Triple Quick Sketch at the San Antonio Rodeo (and more!)

Triple Quick Sketch at the San Antonio Rodeo (conte pencil and pastel, 16x12 inches)

Oh, I've been so overworked this last week. Candice, My #1 protege, has been promoted  (within Kaman's Art Shoppes, my 'alma mater') and had to leave for Ohio last Wednesday. So I've been alone ever since. (For those of you in the 'know', I've made new price signs for the weekends, with a $4 price hike over my weekday prices.)

I'm gearing up for the last weekend, which might be busy or might not be - depending on the weather, as usual. We've got another cold front coming. But maybe the cold will send all the guests to the indoor markets like the coliseum and other buildings!

You can find me in the Coliseum (The Texas Star Marketplace) booth 400.

Meanwhile, you, my blog subscribers, can get an exclusive preview of my latest work, done for the International Association of Pastel Societies Master Circle Exhibition, which will show during the annual convention in June. The deadline is March 1, so I've been concentrating on this painting these last 2 weeks (yes, while at the rodeo!) and finally have it finished!

I'm calling this one "The Flower Queen" (20x15 inches, pastel on pastel primer and pumice gel, over gold leaf)

I am so relieved to have this done, you have no idea! Literally every spare moment of my time has been devoted to this painting since the beginning of the month. I have several small underpainted animal 'dailies' at my booth since early on, and if tomorrow is slow enough, I'll get one or two done and will have some new auctions in a day or two!

If I have time, I'll post progress shots of this one in a few days. It was a real bugger, with lots of stops and backups, and was like nothing I've ever done before!

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Quick Sketch Portrait at the San Antonio Rodeo

Double Portrait Sketch in Barnwood Frame ($116.90 promotional Rodeo pricing)
(sepia conte pencil, burnt umber pastel, and white pastel, 15x12 inches, framed 20x16.)

Here's a sketch from Friday at the San Antonio Rodeo. It's always a joy to draw mature adults who know how to sit still (lol!) and of course it's better all around because the portrait comes out better too!

(Btw, my booth is in the coliseum, C-400, on the floor right down from the front entrance!)

Here are some progress shots, from the gent's face. (this was a frontal sepia portrait sketch, which took about 15-20 minutes per face)

Iris

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

I never actually made it in to work today. Candice worked our booth at the rodeo from noon to 8pm. I had things and stuff cropping up all around, and finally asked Candice if she would stay there and close. In exchange I'm opening tomorrow.

I did manage to get Iris done after dinner, along with a new batch of underpaintings, with the plan of taking them in with me tomorrow. We'll see how many I can get done when things are slow!

So what am I talking about? The San Antonio Rodeo! I've had a booth there doing portrait sketches each year since 1994, and this year I had a huge and very pleasant surprise when the exhibit director granted me permission to also do caricatures! (Those had been off limits for years because of another artist who has been there longer... but that's another story.) 

(This is a horribly old photo!) But basically the same booth, but this year a new sign, and caricature samples too!

(My new price sign!)

We're in Booth C-400 on the floor of the coliseum. If you're around south Texas, swing on by for a day! The SA Rodeo has a lot to see and do for the whole family, even if you don't see the rodeo or concerts.

Beaux

"Beaux"  (pastel, 6x8 inches)  click here to bid

Good day today. I believe I'm pulling out of my slump. I finished Beaux and was working on a half-finished demo from last month when my son texted me. I had forgotten today was a 2pm dismissal. So I picked up the kids, then did some grocery shopping, then it was time for dinner.

My best painting hours are right after lunch, so if I have to leave the house in the afternoon, my studio day is pretty much done for. But evenings are for the computer! And this evening I finished that large composition of longhorn calves that will be my next show-stopper! I've sent it to my iPad and will prime the board tomorrow and get the drawing on. Maybe I'll give y'all a peek when the underpainting is done.

Here are some progress shots of Beaux (excuse the color cast change on the last one):

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Hunter

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

Unbelievable. This is the first painting done in my studio (besides one pastel portrait commission) since November!! Man! I had a bad case of lethargy that kept feeding on itself. I blamed anything and everything. After the 30 paintings in November I just needed a break, then I had to drive to Del Rio for the Art Walk, then there was the craft show in December with portrait drawings then came Christmas and I needed another break then that portrait commission was in a difficult phase but surely I could put that off until after the PSST demo in Houston but then the kids went back to school and I had to switch back to that daily grind of 6am's (which didn't always work) and I don't know what happened to the second weekend in January because all of a sudden it was time for the workshop in Raymondville (and a perfectly gorgeous drive to the valley!) then the 20th was sales tax day and I thought I was doing better because I did mine on the 19th and then I must have worked on the portrait some more because I finally got it done but I also had to deal with a frame order needed for the rodeo in February that UPS lost and rust some stars for the barnwoods (which were not lost but delivered some other day last month) and all month long I was wondering what to paint for the APS show deadline on the 31st and spent half a week composing a photo reference for a potentially award winning painting that I never started and instead entered 3 older works and this week I finally balanced my checkbook on Monday and Tuesday (yes it took two whole days - caught up from last August) and did the 1099 on Candice today which must have been that last bit of tangled web holding me back because when my husband texted me that he could pick up the kids today I took my phone out to the studio, turned on Pandora, plugged in the iPad, taped this already-primed bunny to my board, and painted it!

It took more than an hour, which for this size was a bit too long, but IT SURE FELT GOOD!!! And I like it, too.

Anybody else have months like that?

I sure hope I've snapped out if it now and will paint more tomorrow. ...But the Rodeo setup starts Monday afternoon and I still have to...

Arg! Tell me to shut up! And here are some progress shots, which is what you'd rather hear...

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Willow

"Willow"  (pastel, 12x6 inches)  $350 framed

I've had a very lazy January. Hardly any new paintings done, with the exception of the two workshops. I'm going to snap out of it tomorrow! Honest!

But meanwhile, today (Sunday) I drove out to the Lee-Bunch Studio Gallery in Del Rio and picked up my artwork from the December/January Art Walk exhibit, and Willow was one!

This has been one of my favorites and I don't know why it hasn't sold yet, so I thought I'd promote it a bit here!

Here she is in her frame:

To see her being created, click this link to her original post showing the demo!

She'll just be hanging around here at home until the Bayou City Art Fest in downtown Houston in March, so please inquire if you'd like her shipped to you before then!
;)

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