Golden

 

"Golden"  (pastel, 12x9 inches) $1350

Painted in 2017, this is the fourth or fifth portrait I've done using the toned underpainting technique with the gold and terra cotta primers, and it's sill the most successful with my ultimate goal of  letting much of the underpainting "speak" along with the pastel. I think my favorite part is the reflected light under her chin. That's all underpainting and no pastel!

This was one of the merchants at the Texas Renaissance Festival during the daily parade. I love the parade for catching all kinds of excellent pics!

"Golden" is just now beyond her competition age (most competitions require works less than 4 years old) so it's time to bring her out to the art festivals! She'll be with me this weekend at the Naples Downtown Art Show. If you're in the area, find me in booth 222 on 5th ave between 4th and 5th streets.

See progress pics and read more about my process here!

"Cousins" won Best of Show at APS

 "Cousins" (pastel, 32x32 inches) $14,000

I'm beyond thrilled to announce that my weeks of labor on this, my newest large figurative painting, has paid off big time with a Best of Show win at the Austin Pastel Society Annual Juried Member Exhibition 2021 Celebrating Pastels! A huge thank you to show judge and juror Karen Margulis for her inspired decisions. She has curated a beautiful show. Congratulations to all of the winners and all of the accepted entrants. I love the Austin Pastel Society. It hold a dear place in my heart as the first pastel society I ever joined and the sheer talent of the members keeps getting better and better!

The exhibit is showing at the Austin Fine Art Gallery, 2805 Bee Cave Rd, Suite 430, Austin, TX. Feb 6 - March 31, 2021. You can also view the show online on the APS Flickr page HERE (the "2021 AJME Juried Set") A new album will soon be uploaded for the award winners.

This painting for me is about the blurred lines between past, present and future. The focus is on the lovely young girl with an aura of Vermeer in her unselfconsciously classic pose. The past is echoed again in the curve of the antique sofa. But the clothing (not to mention the Nintendo 3DS) declare this scene undeniably modern. The future is in the gaze of this girl who is now (along with her cousin and brother) already a young adult.

I couldn't find a way to fit all of that into one title, so it's just "Cousins." The girl with the gaze is Samantha, my husband's niece. The other girl is our daughter Audrey, next to Adam, Samantha's brother. The reference was composed from several photos taken on a Christmas visit a few years ago.

Their dog, Chico, was added for balance. ;)

Here are some closer views:

Here is an 8 minute slide show of the many progress shots and some short video clips of the process of painting Cousins:

For a $10 pledge you can watch an hour of live underpainting progress HERE, full of conversation and descriptions of my photo editing and much of my thought process behind the composition, along with a little history of my underpainting method.

Persephone awarded in the Richeson75!

"Persephone" (pastel, 8x6 inches) $1150

I'm excited to find out this evening that this painting has won Second Place Other Media in the 2020 Richeson75 Small Works Exhibit and Competition!

Much thanks and appreciation to award judge David Carpenter! Here's what he had to say:
"I really enjoyed this piece for its use of color to produce light. Luminous is the first word that comes to mind when I see this piece from across the gallery. It also becomes more interesting up close because you can see all the marks that went into it."

View the entire online show HERE.

The physical show continues through April 11, 2020, at the Richeson School of Art and Gallery in Kimberly, Wisconsin.

See the progress pics of Persephone on her original blog post HERE.

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Day 7 - Brooke, again!

"Brooke" (pastel, 24x18 inches, from client photo) sold

Day 7 of my 31-in-31 of January!

I discovered I hadn't actually posted this finished portrait yet. This client gets his grandkids' portraits done every 5 years. Wonderful consistency! I'm ever so grateful!

I'm low on time this evening, but take a look at Brooke's portrait from 2015 here, with progress pics! The 2015 portrait was on one of my last sheets of Wallis belgian mist. I've since started using the MingART paper in medium gray instead.

See some of my other pastel portraits (including some commissions) on my website RitaKirkman.com.

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"Transience of Innocence" in Southwest Art Mag

"Transience of Innocence" (pastel, 26x19 inches)


I'm proud to announce that my painting "Transience of Innocence" has won an Honorable Mention in the 2019 Southwest Art Artistic Excellence Competition, and is published in the Dec 2019/Jan 2020 issue (page 70.)
 

Read the article online here. 

 

Read more about this painting's history here!

 

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The Ruby Princess - Best of Show at PSST

"The Ruby Princess" (pastel, 8x6 inches) $1150

One of my new Renaissance portraits is in the Pastel Society of Southeast Texas National Juried Exhibition, Art of the Pastel, ​October 19 - November 16, 2019 at The Gallery at Round Top, 203 E. Austin, Round Top, TX.

I wasn't able to attend the reception on Saturday, but I was so excited to receive a text that my Ruby Princess won Best of Show!! Wow! A huge thank you to show judge Jeannette Cuevas, and congratulations to all the other winners!

See all of this year's winners here:

Some progress pics:

 I started off too light in the highlights so I wiped off that side and went more slowly in the lights.

 The background was too "cotton candy" and the blue wasn't working... so I wiped it off, added more thinned terra cotta primer, and went with some warm greens.

 I used some of my precious Roche iridescent gold pastel here and there..

Young Diana

"Young Diana" (pastel, 10x8 inches) $1200

One of my most recent themed portraits, Young Diana is currently in the Connecticut Pastel Society Renaissance in Pastel 26th Annual National Juried Exhibition, at the Slater Memorial Museum in Norwich, CT. The show will run from October 11 – December 6, 2019.

Many thanks to Jurors of Selection Judith Leeds, Jeanne Tangney and Kurt Weiser for selecting my painting to be included!

