Newlight - Eagles and Cat Skulls - Learn How to Apply Gold Leaf

 "Newlight" by Danielle Trudeau

Butterflies and Moths - With An Edge

So I'm not a fan of bugs.

I'm more like a gets-deep-spine-shivers-of-terror kind of gal when it comes to creepy crawlies.

Yet I completely adore moths and butterflies. I mean, who doesn't? There is so much amazing variety in their shapes, sizes, colours and patterns. They're stunning.

So naturally they show up a lot in my artwork.

I'm not sure how I came upon this technique, but it works wonders with snazzy colourful subjects like butterflies and moths.
And it leaves you very light-headed.

First one, a made-up girly little thing.

 

Swallowtail Butterfly

This one was a volunteer piece for my university's Graduate studies journal.

Both of these are African species that were done as a commission for a biologist from Russia.

Blue Morpho

Sunset Moth
This one was a commission.

Luna Moth
[For Sale]

Enjoy!

- D

Lady the Kirin - Sculpture

I've been in a sculpture mood as of late, creating mystical beasts is wonderful.

This is Lady the Kirin, a pretty quiet little thing. 

Recent Pastel Craze - Finished Pieces

Way back in 2008 I was introduced to soft pastels as a medium, and something else that has captured my heart since that time - velour paper!

I've only used soft pastels on two types of surfaces, watercolour paper and velour. And let's just say that I will not be doing more work with the watercolour paper.

Velour is a nifty paper that actually has a layer of fibres on one side, imagine something similar to velvet. The fibres capture the pastel dust perfectly, the colours are vibrant and in my eyes it gives everything a lovely dream-like quality. I simply love the stuff.

I took a break from the medium for a few years, and finally felt the urge to give it another shot recently. That sent me digging through my supplies for my trusty soft pastels and velour paper!

Life and Death and Life - Tiger's Tale

Title : "Life and Death and Life"
Medium : Acrylics on a wooden panel
Size : 14" x 18"
Date : April 2014

 

Bighorn - Mixed Media with a walkthrough!

Now and then I get the opportunity to do an excellent commission, something that feels like fun time rather than work time.

This piece is a mash-up of mediums. The paper was dyed with tea, then baked in the oven on low with a sprinkling of coffee grounds for more colour and texture, then painted.

First step was a rough sketch with a mechanical pencil, knocked down some details. 

Inked those lines with an assortment of Staedtler and Faber-Castell fine liners. I typically use an assortment of pens for my artwork, but these lines needed to survive through a good soaking, hence the use of my waterproof \staedtler and Faber-Castells. Got rid of my pencil lines to avoid any sort of water-soaking mishaps.

I mixed up a strong brew of cheap Earl Gray tea, cutting open the tea bags to release the leaves for their texture. Settle that paper onto a baking sheet, poured the tea in and piled the leaves on the surface of the paper.

Next step was to let that soak for as long as you can manage (usually I let it sit for at least an hour). I got impatient and pulled it out of the tea after 20 minutes, which resulted in it being paler than I would have liked. I drained the tea but left the leaves on top, then sprinkled some coffee grounds (the paper still smells heavenly) onto the surface and popped it in the oven at 200-250 degrees F for around 10-15 minutes. Make sure you watch it, although I've been lucky so far and haven't experienced any burning.

I never leave the paper in until its completely dry, usually I let it sit overnight to let it dry, then rub all of the leaves and coffee grounds off.
Look at all that lovely texture! The ink sketch becomes pretty tough to see at this point, but its still there!

Now the painting begins. I decided to use watercolours to start bringing out some tones and shapes.

Then I brought out some details with white acrylics.
And then I do it again. I bounce back and forth between the watercolours and the acrylic until I'm happy with the details and tones.

Keep at it until you're done! Voila!

Here are some close-up photos of the detail and texture.

Enjoy!

- Danielle

Deity - African Elephant

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Title : "Deity"
Medium : Acrylics on a wooden panel
Date : April 2014
Size : 10" x 20"

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Welcome! This is my first real post within this blog, still deciding on an overall format of my posts. I have plans of posting finished pieces, occasionally work-in-progress stuff, little how-to pieces, sources of inspiration, etcetera.

Here we go!

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For those that are fresh to my artwork, I love painting wildlife. Painting animals is a release for me, nature has been a passion of mine my entire life (a nickname as a child was "The Walking Animal Encyclopedia" - it was well chosen). I've cycled through favorites like any person, but seem to settle on a few oddballs, or rather the critters that aren't as common (vultures, anyone?).
Elephants have always had my heart. They're enormous, magnificent and wrinkly, and have eyes that seem to hold all of the world's knowledge.
They're beautiful, in my eyes.

My boyfriend spent the first 13 years of his life in South Africa, so naturally that has stemmed a huge portion of my inspiration. This piece here is the first of a series of five, featuring the wonderful African Big Five.

Elephant, lion, leopard, rhinoceros, and cape buffalo.

I knew I was going to end up doing a series featuring the Big Five before long, but like a lot of my pieces, I couldn't settle for just a typical realism portrait. I needed something extra. I hemmed and hawed, and settled upon a central idea.
Gods.

I wanted to give the Big Five a god-like appeal, with a sort of tribal flair. They would be the center of a sort of dogma, the five would be worshiped and loved by all. Festivals and ceremonies would be held in their name, where they would adorn the Big Five with totems and items of power. 

So out came the pencil and my boyfriend's photos from his last trip to South Africa.

It was my first experiment with a wooden panel, and I fell in love. Canvas is wonderful, but fine detail can be a struggle due to the texture of the fabric. With a sanded wooden panel, its smooth as can be.

I knew the pieces were going to be greyscale, most likely with a pop of colour. Just happen to be gold leaf. I love the effect that gold leaf has, wonderfully shiny and metallic, with a tiny hint of gaudiness.

"Deity" is not currently for sale. I most likely will finish the series and offer a price for the five collectively. 

Welcome!

Hello there, welcome to my blog!

My name is Danielle Trudeau, a young lady from the prairies of central Canada with a passion for art and science.
Within this blog you will find a closer look at both my artwork, and my inspiration.

Perhaps you are wondering why I would start a blog as an artist, I mean I already have my personal website, what good could a blog do?
My reason behind starting a blog of my own stemmed from a problem I had when it came to other artists. Every now and then I come across the works of another artist that has my jaw on the floor. Physical excitement surges through my body as I browse through their professional gallery. "I need to know more about this person", I think to myself, perhaps they have some more information elsewhere, like a blog. But far too many times have I come up empty, that urge to learn more about this artist, perhaps see how their art progresses or learn about their sources of inspiration, the desire unsatiated.

Which led me to creating my own blog. Perhaps my lovely followers out there in the world would like to know more about myself, my art or my inspiration.

That being said, welcome to my blog!

- Danielle