Sharing a Commission

Now that Christmas is over, it's safe to share a commission piece I did this month for a friend of mine. It was to be a Christmas gift for her daughter.  Their dog Sasha had passed away, and she wanted a special keepsake to give to her daughter that would remind her of the special bond and love she had for Sasha.  I'm so thrilled to have had the opportunity to spread some joy.  

Note to self:  Time to clean the easel !!!

Experimenting

Winter Song pastel 6 1/2x10 inches available $48.00

Well Christmas has come and gone ~ I hope everyone had a very memorable Christmas this year! I know I did!  During some hustle and bustle down time I decided to go to my paper stash to begin another painting and what I found was Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard.  I'm just about out of every type of painting surface and with all the Christmas shopping, I'm also out of extra funds to buy more supplies for at least a couple of weeks.  So I put my thinking cap on and found that I have tons of backing boards.  The boards I place behind paintings for sturdy shipping.  Why not try those?( I asked myself).  I had a jar of Elephant Gray Pastel Primer made by Art Spectrum, grabbed a paint brush and covered the board.  The result was a very nice painterly look.  I liked it so much I covered a very large board for a painting I hope to complete this week.  Until my supply stash is refreshed, this will be my surface of choice. 

I can't believe how much time has passed since my last post - I completely got caught up in Holiday "stuff", and forgot to post the winning title for last weeks No Name Monday.  The winner........ drum roll...... Rose! With Snow Day. The Painting, along with proper title can now be found on my Etsy page. When seen in person, the falling snow is literally sitting on top of the paper - a really cool 3D effect.  

Snow Day pastel 9x11 inches available $75.00

No Name Monday

I haven't had a chance to post a No-Name Monday painting in a while - so here it is.  For a bit of a back story on this one..... This is the first painting that I decided to add to after I had signed it.  Usually when a painting is signed that's that, but this painting needed something more.  SNOW.  Falling snow to be more precise. 

This is the painting before the falling snow was added.  Not sure why the over all color of the picture looks a bit golden, but you get the idea.  I thought I was finished, but as I kept looking at it, I knew it still needed that extra punch. 

So how do you achieve the look of falling snow using pastels?  I scrapped the side of a baby blue Rembrandt with a palette knife.  I really love the big chunks that show up here and there.  After the scrapping, I laid a piece of wax paper over the painting and pushed in the snow with the same pallet knife.  I love this effect!  But this painting still needs a name.  Submit your best idea and I'll have my name choosers (my children) pick their favorite.  On your mark..... get set.....GO!

Winter's Dawn

Winter's Dawn 9x9 Pastel available $60.00

Having computer issues this morning - so now I'm running late for work and don't have time to post a lot of information about this painting except that I was drawn to the bright sun coming through the trees and the reflections coming off of the snow.  Have a beautiful day everyone!  I really hope Santa brings me a new computer!!!!!

Colors of Snow

Almost There 9x11 Pastel on Black Sandpaper available $75.00

I've been busy working on a couple of commission pieces which I'll share in a future post, but I had some spare time today to work on painting snow.  It's amazing the colors you can use to create the illusion of snow.  In fact, there is only 5 very small marks of white - the rest of the snow was created using blues, purples, green, gray and a very light pale yellow.  This painting is preparing me for the snow they say Maryland is getting on Friday. Ugggh. I still have time to work in a couple more commissions to have ready by Christmas.  If you have something you'd like painted, just message me and we can work out the details.

Evening Thaw 9x11 pastel on Black Sandpaper available $50.00

I happened to be in the mood to paint some snow today.  I wanted a quick composition since I was short on time.  This is the reference photo that I chose to work with below.

The photo was very dark and this made it difficult to view details, so I blocked in the large shapes and then pushed the reference photo to the side and just used my imagination to fill in the rest.  It was a very relaxing session just trying this and that and placing various color combinations next to each other to see how they'd work.  This is my challenge for all my artist friends out there..... take a really crummy photo and then make it your own by pushing that reference photo to the side.  I'd love for you to share your results here. 

Road Home 11x9 pastel on sandpaper available $48.00

I hope everyone had a safe and filling Thanksgiving.  It's wonderful to get together with family and friends and reconnect...... and it's wonderful to arrive back home safe and sound in the wee hours of the morning, and to get snuggled and comfy in the covers. I recommend not going anywhere close to the scale anytime soon - you'll only be disappointed. I speak from experience.  Maybe I'll attempt to weigh in in a week or so or maybe I should just wait until February when all festivities are over with.  We'll see.

