Winter White

 

"Winter White" (pastel, 8x8 inches) Click here to bid or buy

This fuzzy bunny was the star of my recent Paint-Along!

Subscribe to my Patreon to see the full paint-along video here!

See a quick progress video here!

Cowconut

 

"Cowconut" (pastel, 5x5 inches) Click here to bid or buy!

Goodness! I almost forgot this little white calf that has been hanging out in my studio since the Minnesota workshop in October! Time to get her posted!

See progress pics here!

Shaggy Sheep

 

 "Shaggy Sheep" (pastel, 8x8 inches)

Here's a quick video of the shaggy star of November's Paint-Along! Woah, what a poufy hairdo! Quite popular actually, this ewe has been featured in several paintings over the years... you can see them all on my Patreon page here!

Click here to bid or buy

Little Glass Carafe

 

"Little Glass Carafe" (pastel, 6x4 inches) click here to bid or buy

This is one of my little daily paintings from earlier. I felt like something different that week.
Normally, I don't believe in doing still life from photos, but a friend of mine in Frederickburg has a wonderful collection of THINGS, that the last time I was there I took tons of pics of bunches of her stuff, in the light of a lamp.

Here are a few progress pics:

Straight Up

 

"Straight Up"  (pastel, 5x7 inches)  click here to bid or buy

Here's one of the two paintings I did from my hotel room window, after wimping out on the cold Saturday afternoon at the Plein Air convention. I took tons of beautiful photos, and really was dying to paint. I'm just too much of a 'studio' painter to uncover my hands and stand in one spot outside when it's less than, say, 65 degrees!

Here was one view from our hotel room (the view changed very rapidly on Saturday!)

...and here was the painting I attempted to create from the awe-inspiring view:

"Weathered Range" (pastel, 4x6 inches)

I had to settle for a general impression of the range, and the feeling of temperamental cloud patterns, as various mountains appeared and disappeared with the clouds and rain. It was also a learning experience to realize how very high-key such a distant landscape really is when viewed with the eye. The photo shows it much darker than it really was. Still, I had a very hard time with the red of the rock; that was quite subtle and difficult. I was glad I hadn't tried this outdoors!
When I finally tired of keeping up with this view, I rolled my eyes in frustration and caught sight of the breaking clouds above. I instantly set to work on "Straight Up", which was much less trouble, as clouds still look like clouds even when they change position. This little piece of sky soothed my need for some sort of creative success on that day!

Sunset #60

 

"Sunset #60" (pastel, 6x8 inches) $300 framed

Here's the other little sunset from my September Sunsets paint-along!

Enjoy a quick progress GIF here!

 

Sunset #59

 

"Sunset #59" (pastel, 8x8 inches) $375 framed

This is one of the miniature sunsets I painted during my September Sunsets paint-along.

Enjoy a quick progress video here!

Resting Rhinoceros

 "Resting Rhinoceros" (pastel, 12x12 inches) bid or buy here

I was scrambling around my studio in the days before my workshop trip to Minnesota, trying to pack for the workshop and an art festival, and right after returning from doing caricatures somewhere else. It was a hectic time! I needed to prep some demos for the workshop and another (preferably larger) demo for after their meeting. So I grabbed this rhino that I had just barely started the first layer of underpainting somewhere around 2018 I think (so long ago I can NOT find the first photo of it anywhere!) and it was still hanging out in my studio...  I figured I could finish painting it as my demo for the Lake Country Pastel Society meeting on the second evening of the workshop.

Read more and see a couple of progress pics here!

Halloween Skull Paint-Along/Draw-Along

 

Meet Harry... a spooky, bald, fleshless model. We'll be drawing or painting Harry in a variety of poses on October 30 at 1pm CT via Zoom.
I'll start off with a quick diagram of basic skull proportions, then will proceed to draw Harry using a variety of drawing materials on a variety of papers. You can use the medium of your choice. It’s whatever you want to make of it. We'll have a spooky good time!
Register for the Halloween Skull Paint-Along/Draw-Along here!

Walnut River Trail

 

"Walnut River Trail" 5x7 graphite.