Artists Reception: Sunday, October 27, 2:00 – 4:00 PM

Persephone in NYC

"Persephone" (pastel, 8x6 inches) $1150

I'm grateful to have my latest Renaissance portrait "Persephone" (pastel, 8x6 inches) accepted to the prestigious exhibition, the Pastel Society of America's 47th Annual Exhibition Enduring Brilliance! The show hangs at the Grand Gallery of the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, NYC, September 3-28, 2019.

Gallery Tour & Reception, Sept. 20, 6pm
Materials Fair, Sept. 21, 10am – 4pm
Awards Ceremony, Sept. 22, 4pm

Wish me luck! I'm just one award away from PSA Master Pastelist!

Check this PSA page soon for the show to be posted.

See some progress pics of Persephone on her original blog post here.

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Golden - New Award!

"Golden" (pastel, 12x9 inches) $1350

I'm very happy to be able to brag that "Golden" has won the Terry Ludwig Pastels Award at the Pastel Society of Colorado's 15th Annual Mile High National Pastel Exhibition. This makes her fourth award from five shows in 20 months. She's having a good run!

The Mile High Exhibition continues to June 29, 2019, at the Curtis Center for the Arts, 2349 E Orchard Rd, Greenwood Village, CO. Big thanks to Barbara Jaenicke for judging the show, and to Terry Ludwig for his generous donation!

An eloquent quote from Barbara:  
    "It's apparent from the title that the artist effectively stayed on track with a clear visual statement about her subject; a statement that could easily be overdone without the adept skill and experience evident in this painting. ...This artist very successfully balanced the color temperature, intensity and edge treatment so that the concept was subtle but still clear, making this piece a truly 'golden' winner."

Read more about Golden and her list of recognition here!

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Persephone

"Persephone" (pastel, 8x6 inches)

"Persephone", my newest addition to my Renaissance Portrait Series, has been accepted into the Austin Pastel Society's Juried exhibit. (She will also be going to IAPS  - the International Pastel Master's Circle Exhibit at the Convention in June!) That was my plan, one painting for two shows...

Actually, my original plan was a much larger painting with three figures but I ran out of time to complete, so Persephone was my Plan B.

You can see her and the other amazing paintings of the members of the Austin Pastel Society at the Chase Bank Building Corridor of Art, 700 Lavaca Street, Austin, TX, now through April 28, 2019.

Or peek at the show here, online!

Join us at the reception: Thursday, March 21 from 2 – 4 p.m.

Click here for directions and more show info.

Just for you! Some progress shots of Persephone:

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Golden - Earning Her Keep!

"Golden" (pastel, 12x9 inches) $1350

I've been in the habit of using my extensive collection of images from Renaissance festivals to create new works in my Renaissance Portrait series and send them off to shows to try to win stuff. I've learned it's a lot more economical to compete with a small gem of a portrait than a larger figurative work. Saves a lot on shipping, for one thing!

My most recent Renaissance portrait, Golden, has been working hard this year and has come up "golden"! She has most recently won the HK Holbein Inc. Award from the Connecticut Pastel Society Renaissance in Pastel 25th Annual National Juried Exhibition. (Which, by the way, is my third award as a member of the CPS, and earns for me the right to apply for Signature Status! Whoo yay!)

At the same time, I received notification that she has been selected as one of the Fav15% in the September 2018 BoldBrush Painting competition hosted by FASO.

Her earlier awards have been First in Show at the Austin Pastel Society's 2018 Annual Juried Members Exhibition and the Terry Ludwig Pastel Award at the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod annual exhibition For Pastels Only on Cape Cod 2017.

To start off her exhibition career, her first exhibit was with The Cultural Association “PASIT Pastellisti Italiani” First International Exhibition of Pastel Painting in Tivoli, Italy (Province of Rome) in 2017.

What a great run! She's nearing the end of her show life, as most exhibitions want work that has been created in the last two years. No worries though, as I'll be enjoying this weekend with my daughter at the same Texas Renaissance Festival where I've gotten most of my reference pics -- and the weather is cooperating! Cool air and sunshine! Yay!

See Golden's original post HERE, with progress shots!

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Transience of Innocence - Honorable Mention in Pastel 100

"Transience of Innocence" (pastel, 26x19 inches) sold

I've been bursting with excitement, and had to wait to brag that my painting Transience of Innocence has won an Honorable Mention in the Portrait & Figure Category of the Pastel Journal's 20th annual Pastel 100 competition. A very grateful thank you goes to Diane Rappisi who juried the category!

An image of the painting will be published in the April 2019 issue of Pastel Journal. This is very exciting, as there were more than 2,000 entries!

You can read a bit of the exhibition history of Transience of Innocence on this earlier blog post, and see all the progress shots here, including the photo composition!

Thanks for reading! :)

Sugar and Jasmine - a Serendipitous Commission

"Sugar and Jasmine" (pastel, 10x10 inches) sold

I've been wanting to post this one for a while. It was a serendipitous commission from Christmastime. Jasmine's parents had come to my craft show location wanting a portrait of her pooch, and we looked over several photos...

And then they asked me about drawing them both together and showed me this photo on their phone:

I was, of course, immediately taken by the light! (Not the light rays though... what a nightmare that would be!) And I told them they should really consider pastel! I guess I was convincing because after we discussed the price tag they told me they'd think about it (I thought, oh well, lost that one...) but then came back within the hour and placed the order!

They even ordered a pencil one of Sugar by herself, in black & white:

"Sugar" (conte and pastel pencil, 10x8)

Here are some shots of my progress with Sugar and Jasmine's portrait. I used the same warm underpainting that I enjoy doing for most of my pastel work:

Thanks for watching! Please share!

:)