Nitram Charcoal FIRE Sale

Dear Art Lover,

     There are only five days left in my Nitram Charcoal FIRE Sale.  If you receive my art newsletter or follow some of my posts on Facebook, you may have seen me share information about a recent fire at the new Nitram charcoal-making facility in Canada.  They have been good to me, featuring my charcoal drawings in their new promo videos and even sending me supplies – to Croatia and Italy! They even supported my Kickstarter bronze casting campaign in 2015.   

    Naturally, I want to help out this art supply company that has so much passion for art and good materials and a generosity above the norm. I will make a donation to help Nitram rebuild and will base it, in part, off of sales of my charcoal, pencil, and carbon pencil drawings.

To encourage these sales, I offer you a

20% SAVINGS on these works, good through June 30 [2016].

Just let me know which artwork(s) interest you and I will be happy to work out the payment details that fit your budget.

You may find these drawings mainly on the following pages. Some will be framed, a few not, but you may order as you like.
http://www.borsheimarts.com/charcoaldrawings.htm
and
http://www.borsheimarts.com/drawing2.htm

Details, as well as images of my travels in Italy recently with my brother Steve, are here:

http://www.borsheimarts.com/news/20160621_ArtNews-FireNitramCharcoal-TravelItaly.htm

Or, you may also choose to help Nitram rebuild directly, through their “Go Fund Me” Web page.  Check it out here:

https://www.gofundme.com/2a5gwbnf

Nitram Charcoal Fire in Canada

    Happy Sunday and enjoy your week!  

Peace,

Kelly

http://BorsheimArts.com

Nitram Charcoal Art

Charcoal Work-In-Progress by Kelly Borsheim

Dear Art Lover,

I have always loved black and white images, and am typically pretty impressed when I see a well-done charcoal drawing. I never thought that I would have the patience to even attempt such a thing. But love is love and oh so hard to resist.

Just before Christmas I received a wonderful e-mail from Jerzy Niedojadlo. He is the new owner of the famous Nitram Charcoal company. I was dismayed years ago to find out that the Nitram in France would no longer be producing its quality drawing products. I bought as much Nitram charcoal as I could afford, in fact. Nitram (the founder Martin Gros’ first name spelled backwards) began from humble beginnings after World War II made it difficult to find work. Not actually born as its own company until the late 1960s, it dramatically improved its quality after a large order boosted the business. You may read more about Nitram’s beginnings here:

http://www.nitramcharcoal.com/blog/the-history-of-nitram-charcoal

Jerzy is a working artist and was inspired to go to France with his partner Patricia to learn the techniques from Martin’s son, Daniel. They now own the business and have moved it to Canada. And last year about this time, he sent me a Nitram Baton to try out while I was living in Croatia! Learn more here:

http://nitramcharcoal.com/

Recently, Jerzy wrote to share with me a new video about Nitram that debuted at the CreativeWorld Trade Show in Frankfurt, Germany, last year. I feel honored and excited to have several of my own charcoal drawings included in this production. I hope you enjoy this showcase of charcoal art as presented on youtube.com [my work is seen at 1 minute 4 seconds, 1:04]:

https://youtu.be/ebyaniXdtrg

+++++++++++++++

Enough - Charcoal Drawing
Available
by Kelly Borsheim

It is January and this month I celebrate 15 years as a full-time artist! Wow.. thank you for being a part of this adventure. Your support has been invaluable. I would like to celebrate by making it easier to buy some art that moves you. Here goes:

·         15% off on all available sculptures. The pricelist is here:
http://www.borsheimarts.com/pricelist.htm#sculpture

·         15% off on all available 2-D work, from paintings and drawings in any medium to giclée fine art reproductions.

·         If you buy two or more Borsheim Art Works
before 15 February 2016,
you will also receive
a $50 framing gift certificate
to use as you like. This is a
Special Offer
from Don Elliott at
The Frame Shop/Franklin Barry Gallery in Indianapolis.

Buy Art

These offers end February 15, 2016. Prices you see on the Web site are BEFORE the 15% savings offer. Thank you for your interest!

If you would like to read the full art newsletter for January, including see a new work on the easel still, please visit:

http://www.borsheimarts.com/news/20160111_ArtNews-NitramCharcoalDrawing.htm

Thank you.  Peace,

Kelly Borsheim, artist

http://BorsheimArts.com

Closing 15 May Manifest Gallery DRAWN

Dear Art Lover,

     Only two days left in Manifest Gallery’s toughly juried exhibition, DRAWN 2015.  Thirty six works by 27 artists were chosen out of  1188 entries from 394 artists.  I am thrilled to announce that TWO of my Nitram charcoal and pastel drawing made it into this special event.  I hope that you may be able to see the exhibit.  

