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  • Rebecca Salcedo

  • Jun10

    2 Comments

    yea yea yea, I heard it all before…

    Posted in: Rebecca Salcedo, acrylic, art, artist blog, mixed media, painting blog, resolutions, smellyrhino, take action

    In studio all week. Painting in Progress…

    For quite some time, 2 years, actually, I have been kept away from any sense of normalcy when it comes to a workday in my studio. My desire to learn more about this internet/blogging/social networking/online selling world of ours has made, well, an addict outta me. It was innocent at first. I thought, “well, I’ll just learn this stuff real quick like so I can do my own marketing!” Did I mention that was 2 years ago?

    Monday, I decided to alter this freakish course of action because the perceived outcome wasn’t lookin’ good for my art career. I have no inventory!

    So, I intervened on my own behalf, and legislated a self-imposed computer ban in my studio. I had to add (to myself) that I also have to BE in my studio (or it wont work). he he

    Today was day two and I have made a lot of progress. I even wrote in my journal 3 mornings in a row! I know, unbelievable.

    I told Eric I needed a little push toward that manifest destiny thing. I work on it constantly by saying aloud all the weaknesses I’m dealing with so that he can regurgitate them back to me at strategic moments. It’s my own way of holding myself accountable.

    I asked him for help and he gave it to me!

    He said, “Ok, well, first of all, no computer during the day. You can get online at night while you’re hanging on the couch with me! Pretend your boss is there and you can’t surf!

    The other thing: Stop making lists and plans. Just paint. You need to just paint without worrying about all that other stuff for a while.

    You are doing what they do in the corporate world…lists and schedules and planning, it’s like Dilbert, for crying out loud! Nothing gets done this way at the office either! That’s why they wrote a cartoon about it. Just allow yourself to let loose and be creative. Let yourself see some progress that makes you feel good. This is your goal, after all. You are having anxiety about it, but once you start to see progress, this will pass.”

    I was listening this time.

    Well, the reward the past 2 days has been real progress on a painting and a nice feeling of satisfaction after focusing for a change on what I really want to do.
    He is really smart.

  • Mar18

    1 Comment

    #15 Cave Painting; 31 days of rhinos

    Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, Rhino art, Smellyrhinostudio, art history, artist blog, cave painting, humorous blogs, mixed media, rhinoceros, smelly rhino, symbolism

    So easy, a Caveman really did paint this!
    #15 Cave Painting (also mixed media)
    Media: Textured stone, acrylic


    [Fake excerpt "This amazing piece was discovered in a remote cave somewhere in Arizona. People mistakenly believed that the great Merck's rhinoceros or Rhinoceros merckii must have existed in North America at some point. A better explanation is that the ancient people built really good boats and traveled; and this cave painting was a story of their voyage to Africa or Asia or Eastern Europe. How the heck did they get there? Maybe alien visitors aren't so far fetched after all!

    It was originally believed that the markings on the bottom of the picture were fire, but it was later determined that this is grass, because rhinos are herbivores, and at the top of the picture, there is a sun and a moon to depict the cycle of the day. The two rhinos are not mirrored, (although abstract art could have existed then.) Instead, these are a mated pair of rhinos, the male on the left. They come together and touch horns as a gesture of affection. Possibly the early people of the land believed that 'Rhino Love' was an example from the gods to be honored as part of the cycle of the seasons; Love is, essentially, part of the cycle of life.

    It is also believed that this painting has much more than symbolism, like that of others found nearby. It's symmetry reflects a desire for ordered decoration, and almost resembles ancient Greek pottery examples. Could it be that these people were the lost potters of the Macedonia and this drawing is not a prehistoric example after all, but a cool illustration borrowed from the cave drawings, to be used on the water jug of a soujourner? hmmm!"]

    Seriously,
    [Wiki ” Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest known European cave paintings date to Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known. The evidence suggests that they were not merely decorations of living areas, since the caves in which they have been found do not have signs of ongoing habitation. Also, they are often in areas of caves that are not easily accessed. Some theories hold that they may have been a way of communicating with others, while other theories ascribe them a religious or ceremonial purpose.

