Monday was the deadline for signing up for the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Competition. It is a highly competitive show with artists from all across the state. Hundreds enter, but only a fraction of us get in each year. I have decided to enter my newest drawing “Lipstick” which isn’t quite finished yet. Here it is as it stands tonight:

I need to straighten the horizon line, crop the entire piece, deepen the shadows on the left, lighten the toad in the mirror and blend the toad in front better. I am not sure about the blue background or the black background in the mirror. I might make the handkerchief on the right more cream than white. I need to alter the shadows around the lipstick base. So, in other words, I am close to finishing it! :p

I have entered the State Fair four or five times and only made it in once. The first time I tried, “Nesting Snapper” made it in. “Nesting Snapper” was my first large colored pencil piece and she took me over a year to complete.

Making it into the fair really validated my use of colored pencil as a serious medium, so lets hope one of these years I will get in again! Good luck everyone, and I can’t wait to see the show at the fair.