Apple and Pear

Okay, the heat is on! This was on a sort of DARE from an artist pal here in Austin, Janine, you started this!

I NEVER do still life, they generally don't tweek my interest but I can certainly admire those done by other artists.

Janine is one such artist, dedicated to still life painting and does a bang up job too I might add.
I have done so much painting over the years, with various genres, and I know still life as with using the figure, is very important to us as artists.

I certainly am not proud of this little 'gem', tee hee. However, it's a start and I will practice, I promise.

It's a pastel on velour again, I must say I do like the apple, the pear, not so much.

I achieved a lovely glow right from the get go with the apple.

One's choice of colors on this paper surface can be tricky, you cannot get the value to pop, unless you have the right tonal contrast, and with all my pastels in stock, (hundreds in fact) I always find I don't have the right color for some thing.. GRRR!

No excuses though, just venting.

I have to say that catching that fleeting light on my window sill in the studio was a feat in itself, I love the geometry it provided.

You Want To Pin The Tail On The What?

I had started this one a few days ago, and have been simulaneously working on it and several other paintings I had started. Hence all the posts today, they all came to fruition..Yippee!

He is an adorable baby donkey I met in Brenham, Texas last year at a friend's farm.
My little pal was so friendly, he followed me everywhere while I was trying to take shots of the animals.

I was able to get some good shots of him and the other donkeys, so I guess you are going to see more in later posts.

This will be my last post today though, time for a glass of vino and put my feet up.
Cheers!

Struttin' Her Stuff

Now I know this lady has a look of thunder on her face, but she caught me taking this picture of her at the mall. I quickly whipped my camera away and kept walking, she looked as if she was going to THUMP me ! And she was bigger than me too!

I loved her dress, and the colors of it against her skin, she was simply stunning.

Roses Are Getting Leggy, Need trimming

I had to do this one, just the legs and still capture the essence of the people. These are all artist pals here in Austin, although they might not be after seeing this painting. LOL.

We had the opportunity to go to another artist friend's garden a few weeks ago, (than you Nancy). It was lovely to see all her landscaping, and of course, yours truly, was intrigued with the stances of everyone while admiting the flowers.

Great fun, and I have lots of reference so you might just see your butt on this blog in days to come.

Eye Catching Serval

These are also a very beautiful cat. Smaller that the tigers and lions of course, but you certainly would be wary of sticking your fingers in the cage. OUCH !

I found this one in the Austin Zoo a few years back. He (or she ?) was up against the bars, so I took the photo bars and all, and doctored it in Photoshop when I got home.

He was intent on something, certainly not me, he could have cared less about yet another gawker looking at him.

Simply stunning coat though, I loved painting him.

Of Course I'm a Vegetarian, Come Closer

I racked my brain for a title for this one, he looks so 'inquiring' to me, as if he is asking us to come closer.

He was at a zoo in St Petersberg in Florida. The photo was taken through glass, but it was very clear for me to use as a reference.

Such gorgeous specimans these animals are, and if they have to be in a zoo, it's nice to see them in an open plain area, and not in cages as they were when I was a kid. How I hated that.

Mostly done in pastel pencils, then I touched areas with my chalk pastels, the pencils just don't get enough 'oomph' for my liking.

Finger Lickin' Good

This lioness was in the Dallas Ft Worth Zoo a few years ago and I took the photo of her through the two sets of wire and bars. I did a LOT painstaking work in Photoshop to get rid of the bars etc, and managed quite a wonderful shot in the end.

Considering the lion was around 40 feet from me I was thrilled with the clarity of features.

Having said that, my painting makes her look a lot younger than she was, but I am actually okay with that, she would like it too, I am sure. LOL.

This was another pastel on velour paper.

Neck and Neck

I have been working on this one for two days now, & it almost sent me crazy!

The giraffe is a wonderful animal, so magestic and calm, and these three, although from different photos I took a few years ago ( at the same animal safari park north of Austin), make a cute composite.

I began as with all my very detailed animal pastels on velour, with the pastel pencils, sort of getting the road paved for the soft chalk pastels later.

I drew all these animal paintings freehand, another challenge in itself, but I know I must be feeling more confident to even tackle them, a far cry from when I began this velour paper journey a few weeks ago.

Scarlet and O'Hara

These birds are truly so magnificent, they almost looked photo corrected.
I took the reference photos a few years ago in the Dallas Ft Worth Zoo.

I love the colors of these gorgeous creatures, and their antics. I can watch them for hours.

Some of you might know I own a macaw, a blue and gold, and she is the delight as well as the bane of my life.
It is said that she will never get out of the 'terrible twos' in her lifetime, lucky me!

However, all that aside, God certainly knew how to attract the artist in me with these birds. They are a perfect subject for this velour paper.

