Sheriff

"Sheriff"  (pastel, 12x9 inches)  $1375

Sheriff will be with me for the Texas State Arts & Crafts Fair in Kerrville, TX, May 24-26, 2013. If he survives the weekend unsold, he'll go on to my solo show at the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center in Breckenridge, TX, June 11 - July 20, 2013.

I haven't posted demo-photos in a while, so to make up for that, here are some good ones of Sheriff!

A couple days after he was 'done', I noticed his right eye was too high and close to the other, so I washed it out and repainted it. This image is after wiping off the eye with a wet rag. I didn't take more photos before the final scan, so I'll post that again below so you can see the difference without having to scroll all the way back up.

(The color change is just the variance between camera and scanner..)

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Carrot

"Carrot"  (pastel, 7x5 inches)  click here to bid

Carrot is my answer to Monday's Muffin. I thought the two of them make a great pair (Pear? Hmm, haven't used that name yet...)

Carrot and Muffin will only be on auction for a very limited time, as they will need to go with me to the Texas State Arts & Crafts Fair May 24-26 if they have no bids by May 20.

Muffin

"Muffin"  (pastel, 7x5 inches)  click here to bid

A friend of mine had suggested Muffin as a name for one of my cow paintings, and I finally found the perfect image! (Bubbe - this Muffin's dedicated to you!!)

Isn't he perfectly plump and baked to a delicate golden crust? I think he'd be a lemon muffin or maybe mandarin orange.

Yum.

Muffin will be available for only one week on the DailyPaintworks auction. I'll need to frame all my available artwork for the Texas State Arts & Crafts Fair in Kerrville, TX, May 24-26.

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Brotherly Love

"Brotherly Love"  (pastel, 24x30 inches) $2800

One of the three large cow paintings I've been working on this week. I mostly finished this one earlier in the week, and it's been hanging around my studio, waiting for my verdict. It only asked me for a couple of small adjustments in the past few days so I'm going to call it done now.

Below is the primer underpainting that I gave you a sneak peek of on Wednesday:

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"Audrey with Flowers at Seven" accepted to Hudson Valley Art Association Exhibit

"Audrey with Flowers at Seven"  (pastel, 28x22 inches)

Just got the news that this, my most recent award-winning portrait, has been accepted into the 81st Annual Juried Exhibition of the Hudson Valley Art Association. This is an old and prestigious organization. Signature membership is by invitation only. Artists are considered for membership after being included in three juried exhibitions. (So I decided to enter with my very best work and see what happened. Yay! Two more accepted entries to go!)

The show runs June 14 through July 28, 2013. The opening reception is at the Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, Connecticut,  Friday June 21st, 2013 from 5 –7 pm.

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Vern

"Vern"  (pastel, 7x5 inches)  click here to bid

I tried for "fast and loose" today. I like it. I think I've had cycles of working this way in previous years. I should concentrate more on sustaining this kind of energy. It's just too easy for me to slow down (...but horrendously large multiple approaching deadlines do help with speed and looseness.)

On another note, I finally posted a photo-demo of how I package my small unframed pastels for shipping. You can read it on my Art Journal Blog.

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Beautiful Morning

"Beautiful Morning"  (pastel, 24x24 inches)  $2200

This was the demo begun on the Sunday of opening weekend of my 2-Woman Show with Jeannette Cuevas at Cactus Jack's in Gruene, Texas, way back in October.  Ok, so I'm slow about getting around to finishing things. I have my priorities, and it wasn't until now, when I have 3 weeks to prepare for an art fair AND a solo show, with another art fair 5 weeks after that (which will be during said solo show,) that my priorities got around to finishing some half-done works..

This one will be with me for the Texas State Arts and Crafts Show in Kerrville, TX, at the end of the month. If it survives that without selling, it will go on to my solo show in Breckenridge, TX in June. Meanwhile, I just might take it over to Cactus Jack's for the next week and a half, just in case.

I've been painting like crazy in the studio the past few days, and have (I think) finished one 24x30 new painting, am half-done with a 32x32, and have primed another 22x28 piece. I don't want to 'give anything away' too soon, but I'll give you all a sneak peak at the primer-underpaintings for those three, which I prepared on the same day last week...

22x28 primer underpainting for pastel painting

24x30 primer underpainting for pastel painting that's finished -- I think! Stay tuned for new posts.

32x32 primer underpainting for pastel painting that is currently about 1/2 done...

For all you new readers, I can explain that my current underpainting method is using pastel primers, that is, acrylic-based toned gesso that has pumice in it for grit that the pastel will stick to. I have two favorite pastel primers that I use in combination. One is Art Spectrum pastel primer, the terra cotta color. The other is the Golden brand Fine Pumice Gel, with Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold acrylic color (Golden brand) added to it (at about a 2/1 ratio). The resultant gold primer is slightly transparent, so I apply 2 or 3 layers for some variation of values. The Art Spectrum terra cotta color goes on top (or sometimes in between the gold layers) to add the dark value.

So before I even apply any pastel, I have up to 3 of my values already laid out in my underpainting! Stay tuned for more posts in the coming days! (Or just subscribe to my blog, if you haven't yet, so you won't miss anything!)

Thanks for reading, and please share!

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Yang

"Yang"  (pastel, 12x12 inches)  click here to bid

This started as a demo for the Trinity Art League in San Antonio last month. I've titled him as a sort of sequel to "Yin" from last fall. They're both 12x12 white-faced blackies, but apart from that and the direction of the pose, they're about as dissimilar as can be. The color scheme, the temperature, the mood, the entire personality. I felt it appropriate to name them as opposites.

"Yang" will be on auction for only one week, then will be framed for the Texas State Arts & Crafts fair where he will sell at full retail of $550 (if he survives the auction!)

Here are some progress shots from the demo:

Thanks for watching, and please share!

Saffron

"Saffron"  (pastel, 7x5 inches)   click here to bid

Somewhere in this calf is the precise color I wanted to paint my kitchen but didn't quite find at the time so instead settled for a nice bright warm yellow.

See "Saffron"'s progress shots below:

Citrus

"Citrus"  (pastel, 7x5 inches)  click here to bid

Citrus is another done mostly on the gold primer, with the terra cotta only under the brown fur. This one's a little reminiscent of Sunkist.

Progress shots below!

Thanks for watching! Please share! :)

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