Wednesday I posted a Thanksgiving "thank you" give away painting.  It's time to reveal the new owner of the painting titled Home Grown.

Congratulation Linda!!!   I will have this in the mail in the next couple of days.  Thank you to all that participated! Check back next month for the next give a way - - I'm almost certain it will be Christmasy in nature.

Free Painting!!!!! A Thanksgiving Thank You

Home Grown 5x7 pastel

I gave a lot of thought this past week on a subject to paint for my Thanksgiving Thank You giveaway painting.  Each month I will do a painting for the sole purpose of giving it away as a thank you to those of you that take the time to view my paintings and give comments, likes etc.  Your feedback is essential to my growth as an artist and I can't say enough how much I appreciate those of you that take the extra time to "help" me grow.  I chose to paint this farm scene and here is how I came to choose this subject (and insight to how my brain works).  I first thought of all the wonderful Thanksgiving foods ~ turkey, stuffing, homemade bread and rolls, pies....oh the pies, but those subjects just didn't excite me at the time so I began to think deeper and deeper as to where the food we were enjoying originated.  And the answer is the farms! And historically thinking, that's the way our Thanksgiving began. With the planting and then the feast. This painting is my personal thank you to all the farmers out there supplying us with our delicious dinners.  Without them we'd have no Thanksgiving. 

So what do you have to do to win this free painting you ask?  Just click the like button and comment "pick me" and your name will be entered into the contest.  The winner will be announced on Friday, because tomorrow I will be stuffing myself of all kinds of goodies. 

Here are some photos of this painting from start to finish and the pastels used. I chose the name "Home Grown" because this barn is located in Ohio, and that's where I was born and raised.  Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving everyone!

quick sketch with a nu-pastel

I choose one color to be the "main" color used throughout the painting. In this case it's indigo blue

sky and field added - working my way around the barn

I always save the focal point for last.  I don't know why I do this, but it's something I've always done.

Finished the barn with some blues, browns and this beautiful burnt orange.

Terry Ludwig and Sennlier Pastels oh and 1 little nu-pastel which was the main attraction.

Painting Snow Without White

Morning Surprise 5x7 pastel available $25.00

This windy, cold weather put me in the mood to paint some snow, but a couple of weeks ago, by son knocked my only white pastel off the easel breaking it into tiny tiny pieces. So what do you do?  I've always heard from other pastel artists to never use white because it makes your painting dull, but if you have to use it, use it only for highlights.  Well I didn't even have white for the highlights, so I looked at my collection of pastels and chose my lightest blue for the whitest snow and light gray and blue/violet for the shadows.  I think it turned out pretty convincing.

This will be the week for my painting give a way in honor of Thanksgiving- easy rules to become eligible to win a free painting.  Just click the follow button on my blog and your name will be pooled with the other followers and if your name is picked from the hat YOU WIN! It's just that simple.  I will be painting the give a way painting today, so check back tomorrow for the reveal. 

Change Your Ending

Warming the Chill 5x7 pastel available $25.00

Well.... I had a goal to complete 31 paintings in 31 days, and with a little disappointment, I didn't reach my goal.  So what do you do? Throw in the towel? Give up all hopes and dreams of making a mark in the art world? NO! You continue on your journey and create new goals - you grow and evolve into the artist you're destined to become or at least dream of becoming.  I came across this quote that was shared on Instagram yesterday and I love it so much that I copied it and have it taped it next to my computer.

"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."  ~ C.S. Lewis



The painting for today was completed from a reference photo I found on Pixabay. This is a newfound love for me.  All reference photos are free to use.  Sometimes you need photos of subjects different than your own, and this is the place to find them.  I've been wanting to do a painting of a coffee mug for quite some time.  I'm not a coffee drinker (unless the mug is filled 3/4's full of creamer) but I love paintings of them. Also on my easel today is a commission piece I was asked to do for a client that wants to give as a Christmas gift.  She supplied the photo, and I think it's turning out beautiful!  That one won't be posted until after Christmas - can't ruin the surprise for the receiver. If you have a picture of a subject matter that you would like to give as a painted gift to someone special for Christmas, I am more than willing to work with you.  Just supply me with the photo (messenger works well) and I will take care of the rest.  I will also send periotic photos of the progress to make sure you are happy with the results.  No payments are involved until you've given your final thumbs up.  Prices for my paintings average around .50 per square inch, so for example a 9x12 painting = 108 inches total so divided by .50 equals $54.00.  Easy and affordable for a one of a kind present. 

