"Finley" the Fawn

 

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

See a 40 second slide show video of the creation of Finley here!

T is for Tiger

 

"T is for Tiger" (pastel, 12x12)

Among the few paintings I picked up from a gallery last month, this is one of my favorites from my Alphabet Series. I started the series a few years back to get myself out of a painting slump. It worked, as the series is still not complete!

I was really happy with the looseness I was able to achieve with this tiger. I really don't know why he hasn't sold yet, when the Lion and the Meerkat and the Dolphin and the Hippo and many others (even the Quail!) all sold pretty quickly. But that's to my benefit now, because I can take this Tiger to The Woodlands Waterway Art Fest next weekend (near Houston TX.) If you're in the area be sure to stop by, I'll be in booth 404 by the Water Color Terrace near the center of things!

Enjoy these progress pics of "T is for Tiger"!

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?

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!

Day 25 of 30 - Blackbird

Day 25 of 30 paintings in June - "Blackbird" (pastel, 6x6 inches)

I decided to paint this one directly on a gray board without a terracotta underpainting. I think it suits the values of this bird well.

See a speed video of this painting's process here!

See this piece and others like it at the #rockportartfest hosted by @rockportartcenter located right on the beautiful coast of Texas!

$305, price includes frame and US shipping.

Day 15 of 30 - Ambre

 

Day 15 of 30 paintings in June - "Ambre" (pastel, 12x6 inches)

One of the mamas of some of the fawns in our back yard. She comes up for horse biscuits and will eat out of our hands. (I probably painted her as a fawn a few years ago!)

On auction for one week only at DailyPaintworks.com.

See a progress video here!

Day 12 of 30 - Fay

 

Day 12 of 30 paintings in June - "Fay" (pastel, 8x6 inches) 

Another sweet fawn from last spring.

See some progress pics here, or for a $10 pledge you can watch the full length video of the creation of this painting on my Patreon page. (And many more vids too!)

Fay will be on auction for one week only, on DailyPaintworks.com. After that I'll be saving my paintings for the Rockport Art Fest July 3 & 4.

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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!

Day 10 of 30 - Bambina

Day 10 of 30 paintings in June - "Bambina" (pastel, 6x4 inches) bid or buy here for one week only

Our neighborhood deer are popping out fawns like crazy the last week or so. I've seen one little one many mornings in our back yard. We've had a lot of rain so the grass really needs mowing!

Watch a speed video of Bambina's painting here!

And by the way, in case you missed this message earlier, I need to tell you something!
 
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!

Blue and Gold

 "Blue and Gold" (pastel, 10x8 inches) $450

This was actually my first paint-along (with practice critiques) way back in October. I realized I hadn't actually posted the finished painting publicly, so here it is!

Also, I dug this one up because I've decided to add it to my Solo Show (which continues to be going very well!) Sylvie, the gallery manager, is a whiz with sales!

Enjoy a bunch of progress pics extracted from the video, on this post!

 

 

Nutty (Warm Fuzzy #62)

 

Warm Fuzzy #62 - "Nutty" (pastel, 7x5 inches) 

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

I managed to get three little fuzzies done this week during my Wednesday at the Carriage House Gallery. (Shhhh... just between you and me, I like working Wednesdays because they're relatively slow, and I can get a lot done!)

My travel setup - from the left: Rembrandts, Blue Earth, and my Heilman Sketchbox with a variety of Jack Richeson, Terry Ludwig, Art Spectrum Extra Soft Square, and a few pieces of Diane Townsend Terrages. Behind the sketchbox is a Ravenna table easel (also called a sketchbox, lol)

Nutty will be included in my Solo Exhibition, Kindred Spirits, at the ARTS for Rural Texas in Fayetteville, March 27 - May 29, 2021. Opening Reception March 27, 5-7pm.

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!

"Baby Sea Turtle"

 

"Baby Sea Turtle" (pastel, 6x12 inches) $390 framed

I wanted to title this in my "Warm Fuzzy" series, but...   hmmm...

He's still cute! Painted much larger than life, this baby was about 2 inches long! I caught some photos of this baby at a zoo on my travels a couple years ago. I had a lot of fun painting the strange color temperatures of the aquarium lighting.

This little turtle was pasteled last week in my Virtual Open Studio, and underpainted last month. You can see the full-length video of the pastel process here on my Patreon page (with a subscription.)