So I'm traveling north this month for an art festival (Red Wing Fall Arts Festival) and then a workshop in Minneapolis, and while traveling I thought it might be cool to post a drawing-a-day!
This is a difficult habit to start! I missed yesterday (posted some caricatures from last weekend instead) so today I paused in my morning walk to do this little sketch.
If you'd like to catch these little drawings during these 2 weeks, follow my public Patreon posts, or my Facebook or Instagram. 🙂

She was always awkward in family photos (my latest sheep painting!)

 

"She was always awkward in family photos" (pastel, 30x30 inches) $4500

This painting had been in the works since April after my two other large sheep paintings sold from my solo show! I guess I might become known as the "sheep lady" instead of the "cow lady" lol!

Watch a 5 minute speed demo of this painting Here! It includes a short intro explaining my thought process for the composition and how I made it. Some closeup details also in that link!

Park Trail #55

 

  "Park Trail #55" (pastel, 8x8 inches) framed. Buy here.

Finally, here was my last demo from the August workshop in New Braunfels. The 3rd day is when I usually do a landscape demo. 

I sometimes like to show an alternate underpainting method, so I painted this one with a pastel underpainting washed in with denatured alcohol, starting on one of my single-primed gold-colored boards. Unfortunately I didn't get any process pics during the demo, but it was the same process I used on Park Trail #41, here.

I thought I was done with this painting three times, click here to view pictures and read more!

Little Brown Pig - Day 21 of 21-in-31

"Little Brown Pig" (pastel, 6x6 inches)
Yay! I did 21-paintings-in-31-days of August! That was a lot easier than 31 paintings for sure. In fact, I actually did a little bit more but haven't posted everything. There were two pencil portraits of young sisters half-way through the month, and I still have the landscape demo from the workshop to post.
Maybe I can keep up the momentum and post 20-in-30 for September...
Maybe...

See a quick GIF of this little pig here!

 On auction for one week only at Dailypaintworks!

Fiesta Llama - Day 20 of 21-in-31

 

"Fiesta Llama" (pastel, 12x6 inches)

This llama has very dark fur, but in the sunlight somehow it all got very colorful. I guess that happens sometimes with my paintings.

See progress pictures here!

On auction for one week only at Dailypaintworks!

Screech Owl - Day 19 of 21-in-31

 

"Screech Owl" (pastel, 8x6 inches) 

This cute little guy was a model for a demo I did years ago in Ohio. A bird rescue place volunteered to show us their residents, and since I have a soft spot for Screech Owls, they let me take some quick pics of this one to paint from. (I wasn't going to try it from life, lol!)
This painting is ever so very slightly larger than life size though. Screech owls are the cutest!

See a quick progress video here!

On auction for one week only at Dailypaintworks!

Who You Calling Chicken? - Day 18 of 21-in-31

 

"Who You Calling Chicken?" (pastel, 6x4 inches)

I painted this rooster once before, and I was drawn to his bright palette. You can view that painting here, on the post for "Bruiser"!

Click here to watch a little GIF of this painting's process!

On auction for one week only at Dailypaintworks!

"Monke" - Day 17 of 21-in-31

 

"Monke" (pastel, 6x6 inches) On auction for one week only at DailyPaintworks.

This would have been the third painting in my workshop triple-demo, if I had finished it then. I finished it today instead. I'm not quite sure what kind of monkey this is, but my son and I think he looks kinda like a monk (in a homespun cowled hood) so we're calling him Monke.

Watch a quick GIF here!

Brahms - Day 16 of 21-in-31

 

"Brahms" (pastel. 12x6 inches, sold)
My opening demo for the workshop this past weekend. I like these half-face compositions sometimes, it really makes one look at the lines and value patterns. I even came back in from a short break partway through and for a half-second could not recognize what it was! 😂

The workshop was exhausting and wonderful and it was great to get back into some real life in-person communication!
Enjoy this speed video of Brahms the Brahman steer.
Here's a group shot of my talented students and me!

Chickiepoo - Day 15 of 21-in-31

 

"Chickiepoo" (pastel, 4x4 inches) sold

This is the second painting from my triple demo in my weekend workshop, the third one not being completed yet. 

