C is for Cheetah

 On my way back from Florida, I stopped and pulled my work out of the only other gallery I was still in besides my partnership in the Carriage House Gallery in Boerne. Nothing had sold there in quite a while. I know, there was the pandemic, but still. Stuff was still moving (a bit) in Boerne during that time.
So I feel some relief to have one less thing to keep track of, and now I feel like showing off some of the pieces I picked up from there, some of them have aged well!
This is "C is for Cheetah"  (pastel, 20x10 inches, $800 framed) one of the largest paintings in my still unfinished Animal Alphabet Series of 2016. I felt this needed a fairly decent size in order to do justice to the spots.
It also might very well be the ONLY pastel cheetah.   I.  Ever.  Paint.
...Ever.
(OMG, those spots! I don't know how all those wildlife artists do it!)
My favorite part was the reflected light under the chin.
Enjoy this quick GIF and the attached progress photos I dug up from my files.
An alphabet series is a great way to break yourself out of a rut! This worked for me, as evidenced by the fact that I dropped it at "T is for Tiger" (..which I'll post soon!) One of these years I might continue the series and get it done!
What things have you done to get out of a creative rut?

Day 16 - L is for Lion

"L is for Lion"  (pastel, 10x10 inches)  click here to bid or buy

Day 16 in my 30-Paintings-in-30-Days of November, and the next in my currently ongoing Alphabet Series. If you're new to my blog, you can read about my Alphabet Series here!

This fellow had the ideal coloring for my underpainting technique!

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J is for Jaguar

"J is for Jaguar"  (pastel, 8x10 inches)  click here to bid

NOTE from 9/19: This was quickly identified as a Snow Leopard, so I'll be finding another "J" for the alphabet! ;)

I started this one in my workshop last month in Little Rock, but the lighting in the photo was a bit more challenging than I was up to for a workshop demo, so I put it aside for later.

I got in the groove with it today in my studio, listening to Pandora on my new iPhone. I think it worked.

Here are progress shots, from underpainting at the workshop to the finish in studio:

(The color balance that my camera was catching was way off... the finished image at the top is the scanned painting, and quite accurate!)



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C is for Cheetah

"C is for Cheetah"  (pastel, 20x10 inches) $800 framed

This will be the largest painting in my Animal Alphabet Series, in order to do justice to the spots. It also might very well be the ONLY pastel cheetah.   I.  Ever.  Paint.

...Ever.

(OMG, those spots! I don't know how all those wildlife artists do it. ...With acrylics, maybe.)

Some progress shots:

 3 layers of the gold primer, and the spots in terra cotta. (For a more in-depth description of my underpainting materials and process, see this post!

 The background in terra cotta, and some terra cotta "shading" on the figure, using a damp sponge.

 Then the pastel...

 I can't decide between the dark frame or the gold frame. I like them both, but am leaning a bit toward the dark. If you buy it before it's framed, you get to pick! ;)

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Big Chicken

"Big Chicken"  (pastel, 12x12 inches)  click here to bid

Here's a big chicken which has given me a short break from the cuddly cute, sugary sweet bunnies. She's so big I couldn't fit her on a 6x6. She's on a mission and I'm not gonna get in her way.

On another note, I had a recent inquiry from a blog follower about the reason why I paint so often in a small size. What a delightfully stimulating question! Read my long list of answers here on my Art Journal Blog!

Here are some progress shots of Big Chicken:

The gold and terra cotta primers

the reference pic and finished underpainting including the black primer

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