#22 Loving the Storms

Break in the Clouds 5x7 pastel available $25.00

I've decided to work in the 5x7 size for the next few paintings for two reasons.  One to challenge myself to capture detail in less space and also to help myself reach my 31 in 31 personal challenge.  It's quite difficult to paint small when your pastels are so large.  I've been using Terry Ludwig and Sennlier pastels and they are about the size of my thumb. I love the fact that a painting of this size can be completed in a minimal amount of time and uses very little pastels.  I one thing that I AM having issues with is when it's time to sign the painting.  Because my name is a bit on the long side and the pastels are so large, it seems using my whole name takes up the entire painting space, so I've chosen to just initial the smaller pieces.  I think I'll order some pastel pencils in the near future and see if they work out better.  I just wonder to myself if Monet and Degas and all the great artists of our past struggled with issues like this. 

#21 Changing Things Up

Anchored 5x7 pastel available $25.00

It's a good thing to create challenges or goals for yourself - this is how we grow, and there are times when we find ourselves playing it safe so to speak.  I noticed I was stuck in the 9x11 painting size for a while and needed to change things up a bit. So for today, on top of my personal 31 paintings in 31 days challenge, I opted to go small.  This one is a 5x7 and I gave myself only 5 colors to use.  I really love the moodiness of this one. Not sure if moodiness is an actual word, but the moral of the story is when you find yourself repeating something day after day, the smallest change ( or challenge) could bring sweet surprises.

#20 My First Commission

Murphy 9x11 pastel SOLD

Yesterday I received a request in my emails for a commissioned painting of a family's pet Murphy.  She liked the splotchy look of the little dog I posted on Sunday and wanted a similar look. I texted her the result, and I'm happy to say she loves it!  Murphy will be in the mail and headed to his home in South Carolina on Saturday. Now....... what am I in the mood to paint today? Decisions... Decisions.....

Just for Fun - 30 Minutes on the Timer

Firefly Fantasy

I've seen so many artists do amazing artwork in just a few minutes and am amazed at how much detail they can capture so quickly. I, myself, am very slow in my opinion but I thought I'd challenge myself and set the timer.  Now I've seen some works done in as little as 7 minutes, but since I'm a newbie to the quick paint - I gave myself 30 minutes. Usually I'll spend around 6 hours give or take on any given painting. Here is my result.  Not my favorite, but it was a fun challenge.

I just received my first commission request in my emails this morning, so I'm getting my paper hung on the easel and choosing my color palette so I can get to work on it right away. Check back tomorrow to see how it came out. 

#18 of 31 in 31 Day Complimentary Colors

Evening Sail 9x11 Pastel on Sandpaper available $55.00

I've slowly been making my way through Bill Creevy's book titled The Pastel Book.  It's filled with all kinds of information for the pastel artist like tips, tools and techniques.  One of the chapters discusses ways to achieve color harmony and the use of the color wheel.  I bought a hand held color wheel at my local art supply store and I'm constantly referring to it.  I meant to take a picture of mine, but got sidetracked as usual, so I'll save that for an upcoming post. According to the color wheel, the complementary color for green is red, and since this painting had a lot of green, I wanted to use the complementary color to help with harmony.  Red was way too bold of a color for this sunset scene, so I reached for the pinks.  Pink is made using red and white mixed, so basically any color in the "reds" works as the compliment.  After the painting was completed, or so I thought, I still felt something was needed, so I added 3 small marks up in the left corner to represent a sailboat.  It's a little surprise to the viewer when looking around the painting. 

#17 The Creation of a Pear

Temps de Poires Trois 12x18 pastel available $110.00

Today I thought I'd share some of the stages in creating this painting.  I love pears! The shape, the texture, the flavor, the colors.....I could go on and on. They are also the "theme" to my kitchen and I find them  a relaxing subject to paint. If you play the soundtrack to City of Angels while painting pears you create the perfect atmosphere - that's what I did anyway.  I was thinking about the scene where she's trying to describe the taste of the pear.  Not an easy thing - try it. So now I'm in my zone and here are the snap shots of the stages.

First I chose a blue gray color to tone the paper - I used a sheet of 12x18 UArt 400 and a Terry Ludwig pastel. I began blending the color into the paper with my fingers, but if you're not careful this can happen.

I rubbed the skin clean off! So I chose a semi hard paint brush to finish the job.

I did a quick sketch of the pears with vine charcoal and added the colors.  You can catch a glimpse of the reference photo at the top left of the picture.

I blended in the colors, added some dark for the shadows and creamy light peach for the lighted areas.  I used black for the dark. I've been told countless times in my pastel class to never use black because it will dull a painting, but for some reason I just love the look that you can get from black so I broke a pastel rule - I'm a rebel that way.  Just watch yourself on the amount of pressure you use or it can easily get away from you. 