    So, were cave paintings merely decoration? Was it history being recorded? Or perhaps a vigil by shamans to create a larger hunt for the people? We will never know for certain, but Please Read more because it’s really interesting!

    See you tomorrow.

  • Mar17

    3 Comments

    #14 Origami Rhino; 31 days of rhinos

    Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, Rhino art, Smellyrhinostudio, art history, art techniques, artist blog, asian art technique, humorous blogs, joseph wu, paper art, rhinoceros, smelly rhino

    Ancient tradition unfolding here, under protest, on Wordless Wednesday!
    Above: #14 Origami Rhino; 31 days of rhinos
    Media: Paper

    Below: Not my rhino!

    This beautiful rhino shown here was “borrowed” from Joseph Wu Origami, and wow, he is good! Unfortunately, he doesn’t show you how to fold the damned thing! I printed out his diagram and then stared hopeless at it after creasing every line on the paper.

    The only workable tutorial I could find (for free) on YouTube was working great except the occasional floating off the screen while he was folding. Just as I was nearing completion, the artist began folding the back legs, and his hands were entirely out of the camera at that point. Alas, I couldn’t figure it out…I have an origami book somewhere up in my library, but it doesn’t have a rhino in it. You can see how the hind legs are not finished…..balls!

    [Wiki "The Japanese word "origami" itself is a compound of two smaller Japanese words: "ori", meaning fold, and "gami", meaning paper...Japanese origami began sometime after Buddhist monks from China carried paper to Japan during the 6th century." Read more! (it's fascinating!)

    My brother introduced me to this incredible short story nearly 20 years ago, and you must read it as soon as you can, because it will make you really feel; love, sorrow, joy and hope:

    The Story of 1000 Cranes     (you must read this!)
    "The Thousand Origami Cranes has become a symbol of world peace[citation needed] through the story of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who tried to stave off her death from leukemia as a result of radiation from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II by making one thousand origami cranes, having folded only 644 before her death, and that her friends completed and buried them all with her.

    Her story is told in the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.

    Several temples, including some in Tokyo and Hiroshima, have eternal flames for World Peace. At these temples, school groups or individuals often donate Senbazuru to add to the prayer for peace. The cranes are left exposed to the elements, slowly dissolving and becoming tattered as the wish is released. In this way they are related to the prayer flags of India and Tibet.” -Wiki excerpt.

    Wordless Wednesday didn’t exactly leave me speechless…Maybe I should have stopped at hello!
    See you tomorrow…
    (I will try harder next week not to say anything on Wednesday..I really missed the point, eh?)

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  • Mar16

    3 Comments

    #13 Colored Pencil; 31 days of Rhinos

    Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, Rhino art, Smellyrhinostudio, artist blogs, colored pencil, rhinoceros

    #13 Colored Pencil; 31 days of Rhinos
    Colored Pencil on Bristol Smooth

    Pencils are fun, portable and require no water. So, a pretty neat way to do art on the go. It’s like crayons for grownups. only harder.

    This sketch was done fairly quickly, without as much layering detail as I would normally use. I use colored pencil fairly routinely for miniature portraits, but I often take as long to finish one as I would any painting. This quicker sketch illustrates that you can use a lot of colors to create your tones; blues, tans, yellows, browns, grays. A lot more fun than just Graphite, right?! The only drawback is that you do have to acknowledge that the colors exist in the picture! Do you think that is a funny thing to say? Well, when you see a gray rhino, do you naturally think to apply blue and yellow?

    We talked about charcoal being just about the oldest media, probably anyway. Raw charcoal is quite soft and comes in sticks that get our hands very dirty and also in pencil form. Graphite is like the gold standard of coal, the premium stuff and much harder. …Then there are colored pencils, made from pigments mixed with a binder of resin, wax or gum, then made into the pencil form we get at the art store. I wasn’t really able to find much history on the medium and what I did find indicated that as an art form it’s only been around about 20 years..Well, of course I had colored pencils 20 years ago, but I am fairly confident that this art form wasn’t widely accepted in Galleries. Perhaps it’s time is still to come, but it will continue to be a favorite for me as an illustrator, and if you like to draw plants, it’s the tops!

