I'm starting a new little series of colored pencil pieces. Crackers. This is a humble Saltine.
These will all be 8 x 8 inches. So far its Prismacolors, and is on Strathmore archival illustration board.
I said a while back that I wanted to do a "Pantry" series. And I think this may be how I do it. Cataloging, one thing at a time, things that might be in a pantry. For now, anyway. I may get more ambitious with it later.
I love the square format, and love doing single objects in a straight forward kind of way. I also like the architectural qualities of crackers, with their evenly space little holes and perforated edges. They're obviously stamped out by a machine to all be alike, yet they're not. They're all individuals and have imperfections. The salt crystals are different on each one as well.
I just ordered some square frames, and am hoping they will work with these new pieces. They are white-washed, so I wanted to do some art that would work, colorwise, with those. And I thought they'd be good pieces to have hanging in a kitchen.
So that's it for now. I'm planning to do at least 4 of these, and will have to decide whether to offer them individually, or as a set. But first things first - finishing the first one!
So that's it for now. Back to the board.
Continuing with the "Diversity" theme I started a while back, I decided to do some small pieces in the same vein. They will be studies in shapes and colors, and all done (like this one) with Polychromos on illustration board. 
This is 5 x 7, and took way longer to do than I care to admit. Its several layers of pencil, built up slowly. I had a general idea of the color family I wanted to use (plummy reds) but beyond that I just let it develop on its own. I used a very sharp pencil and enjoyed doing it a lot. So I will do more!
I'd like to do some in different colors, and also explore some other geometrics.
I think I'll put these for sale somewhere at some point, but haven't decided exactly where or how yet. I'll let you know.
In other news, much less exciting news, today was the dreaded JURY DUTY DAY. Good lord. I couldn't even draw, that's how draining it was. But at the very end when I was back in the jury room staring at this wall, I sketched this image. It perfectly sums up the day. A lot of blank nothing, then what was there wasn't even interesting.
A white wall, drinking fountain, magazine rack with one magazine (SKI) and a framed thing with rules about jury service. All very inspiring (not).
Some people are actually crazy, did you know that? They look normal until they sit in a jury box and are asked a simple question. Then they short circuit. Scary.
I did meet a nice lady at lunch who also used to live in San Francisco, in my neighborhood even, with whom I commiserated about not being able to find good bread here, so that was a highlight in the otherwise very tedious day.
I'm always interested in how other artist come up with such great ideas for subject matters.
Love this . Can't wait to see it progress.
Ooooh, I can't wait to see more of these! I know exactly what you mean when you talk about their "architectural" qualities. Eager to see which different ones you choose. My latest favorites are Rainforest Crisps but they may be too organically-shaped to work well with your series. Are cookies next? (That could take years!) Enjoy!
Paula, thanks for the FB invite! Will go and "accept" after I tell you...love your work! The cracker is so much fun! Who knew a cracker could be art! :-) Love it!
Also love the artwork in your other posts.
XO Diane
Paula, love your art and am excited about your photoshop work. In fact, I have just started the ecourse you recommended. I have been a digital painter for years but have used a different program.
Thanks so much!