"Black and White" Exhibit in the Gallery

"Market Street Bar and Grill," ink wash & pen and ink, ©Jill Banks 2011

Today we hung the "Black and White" exhibit in the gallery at the Artists' Atelier, 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA. Studiomate Roberta (Bobbie) Beasley (the instructor of last weekend's printmaking workshop) just took over the responsibility of managing the gallery ... and its calendar. She's the wise woman who thought up the "Black and White" theme, and although almost all of us are painting in full color, the gallery was brimming with black and white entries to be hung.

I may write more in a minute ... but ... it's time to get this up. "Market Street Bar & Grill" and "Oscar" are two of the four pieces I have in the "Black & White" exhibit. Both of them were juried into the Salmagundi Club's Annual Open Exhibition ... just different years. Come take a look!

"Carpeaux's Fisherboy," charcoal, ©Jill Banks 2006?

Okay, more ... I've also included "Carpeaux's Fisherboy," a drawing I did sitting on the marble floor at the National Gallery of Art staring up at Carpeaux's sculpture, next to a friend, Susan O'Neill. It was one of those days when I reveled in how magical life can be as an artist. Who gets to sit, in good company, in a place full of wonders, seeing what you can make of the inspiration in front of you? How ridiculously wonderful is that? We happened upon a young companion that day, a girl who had come with her mom to the museum. She wanted to draw with us and Susan lent her some paper and a pencil. The three of us were happy as clams.

There's one more drawing of mine in the show. No photo, though.

"Oscar," charcoal, ©Jill Banks 2009

On Exhibit:
"Black and White" is on exhibit at the  Artists' Atelier March 3-31, 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA. Open Hours: Saturdays, noon-4pm or whenever an artist is in ... or by appointment. Contact info below.

March 17-30: Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club's Member Exhibition. "Hog Wild" and "Dining Alfresco" at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, NYC. Awards Reception, Friday, March 23, 6-8pm.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 1 (faces 1-54): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 2 (faces 55-100): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project_2.html
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Thinking Christmas

You know how Nordstrom's chooses to celebrate one holiday at a time? So it is with me. I don't think Christmas until Thanksgiving has passed. Black Friday is too soon, too. The Christmas season ... for me ... started yesterday when the first few decorations were pulled out of storage and I sat down to draw something for my parents' Christmas card cover. I've been doing this since I was 11 or 12. Without giving you an exact count ... it's been a LOT of years. My mom writes a Christmas poem every year and they send cards to their umpteen wonderful friends all over the country. If you're one of them, consider this a preview of what's coming, once printed, in the mail.

"The Carolers" is a drawing of two Colonial Williamsburg caroler dolls that my parents put in our gift bags from our special family gathering there in honor of my mom and dad's (Shonnie and Ken Johnson) 60th anniversary. What an incredible weekend and memory.

Now I'm off to ... continue straightening up my studio and stuff ... and maybe hang a garland or two.

Close-up of "The Carolers", General's layout pencil, charcoal pencil and Faber-Castelli brush pen on Strathmore 100% cotton Charcoal paper, approximately 10"h x 8"w, copyright Jill Banks 2010.

Oh, Come Ye Merry Gentlemen...

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435 

"Sarah" Drawing of the Day and the Grand National 2009

My daughter, Sarah, sat for me today. I'm "practicing" drawing in anticipation of teaching my drawing class next week through the Great Falls Foundation for the Arts. I spend most of my time painting, and draw more during vacations or sketching out ideas for portrait commissions. So, I get a little rusty at holding a charcoal pencil.

My still life painting class Fall session starts tomorrow at 9:30 am. I'm scoping out my house for set-ups and then will head to the grocery to find some more subjects. Get more information on my classes on my web site: www.jillbanks.com.

I found out this past week that "Sunflowers II" is accepted into the American Artists Professional League's 81st Grand National Exhibition 2009 that will be held at the Salmagundi Club (47 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY) in New York City from November 3 through November 13. This is my first time applying to this juried show ... and second time this year at the Salmagundi Club. The name of the exhibit, The Grand National Exhibition 2009, sounds pretty impressive. I'll give more details closer to exhibit time.

"Sarah", black and terra cotta charcoal on paper, copyright Jill Banks 2009.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435

Drawings and Figures Added to My Web Site

Last night, I played webmaster and added a page of Drawings and Figures to my website: www.jillbanks.com, plus continued to adjust the show preview page to get it to appear in AOL's old desktop browser. (It does now.) Take a look. Currently, the Still Life part of the gallery is the only page that's not showing up. I'm definitely dealing with some not-so-logical technology quirks.

I've been wanting to add a Drawings and Figures category for some time ... just couldn't find the time. I limited how complicated that page is to program ... so no closeups are offered, just because if I spend too much time programming, I can't keep my price for those offerings down. Prices start as low as $195 for a framed original. Later, I'll add more info about some of the media I use: red chalk, ink washes/pen & ink, watercolor washes and charcoal.

My recent acceptance into the Salmagundi Art Club's Annual Exhibition was the last bit of prompting I needed. Only 16 drawings total were accepted into the show and two of them were mine. That seemed like quite an honor. The Salmagundi Club is an esteemed art club housed in a New York City brownstone. It was established in the 1870s and Randy and I ate dinner in the dining room after the Awards ceremony and closing reception. We were surrounded by drop-dead gorgeous paintings by past and present members of the club. It reminded me (not that I needed reminding) just how wonderful it is to live life surrounded by inspiring art.

My portrait painting demo in the Great Falls Library is tomorrow, 1-4pm. 9830 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA 22066. I'll be creating an oil sketch of Michelle, my son Sam's girlfriend. Please rsvp via email to me: jillbanks1@aol.com if you'd like to join the party.

"Oscar", charcoal, copyright Jill Banks 2008. "Oscar" was one of my two drawings juried into Salmagundi's Annual Exhibition.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435

"Aunt Nell" Red and White Chalk Drawing

This morning I finished up this drawing of husband Randy's Aunt Nell. I toned the paper with a watercolor wash and then drew in terra cotta Verithin pencil. Usually that gives the appearance or red chalk Old Masters drawings ... but only if the paper is then coated with a mixture of shellac and denatured alcohol. Since I didn't coat the paper, the Verithin pencil marks looked too weak. I figured out a solution, though. I pulled out the chunks of real red chalk I had bought from Zecchi's (a fantastic art supply store) in Florence, Italy and managed to get just the effect I was looking for.

The drawing will be gracing the cover of a book being written about Aunt Nell. My drawing is a gift to Randy and his Dad who are going through a very rough time right now. I love you.

"Aunt Nell", red and white chalk, 9.5"h x 6.5"w, copyright Jill Banks 2009.

Quick Draw

This afternoon I went to an Open Life Drawing Session at the McLean Community Center as a drop-in for the second time. Today was so much better than last week mainly because I always need to get acclimated to my environment in order to do decent work. Last week, it seemed whenever I reached into my drawing box, I was missing what I needed. Better prep this week helped and allowed me to change gears when I felt like it.

All the poses for these Open Life sessions are quick. They start with a series of just one minute poses, then go to a couple of five minutes, then 10 minutes, 15 minutes and end with one hour long pose with a break. So, here's a sampling of what I did.

Open Life sessions are most Thursday afternoons from 1 to 4pm and cost only $9 as a drop-in (even less per session if you sign up for the series).

The drawing in black is done with vine charcoal and General's charcoal pencils. The red drawings are done with chunks of real red chalk I bought in Florence, Italy from Zecchi's, plus some conte crayon and a touch of red pencil. I found the red chalk inspiring!