Beau

 

"Beau" (pastel, 7x5 inches) bid or buy

 Here's "Beau", from VOS Episode 124 Part 2, which I finally finished. (Muses and Buddies on my Patreon can watch it here!)

See a quick speed video of "Beau" here!

"Gurty" the White Cow

 

"Gurty" (pastel, 6x6 inches) bid or buy

Here's a quick high quality GIF for you, and guess what? I made it myself! My son showed me how. There's a program that only works on Mac or Linux... well, I won't bore you. But I'll probably have to get my son to show me again the next few times too. (PS: If this GIF doesn't play for you, click to watch it here!)

 

Gurty is short for "Yogurt" because doesn't she look like vanilla? Today's your lucky day too because I finished painting Gurty in my Virtual Open Studio Episode 118, Part 2, which I decided to make public for everyone to watch! The 30-minute episode picks up early on in the pastel process, as I had started Gurty elsewhere, but I did manage to find good enough progress pics to put this GIF together. I hope you enjoy it! (And the video too!)

#20 of 21-in-31 "Cowamel"

 

"Cowamel" (pastel, 16x8 inches) is available framed, and will be with me at the Midland Septemberfest Art Festival, Sept 9-11, 2022.

I'm finally on a roll, now that's it's almost the end of the month! That's usually the way these things go. But after #21 I really have to finish those darned donkeys!! (Maybe those can be #22? If I'm lucky..)

I'd had this cute calf partially underpainted for quite a while, so I finished it all up yesterday in front of my phone camera. I really liked the freshness of the terra cotta underpainting part, so I thought I would be able to pastel her quickly... but turns out all those subtle reflected greens and violets in the fur took a lot of attention and a really long time! Much longer than this quick speed video that my son made. 

Enjoy!

 

#13 of 21-in-31 "Hereford Mini"

 

Day #13 of 21-in-31: "Hereford Mini" (pastel, 4x4 inches) bid or buy

What a month! Only 8 more days of my challenge left, and I still have the Rooster Mini to post tomorrow. Pastel Live is almost over. I missed most of today by having to go Costco shopping (yeah the boring normal life of an artist mom...) and since our nearest Costco is 35 minutes away, it's really an all day trip.

But... we had Rana Tagliatelle Grilled White Chicken with Portobello Mushroom, and imported French cheese bread for dinner. 😋 A good trade off.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I hope to get back out to the studio, watch some more Pastel Live demos with half a brain while working on the Donkeys (yes, finally!!) Or maybe I'll be brave instead, put the Donkeys off for another few days, and paint along to Karen Margulis and Brenda Boylan ...and Lyn Diefenbach!? Oooo! That might be a good way to accomplish 3 more paintings for my month? If it doesn't take me six more days to tweak them all up to standard, lol!

Meanwhile, please enjoy this little Hereford Mini speed video! Muses and Buddies on my Patreon page can watch Episode 115 when I pasteled this half-Hereford along with the Baldy Mini, the Busy Bee Mini, and tomorrow's Rooster Mini!

#11 of 21-in-31 "Baldy Mini"

 

#11 of 21-in-31: "Baldy Mini" (pastel, 4x4 inches) bid or buy

I thought I'd mark my half-way point with a half-faced cow! This was one of the 4 little paintings I pasteled at my Virtual Open Studio on Tuesday.  

Next up will be my Pastel Live demo! Whoohoo! (Though it was pre-recorded, it will "go live" Thursday at 3:40 ET) and then I'll get to post it! What a fun week this is! 

Meanwhile, enjoy this little video of this little Baldy!

Half-Faced Hereford

 

"Half-Faced Hereford" (pastel, 12x6 inches) bid or buy

Thank you to the Pastel Society of Southern California for having me do a Themed Thursday with them on Zoom last week!  This was an informal "paint-along" demo, and I decided to paint this simple half-faced Hereford cow, because I like the colors, and the light/shadow value patterns.