    Good colored pencils get pricey. If you want to play, you could buy a cheap starter kit for under $20. If you decide you like it you can move forward with the mega sets. The difference is that the cheap kit will have less pigment in it, making it harder even harder to get a nice image, and possibly turning you off colored pencils. But, still, try a little before you invest.

    Paper is really important! Did I mention that paper is soooo important. On this piece, I thought I was being clever to use Bristol Smooth, but it became apparent very quickly to me that you can render more lifelike images on regular drawing paper, printmaking paper or pastel paper; something with a little texture and which is porous. I like to use a lot of layers to work the magic. This is where it comes to life. I wasn’t able to really accomplish that goal with this exercise.

    Colored pencil as an art form is not really well accepted as “high end” to put it gently, but it is gaining in popularity. It’s a great media for illustration and cartoon rendering, but I’ll be honest with you; it is kinda challenging if you are going for realism. It takes a little practice, but you can get there! Remember, don’t be afraid to share. I am (again) finding it liberating to post something that I would otherwise think to be sub par. Let it go, and enjoy the process!

    I hope this at least gets you a little interested in this medium!
    It’s so good to not be sick anymore.
    See you tomorrow.


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  • Mar14

    3 Comments

    #12 Negative Space; 31 days of Rhinos

    Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, Rhino art, art history, art techniques, humorous blogs, ink, negative space, smellyrhino

    “Look, I’m trying to be positive, but you’re in my negative space!”
    #12 Negative Space; 31 days of rhinos
    Pencil and Ink


    If you haven’t ever heard of drawing negative space, it’s probable that you haven’t taken an art class.

    This should be one of the fundamental exercises for a beginner. In fact, I remember first drawing negative space in an 8th grade art class. My teacher made us draw from our desk, the view around his head, as I recall. Then, the space around other objects, like chairs, and some more organic shapes. It was eye opening to find that I could render an image by drawing the space around it! The important thing he was always telling us was, “Stop fretting over not being able to draw a chair!! Drawing is about shapes, the shapes that make up the subject, and the shapes that make up the background. The Subject is your positive space, and the rest is your negative space. So, just draw the shapes around your subject, and you will have the chair you are trying to draw! Eventually, you will begin to understand how a given subject is formed and it will become easier and easier!”

    [wiki excerpt "Negative space, in art, is the space around and between the subject(s) of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, and not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape, and such space is occasionally used to artistic effect as the "real" subject of an image. The use of negative space is a key element of artistic composition. The Japanese word "ma" is sometimes used for this concept, for example in garden design.[1][2][3][4]

    In a two-tone, black-and-white image, a subject is normally depicted in black and the space around it is left blank (white), thereby forming a silhouette of the subject. However, reversing the tones so that the space around the subject is printed black and the subject itself is left blank causes the negative space to be apparent as it forms shapes around the subject, called figure-ground reversal.

    Elements of an image that distract from the intended subject, or in the case of photography, objects in the same focal plane, are not considered negative space. Negative space can be used to depict a subject in a chosen medium by showing everything around the subject but not the subject itself. Usage of negative space will produce a silhouette of the subject.

    The use of equal negative space, as a balance to positive space, in a composition is considered by many as good design. This basic and often overlooked principle of design gives the eye a “place to rest,” increasing the appeal of a composition through subtle means. The term is also used by musicians to indicate silence within a piece.”]

    When I went surfing to see what was online, I found lots of great articles, blogs, tutorials, and the lot on drawing negative space. Here’s just one: Using Negative Space Drawing

    The inspiration for the sketch came from a photo by the remarkable photographer, Nick Brandt!
    I found his site through a neat blog called Nothing Relevant (which by the way, has lots of relevant on it!)

    Although my cold is gone, I’m still fighting a very bizarre fatigue that has been making me nearly unable to function. I taught a little workshop on Saturday and did a fun run with a friend on Sunday. These are the only activities I have been able to accomplish, literally. I hope to be back on track tomorrow.

    See you then!

