Ruth Sanderson's Blog, page 4

Free Coloring Pages

CREATING A STORM OF HORSES COVER ILLUSTRATION

On the table above on the left are all the different pictures I used as reference when composing this illustration, which is one of the double-page illustrations in the story as well as a wrap-around cover. In the mid- 1800’s the Paris Horse Fair took place twice a week on a certain street that had rows of stalls lining each side and a fence up the middle, so people wanting to sell horses could trot up one side and down the other for potential buyers. I was fortunate in my research to find an old photo of that street, shown above, and I used that for the base of my design. I found horses to “populate” the scene from various sources, and put my model for Rosa in the middle of the “storm” of horses. Below is my reference “montage” of the scene, which I always create in Photoshop for each scene in a book.  That way I can enlarge, reduce, move around the reference pictures like puzzle pieces until I am happy with the design. Above is my photo reference montage, which includes paintings, engravings, and photos. Above is my sketch for the scene. The two horses in the foreground were inspired by a painting of Rosa’s called “Return from the Horse Fair.” The rest of the horses and handlers were referenced from various paintings, old engravings and photos I found that fit the  angles and  action I needed to create a scene of horses thundering around, barely in control, with Rosa in the midst of them, drawing. I used an opaque projector to enlarge and trace my sketch onto a masonite gessoed board. It took a few more days to refine the drawing before I started to add oil paint. To get the fine details in oils you need to work in layers that are transparent, especially the first layer. This is what is called a “block in” layer.  This is a few days’ work, and I started adding a second layer on the cobble stone ground, the building on the right, and the hill in the background. I gave Rosa a blue shirt so she would stand out in the center of the warmer horse and background colors. I decided to set the scene in the fall, to indicate the passage of time, as she drew there every week for over a year, and the previous picture in the book shows green leaves. The trees are well along in this layer above. I also painted some of the background, and the figure of Rosa, the most important focus of the painting. Here is the finished painting, which took about three weeks to compose, draw, and paint. It is 24×36 inches. To echo the theme of a storm, and to help indicate movement, I added swirling fall leaves blowing around.

THE GOLDEN WOOD – FROM SKETCH TO FINISH

Here are the steps for creating a painting from The Twelve Dancing Princesses Here is my “thumbnail” sketch from the storyboard -about 2×4 inches It took me three days to photograph the models for this book. For this painting alone I probably took over 50 pictures, taking them in small groups of two and three. Also, a number of the models posed for two princesses each, changing clothes to become a different princess. It was complicated to keep track of it all! Here are a few of the reference photos, next to the finished painting of them. Here is the final sketch in the book dummy. (11×17 inches.) The notes are to figure out the colors for the various dresses. The scene in the story of the golden wood was the one I wanted to “key” the colors of the rest of the book to when the princesses are in the underground castle, so the color scheme is quite golden, with a bit of green and a touch of blue, but no bright colors to compete with the magical “golden” feel of the scene. And here is the final painting –this took about 5 weeks to finish and is 17×34 inches in oils on stretched canvas. I liked this painting so much I named my studio Golden Wood Studio.

FALL FAERIE – FROM SKETCH TO FINISH

Here are my first two “idea” sketches for a painting depicting a “spirit of Fall” as a fairy. A daughter of a friend of mine posed for the fairy and I took photos for reference. Next I did a detailed drawing on my gessoed board – the picture is 24×36 inches. I do like to precisely plan my paintings when there is so much detail I want to convey. This was the first day’s work. Here it is after day 2 with a bit more detail. I wanted to paint the background around the fairy and work out the complex value patterns. Working out the flow of her dress was next. A few more days work… And it took around three weeks to get to this stage – not quite done. Finally after a good month or a little longer, the painting is finished! To work in this style requires a great deal of patience, as you might imagine.