So, yeah! Since their Themed Thursdays are free events (some of you were there after I posted about it earlier,) the resulting video is also free! Whhoo-hoo! 😀 Here it is on the PSSC YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/1AEBQrjtyOw

You can find future PSSC Themed Thursdays on their events page when they have one coming up. Past events are there too!

Highlander

 

"Highlander" (pastel, 6x8 inches) bid or buy

Here's the star of my Highland Cow Paint-Along from Saturday! The reference photo was generously shared by my friend and fabulous animal artist Frances Daunt. She lives in the UK, with easier access to these shaggy darlings than I have in Texas. 🙂

My Moo-tastic Muses and Bunny Buddies can access the entire paint-along video! Meanwhile, enjoy this speed video!

Day 18 of 21-in-31: FuzzyMoo

 #18 of 21-in-31 - "FuzzyMoo"  (pastel, 12x12 inches) bid or buy for a limited time on DailyPaintworks

This cute fuzzy bear of a cow was pasteled during this week's Virtual Open Studio.
 

See a GIF of the process here!

Day 15 of 21-in-31: Diamanto

 

"Diamanto" (pastel, 12x12 inches) ($595 framed) is my 15th painting of my 21-in-31 challenge for May. I already had used the name "Spike" but I wanted a title to to justice to his horns, so I did a little research. Diamanto is a Greek name meaning "One which is as pure, strong and sharp as a Diamond".

Diamanto was underpainted during the May 18th VOS (which video I'll be editing next) and just finished pasteling him today. Enjoy these progress pics!

 

Day 12 of 21-in-31: Radcliff

 

Day 12 of 21-in-31: "Radcliff" (pastel, 8x8 inches) Bid or buy for a limited time on DailyPaintworks

This little bull calf was so cute standing there, I wanted to give him a full body portrait instead of just a head shot.

Enjoy this GIF and progress pics!

Day 11 of 21-in-31: Coby

 

Day 11 of 21-in-31: "Coby" (pastel, 10x10 inches)

For my 11th painting of my 21-in-31 challenge for May, I thought it was a good time for a nice backlit young Hereford steer.

Bid on or buy this painting unframed for a limited time at Dailypaintworks.

Enjoy this 3-minute speed video of the painting process!

#10 of 21-in-31: Dior

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

I named her Dior because she reminds me of the black and white gemstone called Diorite. Plus, she just looks so elegant. She really did have those shaped eyebrows! I met this heifer at a friend's ranch while up in Minnesota last fall.

I had fun with my mark-making on this one, and used a relatively limited palette.

Enjoy this video montage of the painting of Dior!

Day 8 of 21-in-31: "Mimoo"

 

Here's Day 8 of 21-in-31: "Mimoo" (pastel, 7x5 inches), the little cousin of Day 7's "Moofasa"! They were both with me at the Boerne Art Waddle yesterday.

See progress pics here!

Day 7 of 21-in-31: Moofasa

 

I've been afraid of slipping behind in my goal of 21-in-31 this month, so I marathoned 3 little pastelings yesterday of some little underpaintings I got done on Wednesday. Here is Day 7 of 21-in-31 "Moofasa" (pastel, 7x5 inches). He'll be with me this Saturday at the Boerne Art Waddle. map here. Stop by the Carriage House Gallery booth on the creek if you're in the area!

Tomorrow I'll post Mimoo, his little cousin, who will also be there!

See a quick GIF here!

Sunday

Finally! For your enjoyment, here's a little speed video of last months' Paint-Along Cute Calf, named "Sunday" (pastel, 8x8 inches) bid or buy here

You can enjoy the actual paint-along here for a $10 pledge on my Patreon page!

Mr. "Smith" goes to The Woodlands too!

 

Here's another favorite picked up from the gallery I just got out of. "Smith" (pastel, 10x10 inches) A classy Braford bull (Hereford Brahman mix.. I just found that out today!) I just love that little strip of late afternoon sunlight on his face... my favorite kind of light.

