Jerseys in pastel

Some time ago (1 or 2 years), my folks sent me a birthday card with a photo 

of my favorite cows on it.

Jersey cows!

I knew I wanted to do a painting of Jerseys one day, so I saved the card. 

The day came this past August when I felt like painting a pastel of the cows.

I used blue Canson pastel paper. My easel is tipped forward just a bit to allow the pastel dust to fall straight down and not on the paper.

A portion of the birthday card is at the top right of this photo. There were other cows in the photo and I chose these two sweet bovines.

Tiny thumbnail sketch

 Charcoal sketch set with alcohol (with grid).

Jerseys      9.75 x 10.5 inches    pastel

The photographer who took the photo and made the cards was Darlene Leonard-Maguire. I "found"
her, got in touch and asked if I could post this painting on my blog and she gave me the go-ahead.

Thanks so much Darlene! Best of luck with your photography and your painting.

... and thanks to all of you for checking in to view my art.

Plein air to studio painting, finished!

Back to the studio painting I have been working on ... the frame is even done!

Below: the rest of the progression. (cont. from post of 10/9)

 Just so you, who may want to do commissions, are aware ...

your client may want changes. I showed my friend the piece and she

did want some changes.

I had the water quite purple, (I was thinking about the colors she liked: greens, purples, browns, mauves) but she did want the lake to be on the blue side, and the mountain to have a bit more brown. I also took out the purple in the sky and liked it MUCH better. She wanted more leaves - I agreed.

I showed this to my salon friends and they suggested more texture to the trunk and that also went well. After a few more tweaks, I said - finished! One could just paint on and on ... but there's a point of no return I think ... and it might be too much.

Reading at the Lake    24 x 36 inches     oil on canvas

 Think the values work ok.

 Here is the original again. 6 x 8 inch plein air. Is the studio painting as fresh and free as the original? I am not sure. I am saturated by both right now.

The frame Matt (husband, carver and frame-maker) made looks wonderful! 

Painting is floating in the frame. I finished it with a Walnut Gel Stain and 

topped it with a one-step Honey-Satin Stain + Polyurethane.

 When it is hanging in my friend's studio

 (PilatesBodiesJuneau),

I will take a photo and post it.

Now to get to house-cleaning, preparing for guests.

We have all the kids (+plus 1 puppy dog) coming for Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a very peaceful and wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you are!

(and thank you so much for clicking on my art blog)

Charlotte the Cat, a painting

My daughter commissioned this painting for her friend as a wedding present.

This is the progression of the painting from a photo:

charcoal grid drawing

grisaille, kind of

Charlotte the Cat       8 x 6         oil on Arches Huille Paper

 b & w

the damage

Astonishing size of this cat! The girl is of a normal-size, like 5'3" or so. 

This little painting was fun to do. Husband made a 1/2" frame that I painted black.

The wedding symbolism is the two bowls in the corner.

Thank you so much for viewing my art!

October Carnations

It is raining.

But that is normal for this SE Alaska Rainforest.

This is my world.

Image from http://www.theearthconnection.org

But, it is quite cold rain, so as promised, 

here are phots of the bouquet, and the support I painted on.

The panel was something I had begun and abandoned. Take good note, do not toss your unfinished panels ... you just never know ...

By the way, this painting has sold! (To a wonderful artist and friend and perhaps I will feature her here on this blog one day, if she wants.)

Very exciting. Now to figure out the frame. Anyone want to volunteer ideas? 

Width, color(s)?

Painter's Salon (+ my 600th blogpost !?!)

Oh man! Really can't believe this post is the 600th one! I love posting on this blog
and just goes to show, "Time flies - - - -!"  One of my favorite posts over these years is 
This from 2011.


Last night I hosted our art salon, first one in a couple of years! We all agreed that we must have them more regularly again. We really do benefit from them ... at least I do.

The way we hold ours is like this and of course there is food!

1. The person who hosts makes a main dish and then it's pot luck for the rest
2. People bring 4 to 6 paintings they would like to show, either for feedback or advice
3. The one "rule" we try to follow is this:

• Try not to say LIKE/LOVE when commenting on the painting. This is harder than it sounds ... of course there is no penalty if you DO! 

It is way more helpful for the artist if you give a more
detailed account of concerns or why you like or are questioning part of the work.

Wish I could show my friend's paintings because they were awesome! Here is one I just posted on my fb cover. It was a blast to do. I had a bouquet of Carnations and took a break from painting my 24 x 36 w-i-p and this came flowing off the brush.

October Carnations          Oil on Masonite        15.75 x 13

Next post I will show you the actual bouquet and the support this was painted on! Also I will report more progress about the big painting. (Got some great advice about it last night and now I will proceed and it will be finished soon!)

thanks so much for viewing
:o)