Moon

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

The moon was full two nights ago. It was quite a beautiful clear night where I live.

I love the symmetrical white 'moon-mask' on this cow. So it's not round as a full moon, but still reminded me of one.

This also happens to be the painting in which I finally used up my tiny shard of Terry Ludwig Eggplant (You can see evidence of it in the eyes, the side of the head, and right side of the body.) Though I used the black pastel primer under the black hide, it still felt odd not being able to make my blacks any darker once that TL Eggplant was gone. But perhaps I need to take a deliberate hiatus from the TLE for a while, because I do like how this cow came out after all. The marks somehow seem more interesting. The subtleties visible in the overall lower contrast have a sort of calmness, and I kept the whites toned down in brightness to balance.

.

Snow

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

I know this one was named Snow, because that's what it said on her ear tag, which I decided not to include in the painting. Her ears look better with no adornment.

.

Shimona

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

I found the name Shimon, a variant of the Hebrew names Simeon and Simon, to be a name meaning "to hear, or to be heard." Since this is a lady cow, I added an "a."
She certainly looks like she can hear very well!

.

Up the Tree Again

"Up the Tree Again"  (pastel, 10x8 inches)  $375

This was from a photo of a friend's cat from way back, but she looks just like my husband's "Taffa" who passed away (after 23 long years!) just a couple of years ago.

I loved the warm afternoon light, and the fearful expression. Cats don't really have much expression in their faces like dogs do; with cats it's in the eyes and the body.

This painting is available at Cactus Jack's in Gruene, Texas, through January 13, 2012.

EDIT as of 8/28/2015: This painting has a new life, cropped as a 6x8 closeup titled "BlueEyes" and is on auction for a limited time at DailyPaintworks.com!)
.

Alba

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

Alba is my little sequel to Yuki. They are twin baby goats from a petting zoo at the North Texas Irish Fest in Dallas.

Below is one of my better caricatures from last week's ISCA convention. Visit my Art Journal Blog to see the rest of them!

Sunshine

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

Back to the cows! This one's on a combination of gold and terra cotta primers. I thought she had the look of sunshine, so I set out to Thesaurus.com where I find names, to look for a synonym for sunshine, when I realized - why use a synonym? "Sunshine" she is!

Below is another favorite caricature of me from last week's convention. See the entire collection of Forty-Four 'Rita' caricatures on my Art Journal Blog!

by Jeff Pecina

Bufus

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

This is a new one from the same set of photo references of the same bison as "Buford" (below) from a few years back. (It was a different photo from the same day.) It's interesting to see my change in style and color use.

On a different note, below is my 'wall' from the ISCA convention last week. These were the few caricatures I managed to get done of some of the other artists attending, during the three days I had there (I missed Wednesday to go to a gallery reception at Brookwood.)

Visit my Art Journal Blog for more wall pics and some of my favorites!

Periwinkle

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

I caught a chance to paint today, along with labeling the postcards for my pencil portraits Holiday mailing, finding new friends on Facebook and photographing and cataloging the more than forty caricatures I brought home from the ISCA convention on Friday!

Below is Derek Brennan's winning caricature of me, which was #4 of the Top 10 Caricatures of the Year for 2012.

 See more of the 2012 ISCA (International Society of Caricature Artists) Convention experience on my Art Journal Blog.

.

Frog #16 (The Frog Prince)

"Frog #16  (The Frog Prince)"  (pastel, 6x6 inches)  click here to bid

I managed to whip this one out this afternoon. Doesn't he look a lot like Kermit?

Tomorrow I'm down to San Antonio for the ISCA (International Society of Caricature Artists) Convention, which has finally come to S.A. I've been trying for years to fit this into my schedule. It will be awesome to see a lot of my old friends from my theme park days, and to watch and learn from many superb caricature artists!

.

Maximus

"Maximus" (pastel, 8x8 inches)  click here to bid

I've taken a bit of a hiatus from painting for the last couple weeks. I've opened a show, had a 3-day portrait workshop and a one day pastel workshop, two pastel demos and two caricature gigs, re-organized my daughter's home school curriculum, composed my Holiday marketing email and ordered my Christmas business postcards. All in the past 15 days. And next week I'm in San Antonio for the International Caricature Convention, so I'm not through yet!... Maybe I'll get some painting done over Thanksgiving?

Meanwhile, here's one that had slipped past me from my rush of paintings before the show. I remember now I held this one back so I'd have something to post on the auctions later... Well, now is later!

The name "Maximus" is a bit of irony; this one, which could have curled up inside two small hands, I painted larger than life in an 8x8.

.