study of Nick

Pastel on Pastelmat

     Another attempt at using PanPastels, highlighted with stick pastels.  Loved the surface and tooth of Pastelmat.  I could work it further but thought I'd leave well enough alone for this study.

     I've spent too much time away from painting and other artwork which is made apparent by the great gaps in postings on this blog.  So I'm going out on the limb with an early resolution to be more artfully productive, grow and practice more in this discipline,  and to make regular postings in 2011.  One thing I'm tremendously excited about is a workshop scheduled for early November but more on that later!

Christmas Present 1

Stained Glass

12 x 16

     Forgive the poor centering but how do you take a photo of a mirror without being part of the picture?   This is a gift for my husband, a stained glass, mosaic framed mirror.  There are bits of dichroic glass that add a remarkably pretty highlight.

Just Waiting

 Pastel on Strathmore paper

12" x 18"

      After reading about Pan Pastels in  Kari Tirrell's blog, I got curious and bought some to try.  I'm pretty under experienced with this medium although I love a well rendered pastel painting.  So this is the first crack at trying Pan Pastels along with traditional soft sticks.  This is Priscilla,who was featured in my very first posting in oil.  It's from a perhaps awkward perspective, looking down on her while she was waiting for a flight.  She is remarkably petite, but it does appear that her hips are a vanishing point.  Actually, at size 0, they sort of are.

Waiting Room

Oil on Panel

15.75" X 7.5"

      Taking our cat to the vet and seeing all those anxious pets with their hovering owners was the impetus for this painting.   I thought it would be fun and kind of easy to paint animals but it certainly wasn't for me, easy that is.  But it was indeed fun and I'm going to try it again.  This was done on a scrap of panel I found in the garage, thus the weird size.

Nick (detail)

I'm trying on this detail of a portrait I'm doing of my son. It's actually a large painting with a head/torso shot and a lot going on in the background, but he has very strong features and I like how his face has kind of a Statue of Liberty look going on. That's the huge advantage of painting on panel, you can actually crop a painting if you choose. This, however, is on canvas. It's not finished so I'll just see where it goes...

Little Man

oil on panel
8X10

This little guy was fun to paint and as always, I learned a lot more about managing the medium while doing it. For instance, his fuzzy, downy baby hair was accomplished with a mix of washes followed by dry brushing and I was happily surprised with the outcome. I can almost smell the baby shampoo. And the little toys around him were a nice exercise in still life painting.

Portrait of Karin

oil on masonite
8x10

This was a part of a collective project by followers of Karin Jurick's blog, Different Strokes From Different Folks, as a way to thank her for the time and effort she invests to allow exposure and development of artists. We are surprising her with her portrait, make that 118 portraits. Thanks again Karin! Hope you know how much you've been appreciated.
And thanks to Jill Polsby who put the project together. If you visit Karin's or Jill's websites, you can see all the different renditions of this remarkable person and wonderful artist.

Beth

16x20
Oil on canvas

Beth (detail)

This will really torture my friend to be posted three times now, but I thought a detail was in order here. In the many years, thirty-six or so but who's counting, we've been bestest pals, she's only consented to pose one other time, so I've got to make the best of it.