise we need your help!) She has boxes and albums of photos of loved ones long gone. Not just posed portraits, but candid shots of my Grandmother and her friends goofing off. Around the mid to late 20's. I absolutely love them. I so want to draw these that are long forgotten and hiding is a box. The problem is most are so damaged it is hard to pinpoint details to draw. I have chosen a few that might be worthy photos. I am so excited. This might be another niche that I can grab along with drawing portraits of the present. The clothes are fabulous, the shoes, the cars, and hats, hats, and more hats. What a time.

Maybe I can label this art category as "A TIME NOT FORGOTTEN". I don't know. As I was saying, pondering and having fun at it.

Julie

AN OLDER DRAWING

2009-08-17T12:11:00.004-05:00

"GRANDMA EVA"

I am still working on another drawing of my grandmother Eva Thompson. And hope to have it completed soon. This drawing was drawn in 2001. I was just learning how to use some new drawing skills and was looking for a sentimental portrait to do. The original photo was of my grandmother in Yosemite Park in 1928. I believe she was about 18 years old. Someday I would like to draw this picture again with the background and apply some newer skills I have learned. Then do a comparison.

I miss my grandma lots and have fond memories of her. She was an accomplished pianist and taught and played it often. Her house was always filled with music and laughter. When I was young I would love to lay under her grand piano and listen to her play for hours. I was only 8 when she died, but the memories are fresh with sounds, sights, and smells.

Buck O'Neil / Kansas Pencil Portrait Artist/ Baseball

2009-08-15T10:21:00.018-05:00

"Justus Portrait Drawing 08/09"

"Original Photo"

My husband Gregg wanted me to draw an endearing famous person in the Kansas City area. Known for his joyful personality, he always had a smile on his face, and played and coached a Negro League Baseball team the "Monarchs" He also has a role in opening up a Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame here in Kansas City.

He recently passed away and we got to see him a few months before then. He was allowed to bat at a minor league game, Kansas City "T-Bones", when he was in his 90's. It was a site to see. Gregg was the only fan that shook his hand. He will always remember it.

The drawing I drew of him was from a famous old photo of him. Maybe taken in the 40's or 50's. Gregg will be hanging it up in the "Man Cave"

I am kinda excited about drawing some more old pictures. I have one of my Grandmother and all her friends sitting on the beach when they were in their teens. Maybe taken in the early 20's. The swimwear is cute and they are trying to act sexy. Maybe if it turns out well, I can figure out how to make prints. It would be a great piece of art for a bathroom or girls room.

Enjoy

Julie Justus

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU CAN DRAW

2009-08-13T08:10:00.004-05:00

"NAOMI""Justus Portrait Drawing 08/09"

"Original"

Well, I jumping in! (thank you Jennifer :) ) I have been drawing forever. My talent has not always been this good, but I am an avid researcher and love to learn. I am self taught and am learning new tricks of the trade all the time. I have learned how to use graphite and charcoal pencils to add depth to a portrait. Graphite reflex light, while charcoal absorbs light.

Today is laundry day, but I am going to squeeze in the time to start drawing a famous baseball player "Buck O'Neil". He recently passed away in his 90's and was a favorite here in the Kansas City area. My husband Gregg is wanting me to draw him for his movie room, AKA "Man Cave" All men need a cave.

My art room, and old desk near my son's room, is a mess. This will need to be organized for future drawings. If I have the time, I will get it done today.

"Carolyn's Natural Soap"

I currently am also blogging and running my mothers soap business. She does not have Internet service at her farm. I will be posting a note she wrote yesterday, so her followers can catch up on the "Reid Ranch Blog" happenings.

If you are interested in my portraits email me and I will send you information.

If you are interested in "Carolyn's Natural Soap" or her farm life just view my follower "Reid Ranch Blog" or visit http://www.carolynsnaturalsoap.com/