Time for highlights, the stems and a couple more shadows and voila! Pears. A title in French just seemed to fit and translated is Pears Times Three.

Painting #16 of 31 Paintings in 31 Days

Today I was in the mood for flowers - there aren't many blooms left outside to enjoy and with the changing of the clocks and darkness setting in so early now, I really needed a pick me up.  I searched through the Wet Canvas site for something to catch my eye and this reference photo just jumped out at me.  I planned on using black sandpaper and thought the colors in this still life would really pop. I truly enjoyed seeing this painting come to life.

#15 Inspiration From Commercials

Alone All Day pastel on sandpaper 9x11 available $55.00

Why do they do it? They know they're going to make you cry, pull on your heart strings.... those commercials....you know.... especially the one's with the abused animals!  Why? You want to walk out of the room when they come on, but you can't break away from those eyes! Oh those eyes!  You just want to run to the nearest shelter and bring every single animal they have back home.  Minus the snakes of course.  But definitely the cute and cuddly. It was just such a commercial that inspired me to capture those sad eyes.  I searched Wet Canvas for the perfect reference photo.  If you haven't been on that sight before, you would do yourself good to check it out.  Lots of art information on that sight!  While painting, I was trying to imagine what caused the sadness in this dog, and came up with the title Alone All Day.  What a cute little face!

#14 - The How's and Why's to Pricing my Art

Fatal Beauty 9x11 pastel on sandpaper SOLD

Well here it is..... painting #14 of 31 in 31 days. I still have 17 more to go with only 13 days to get it all done and reach the goal so some days I think I'll need to double up.  Monarchs are my favorite butterflies. There's just something about them that draws me in, and with their numbers steadily decreasing it's a rare sight to see one these days.  In years past I've searched for Monarch eggs and brought them in the house to raise for release to help boost their numbers, but for the last 2 years, I'm lucky is I've even seen 1 or 2 all season.  It's a really scary thing to think that one day there may not be any more monarchs to appreciate.

I recently had a conversation with someone about the pricing of my paintings.  It's been said by quite a few people that my prices are too low which lead me to wanting to post my how's and why's.  Yes, my prices are much much lower than a similar painting from another artist with the same experience. Do I think my work is not worthy of a higher price tag? No, not really - I just want to make original art affordable for everyone - not just those with fuller pockets.  I've seen many paintings while out and about that I would have loved to buy for myself, but when I see the price tag, I realize there's just no way I could ever afford it !  I love to make art so I'm going to make my art no matter what - whether it sells or not. Of course you want your art to sell at some point otherwise you've run out of room to store it all, but I cannot understand the reasoning of pricing a painting at $600 for a 9x12 when I could never afford that myself.  So my goals are to create affordable art for all.  So right now, the easiest and most organized way for me to price each piece is by square inches.  I measure the square inches first, say a 9x12 painting would be $108 (already $500 cheaper than most paintings) then I divide that number by 2 because I still feel $108 is a high price.  I round that number up or down depending on my personal likes to the painting. So in this case, the price would be $54, and will be rounded up to $55 because 54 just sounds weird to me as a price.

So that's the method to my madness in a nutshell.  I'm sure there are artists completely against pricing this way, and that's ok.  This is the way that works best for me at this time in my art journey, and gives me a chance to provide affordable, original art to those that would otherwise not be able to afford it, and having an original piece of art where you can actually see the paint strokes or the sparkling dust of the pastels gives you a whole new appreciation for the piece than if it's just a print.

Painting #13 of 31 in 31 days

Don't Look Back pastel on black sandpaper 9x11 available $55.00

I never gave birds much thought until I moved out to the country.  Now, I could spend all day just watching them at the feeders and soaring from tree to tree.  I keep mental notes each season as to the breed of birds that visit my yard - I get so excited when I can log in a new breed of visitor. The black capped chickadee is a frequent visitor to my feeders.  So cute and dainty.  This painting was done entirely with Terry Ludwig pastels on black sandpaper.  I'm really enjoying using the sandpaper - the pastels glide so effortless, and until I get some UArt paper ordered it will be my paper of choice. I hear UArt now has black as a color choice - can't wait to get my hands on some!

Painting 12 of 31 in 31 Days

Among the Thistles 9x6 pastel available $25.00

I finished this painting yesterday morning, but didn't get a chance to post it because I got side tracked coming up with a costume idea for a Halloween themed wedding I attended last night. This was my first Halloween wedding, and I have to say, it was a lot of fun. I ended up being a scarecrow.

