Celestia (and the Hottest Art Festival in Texas!)

"Celestia"  (pastel, 6x6 inches)  $249 Available at The Gallery at Round Top

Almost back in the swing of things in the studio! I finished 3 new little lambs over the weekend, along with yesterday's fawn. I prepped up a 20x10 donkey underpainting but am not sure if I'll have time complete that one before the Rockport Art Festival this weekend. All these new ones will be with me there, July 4&5, 2015. Whatever I don't finish I'll probably take with me to 'demo' while I sit by my booth... always a great attention-grabber!

I've also donated another little painting to the silent auction benefiting art educational programs; one of my recent little bunnies "Clover"...

Speaking of "little" paintings, my California Workshop still has some spaces left! This is my classic pastel workshop, focusing on painting small and often. For beginner to advanced! Click the flyer below for a closer view, and visit my workshop page for more info and a convenient Paypal link!

Hope you can make it by to Rockport this weekend if you're in the area! (Yea, it's always hot! But so is the rest of Texas, so you might as well spend the weekend in Rockport!)

Meanwhile, here are some progress shots of Celestia:

 I start with an underpainting of acrylic-based pastel primers. These are a gold color and a terra cotta color. The gold one is Quiacridone Nickel Azo Gold fluid acrylic color mixed into Golden (brand) Fine Pumice Gel. The gel is clear, so the color mixture is semi-transparent, and gets darker on each application. Then 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.

 After working up a whole "batch" of underpaintings, I'll do the pastel part on each, one at a time..

 I used to work strictly "Dark to Light" as is best with pastel as a general rule. But after several workshops with various artists and lots of experience, I discovered...

 that one can work the darks and lights of pastel in whatever order one wishes, as long as the...

 main value categories (light, medium, and dark) remain separated and don't intermingle in the way that...

 colors in the same value categories can. Within the same value categories, where colors are layered up, there one builds the values from dark to light. (It helps to catch my main value categories in my underpainting!)

Thanks for watching! Please share! (I'd love to FILL my first California Workshop! ;)

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A New Day

"A New Day"  (pastel, 20x10 inches)  $800

Finally got back in the studio! Here's a little cutie I've been dying to paint for a long while, thanks to a friend I met in a workshop in south Texas earlier this year who very generously shared this photo with me. (Thanks Pam!) I was instantly captivated by this little one's blue eyes and dainty front hoof.

This painting will be with me this weekend at the Rockport Art Festival (unless she sells before that..)

On another note, the 100@100 Event on Saturday at the Wimberley Texas Community Center exceeded all expectations! Over $40,000 was raised for the Barnabas Connection, benefiting the Wimberley flood victims. (See my posts from last week, if you're new to my blog.) The Wimberley Valley Art League members pulled off an amazing organizational accomplishment in a very short amount of time, and deserve the gratitude of all of Wimberley for the success of their efforts. As I overheard one member saying to another "This is what this Art League was created for!"

Meanwhile, here are some progress shots of "A New Day":

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Creek Bend (and Benefit for the Wimberley Flood Victims)

"Creek Bend" (watercolor and pastel,  12x9 inches)  Donated

See this painting and more than 250 other works of art at the Wimberley Valley Art League 100@100 Benefit this Saturday, June 27! The event is at the Wimberley Texas Community Center from 2-6pm. Most works will be available for $100. There will also be a Premier Silent Auction for more valuable works, and tables full of unique items valued at under $100.

All proceeds will go to the Barnabas Connection for the victims of the recent flooding in Wimberley. Come on out for a one-in-a-lifetime chance at these artworks! Wimberley needs you! (Scroll down for some pics of the show!)

 I stopped in this morning for some quick shots: the show looks great, and ready for lots of guests!!

Merilda Braiding (For the Wimberley Flood Victims)

"Merilda Braiding"  (pastel, 10x8 inches)  Donated

Another old portrait that I've donated to the Wimberley Valley Art League 100@100 Benefit this Saturday, June 27. The event is at the Wimberley Texas Community Center from 2-6pm. Close to 250 works of art will be had for donations of $100 +/- ! There will be a silent auction for works of a higher value; this one might be included! All proceeds will go to the Barnabas Connection for the victims of the recent flooding in Wimberley.

This one doesn't quite fit into my Renaissance Portrait series because there's no sunlight on her. She was sitting in the shade, so the light is more subtle. And I just now realized that I had done some touch-ups on this piece before another show last year, and forgot to get a new photo of the changes! It was mostly to soften the harsh edges of the braids and other areas, but I guess you'll have to come to the show on Saturday to see how much Merilda has improved!

See many of the donated works so far on the Wimberley Valley Art League Facebook Page, and all together on this Pinterest Board. Check back! More works added daily through this Friday!

Before The Dance (for Wimberley Flood Victims)

"Before The Dance"  (pastel, 18x12 inches)  Donated

This was a portrait done from life in the Wednesday evening Portrait Group at the Coppini Academy of Fine Art years ago when I lived in San Antonio. I miss that place now that I'm an hour away, just a little too far to go there regularly.