Zebra Crossing

Phew!! I sometimes wonder at my anal retentive mind.

I seem to be a sucker for punishment but after doing this very complicated and tedious composition in front of my TV last night, I am quite chuffed that I can actually see the zebras.
One can get horribly lost in all the stripes.

I drew this freehand on velour paper too, no transfer drawing as with most of my figure attempts. Don't know why, just wanted more angst in my life, I guess. LOL

I went to an open plain zoo just out of Austin quite a few years ago, where you drive around in cars, and if you are lucky, zebras and camels etc, will come right up to your vehicle. As I recall even a buffalo came up and poked his head inside my car.

Of course I was a snapping (photos that is) fool, with my great love of animals and awe of nature.

I began with pastel pencils on this one, and then nudged some of the highlights and darker values with chalk pastels.

It was a wonderful escape from the figures for a while and also disciplined me to stay with a monochromatic palette.

Rainbow Swirls

A few weeks ago, you might recall I had a solo show here in Austin.

A fellow artist from the Austin Pastel Society (Sonja) saw the show, and mentioned that it would be fun to see if I could do my fish (which were in acrylics in the show) ..in pastels.

I thought "why not" and have taken the challenge Sonja , I thank you for your input.

It was not easy though, doing the underlay in pastel 'ribbons' first, then drawing my fish over and into these markes.

One has to be very careful not to overload the paper, especially velour paper as it's not that forgiving.

However, I did this painting in a very similar way to my acrylic fish, patiently building the layers around the shapes, and getting the fish to be partially hidden in amongst this swirl of rainbow colors.

Great fun to do, and I think I will pursue this path for some future pastels, not necessarily fish though. Maybe even the figures, huh?

Love These Colors!

This fellow artist was at another artist friend's show in Round Rock. She was actually posing and being a bit goofy, but I loved her jacket and the way she had her hands in her pockets.

I sketched in the figure in pastel pencils last night, way too tedious for the whole painting, it takes too long for me. So this morning I nudged it with soft chalk pastels, and it came to fruition much quicker.

I find I get very bored with paintings that take me too long. How about you?

Duck Soup

Okay, it was time for a short sojourn away from the figure, and with another very small piece of paper I decided to do this little duck last night while watching TV.

I took the picture many years ago in Wimberley, and loved the colors.

I began this with pastel pencils also, then went over parts with the chalk pastels.

The pencils actually score the paper (velour) if you press too hard, so one has to take it easy, however there is a down side to that (for me), my values and colors get very soft, hence the bold attack after the pencils with the chalk pastels.

Kickin' Back

I had time to sketch this lady in the library on the cruise to Mexico last year. This is a very small (for me) pastel on velour paper 5" x 7" approx.
I began with pastel pencils this time, then reinforced the colors and values with chalk pastels.
It was just a scrap bit of paper I did not want to waste, so voila..

Dog Day Afternoon

So here they are in all their glory, as I said, a very quick demo, (approximately 35/40 minutes) but it shows the process of the painting.

Second stages of demo Dog Day Afternoon

The little dog and the background are now addressed. The stripes are enhanced with brighter hues of the red and green on the light side of the dress.

I began to place pure white where the foreground sunlight will hit, over this I will place color.

***I rarely use white or black in their natural states, I find them too chalky (white) or deadening (black). So over the top I place a color, to act as a tint.

First Stages demo of Dog Day Afternoon

This was the same day of the other demo at Jerry's Artarama two weekends ago, and thanks to Fletcher, I have step by step photos of this quick figure demo.I should have him as my assistant I think, he did a great job!

I began with the transferred drawing onto my velour paper, then gradually blocked in the mid and darker values in shades of gray.

Over this, I began to get my colors in, starting with the stripes of the dress and the flesh colors.

Mellow Yellow

I have been working on this one today, and for the most part I am happy with it. The two gals were sunning themselves on baord the cruise ship to Jamaica last year, and I deleted all the ship railings etc, and other people, and placed them on the beach,much easier. Sort of...:)

Pastel on velour again...STILL.

Are you all yawning by now? Hope not, there are more to come, but I might throw in another demo soon.

Last Stage of Tree demo

Here you can see the almost finished demo.

It was a fun and very quick example of how one can loosely get pastels onto the paper, great fun, with speedy results.

Tree (pastel) demo

About once a month I am asked to do a demo for Jerry's Artarama in Austin. My next one will be in acrylics on September 4th, so mark your calendars.

I usually do about 3 or 4 short demos in the 3 hour sitting.

This tree demo was taken step by step by a kind audience participant, who sent me his photos. I have compiled them in order of sequence, so you can see the progression.

The demo was not finished, ( I spent around 35 minutes on it) but I think you can still see it's 'journey'.

Many thanks to Fletcher for taking these photos.