40 Winks

This gent was out for the count (oh, there's another title for it)... on a cruise to Jamaica last year.
He of course had no idea I took this shot of him, eye glasses askew, mouth wide open, and snoring his head off.

I loved the way the sun came in from one of the windows, just catching his leg and his yellow shirt.

It's another pastel on velour .. hope you find these as comical as I do when I am painting them, the characters just have such personality for me, I actually find myself chuckling as I draw them.

Cappuccino Please

I have done this lady before, but placed her on the beach, this time she is in the environment she was in originally, a cafe near

by.

I am not totally happy with this one though, however am too tired of it to struggle anymore, onto the next I say!

Run For It !

These were two of my students in Kerrville a few months ago, we all got caught in a shower, hence the title, although I don't think any of us was capable of running. LOL.

A slow trot was more the case.

Pastel again, on velour paper.

Who's Who At Nordsrom's

I was at the mall last weekend, and took a few photos of the manikins in the stores as well as people just sitting out under the trees.

I composed this painting from two photos, each from different areas of the mall, but I loved the blue manikins, and having my main figure of the girl in the red shirt sitting beside the seated manikin just tickled my fancy.

Rainy Day Blues

Okay, it's not all blues I know, but the title came to me before the painting, the greens sneaked into it, sorry about that.

I felt I needed simplicity after the last post, this one was a very quick study of a lady at a garden center while it was just sprinkling a light rain.

I feel very happy with the outcome, it was not a huge issue to paint, and it came together quickly, sometimes that happens to us huh? Nice when it does.

I particularly like the tension of having the figure chopped off, and such a lot of foreground to lead up to it. I am striving for the unpredictable in my work, sometimes it happens, when we break the RULES..

Boardwalk Babes

Well this lovely group of ladies was quite a challenge, having multiple figures will always daunt me a little, or a lot, as in this case. I know I need more practise on this type of subject.

I composed the scene between two photos of artist pals of mine, some were in Mexico a few years back, and one lady was with me on the last big Italy trip.

They would never know themselves though, and although this will sound like an excuse, I was not striving for a likeness, I merely wanted the posture of the women as a guide.

The ladies were not holding umbrellas either, and a couple of them did not have hats or glasses on, however for the sake of color and more character, I decided on using extra props.

All in all I am very glad this one is over, phew!!

Stretching Out

I think this guy was a tourist . He was in the piazza in a little Italian town and I bet he was waiting for his wife, as most of the women were shopping .

All the hubbies waited patiently while the wife went off with the credit card, just as it should be too I might add. LOL

He was actually larger than this in my photo, but it was a small piece of velour I used, and as always, I have hard time scaling down to fit the page. I don't use graphs and draw freehand all the time, this is no exception.

In fact this time I drew directly onto the velour without transferring my own drawing from a prior sketch. I am getting braver as you see.

Buddies

I decided to make more of this cute little dog in this one, rather than the elderly man he was with. I may do them again in full, but for now, I am happy with this different approach.

This old gentelman was in Italy when I was there last year, he was just watching the world go by in the piazza with his dear little dog.

This pastel was a small quick study, which I think (for me) are usually better, I don't labor so long with details.

Weatherman Predicts Showers

This is a composit of two figures I saw in Alaska but different towns. The little Asian lady was so small and yes, her feet were that tiny also.
I had to ad lib with a few parts in this painting, the light was different in both of my photos ..Always a problem when one is not working from life.

Pastel on velour again, still plodding along.

April Showers

This was one of my students in Kerrville, and we all got caught in a rain shower after class.

I was threatened with my life, if I told anyone who it was, especially as I always pack on a few extra pounds on the rear ends of my figures .LOL

The city in the backgroun d is made up, as is the crosswalk.

Another velour pastel attempt, still loving the process, I go to bed dreaming about it, and wake up ready for another painting, got to get a life huh..

Enjoy.

Ship Ahoy!!

This older gent was sitting in a doorstep somewhere in Italy. He looked to me as if he was dreaming of times gone by, so I slapped this sailing poster on the wall beside him. The poster is by Alo (Charles -Jean Hallo )..
No idea what La Baule means, but the lower writing means a beach in the sun.
This poor man needs a tan!

Joy and Frivolity

I love this poster of Henri de Toulouse Lautrec entitled 'Riene de Joie' so I decided to put it in my painting as the main interest and movement (I think the title means Queen of Joy or similar) ? Could anyone enlighten me?

My actual figure is of a woman in Chicago in Millennium Park. She was watching her kids play in the water.

I loved the reflections of the leaning figure and her stance, and the Lautrec poster just seemed to fit this compostion.

I hope you like this one..