I've donated this painting to the 100@100 show at the Wimberley Valley Art League to benefit the victims of the recent flooding in Wimberley Texas.This one might be delegated to the silent auction for works of over $100 value! If you're near the area I hope you can make it to the show this Saturday, June 27, 2-6pm, at the Wimberley Community Center! If not, contact the Wimberley Valley Art League and ask them about viewing and bidding or purchasing the artworks online!

Shady Creek (for Wimberley Flood Victims)

"Shady Creek"  (pastel, 8x10 inches) Donated

This was a demo at the Victoria (TX) Art League about a year or so ago. I always liked it but just never got around to framing it until recently when I decided to donate it to the 100@100 sale benefiting the Barnabas Connection for Wimberley Flood Victims.  The show will be this Saturday, June 27. See the Wimberley Valley Art League for details. Send them a message asking to get all the images online for out-of-town buyers!! :D

This painting will be available for a $100 donation!

Garden Angel (For Wimberley Flood Victims)

"Garden Angel"  (pastel, 11x8 inches) Donated

Here's another of several paintings I've dug up from the depths of my studio to donate to the Wimberly (TX) 100@100 special show on June 27, 2015. All proceeds from the show will go to the Barnabas Connection for Wimberley Flood Victims. Contact the Wimberley Valley Art League to bid on or purchase a painting, or for more info on how to help!

Land Study 6

"Land Study 6" (pastel, 3.5 x 3.5 inches)

I've jumped ahead to the last of the six little paintings I made in Marla Baggetta's workshop. Decided to go with my favorites first. For this one I was kind of thinking of a complimentary red/green scheme. Not sure that I'll post the rest individually. They really look best as a group.
In fact, here are the other three:

"Land Study 3" (dark values)

"Land Study 4" (light values)

"Land Study 5" (yellows)

And, for continuity, the first two I already posted:

"Land Study 1" (local colors, which were cool)

"Land Study 2" (warm)

 I've ordered some mats for the 9 frames I've got, and have set a goal to make up at least 3 more of these, so I can frame the best ones and have a nice little grouping. I may take them to the Rockport Art Festival July 4&5.

Daffodil

"Daffodil"  (pastel, 6x6 inches)  $249 Available at The Gallery at Round Top

It's been a while since I've painted my usual things, but I managed to get this one of a new batch done this week! (More sheep coming soon!)

Here are some progress shots:

Land Study 2

"Land Study 2"  (pastel, 3.5x3.5 inches)

My second little land study in Marla Baggetta's workshop! This one's my fave. Especially since the odd frames I have are a beautiful cherrywood color:

Just have to order some mats! I'm thinking cream color, 3.25" square opening, bottom weighted. I might do a bunch of little (various) landscapes with this same red/warm color scheme, to look nice in these frames (But I only have 9 frames, so maybe I'll just do a few more of this landscape with new colors...)

Read about Marla's workshop and her three demos (with pics!) on my Art Journal Blog, along with a peek at the little painting of hers that I bought!

Quiet Time (and the 100@100 for Wimberley Flood Victims)

"Quiet Time"  (pastel, 13x10 inches) donated

Here's a blast from the past; one of my very first still life paintings after starting my efforts to seriously improve my artwork, back in 2002. My first step was ongoing classes with pastel artist Mary Johnson at the Coppini Academy of Fine Art in San Antonio (where I lived back then.) I'd been working with pastel since I was 11, but after college was mostly doing commissioned portraits from client photos... Great for learning how to copy stuff, but NOT the best venue for creativity or learning the nuances of composition and design and other principles of great art.

Drawn from life, this one was always one of my favorites, especially the glasses resting on the book! I have a few handfuls of these old favorite paintings that never found buyers, and have been digging them up from the depths of my messy studio, in the wake of the recent massive flooding in Wimberley Texas (just 20 minutes up the road from me!) to support a special one-day show that will be hosted by the Wimberley Valley Art League on Saturday, June 27. "100@100" will feature 100 (or more) paintings priced at $100. A few larger and special pieces will be available at a silent auction. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Barnabas Connection for Wimberley Flood Victims.

Visit the Wimberley Valley Art League site for more information on this special exhibit and how you can help! (Contact them to ask if they will be posting all artworks on a webpage or FB page! -- I'm pushing for this! ;)
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Land Study 1

"Land Study 1"  (pastel, 3.5x3.5 inches)

Marla Bagetta's one-day workshop on Sunday June 7 at IAPS, was very inspiring! It was intense but fun. She had us do several versions of the same landscape, using varied color schemes for each. Hopefully soon I'll post her demo pics on my Art Journal blog.

Here's the first of my little landscapes, from a photo I've used before, but flipped.

Here's a peek with version 2, and version 3 which ended up much different than this shot...

I did six in all, and thought I might order some little mats to go in some odd frames I have. Stay tuned this week to see the rest!