Warm Fuzzy #26 - Panda Eating an Apple

Warm Fuzzy #26 - "Panda Eating an Apple" (pastel, 10x8 inches) click here to bid or buy

I just felt like something different, so here's a big fat hungry warm fuzzy for you!

Something else a bit different... my first speed demo video in over a year! My plan is to put out more vids in the near future. :)

Another plan for the near future is some kind of online video lessons or classes. Yup! Finally I get motivated to do more with virtual art instruction, right as we begin pulling out of the Covid-19 lockdown and start to get out more... well, I always was a late bloomer. But, times are changing in unforeseen ways, and I believe some things that have taken root in the time of isolation will be blooming for years to come, among those will be a rise in continued online interaction.

We shall see! I'm currently working the kinks out of my techie video setup and waiting on the last couple bits of equipment. Leave me a comment if you'd be interested in being on the waiting list for my first online classes, workshops or open studio days!

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Warm Fuzzy #25 - Argie on Satin Sheets

Warm Fuzzy #25 - "Argie on Satin Sheets" (pastel, 10x10 inches) click here to bid or buy

My first formal portrait of Argie by himself! Argie is Mewler's half-brother and best friend, six months younger. (Here they are together in "Besties")

Enjoy these progress pics...

 I slowly made the eyes yellow by cooling down the rest of the painting ;)

 I always end up with a hand full. For Argie's silvery coat and the indirect light, these colors were more subdued than my usual pallette. ("Argie" is short for Argentum which means silver in Latin, although technically his coat color is called lavender...)

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Hay Bales 6 - "Before and After!"

"Hay Bales 6" - revised (pastel, 8x8 inches) sold

The Appalachian Pastel Society is having an Adventures In Pastel contest over the next few months, with a set of Blue Earth pastels as the prize for whoever can complete the most challenges!
Their first challenge was a "before and after". This was to rework a painting with fresh eyes and all the skills you have acquired since putting it aside.

This is my before of "Hay Bales 6" (from 2011 😆can't believe it was still hanging around!)

These are the two reference photos I used. The first is the original reference, which I had enhanced in Photoshop.
To improve boring the composition, I used a secondary reference to change up the background and the character of the front bale. (I also tried to get more diagonals in the flow of the land, but that came out a little more subtle than I was hoping for.)

I wiped off the entire painting and started from the "ghost" image, used some Art Spectrum offwhite pigmented ink (which I've found to be an awesome way to get the "white" back into a dull, dark surface!) and my gold primer mix (Golden brand Quinacridone nickel azo gold fluid acrylic color mixed into Golden fine pumice gel) and some Art Spectrum terra cotta pastel primer, to establish the kind of underpainting that I'm used to now, and to get additional texture in more helpful directions.

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Warm Fuzzy #24 - Power Chick

Warm Fuzzy #24 - "Power Chick" (pastel, 4x4 inches) click here to bid or buy

This was the result of a "what if". Richard McKinley encourages his students to keep a "what if" attitude when deciding how to approach a painting, and my habit of working in series of small Daily Paintings especially lends itself to this approach, in fact sometimes demands it! I felt like a lot of my backgrounds lately were becoming a little too predictable. So with this chick I wondered "what if the background were to match the beak, but bolder?" Ok, it did help that there was a bit of this exciting red in the background of the photo. But when I began to throw in those intense reds, orange and fuscia, suddenly the chick went "Wow! Pow!" Timid little chick no longer! Just goes to show you the power of a background and how it can change the mood of a painting!
I could paint this chick like Andy Warhol's soup cans with all sorts of background colors, just to see the difference... hmmm...

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Warm Fuzzy #23 - Violet

Warm Fuzzy #23 - "Violet" (pastel, 6x6 inches) click here to bid or buy

This sweet baby lamb was a cousin or some such to "Baaabee" the little black lamb from a couple weeks ago. I don't know what kind of sheep they were, but the herd had mostly white mamas and quite a large number of black lambs. Some of the lighter lambs had some variations of grays in their wool. Almost silvery and quite pretty!

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Warm Fuzzy #22 - Mewler in the Light

Warm Fuzzy #22 - "Mewler in the Light" (pastel, 6x4 inches) click here to bid or buy

Our cats are so photogenic, I have hundreds of really nice pics to choose from of Mewler, and Argie too. One of these years I'll paint one that we will keep, but these days I'll sell just about anything!

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