Profile Pose

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6"x6"  pastel on board

I really like the affect of using gouche (opaque watercolors) to establish my value range before applying soft pastels.  I haven't tried this in a larger format yet.  I've been staying with small 6x6 to 8x8 squares lately.

I'm feeling ready to branch out to larger sizes.  We'll see what today brings.........to be continued.......

Look into my eyes......

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6"x6" Pastel on board
Good puppy! I love Labs. I had a black lab years ago and treasure the memories of her.  At the time, a lot of change was going on in my life. So much so, I was forced to find a nice couple to adopt my girl Shadow.  My daughter kept tabs on her (too painful for me to do at the time).  I did know in my heart, she was loved and that's what matters the most to me.

We can't always control the circumstances around us, only how we react to them. In stating this, I realize it's only up to me to continue pursuing my dream of being a prosperous contemporary artist/teacher (and staying healthy while creating).  I have the access to material, place to work, and TIME to devote to studio work. (and workout for the other topic I've mentioned.....good health).

I hope all that read this post today understand where I'm coming from.  We all have our own paths to follow.  I'm ever grateful for the ones I've crossed.  Too philosophical this morning.....my dance club music is playing (Paul VanDyke)....time to go workout , then hit the easel :D

"In my Comfort Zone"

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6"x6"  Pastel on board  SOLD

Here's the finished work that I created during our 1st (and maybe  an annual event?) "Alla Prima" Paint Out held yesterday at the FMAAA Gallery in Fort Madison, IA.

We had a good turn out and decent weather for Winter here in Southern Iowa.  The forecast was for 1 to 2" of snow...didn't happen.  

This picture is of our cat Wabbles taking a nap in one of her favorite spots......the back of the couch above Keith's head (my hubby).  She has  3 special places in our house where she lands for her long naps. I like the play of shadows and light in this picture.

Here you can see where my easel set up is at the far right (hadn't started sketching yet)  and close up of my good friend Anita Lee working away.  We wanted to use more of the natural light coming in the large South facing windows, so we're located in the front 3rd of this space.

Here's a closer shot of the other ladies that showed up to paint.  Connie Morris, Carlene Atwater, and Carroll Michalek.   I, unfortunately, didn't take more pictures.  I had a few friends snapping away and as soon as I get ahold of those shots, I'll post them here. Another person joined our small group of painters a little later...Jeanette Corley. 

Overall, we had a productive and fun afternoon.  I have to shout out another THANKS to the FMAAA Director and his staff for hosting both this event and my show. They put together a nice spread of snacks and drinks for the reception.

Artwork will be hanging here until the end of this month.  The gallery is located at 825 Ave. G in Fort Madison's downtown district.  Gallery hours are Tues. thru Sat.-10am to 5pm. 

"Happy" #20 of 30 paintings...(not in 30 days anymore since it's February)

6"x6" Pastel on board

This face just makes a person smile :D   I was looking through my reference files and came across the picture of this guy.  He just looked at me with those big brown eyes and said "Pick me....Paint me!"

I normally would've chosen a different color for the background.  Maybe something darker in value.  It's amazing how our moods and first impressions govern the outcome of our thoughts. (I needed to see something that reminds me of the Sun)  This color really complimented this little guy and I always think of yellows as "energy" and "happiness".  What better color to use behind that smile!

Friends

Here's the set up......

basic line work for composition......

gouache underpainting to establish light to dark values.......

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Finished 6"x6" Pastel on board

I like the title for this one....simply put as ...."Friends"!  The composition is  interesting because of the placement of the fruit and overlapping of shadows.  The challenge for me was finding the right "Reds" to match the right values(tones).   I start out thinking of colors for three basics...highlight, middle tone, and  darkest value.  Most the reds I have fall in the first range .....highlights. 

Then there is temperature....warms and cools.  Ah, the art of problem solving :D  I love a simple still life.

After painting this picture, I decided I needed to change my pastel box. I have an Easyl tripod and box made by Artwork Essentials.  I had divided the inside into 12 compartments.  

 As you can see from this photo,my pastels are aligned showing lights to darks and warm to cool.  This set up is something I constantly repeat in my pastel classes.  If your set up of color remains consistent and organized like this, it saves time in figuring out what color will work where.

I emptied my traveling box and put all the pastel pieces  into the  wood box my very first set of Rembrandt's came in. (1995).  I didn't realize I had so many sticks.  I've not been using all these luscious colors  when giving demos and plein air painting.   I tend to use the box of colors you see here at the top of the photo.  After careful measuring (before I emptied the easyl box) I discovered the Sennelier Pastel set I'm favoring these days will fit nicely in the easyl box.  Yea!!!!!!!!!!! it's lighter too :D

My dream has been to own a large set of expensive pastels.  One of those sets of 550 sticks or more.  I'm finding I don't think I really need all those lovely colors.  It's easier working with a limited palette.

Story time...............................
This reminds me of a road trip many years ago where we stopped to pick up a snack while filling the car with gas.  My son stood in front of the candy bar rack looking so perplexed.  He couldn't decide which candy bar he wanted.  We had to finally choose one for him.  Just too many choices.    Looking at the pastels at the bottom half of this picture gives me the same feeling....too many beautiful colors to choose from.  So, they're packed away for now.  I'll remember to look through these boxes before running to the store when I think I'm out of a favorite color.

Poppy in Pastel

Here's the set up

Here's the underpainting with Gouache 

Establishing value range and blocking in color.

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Here's the finished work!

6x6 Pastel on board

First off.....I've FINALLY gotten my camera setting on the right auto focus.  It's an old Kodak and has been acting up.  When I've been cancelling the flash, it would pop up with all kinds of images for the auto setting and leave faster then I could change it.  I managed to work fast and found one that I think will have my images a bit better in focus.  We'll see.....

So, the pictures above pretty much sum up the lighting and progress on this little gem.  ....and yes....I'm counting these small works I'm posting as part of last month's challenge of 30 Paintings/30 Days.  

I had to "stop the clock" , so to speak, to finish up works that are hanging in the one person show at the Fort Madison Art Center, 825 Ave G....downtown Fort Madison, IA.  (another plug here :D  )  The artists reception is this coming Sat., Feb. 8th 2-4pm.  As a BONUS.....a fellow artist, Carlene Atwater (she lives in Fort Madison) and I planned a gathering of sorts to happen the same day.  

We titled it an "Alla Prima" paint out and invited local artists to join us in painting at the center, beginning 2 hours before the official reception.  The artists have the option of continuing painting during the reception and promote themselves as well.  So far, there will be 6 of us, including myself, that plan to participate.   We'll see how it goes.......I'll post pics here!

Turned toward the light

6x6 Pastel on board
I'm back to creating small works.  This time using pastels instead of oils.  I'm actually finishing the 30 paintings Challenge.  I didn't make it in 30 Days. :(  (Stopped to work on 36"x48" oil for the show hanging in Fort Madison, IA this month)

This painting of Saucer Magnolia's was created by using a Gouache underpainting, then applying soft pastels on top to create the finished work.

I've been experimenting with watercolor as an underpainting.  Gouache works much better at filling in dark areas.   I definitely don't use as much pastel this way.  Also faster to get to the end result I'm looking for.  I'm anxious to try this method in plein air painting.  It will be awhile before I venture outdoors.  I think our High is suppose to be only 8 degrees tomorrow.  In the Teens today.

Hmmmmmmm flowers make me think of Spring and W-A-R-M  weather! Winter time and snow has its own beauty.......I'm just anxious for  warmer temps.