Valentina to Bennington, VT

"Valentina"  (pastel, 8x6 inches) 

I'm very happy to say that "Valentina" has been sent up to the Bennington Center in Vermont for the Small Works Show, to replace "Viola Rose" (shown below) which just sold! Yay! (I'll be equally happy if Valentina doesn't make it back from the show either!)

"Viola Rose" pastel, 8x6 inches

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Zola

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

Zola was painted on my usual solid terra cotta pastel primer from Art Spectrum. He was mostly shadows anyway, and I do usually prefer the shadowed side of white fur on the terra cotta.

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Hesper

 "Hesper"  (pastel, 7x5 inches)  sold

And my third miniature portrait using the gold primer with some terra cotta. I love how using these primers begins with a sort of warm, monochromatic underpainting, the same as I've discovered I love to work with oils. It makes the rest of the painting process flow really well and helps with my goal of capturing a loose, painterly finish! Below are some progress shots. The first one shows the primer 'underpainting' with some dark brown pastel already applied.

Juni

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

I'm enjoying the look of the gold and terra cotta primer combination. Here's my next attempt. Below is a shot of the primer underpainting with the first pastel colors on (some dark brown and some blue.) The gold primer is Golden (brand) fine pumice gel with nickle azo gold acrylic color added. It's very transparent so a second application in some areas darkens it another value. Then I've got my usual terra cotta Art Spectrum pastel primer in the darker areas, and dry brushed and scuffled over some of the still-almost-wet golden primer. The finished painting needed very little pastel on the right side.

Sunkist

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

Sunkist, I decided, was the perfect name for this lady glowing so beautifully orange in the sun. This was my first demo of the morning during Saturday's workshop. I had already experimented with a new underpainting using just pastel primers. I had 2 various layers of a gold primer (Golden fine pumice gel with nickel azo gold acrylic color added) and some Art Spectrum pastel primer in terra cotta under what would be the brown parts of the cow.

Below is the how the primers looked before the pastel was added...

...and here are a few quick progress shots...

I'm really enjoying these layered primers, especially the gold. I'm planning some larger works using this method that will be premiering at my 2-Woman show next month!
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Park Trail #29

"Park Trail #29"  (pastel, 7x5 inches)  click here to bid

This was my afternoon demo of Saturday's workshop in Marble Falls, TX. It might look familiar; it's from the same reference photo as my very mini "Park Trail #18." This time I used a board primed with a bright golden primer, and added terra cotta to the shadow areas before starting the pastel.
Below are some progression photos:

And here is a shot of the beautiful ladies of Saturday! Ann Lancaster of TaDa! The Spot to be Creative was a wonderful hostess and kept us full of delicious food and refreshments. Thank you Ann!
Visit my Facebook page to see my talented students with their paintings!

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Attila

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

What a perfect Hun-ish sort of helmet this fellow has built in to his head! I caught this one on camera at Yellowstone this summer. The buffalo are everywhere up there! I might use this as a study for a larger work.

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Yuki

"Yuki"  (pastel, 8x6 inches)  click here to bid

I've been enjoying the frogs, but lately I've been struggling to get my dailies painted while also working to get several new paintings completed for my 2-Woman show (with Jeanette Cuevas) next month. Out of necessity, I've decided I must go back to the familiar, meaning furred 4-legged mammals, which I can paint in about half the time as a sleek, shiny frog - especially one with spots!

Still, I might be sparse with the dailies for the next few weeks. Just know that I'm hard at work creating new, never-before-seen artwork for the upcoming show at Cactus Jack's. As the date (October 19!) approaches, I'll be posting just a few of these new works to give you all a sneak preview!

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Frog #14 (Pocket Frog)

"Frog #14 (Pocket Frog)"  (pastel, 6x6 inches)  click here to bid

Anyone familiar with the game of Pocket Frogs might recognize this general pattern. I didn't play the game for long enough to know if this specimen would be quite common, or quite rare!

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Frog #13

"Frog #13"  (pastel, 5x7 inches)  click here to bid

I've noticed that frogs have these interesting double-eyelids, one on the outside that comes up from the bottom, regular skin (like our human lids that come down from the top,) and then they also have an inner eyelid that is semi-transparent like a film which comes down from the top and is sometimes patterned. This one's inner eyelid looked a little bit like marble with black and beige striations running through it. Kind of gives him a creepy look in this lazy pose of relaxation.

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