Bull Profile #1

"Bull Profile #1"  (pastel, 15" circle) 

Here's the first of several bulls I photographed at a local rodeo festival. They were moving restlessly about in their small pen, so I was able to get a lot of various angles. But even then I had a suspicion I would be wanting to do profiles soon.

I just love the floppy horns.

Here are some progress shots:

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No Bull! (at the Bayou City Art Festival)

"No Bull!"  (pastel, 36x36 inches)  $5000  sold

This lovely Longhorn cow is my largest pastel painting to date! I worked long hours to get this one ready for the Bayou City Art Festival in Houston, TX, this weekend (March 28-30. I am in Booth #5 near the main entrance.) I like to have at least one large show-stopper at an art fair, and since last year I sold 4 of my largest paintings (2 of them at this Memorial Park BCAF) I was due for a new one. I recently found out that the Art Glass my framer gets is in fact available larger than 32x40, so I measured the back opening of my truck, added the frame width, and said "I can make a painting 36" wide!"

So I did.

Here are just a handful of the many many shots I took during the painting process, just to show a quick progression:

the gold and terra cotta primer underpainting

here with the photo on my iPad, gives a sense of scale!

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Pumpkin

"Pumpkin"  (pastel, 12" circle)  $550 framed

Pumpkin will be with me at the Bayou City Art Festival in Memorial Park, Houston, TX, this weekend March 28-30, 2014. I'll be in booth #5 near the main entrance.

Saturday's forecast for Houston: Sunny, with a high near 77. Can't beat that!!

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Chocolat

"Chocolat" (pastel, 12" circle) $550 framed

I was able to squeeze in a couple more circle paintings before packing for the weekend. Chocolat (pronounced with a french accent) will be with me at the Bayou City Art Festival in Memorial Park, Houston, TX, this weekend March 28-30, 2014. I'll be in booth #5 near the main entrance. (I might also have some chocolates...)

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Pennyroyal

"Pennyroyal"  (pastel, 10x10 inches)  $435 framed

Another darling deer. I had to give up on the "D" names since I had already used "Daisy" on a white calf, and this deer doesn't look anything like a daisy anyway. So I looked up some names for purple flowers.

I'm beginning to like the look of the dull, foggy, cloudy days in my reference photos, because in Photoshop this is what I can do with them:

original photo

photo - cropped and adjusted in Photoshop!

It would be fun to give a workshop sometime on Photoshop basics, although I'm no expert. I just know how to do what I do with it. And everyone there would need a computer and Photoshop, which isn't cheap...  But it would still be fun! The composing with PS is the first 'creative' step I take in every new painting's process (unless I'm working from life, which is a whole different mode...)

"Pennyroyal" will be with me at the Bayou City Art Festival in Houston's Memorial Park this weekend, March 28-30. I have booth #5, right up near the front entrance.

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Tangled

"Tangled"  (pastel, 8x8 inches)  $325 framed

Ok, here's my other Casey Klahn workshop painting that didn't turn out too badly. I did a few improvements on it right before scanning it.

...And I just discovered I never took a photo of it earlier... oops. Well, take my word for it, it looks better now.

Tangled will be with me at the Bayou City Art Festival in Houston's Memorial Park this weekend, March 28-30. I'm in booth #5, right up near the front entrance. Stop by if you're in the area!

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