"Baby Sea Turtle" will be listed among my paintings available at the Online Woodlands Waterway Art Festival next month. They're doing a really good job of setting up an online gallery and virtual experiences for artists and collectors. I'm still getting my artwork organized and uploaded to the system.

Here are some progress pics from the underpainting and the pastel video:

Warm Fuzzy #38 - Fable

 

 

Warm Fuzzy #38 - "Fable" the fawn (pastel, 7x5 inches) click here to bid or buy

 

The last of five little underpaintings that I pasteled last month at the Carriage House Gallery. Watch a public speed video of Fable's process on my Patreon page!

 

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Warm Fuzzy #34 - Fawzia

Warm Fuzzy #34 - "Fawzia" (pastel, 6x4 inches)

I've decided to enter Fawzia the fawn into the PSWC Pastels USA Exhibition, so I won't be auctioning her just yet. Wish me luck!

This was the first of the last five littles from the last batch of underpaintings. I got them all pasteled last week during my work days at the Carriage House Gallery in Boerne, TX. Here's a 12 minute speed video of Fawzia's pastel progress:

Wow, I have really been collecting a lot of video footage!! You can watch a real-time video of the preliminary underpainting of Fawzia, along with the others in this batch (and more!) on my Patreon page here, by becoming a Patron!

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Warm Fuzzy #26 - Panda Eating an Apple

Warm Fuzzy #26 - "Panda Eating an Apple" (pastel, 10x8 inches) click here to bid or buy

I just felt like something different, so here's a big fat hungry warm fuzzy for you!

Something else a bit different... my first speed demo video in over a year! My plan is to put out more vids in the near future. :)

Another plan for the near future is some kind of online video lessons or classes. Yup! Finally I get motivated to do more with virtual art instruction, right as we begin pulling out of the Covid-19 lockdown and start to get out more... well, I always was a late bloomer. But, times are changing in unforeseen ways, and I believe some things that have taken root in the time of isolation will be blooming for years to come, among those will be a rise in continued online interaction.

We shall see! I'm currently working the kinks out of my techie video setup and waiting on the last couple bits of equipment. Leave me a comment if you'd be interested in being on the waiting list for my first online classes, workshops or open studio days!

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Day 10 - Blue and Gold Macaw

"Blue and Gold Macaw" (pastel, 8x6 inches) click here to bid or buy

Day 10 of my 31-in-31 posts for January 2020!

I painted this one today (finally) while working the Carriage House Gallery. When I finished, I realized how short and mussed he is. I believe he may have been recovering from an injury (I took the reference photo at a small zoo for rescued animals.) When I took the photo I hadn't noticed. I was attracted by the light and the intelligent look in his eye.

at the gallery with my Heilman sketchbox and side of Rembrandts

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Ozzie

"Ozzie" (pastel, 12x6 inches) $300 unframed for a limited time

One of two paintings I finished at the Carriage House Gallery on Saturday, since I needed at least a couple of paintings with me to my workshop in Montreal this weekend. I haven't been painting any "inventory" (aka: Non-Commissioned Work) recently and so I didn't have any new available unframed paintings... and since I'm flying to this workshop, I can't just toss all my stuff and a bunch of framed artwork into my van...

Anyway, I really like Ozzie, I think he's cute. And I'd kill for those eyelashes!

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Otter

"Otter" (pastel, 10x8 inches) sold

Just one of my demos from the South Dakota workshop at Abbey of the Hills, that had slipped by without getting posted! I caught several photos of this otter through the underwater window of his enclosure. He lives at the Bramble Park Zoo in Watertown, SD. It's a small zoo but well worth a visit!

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Trixie

"Trixie" (pastel, 8x6 inches) $230 unframed for a limited time

Thought it was time for another bunny, so I included her in my practice demo..

I'll have Trixie and the others (unframed) with me at my IAPS pastel workshop on Wednesday, June 5.

underpainting

 Framing choices... Trixie will be $300 with a frame... if she lasts that long.

Viola

"Viola" (pastel, 8x6 inches) $230 unframed for a limited time.

So I did another little batch of four paintings to practice some more for my demo at IAPS, "An Assembly Line Approach to Daily Painting". Got my time down a little bit, and I'm fairly confident I'll be able to put on a good show! I'll schedule to post these new little ones in the next few days as I travel to Albuquerque and settle in for the week of pastel fun.

By the way, there's still more room in my demo on Friday, and one space has opened up in my Wednesday workshop, if you're not already registered for the convention, you can sign up in person at the Hotel Albuquerque on June 5.

 

Thanks for reading, hope to see you soon!

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