DRAWN 2015 dates:
17 April : opening
15 May : Final Day of Exhibition 

Manifest Gallery
2727 Woodburn Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45206
www.manifestgallery.org

You may see my contributions to the exhibition [besides this detail in their promo pic] in my previous post here:

http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.it/2015/04/manifest-gallery-drawn.html

Thank you so much for your interest in the arts! 

Kelly

P.S.  Happy happy birthday, Sweet Aunt Christine!

Caretaking Portrait Start

Dear Art lover,

     I have a special place in my heart for caretakers.  Some people choose that role; others find themselves in it when a loved one needs special attention.  In either situation, it is a tough and more than full-time job.  One only stays with it because of love. 

     I decided to create a portrait painting of Miranda and Borislav [nickname Boro], the couple who are renting a small flat to me here in Umag, Croatia.  Boro has been struggling with pancreatic cancer and depends on his wife’s help for many things.  Miranda told me how she missed the New Year's Eve fireworks because she had to drive Boro to Pula to fight a fever he had.  Pula is the nearest city for affordable good health care and over an hour’s drive.  They had a hospital closer, but now that Yugoslavia no longer exists, this place is not affordable for most Croatians.

     Anyway, after a bit of effort acquiring oil painting supplies and with a generous and surprise gift from Nitram Charcoal in Canada, I began my project by sketching my subjects.  I was nervous and not just because I am a bit rusty.  I sat with the two of them in their living room as I sketched each one,  I started with Boro because I did not know how long he would be able to pose.  I spent less time on the sketch of Miranda and conversed with her, which basically resulted in a sketch that I did not like.  I did another one later, with much more time in it.

     Despite my initial drawings for this project, I have to primarily work from photographs, based on the nature of their lives.  And I went home that Saturday evening after sketching and taking images to create a few design ideas in Photoshop.  I had not yet found materials, but I know from much experience that the design takes time.  I created a composite of several images until I found the composition and expressions close enough for the idea that I sought.

     Here I share with you two of my sketches and a self-portrait using my new Nitram Bâton, drawing my design in charcoal directly on my canvas.

     This last image is to show you how I setup a makeshift studio in the small hallway of my flat. The door entering the flat is behind me, allowing me to step further back as the need arises.  The 100 x 70 cm canvas is too large for my travel easel, so I moved indoors a small table I found on my balcony, covering everything with newspaper or plastic to protect the home.  My computer sits on a couple of chairs with the light I brought clipped to a shelf above the coat rack.

     And, as always, thank you for your continued interest.  Share this with anyone you think might appreciate it! 

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

PS  My 15^th Anniversary Sale (for taking the plunge to full-time artist) continues:  FREE WORLDWIDE shipping until 31 January 2015 (by midnight Texas time).  Let me know which artwork interests you.  I offer payment plans as well.  For more information on that, visit:  http://www.borsheimarts.com/pricelist.htm

Cartoon Transfer for Charcoal Drawing

By Wednesday night, my friend Janné and I were ready to transfer our cartoon drawings of the model Valentina to the better quality Umbria paper for our charcoal drawings. Pictured here you can see my tracing paper that is used to transfer my original drawing to the new paper.

This method of transfer does not harm the original. I used a blue felt pen to trace over my drawing. Then on the back side of the tracing paper, I rubbed some soft B charcoal over my lines (Nitram brand – French and not available in the States, that I know of). I then position the tracing paper over my Umbria paper, measuring my vertical placement lines from the paper’s edge so that my figure is oriented properly on the paper. And then I use a blunt pencil to trace over my blue felt lines and transfer charcoal lines onto the Umbria.


My next step is to lay-in the tones, starting with the background. I use a soft B charcoal (stubs usually) to scrub-in the ‘dirt on paper.’ Then I use a soft sponge to even out the charcoal and try for some consistent and desired tone. This is not precise because until I see the model in pose, I cannot determine any tonal relationships. Janné took the image you see of me wiping the extra charcoal dust into the street of Via Ghibellina here in Florence, Italy. Vine charcoal is quite dirty and the only other window in my apartment opens up over another woman’s courtyard. She often has laundry hanging up, so it seemed a bit rude to give her the dust. So, go ahead and chastise me for trashing Florence. Some art production is not particularly environmentally friendly.

This last image shows you my basic transfer from a cartoon drawing on inexpensive paper to a tonal disegno on Umbria paper. So far, I like Umbria much better than the Somerset that I used for the drawing of Francesco. As you can see, I have a lot of blending to do in the background, once I establish my desired tones in each area. And, of course, the figure needs much refinement. The face is too garish for my taste, but having gone through this process before, I know she will not end up looking like this for long. Also, I do not often see the model’s face (depending on her and my movements and the fall of her hair during each posing session). However, I want to create her beautiful face before adding wisps of hair over it. And finally, I am pleased with the sexy wave-like shadow her body causes on the model stand.

Thank you for reading!
Yours truly,
Kelly Borsheim

PS Buon Compleanno, Matteo!