This week’s featured artist is Maria D’Angelo! Wow, look at all the detail in these fine pencil drawings!:)

I have been drawing since I was a child in Staten Island, NY and I often say that I feel as if I was born with a pencil in my hand. Pretty much everyone that has known me since that young age agrees. Although I was born and raised in the east, it is the American west, particularly the horses of the California vaquero tradition and Native American people, that I choose to capture on paper. These subjects have always been of great interest to me and what I love most.I studied fine art in college, but I feel that my talent is natural and consider myself primarily self taught. I’ve spent many years traveling in the western US visiting countless museums, galleries, historic sites and cultural events such as powwows, equine competitions, shows and rodeos where I get a lot of my inspiration. My works usually start with images I’ve taken at one of these events, then evolve into compositions in which light against dark and fine details are the primary focus. It is the fine details that my clients most often remark about when they see my drawings. The detail in my work is usually the first thing that draws a person to it. They are always amazed by it.

While I have worked in different media in the past, it is the pencil that I always come back to. It is my tool of choice because it gives me great control and versatility. I especially love Nero pencils. They have a totally different feel than a regular graphite pencil as they contain a small bit of oil in them. Strathmore 500 Series Bristol is hands down my favorite paper to work on. I love the smoothness of this paper and it enables me to capture the tiny details in each piece.

I also love to talk with the people I meet on my travels. I love meeting people and learning about their lives, cultures and their family histories. There are so many stories out there and I learn from all of them~

 

Maria’s fine pencil drawings seem to bring us right back to the old west!

See you Friday,

Shya~

Huh? What? Well, I will believe that when I see flying Shetlands ! 

https://artofthehorse.wordpress.com