Friday, August 29, 2014

Excuse Me, You're Sitting on My Ear

"Excuse Me, You're Sitting on My Ear"  (pastel, 8x10 inches)  $300 unframed for a limited time
(Sold as of 9/1)

One of the most adorable things about Fry's Fun Farm bunnies is how they're just one big happy family. They enjoy piling up on each other for naps. They'll snuggle into shady corners and treat each other as pillows, squeezing in wherever they'll fit, in an ongoing effort to find temporary relief from the  grasping hands of human children.

I like this one too much to set it at a low opening auction price. I might decide to enter it into a show. Meanwhile, it will be unframed for a little while, which will make it easier to ship, for anyone interested.

Progress shots:






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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Melody

"Melody"  (pastel, 6x6 inches) sold

Melody is the twin of Cadence, from some shots I took out of my studio window. I sure hope the lot next door never gets built on. The only place they could put a house is right where the deer hang out.

Here are some progress shots.

The 3 layers of gold primer. This is Quiacridone Nickel Azo Gold fluid acrylic color mixed into Golden (brand) Fine Pumice Gel at about a 1/4 (color/gel) ratio. The gel is clear, so the color mixture is semi-transparent, and gets darker on each application.
Then (below) I add Art Spectrum (brand) Pastel Primer in the terra cotta color. I lay it into the darkest areas, then scrub and dry-brush it into the medium values of the gold to continue the value scale and add more depth to the monochromatic underpainting.







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Sunday, August 24, 2014

Bud

"Bud"  (pastel, 6x6 inches)  click here to bid

This one was giving me trouble out in my studio on Friday. I ended up wiping the whole thing down to the primer and starting again. But by then it was too late to finish that day. Yesterday I went back out to discover that the a/c was broken. Ugh! To quote the B 52's, it was Hot as an Oven! I fumed for a while, then gathered my Heilman pastel box, travel easel, drawing board, and iPad and hiked the 200 feet back to my kitchen.


It was like old times! A part of me still misses working on my kitchen island. The light is really great, especially in the daytime with all the lights on, and a clip light above me on the pot rack. And this time I added a new dimension -- Ear buds! Pandora has become an addiction while I paint. In the studio I use speakers, but didn't want to carry those to the house with everything else, so I dug up my ear buds and stuck my phone in my pocket. Wow! What a difference great 'in-the-head' stereo makes. I might never use the speakers again! I named this one "Bud" to commemorate.

Here's the whole process, including my Friday back-track:






 Ugh! Highlights way too bright. It felt messy and inharmonious. Sometimes when you're just not 'feelin' it, ya gotta just call it a loss and take it back to the beginning. (One of the benefits of working small! No big deal!)








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Friday, August 22, 2014

Leggy

"Leggy"  (pastel, 6x6 inches)  click here to bid

I finished Leggy right after Cheeper and didn't get time to post until today.

There's something about this chick that looks surreal to me, even though I know their legs really are that large! (Ok, this one's legs may have been a little larger than average, made more so by the camera viewpoint...) I just have to laugh when I look at this one!

Progress shots:





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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Saturday, August 16, 2014