Calypso

"Calypso" (pastel, 7x5 inches)  click here to bid

I felt this fancy-dressed cow needed a fancy-party name!

See progress shots below:

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Peek-A-Burro II, and Workshop!

"Peek-A-Burro II" (pastel, 14x11 inches) donated

I don't normally re-use original, witty titles like this one (usually just the boring titles like "Road Sketch" or "Park Trail" or "Cloud") but I had to make an exception here because I honestly couldn't come up with a another title for this image that fit half so well, and this is the third painting I've done from the reference photo. I do have another possible title, but I'm very likely going to paint from this same reference yet again, and wanted to reserve the title for that one.

I just mailed off this Peek-a-Burro, my donation for the ACT (Artists Changing Tomorrow) International Invitational Exhibit and Silent Auction, sponsored by Arts for Rural Texas. Since 2010, ACT has raised over $100,000 that has contributed to arts and cultural events for over 6000 children and adults. Research reflects that the arts contribute substantially to tourism and economic development in communities. 

Visit www.act4art.com to find out more, and check back in a couple days to see "Peek-A-Burro II" among the posted artwork available in ACT2014!

On another note, there are still a few spaces left in my 3-day "Pastel in Miniature" workshop coming up soon, Nov. 21-23., in Breckenridge, TX. A small town between Fort Worth and Abilene, it hosts a gorgeous Arts Center with a to-die-for workshop room! Don't miss out on this one!

Register by mail or online with Paypal! Visit my Workshop Page for registration info and lodging guide.

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Ethel

"Ethel"  (pastel, 7x5 inches)  click here to bid

Doesn't she look like the perfect gossipy hen? I personally don't know anyone named Ethel (and any resemblance to any person, real or imagined, is purely coincidental) but this chick called to mind the attitude and expression of the 1050's stereotype of the 'gossipy hen.' 'Ethel' seemed to fit this one better than 'Hedda' or 'Louella.'

Here are some progress shots!

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Andy Warhol

 "Andy Warhol" (Prismacolor markers and color sticks, 14x11 inches) click here to bid

Here's a left curve thrown at 'ya. Definitely not a cow, or a Renaissance portrait. As some of you know, caricatures have been one of my major art forms since 1988, and still bring in some good income along with pencil portraits at Christmastime, in the craft show at Rolling Oaks Mall, San Antonio (this year, Dec. 12-24, 2013.)

Each year I try to draw up some new samples for my display. Sometimes people want to buy the display sample. So that I can sell my samples without moaning about how "...I'll never be able to draw 'so-and-so' that good again!" I've started saving my originals, scanning them and laminating a print for the display. Then I replace the print when it sells.

So now that I have a bunch of original caricatures lining a tube in my studio, I've finally asked myself, "What, am I going to save these 'til I'm old and gray, like they're some kind of investment?"

...

...Nah.

I decided I would try this one out on the Daily Paintworks auction and see what happens. As an added perk, I'll include the pre-sketch with the finished original.

The pre-sketch is where all the thinking and creativity happens. It's where I think like a caricaturist in order to exaggerate. The peach, blue, and black 'layers' are the order of my visual process, and allow me to fine-tune the exaggeration with tiny adjustments each time. Then I slip this under my final paper, and trace the outline for the finished work.

That sounds like a lot of work, you say? Yes. That's why I don't like re-drawing my samples and why I started scanning them instead.

Do I put this much work into my paying customers' sketch?

...Ah...   No.  (But that's a whole different blog post having to do with the amazing power of speed-drawing while entertaining a crowd.)

Fyi: Here are the photos I found online that were the references for Andy's caricature.

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Elfling

"Elfling" - finally!! (pastel, 8x6 inches)

The secret to happiness, according to Winston Churchill, is "...to find a task that requires perfection, is is impossible to achieve, and spend the rest of your life trying to achieve it." That's the way I felt painting this one, for sure! I think what I've learned is that for an easier time, I should pick a subject that is less beautiful and a photo that is less magical. This little girl won the childrens' costume contest at the Renaissance Festival a few years back, and I've been awed by her beauty ever since. She really did look like an elf, sprite, or woodland fairy creature. She had an ethereal, otherworldly glow about her and an expression of such innocence that after no less than four completed attempts, I still didn't quite catch. I also made her look older, not on purpose. But after the struggle I had working this into a painting that I could be happy with, I decided to stop well short of the perfection of her reality. I've decided not to post the photo here, it just makes me disappointed in the portrait.

I have tons of progress shots, ranging over more than a year of sporadic effort on this piece. Too many to post here so I'm going to attempt a sort of animated movie showing her from start to finish (..to second finish... then third finish... then fourth...)

For now I'll just show you the three other versions that I thought were finished, until I decided they weren't.
(btw, none of these others are separate paintings, but are stages of the progress of this one, that were wiped out or modified as she progressed into what you see above, the final finished "Elfling.")

(Woah! Bad color on this shot!)  July 2012. The first 'almost-finish'. I didn't like the dangling berry-things. I had painted them 'cause they were in the photo.

The second 'finish' done at the Bayou City Art Fest, Houston, October 2013.

October 2013. The third 'finish', done at my desk right after scanning the second finish. This was several minor touch-ups that raged out of control!

Lastly, once again - the FINAL finish - "Elfling". November 2013. She's not perfect, but she's much closer than the others, and a beautiful painting without the reference photo to spoil my memory!

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for a link to the 'video-compilation'!


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Duckling in the Light

"Duckling in the Light"  (pastel, 7x5 inches)  click here to bid

Some of you, if you connect with me on FB, may have heard of the fierce battle with the progress of my latest Renaissance Portrait.

It's been frustrating, but I was determined not to have a cow about it.

I had a duckling instead.

It was cathartic. Thanks for watching! Please share!


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