Click here to watch a quick speed video of "Chickiepoo"'s painting process.

Here's a photo one of my participants took of me painting!

Today's Horse - Day 14 of 21-in-31

 

Today's horse. (pastel, 7x5 inches)

One of my triple-demo from the workshop today. Second day of my first F2F workshop in 19 months! We've been so busy in the workshop that I forgot to take more progress pics. But here's what it looked like in the first underpainting stage. This cute little miniature horse also has no title yet because she's already sold, and I like to let my buyers have the titling honor on brand new paintings. 

Red McComb - Day 13 of 21-in-31

 

"Red McComb" (pastel, 8x6 inches)

This was the star of my rooster paint-along! On auction for a limited time at Dailypaintworks!

Here's a collage of some participant paintings. They really caught the glow!

Click here to see a little GIF of "Red McComb" in progress.

For a $10 pledge, you can watch the full painting process with commentary on my Patreon!

Nance Family Portrait

 

"Nance Family Portrait" (conte and pastel pencil, 24x36 inches)

This was a super duper family portrait commission from last month. 13 faces from 10 photos! Watch a (slightly slower) 7-minute speed video of this portrait process, along with some conversation about my portrait career, here!

For info on how to commission a pencil portrait like this, visit RitaKirkmanDrawings.com.

Oswald - Day 12 of 21-in-31

"Oswald" (pastel, 12x6 inches)

Another big, funny bird deserved a portrait!

See progress pics here!

On auction for a limited time at Dailypaintworks!

Little Beggar - Day 11 of 21-in-31

 

"Little Beggar" (pastel, 5x7 inches)

I met this young deer at a wildlife refuge on my travels, and she was begging for food at my car window! I thought the foreshortened pose would be interesting to paint.

Click here to see some progress pictures of "Little Beggar"!

On auction for a limited time at Dailypaintworks!

Red Red - Day 10 of 21-in-31

"Red Red" (pastel, 10x10 inches)

Here's the horse portrait I mentioned yesterday on the post for "Sa Sa". This makes a complete set for this client!

"Sa Sa" (pastel, 12x9 inches)

"Tuan Tuan" (pastel, 10x10 inches)

"Dot Dot" (pastel, 8x6 inches)

 

Watch a quick speed video of Red Red's painting process here!

Sa Sa - Day 9 of 21-in-31

 

"Sa Sa" (pastel, 12x9 inches)

Yay! My client told me the names of her pets! This one is "Sa Sa". I've really enjoyed doing these dogs for her. It's been such an interesting variety of lighting from her photos.
Tomorrow I'll paint the horse, Red Red!

See a quick speed video of Sa Sa's painting process here!

Chihuahua - Day 8 of 21-in-31

 

 "Chihuahua" (pastel, 8x6 inches)

Here's the Chihuahua portrait I mentioned yesterday on the Fuzzy Puppy post. I've got two more portrait commissions for this client, and I'm hoping she gets back to me on their names so I don't have to call them "Horse" and "Golden Retriever" 😂

Click here to watch a quick speed video of this little dog's painting process!

Fuzzy Puppy - Day 7 of 21-in-31

 

"Fuzzy Puppy" (pastel,  10x10 inches)

 This fuzzy puppy is one of four pet portrait commissions for a client this month. I finished her Chihuahua a couple days ago, and have another dog and a horse to go! Hopefully I'll get to post the Chihuahua tomorrow.

Click here to watch a quick speed video of this pup's painting process!

Poppy - Day 6 of 21-in-31

 

"Poppy" (pastel, 7x5 inches) bid or buy here

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas to me! I found this painting that had not been posted yet. Somehow it got overlooked in the computer for months! I had finished it at the last minute before delivering several small paintings to my solo show opening in March, and it just got swept up with the others and somehow missed being posted. 

SO! Since it's still available I've decided to count it towards my 21 paintings to post this month. Poppy will take the place of a painting I did today that I probably won't be posting because it was a "copy" of another recent painting that a client wanted me to paint for them because they missed out on buying it first. I don't do copies very often, but when I do, I don't really like to post them if they're from a painting that was recent.

See a nifty little GIF of Poppy here!