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  • Mar12

    3 Comments

    #11 Sumi-e (Japanese Ink and Wash); 31 days of rhinos!

    Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, Rhino art, artist blog, asian art technique, humorous blogs, illustration, rhinoceros, smellyrhino, sumi

    You don’t like this knock-off? So Sumi-e!!!


    #11 Sumi-e (ink and wash); 31 days of rhinos
    India ink on watercolor paper

    Another mediocre example of a complete knockoff from a sumi-e painting found on Wikipedia. I added the “indigenous ghost rhino of the Valley”, naturally.

    [wiki excerpt "Ink and wash painting is an East Asian type of brush painting also known as wash painting or by its Japanese name sumi-e (墨絵). Ink and wash painting is also known by its Chinese name shui-mo hua (水墨畫, Japanese suibokuga (水墨画?), Korean sumukhwa, Vietnamese tranh thuỷ mặc'). Only black ink — the same as used in East Asian calligraphy — is used, in various concentrations."]

    Ink has the oldest history perhaps next to charcoal. as we talked about the other day, pigment mixed with water and slapped on a substrate..doesn’t get any simpler than that! Well Wiki says it dates back to the Tang dynasty in China about 600 BC! Wow, that’s old. But, charcoal still has it beat by about 30,000 years. Ink is very practical, and it even worked to mark criminals and village idiots’ foreheads. Still used today on college campuses! Pretty practical, indeed.

    Lots of fun, and quite similar to watercolor. It is best if you lay it down in washes of extremely light to dark, as you would watercolor or colored pencil, if you will. 1) Lay the ink, let dry, add another layer. 2) lay ink and pull the color with a bit of water to manipulate, blot if desired, and let dry. Continue to add layers until completion.

    If you haven’t yet experimented with watercolor yet this month, now is your chance..or play with a little ink. Simple calligraphy brushes can be dirt cheap, often in multi-packs. Practice dragging the brush around the paper with a drop of ink in there, making a rich heavy line. Then, add some water to your brush and pull some color away. Let some lines dry completely before going near them again. Although you will still get some movement, the original ink has already permeated the paper. Experiment to see the different looks you can create! If you add an India ink pen for accents on a wash, it will dry waterproof and stay put if you wash over it again, which is cool (although, it wouldn’t really be true Sumi-e at that point; more like Sumi-e-Gandi?).

    Click here for more on Japanese art

    To read all about the art of Ink and Wash, start on Wiki here and then explore! (it seems like I am endorsed by wiki, but I just like the ease of access)

    See you tomorrow!

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  • Mar11

    5 Comments

    #10 Pastel Pencil; 31 days of rhinos

    Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, art techniques, humor, life drawing atlanta, pastel pencil, rhinoceros, savingrhinos.org, smellyrhino

    My horn is my temple, not yours, so go cut off
    your own face, jackass!

    #190 Pastel Pencil; 31 days of rhinos
    Pastel on black paper

    This picture was copied from a very important site that you should visit! SavingRhinos.org. One reason I am featuring Rhinos is to raise awareness that they are endangered and mean people in places like Yemen and China don’t seem to care that there are only a literal handful left, because they want to butcher them for their horns so they can have some super dust to snort or eat and make themselves feel like a man or some ridiculous medicine ritual. Stupid people are everywhere! I wish they would evolve brains! Saving Rhinos is on Facebook, too!

    Pastels rock! Pastel pencils give some versatile fun on the go. You don’t have to get your fingers dirty, so they travel well to figure drawing groups. Not that you will often find me in life drawing, because I live out in the burbs and will always find a good (lazy) reason not to drive into the city at night! But, once in a while, I show up and surprise my friends!

    To further attest to my total laziness, I even know where all the sketch groups are (especially with my laptop handy) and I still don’t go!

    If you live in Atlanta and want a really fun life drawing experience, try Mellow Mushroom’s Drink and Draw in Decatur, the first Monday of every month! Two models, a husband and wife, dress in the own private stock of super hero costume-ry (or fetish-ry, not quite sure, but I like to make up words). We get to draw them while eating some of the best pizza in the city! See you next month!