For this painting, I was inspired by an artist I follow on Instagram.  He paints such beautiful birds and leaves very little detail in the background.  I wanted to try to paint minimal details but still get the feeling you were in a grove of thistles, and play with colors that I don't usually use like the turquoise and the yellow.  I'll be practicing backgrounds more this week.

On another note, I have to confess that sometimes I feel like I'm boring readers with the bombardment of paintings on Facebook and Instagram, but I've received such wonderful comments this week from various people about how they look forward to seeing the paintings.  Hearing these kind words really gives me the confidence to keep moving forward.  I thank all of you this week for those kind words.

Day 11 of 31 in 31

Nearing the End 14x11 acrylic palette knife painting available $75.00

One of my favorite flowers is the peony.  I have just one peony plant in my gardens -  I get so thrilled when they begin to bloom, and a bit sad when they start to wilt.  But they are filled with gorgeous colors no matter what stage they are in - well except during the winter when the plant is completely gone.  This is a palette knife painting of my last peony bloom of the season.  I really love the texture you can get with the palette knife - thick wonderful globs of paint.  If you've never tried the palette knife, I challenge you to give it a try.  Watch a couple of You Tube videos from the pros, and then jump right in.  So much fun! 

Day 10 of 31 Paintings in 31 Days

Another Season 9x6 pastel available $25.00

Have you ever took the time to look up high into the tallest trees?  The beauty of the sun shining through the branches and the colors of the leaves will leave you breathless -

I decided to try my hand again at photographing the various stages of one of my paintings.  Usually I get so into the painting process that I forget to take pictures.  This time I really tried to concentrate to STOP after each step. 

I started with a reference photo I took during my trip to Virginia, and wanted to tone the paper a blue violet color.  The tiny painting to the right will be used for purpose.  It's a surprise - so say tuned for the future reveal.

I did a quick sort of generic sketch - not a lot of detail -  after blending the background color using circular motions with my fingers. I wanted to add the details with the pastels as I went along.

Time to add some cool toned greens.

And now for some medium yellow.

It's at this point in my painting process that I stop looking at the reference photo and just look at what I think the painting needs to become more interesting.  I know you don't usually see yellow trees without a bit of orange mixed in so I grabbed one of  my Terry Ludwig oranges and added a bit of color here and there.  I also used some Sennlier bright yellow and touches of white for the very tips. Then a vibrant blue for a bit of highlights.

Close up of blue highlights

The finished piece

Added a few branches with some Rembrandt red violet.  The roundness of the Rembrandts make it easy to "roll" up the paper to create the look of branches or grasses. 

All my colors used in this painting

31 paintings in 31 days #9

Rapid Rush 6x9 pastel available $25.00

I seriously could not believe my eyes.  Kayakers braving the rapids of the Potomac River.  This was dangerous stuff! Now, I love gliding around in my kayak, but when there's steep drops and boulders at every turn - you can count me out!  But the scene did make for a great painting subject.  This is painted on UArt 400 pastel paper using Nupastels and Sennliers.  Zach, my son - I love him bunches, but he knocked into the easel and sent my only white sennlier falling to the ground shattering into a million pieces.  I tried my best to use the teeny tiny particles but I really need to put in another order to replace it.  Sennliers are so buttery soft and a lot of the time you can catch them on sale at Dakota Pastels.

If you are interested in purchasing this painting or would like to view other works available, just click on the title under the painting and you will be magically transported to my etsy store. Many thanks to all that took a moment out of their day to view today's posting.

Days 7&8 of 31 paintings in 31 days

Gerbera Daisy in Red 11x14 acrylic available $55.00

I know what you're asking yourself..... I posted days 7 & 8 but only have 1 painting shown.  This is what happened - - I spent most of the afternoon on Sunday attempting to paint a pumpkin scene - "attempting" is the key word here.  It was really awful. It needed to be changed, and I didn't want to waste the canvas I was painting on.  Solution ? Cover it all up in white paint and start fresh.  The only problem with that solution was I tried painting the pumpkin with the palette knife so it was very think and you could still see the outlines and textures after covering it all over. I wracked my brain as to what to do - A flower was the answer.  The entire center of this flower used to be a very ugly pumpkin.  The moral of this story?  You can never go wrong when using paint - if it's not coming out like you've envisioned, then cover it up and start fresh.  So this is the story behind days 7 & 8. Day 7 was a day of painting an ugly looking pumpkin, and day 8 was finding a solution so I wouldn't have to post the ugly pumpkin and be completely embarrassed. lol