Are the Roses Finished Jumping?

I have worked on this pastel painting, adjusting edges and color saturation to emphasize the intended focal point. Can you guess what it is? Thanks to Pam Newell, my pastel instructor, for the critique of my earlier work.

When Roses Jump Out

Doesn't it look like the roses wanted to go for a walk? They just jumped out of the vase before they realized, they don't have feet!

This is pastel on Wallis paper, 24 x 18. Not sure I'm finished with it. It's "percolating" overnight.

Coffee Break

The hardest part about doing this still life is that I couldn't make coffee until I was done using my Mr. Coffee as a subject!

Don't you just love a fresh, hot cup o Joe?

Tea Time

Did this pastel in class, taught by Pam Newell. What a great experience! Can't wait for the next class!

Also, I'm very excited to report that I sold four art works at the Open House this year. Most notably, "White Mums" found a new home with Justin, who has been eyeing it since last fall! Thanks to Justin!

Orange Hibiscus

I've ordered frames, backing, etc. As soon as it arrives I will frame this and several other new pastels in time for the Open House April 29 and 30. Can't wait for the end of April!

Vegetables with Blue Bottle

The downside of being a Still Life Artist... Your food is never very fresh because all your produce has to "pose" for a few days before you can eat it.

Sunflowers in a Basket

I've not posted lately, but I have been busy doing pastels. Trying to have a body of work ready for the upcoming Stutz Open House! Mark your calendars, April 29 and 30. This will be a great show!

Bottles, Potatos, and Daffodils

I was setting up this still life in my studio, with just the bottles, potatos, and vase, when Carol came in with a handful of daffodils and gave me these! Instantly my still life was more interesting. This is done in pastels on Wallis paper. I'm really appreciating the Wallis, it holds a lot more pastel than other sanded papers.

Still Life with Onions, a Progression

I did this in the pastel class with Pam Newell. She set up this still life, and in the first session I got as far as the bottom picture. In 2 more sessions I ended up with what you see in the top picture. Not sure I like the finished version better than the unfinished. I feel like the unfinished version has more energy. Any comments/ opinions?

Pastel Landscape 4

Last week between blizzards I made my way to my studio at the Stutz to pick up some art supplies to take home. So while the nation was covered in snow and ice, I printed out some reference photos from vacations of the past. This is the result. A landscape from a forgotten spot, but I believe it would have to be at an Indiana State Park.

Sunset, Key West

Debby sent me a photo she took from Jerry's trawler in the Gulf off Key West. They are always beautiful, but sometimes spectacular. She know I hadn't seen one in a while. I had to recreate it with pastels.

White Mums

Finally, a new painting! This is pastels, done from a still life I set up in the studio. I kinda like it, it feels happy! Last week I put down a deposit on a new studio space! Vicky and I are going to share a great spot on 3C at the Stutz. Since the classroom is closing, we're going to move Open Figure to our studio. This should be a fun and exciting new venture!

Creativity Cycle!

So long since my last blog...

Creating art is such a cycle, currently I'm in the phase where I try something different each day. Nothing is turning out very good, I'm throwing a lot in the trash. Yesterday I started something that MAY turn out good, a largish pastel and charcoal still life of mums in a pitcher. I quit when it seemed like each stroke I made on the paper was a mistake! The trick to starting this one was to think about it before I went in to my studio. I needed to bring something to do a still life of, so I spent a few moments in my garden. Also brought in some Christmas bulbs and strings of beads. Hopefully this will lead to Holiday Show items!

Speaking of the Holiday Show, AAggghhh! It's coming up fast, I'm in charge of it and don't know what I'll exhibit myself. Lots of preparation work to do yet, but have had some volunteers, so that takes some of the pressure off. Thank goodness there are FRESH artists as well as SEASONED ones willing to pitch in!

Admitedly this pastel painting has nothing to do with the rest of this posting, but is something I did a few weeks ago from a live model. Sometimes it's good to look back at what you've done in order to see where you're going!

"Shades" has a new home!

I'm SO excited to announce that one of my latest pastel paintings has found a new home with Mike Perigo, whose wife Julie is also a Stutz artist. Mike and Julie were at the opening reception for "Voices, Women of a Certain Age", where Julie also has art exhibited. Shades State Park is a favorite spot of theirs, and Mike said he just had to have this. Lucky for me!

Going West

More fun with pastels! I'm enjoying this experiment. This time I "fixed" the underpainting with turpenoid, a little risky on a light wt. drawing paper. It was important to let the turpenoid dry completely before moving on. I tried a few of my new Nupastel brand, and I really like them. Maybe a large set for my birthday? I need a better way to store all my pastels, looks like a job for yard-saling.

Now that the weather is getting nicer I need to pack up a few things to do some plein aire pastel painting. I found a painter's tripod stool at a yard sale, it needs to see some action!

Approaching Glacier

Started this pastel painting today on a large sheet of drawing paper. It started as a pen and ink sketch done 2 years ago while in the car driving to Glacier National Park. The landscape through Montana and Wyoming was awesome! Talk about your wide open spaces, something a city girl like me doesn't see very often. The mountains really are purple!

Central Park

My newest pastel work is from a photograph I took last year while visiting NYC. It's a view from Central Park. Although the buildings in the background are an important piece of the compostion, I didn't want them to be the focus, so made them very sketchy. It was a bright day, and the front of the buildings were very light against a gray-blue sky. This is why I used a gray-blue sanded paper. It's small, 9 x 12 inches, so I used a lot of hard pastels that I had more control over.

More Practise with Pastels and Charcoal

Yesterday was somewhat productive. It's always a good day whe I get to draw from a model! The bottom image was done in open figure, and was done over 3 20 minute sessions. The first 20 minutes was spent on the body, the 2nd session was spent on the face. At the break after that I realized the face looked too small for the body/head. Thank goodness for fellow artists who pointed out that the only thing wrong was the placement of the eyes. In the 3rd 20 minute session I simply moved the eyes and finished off the hair and top of the head. I'm pleased with the result.

The top image is done in pastels, 20 x 16. I tried a landscape in pastels for the first time. This is done from a photograph taken at Shades State Park years ago. It took 2 days to complete. I'm pleased with this as a first attempt, it is on charcoal paper, which I haven't used much, and feels different than the drawing paper I usually use. With this I did much less blending with fingers, only a little in the clouds. With this paper more of the ground shows through. I will look for orange charcoal paper to use for landscapes, but not too confident of finding any.

Opinion Needed!

Today I did a still life (Thank you, Susan, for the porcelain teapot!) using mostly hard pastels. The bottom photo was taken when I stopped for a break, then I returned and proceeded to put in more color, as you can see in the top photo. I'm not sure if I've overworked the piece. I'm still having a little trouble with muddy colors, but I'm getting a feel for why this is happening. Mostly, I think I tend to get mud when I'm putting cool over warm or vice-versa. I love the rich colors I see in other artists' pastel paintings, but I seem to have better results using a very limited palette. I just can't seem to resist adding more colors!

Franciscan Roses

This is a little different for me, brighter colors. It was fun to work on, because I was experimenting with different ways to blend pastels, vs not blending at all. Because I kept re-doing parts of it, I think it's a bit over worked, but was a good "LE". (learning experience). I still need to work on getting proportions right, esp. for symmetrical objects like vases.