A Storm of Horses

This is my first picture book biography for children, about a woman artist who loved to draw and paint horses, just like I do. Click on the link at the bottom of the page to purchase a SIGNED copy from the publisher. DESCRIPTION, from the publisher: An inspiring picture book about Rosa Bonheur, the most famous female painter of her century, published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the artist’s birth. In a stunning ode to underrepresented women everywhere, award-winning illustrator Ruth Sanderson tells the untold story of French artist Rosa Bonheur in this picture book biography. Rosa Bonheur was born in 1822 in France at a time when young women had limited options beyond being a wife and mother. But Rosa wouldn’t stand for this. She wore pants, rode horses astride, and often broke society’s rules. She wanted to be a famous painter just like her father. Female artists at the time were encouraged to paint domestic scenes of children and family, but Rosa was determined to capture the unbridled wild beauty of horses. Her masterpiece The Horse Fair was eight feet high and sixteen feet wide. Rosa went on to become the most celebrated artist of her time with paintings purchased by art collectors, museums, and galleries around the world. With the decline in popularity of realistic painting, Rosa’s trailblazing story was almost forgotten. Revel at the bravery and fortitude of young Rosa as you take in Ruth Sanderson’s immaculate rendition of her life and artistry. “Inspired by watching her father at work, young Rosa Bonheur dreamed of creating her own paintings and supporting herself someday. It was an unconventional, impractical notion in nineteenth-century France, but with her father’s guidance and her talent and determination, she succeeded. She was in her teens when her paintings were first exhibited at the Paris Salon. After receiving an exemption from the law forbidding women to wear men’s clothing so she could go unnoticed in men-only spaces, she learned anatomy not just from books, but by viewing skeletons at medical schools, visiting slaughterhouses, and attending horse markets where women were usually not allowed. The book showcases Bonheur’s creation of her masterpiece, The Horse Fair. Perhaps Sanderson, one of the few contemporary children’s book illustrators who sometimes paints in oils and often includes realistic depictions of animals, feels a kinship with Bonheur, who after extensive research and planning, spent a year ‘expressing her love of horses in oil paint on canvas’ (a reference to The Horse Fair). The book’s back matter includes a bibliography of books on drawing horses, reproductions of five Bonheur paintings, and a list of museums displaying her works worldwide. With a clearly written narrative and beautifully composed oil paintings, this picture book offers a memorable introduction to Rosa Bonheur.” —Booklist, starred review Buy from Publisher

Drawing Horses

In DRAWING HORSES, children’s book illustrator Ruth Sanderson demonstrates her method of drawing realistic horses in25 step-by-step lessons, with commentary and tips in each lesson, as well as details of her pencil techniques. This 80-page book includes photo reference that she has taken of many different breeds, starting with heads, and moving on to full body and action poses. The artist demonstrates how to interpret and simplify the information in reference photos, and how to spot and fix distortions. Basic horse anatomy, body parts, and proportions are covered, as well as detailed tips on eyes, ears, nostrils and leg positions. This how-to-draw horses book is suggested for ages 8 and up and is sure to delight both beginning and more experienced artists.

Heidi

Heidi contains 24 scenes from the full color illustrated children’s book I created in 1984, converted to both light and darker grayscale for a total of 48 pictures to color. Here are a few sample images:

Nursery Rhymes

Color your own pictures of these 36 delightful nursery rhymes. With the rhymes included! I carefully converted the color images to a light grayscale, so you can color right over the tones with colored pencils, and the tones help make the picture look realistic, like a painting. Sample Pages: Buy PDF at Etsy

Christmas Magic

Watch a Flip Through of All the pages on YouTube. Download this free Santa picture and color along with Ruth in the video below!

Nancy Drew Coloring Book

I worked on the NANCY DREW series for a number of years in the early 1980’s, and this book contains a selection of 40 sketches and finished illustrations for many of the covers and interiors. It is available on AMAZON but also available on the SHOPS page here in a signed copy for a limited time with a sketch of a magnifying glass.