    For those living dangerously, you may still be able to find Dr. Sketchys at the Clermont Lounge!

    So, a relatively minor mention of pastels. It’s basically pigment with a binder, like historically gypsum or chalk. We often think of pastel as chalk, because it has chalk in it. Just don’t use it on the sidewalk..that would be really expensive.

    Pastel may have been first mentioned by Leonardo DaVinci in 1495, although the French didn’t actually invent the word until the mid-1600s. I suppose the Italians had a name for it that didn’t stick.

    I’ll delve more into pastels on another day, because I want to emphasize sketching everyday, and life drawing or figure drawing as often as you can. My friends are really good at sketching and I’m usually pretty embarrassed in their company, because I take way too much time to do things. When I try to hurry, well, this piece above is an example of overworked and unfinished…
    One thing that is nice about this blog. Letting go. Letting myself just get it out and not be perfect. Writing takes as half as long as the Rhino Art most days. But I want you to know that you will feel a sense of accomplishment to allow yourself to be imperfect! Too much perfection goes unfinished, if you catch my drift.

    A friend a mine, Jessica Cook (who is showing in Austin at the market there in May) quoted someone today…”Perfection inhibits progress!”

    So, go sketch something tomorrow. (Maybe I’ll get back to these drawings someday to perfect them!)

    Find Life Drawing in your City:
    I Googled to find this site to find a local meet up! Don’t know if it’s good, but you can try! Find a Meet up

    Other life drawing opportunities in Atlanta:
    Atlanta Artist’s Center has several weekly opportunities for live drawing and painting. Click here for Sketch groups

    Marietta area find figure drawing at the Cobb Museum

    I really hope that my Artist friends, after reading this (as if) will not leave me alone the next time I say “I might make it”.

    See you tomorrow!

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  • Mar10

    5 Comments

    #9 Collage; 31 days of Rhinos

    Posted in: 31 days of rhinos, Rebecca Salcedo, art history, art techniques, collage art, humor, humorous blogs, illustration, smelly rhino, smellyrhino

    #9 Collage; 31 days of rhinos
    Media: acrylic, ink and paper on canvas board

    I’m coming back from the dead. I am taking Sudafed though, so I will dismiss later anything that didn’t make sense this week as drug induced fuzz.

    Today’s Rhino will appeal to the more contemporary audience, I hope. Collage art is no new thing, though. It’s been commonly referred to in Modern art since the early 20th century, but it’s been used since before Christ!

    If you are some kind of art purist and can’t appreciate anything other than Oils (for example), you may be mocking collage art right now. Well, hopefully you will read some history and visit some museums to find that as an art form, it’s been used by some of the greatest painters in history!

    -[wiki excerpt- "The term collage derives from the French "coller" meaning "glue".[1] This term was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art.”]

    You may remember from our quick lesson in cubism that Pablo and George were very aggressive and liked starting movements and genres and techniques…nuff said. I wonder if both their egos fit in the same room? You don’t see me complaining. I’m so glad they met!

    There is just so much information to give you on this subject, like that the ancient Chinese and Japanese used it, and that a lot of collage exists in the form of large scale installation art, and that Kurt Schwitters, a well-known collage-er (hehe) utilized various woods in his collages! Neat!!! The techniques and uses are as wide as the ocean and can be humorous, serious, political, non-sensical, abstract, breathtaking and more…whatever you can imagine (or randomly place!)

    So hold your heads proud collage artists! You are not cottage crafters, you are in good company! If you are a collage artist, you will find yourself in good company with a boatload of artists of great fame, especially these (and, again more that are too numerous to mention)

    David Hockney
    Pablo Picasso
    Kurt Schwitters
    Marcel Duchamp
    Henri Matisse
    Nick Bantock (the writer—remember, The Griffin and Sabine Trilogy?)
    Click to learn more on Collage art.

    …and now for something completely different
    I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Terry Gilliam, whose animation genius depended on cutouts for creating the treasured and immortal Monty Python! –Not exactly “fine art” to hang, but you wont forget it!

    So, ready to go try one? If nothing else, it lets you have a little fun!
    See you later.

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