Frederick, Maryland Riverwalk - A painting challenge

 

"Frederick, Maryland Riverwalk" (pastel, 9x12 inches, $475 framed Buy here)

This urban scene was a double challenge; for two separate pastel societies' monthly challenges. One was to paint an urban scene. The other was to paint in the style of a favorite artist. I decided to do both at once!

 Well, since Monet was not known for his urban scenes, I chose this river city scene and was inspired by another favorite impressionist, Alfred Sisley. My photo reference was one I took in Frederick, Maryland on a family vacation years ago. I really liked the composition of the photo just as it was (makes my painting job easier!) and I loved the early evening twilight glow.

To help me catch the impressionist style of painting in such a small pastel (9x12) I used a heavily textured paper, Sabretooth, a very bumpy sanded pastel paper. No underpainting this time, just dry working on the white paper with lots of blending of base layers. It took me about 4 hours total work time.

View the reference photo, along with some progress pics and the inspirational Sisley painting, on my public Patreon post here!

 

Fuzzy Hereford Paint-Along on Saturday!

 

 So, you don't really want to SHOP this weekend, do you?! How about a Paint-Along instead?

This fuzzy Hereford calf "Taylor" is an earlier painting (pastel, 6x6, sold) that I thought was so cute I've decided to paint him again at my Virtual Open Studio this Saturday (as a Paint-Along!)

I'll be using this other photo of him:

Join me Saturday Nov 28, at 1pm Central Time on Zoom, and paint along with me! Only $15 to register.

Follow along with my complete painting process. I use acrylic-based pastel primers for my underpainting, in gold and terra cotta tones, but many other underpainting mediums will work almost just as well. 

(See some pics of the two steps of "Taylor"s underpainting HERE!)

If you'd like to join us live, be sure to register EARLY for the Zoom invitation, the reference photo, and some tips on how you can utilize any underpainting materials and painting/drawing surfaces you might have on hand. I will even include a drawing trace-out that you can print for quick assistance with your drawing!

REGISTER HERE!

 

A "Peek" at some Small Works for the Holidays

 

"Peek" (Warm Fuzzy #51..?) pastel, 8x4 inches, $285 framed (Buy here)

Peek was one of my demos from the virtual pastel class I taught back in August. Wow, has it been that long?? I didn't realize I had so many paintings I haven't posted here yet! 

This curious emu is one of many small works that I will be taking to the Carriage House Gallery (Boerne Texas) on Wednesday when I work. Each year we focus on Small Works for the Holiday Season, great for gift giving!

Here's a peek at some of the little paintings I'll be hanging at the gallery Wednesday:

A few of these have already sold, but a few more are not pictured here that I'll be framing tomorrow ;)

See something you like, please inquire and I'll send you a closeup!

Here's Peek peeking around the edge of his frame:

See a slide-show of process pics for the making of Peek on my public Patreon post here!

"Mewler in Profile" (Warm Fuzzy #50)

 

Warm Fuzzy #50 - "Mewler in Profile" (pastel, 6x6 inches) $285 framed (buy here)

My latest little portrait of our lovely Mewler kitty! He's such a good model. This was my demo for the Central Texas Pastel Society on Saturday. It went pretty smoothly; I love it when that happens. Then I was able to get right into the house and crop and format this little speed demo from the video I took... all before dinner time! I'm getting better at this!

The 3 minute speed video, hope you enjoy it!...

 

Here's how he looks in the frame:

 

Buckeye (Warm Fuzzy #49)

 "Buckeye" (Warm Fuzzy #49) pastel, 6x6 inches. $285 Click here to buy

Buckeye will be traveling next week to Boerne Texas to be one of the Small Works for the Holidays at the Carriage House Gallery (unless he sells first. ;)

 

For a $10 subscription you can see the full process video of Buckeye on my Patreon page here! But right now you can see a few of the screen shot progress pics on this free public post.

 

Here's how he looks in his frame:

 

 

 

Park Trail #53

 

"Park Trail #53" (pastel, 8x8, sold)

 

This one was my one landscape demo for the recent workshop with MidAmerica Pastel Society. I don't do a whole lot of landscapes, but when I do I just love painting pathways (as evidenced by the "#53" on this one ;) And I love dappled light through the trees.

 

I don't much enjoy tree trunks as a major subject however, so I kept these trunks simple. As usual in my work, it's more about the light!

 

I didn't quite finish this painting in the time I had allotted myself for the demo, so I finished it a few days later.

See some of the progress pics on this public Patreon post!

 

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"Snuggle Ducks" (Warm Fuzzies #47 and #48)

 Warm Fuzzies #47 and #48 - "Snuggle Ducks" (pastel, 8x8 inches) click here to bid or buy

This was my demo for the Pastel Society of North Carolina this morning. Once again, these cute critters are from Fry's Fun Farm (as are about 80% of my baby farm animal pics!) The dappled light really attracted me to this image. And the sheer cuteness of the pose, of course!

Here's the reference pic and the underpainting.

Warm Fuzzy #46 - Gosling

 

Warm Fuzzy #46 - "Gosling" (pastel, 8x4 inches) click here to bid or buy

I just finished two back-to-back 3-day online workshops. Whew! These were what I had been preparing for all these months since the pandemic started and my string of four east coast workshops turned in to two that agreed to stick with it and move to Zoom.

I created my Virtual Open Studio Days in part to "practice" my studio streaming setup in preparation for these two workshops. All the preparation sure paid off because they both went more smoothly than I had anticipated (Well, except for a few moments when Alexa interfered with the connection of my bluetoooth headset and I finally told her to turn off after I realized it was my headset trouble and not everyone else's mics... Ahh, the adventures of technology!)

This cute little "Gosling" was my opening demo for this week's workshop with the PSNC. He was one of the babies at Fry's Fun Farm a few years ago. I love that petting zoo, their baby animals are the best!

Warm Fuzzy #45 - Asa

 

Warm Fuzzy #45 - "Asa" (pastel, 6x6 inches) click here to bid or buy

This whiteface calf had such a noble pose and elegant look about her. She fit so well perfectly centered in a 6x6, and I decided to make the background dark to better set off the glowing white of her face.

For a $10 pledge, you can watch the full-length video of the creation of Asa on my Patreon page here!