I painted him just before the pandemic, during one of the festivals where I do caricatures. I would sometimes take underpaintings along to pastel during slow times. (With my then-new Heilman sketchbox and Richeson pastels that I bought at the 2019 IAPS convention!)

Smith is with me at The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival this weekend, April 9&10. (If you're in the area, find me in booth 404 by the Watercolor Terrace in the center of things!)

See progress pics here!

Chic Chick

 

"Chic Chick" (pastel, 6x4 inches)

Here's another one of my little favorites that was languishing in a gallery all through the pandemic. "Chic Chick" is finally home with me and will be with me at The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival this weekend, hopefully to find her forever home. (If you're in the area, find me in booth 404 by the Watercolor Terrace!)

I love this one so much I had her as my Facebook business profile pic for a long while there! Enjoy this fun GIF and progress pics!

"The best paintings are sometimes the simplest."

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!

30-in-30 Paintings in June ... Finished!

 

June 2021 Daily Paintings poster.

I can't believe I really did  it; 30 paintings in 30 days. My usual month in past years had been November because it's otherwise fairly slow. I really wasn't ready in June but I had missed November last year (I missed a lot of things last year, lol) and I was really eager to do a month of paintings. Now July is going to be full of everything I couldn't get done  in June... commissions, paperwork, groceries... but I've proven to  myself that it can be done even when I think I'm too busy. It's a great feeling of accomplishment to look back on the month and see all the paintings. And several of them have also sold, so there's that too!

It's HARD to be a true Daily Painter (completing and posting a new painting every day) so it's become more popular to do it one month at a time. It's a lot easier to accomplish 30 days in a row than 365+ days! I highly recommend a Daily Painting practice for anyone wanting to improve their painting skills and work habits. I also find that Daily Painting and Working Small are inevitably connected, so I want to share this blog post on Why to Paint Small. It might help inspire you to greater smaller daily paintings!

Now I'll have a full booth at the #rockportartfest hosted by @rockportartcenter this weekend, and hopefully a nice couple days to kick back and relax a bit.

This poster has not been ordered yet, but I'll take pre-orders to see how many I should get. It will be 16x20, $25 includes US shipping. Let me know if you'd like one!

Day 13 of 30 - Papayo

 

Day 13 of 30 paintings in June - "Papayo" (pastel, 6x6 inches)

This fuzzy Hereford calf was actually the result of one of my early Paint-Alongs way back in November. However, I was never really satisfied with how he came out, and he sat on my shelf for months just waiting for some tweaks.

After about 40 minutes of tweaking I'm much happier, and Papayo is ready to post! (So of course he counts toward my 30-in-30 this month!)

See a "before and after" GIF and some progress pics here!

Papayo will be auctioned for one week only at DailyPaintworks.com.

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And in case you missed this message earlier...
 
The Feedburner team announced that their email subscription service will be discontinued in July 2021. As a result, Blogger’s email subscription widget, also known as FollowByEmail, will be turned off. Specifically, the email subscription system will no longer work and subscribers to Google blogs will no longer receive email updates.
 
SO! If you're receiving this post via email, I thank you for your subscription, but you will no longer be getting these delivered to you from my Google Blog after this month.  
 
But don't despair! Here are two ways you can still get my (almost) Daily Paintings in your inbox!
 
#1 - Sign up for my website's New Art Alerts. I basically have been pasting the same info into my website art posts as I do here, so you won't be missing a thing. CLICK HERE to get my New Art Alerts from my website at RitaKirkman.com.
 
#2 - Follow my public Patreon Posts. Sure, Patreon is a subscription-based creative support platform, but you don't have to pay anything for my public posts, and just about all of my new work gets posted on my Patreon page, usually with cool little extras like progress pics or short speed videos! CLICK HERE to go to my Patreon Page and right below the membership levels, next to a button that says "share" is a button that says "follow". It's that easy! (Browse around my other free posts while you're in there..)
 
Thanks so much for liking my work and following my blog. Here's to many more years of following my Website or my Patreon, and to many more years of creating!