Day 1 - K is for Kangaroo

"K is for Kangaroo" (pastel, 20x10 inches) click here to bid

Yes, "Day 1" means I'm going to attempt another 30-Paintings-in-30-Days this month. November seems to be my best month for this challenge. I did it last November, and in 2014 as well.

I have only two hurdles: a workshop in Missouri this weekend with over 3 days of driving round trip, and a large portrait commission due this month, that may take a while. So I've been a busy bee in my studio the past few days, prepping lots of underpaintings, and getting a jump on the month so that I can have a few blog posts drafted before I head north on Wednesday. Tomorrow I'll post Sunday's demo from the Texas Pastel Society meeting.

Here are progress shots of Kangaroo:

..And here's a sneak peek at about half of the batch I've got going for this month!

Awards: Two Thirds!

"Familiar" (pastel, 8x10 inches)  $1350

And

"The Fairy Rose" (pastel, 9x12 inches)  sold

Have, coincidentally, both won Third Place Awards at their respective exhibits on Saturday.

"Familiar" is showing at the Pastel Society of New Mexico's 25th Annual National Pastel Painting Exhibition in Albuquerque, at the Hispanic Arts Center through November 27.

"The Fairy Rose" is with the Pastel Society of Southeast Texas, Art of the Pastel 2016 through November 26, at The Gallery at Round Top in Round Top, TX 

If you're in the areas, hope you get a chance to see the show(s)!

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Portrait of a Young Lady

commissioned portrait, conte and pastel pencil, 8x10, sold

Just finished another commission for a client's girlfriend's birthday coming up in November. To save the surprise, here's another pretty girl from a few years ago.

The Holidays are approaching quickly! You can see more of my pencil portraits and pricing info on my drawings site here!

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Don Kealoha

"Don Kealoha"  (pastel, 6x4 inches)  sold

Did this one a little while back and just discovered that I'd never posted him! He sold at the Bayou City Art Fest earlier this month. If he looks familiar, it's because my newest donkey painting "Fuzz" is the same little guy from another photo.

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Fuzz (and the Fall Into Art Festival)

"Fuzz"  (pastel, 12x6 inches)  $400 framed

This was the friendliest and fuzziest baby donkey I've ever met! Fuzz will be with me this weekend at the Fall Into Art Festival in Gruene Lake Village, Gruene, Texas. Just a short walk down from the Texas Clay Festival in Old Gruene. Saturday and Sunday Oct 22-23. The weather will be that rare Texas 80 degrees and low humidity combination that we call just perfect! Come on out and shop art!

J is for Jellyfish

"J is for Jellyfish"  (pastel, 12x9 inches) $400 unframed for a limited time

Here's something a bit different, to replace my mistaken Jaguar-turned-Snow-Leopard for the "J" of my alphabet series. I've always loved jellyfish since being mesmerized by an exhibit of these amazing creatures at the New Orleans aquarium years ago. Their graceful, alien beauty is so hard to capture in a still shot. If you've ever seen them in motion you know what I'm talking about!

(If you're new to my Alphabet Series, you can read about how it started here!)

This Jellyfish might be with me at the Fall Into Art Festival, in Gruene TX this weekend, October 22-23, if it doesn't sell before then. I'll be framing it in a couple days. It will be $500 framed.

Here are some progress shots:

 2 or 3 layers of the gold primer. This is Quinacridone 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.

The next layer of primer is the 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.

For this jellyfish, I added some thinned down blue and black (mixed)Art Spectrum primer to the background of my underpainting to help get that deep dark water feeling.

The photo and the finished underpainting

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Snickers

"Snickers"  (pastel, 10x10 inches)  $475 framed

I had this underpainting done for a while now, and finally got to do the pastel today. Snickers will be with me at the Fall Into Art Festival, in Gruene TX this weekend, October 22-23, 2016.

I really need to work on my new jumbo longhorn painting, but it's either that, or all these other littler things that are begging for my attention. And if I don't do the little things, I won't have any posts until the big one is done!

Here are some progress shots of Snickers:

Here he is in his frame:

Thanks! Please share!

Paul's Dogs

Paul's Dogs (pastel pencil on Canson paper, 18x24) sold

Another pet portrait commission done this week. As usual, this is not it. I never post new commissions until after the client's surprise. This is one of my favorites from several years ago. I don't know if I ever posted it but I do have it on my drawings website and even used it on a postcard for a while.

See more samples and pricing info on my Drawings Site Here!

Here's a shot half-way through:

Koza

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

This was a quick warmup today on an underpainting that I had done from the last batch a while back. I'm also hard at work on my newest large longhorn painting... maybe I'll show a peek when that underpainting is done!

Meanwhile, here are progress shots of Koza ("Koza" btw, means "goat" in several languages. I love Google!)

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Hops

"Hops" (pastel, 7x5 inches)  $195 unframed for a limited time

I painted Hops at the Bayou City Art Festival over the weekend. Hops is a close relative of Mousy. Hops will be with me at the Fall into Art Festival in Gruene TX, October 22-23, 2016, unless he sells before that.

I had a fabulous weekend in Houston! I sold my newest large longhorn painting "Big Mama" (the painting on the right) and another client saw this photo I posted on Facebook, and came out to the festival for "Castor and Pollux" (the painting on the left) though when she saw that this one is actually a canvas print, she said "No, I want the original!" So we called the Gallery at Round Top, where the painting is, and she bought it!

So I'm still pumped up from the weekend and raring to get started on my next big longhorn composition!

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Brightie

"Brightie"  (pastel, 8x6 inches) $275

Realized yesterday that I had no bunnies left in stock, so today I painted Brightie to take with me to the Bayou City Art Festival this weekend, Oct 8-9, in downtown Houston. Find me in booth 622 on Bagby Street!

Here are some progress shots of Brightie:

Three gold layers of the underpainting, before the terra cotta.

I really played with color on this one!

Thanks for watching! Please share! Hope to see you in Houston!

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