"Jennifer and Children"

 "Jennifer and Children", graphite, 12"x16"

    My husband commissioned me to do this and requested it to be in black and white---so I choose graphite pencils.  It was done from a photo of his youngest daughter, Jennifer, and her two children, Jon Henry and Rosalie.

    It had been awhile since I had worked with pencils, but it slowly started coming back to me.

    Below are some w.i.p. shots:

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

"God's Bounty"

"God's Bounty", oil on canvas panel, 8" x 8"

Because I have been teaching myself how to paint in oils, I started this painting as a study, and planed on doing it on a 16"x16" wrap around canvas.  Well, I was pleased with how it was progressing, so decided to complete it as a finished painting.

Enjoy, and thank you for reading this.

work in progress pics:

"An Admiral's Lunch"

"An Admiral's Lunch", Oil on canvas, 16"x16"

My first oil painting.  I have been wanting to pursue learning oil painting and dabbled in it now and then, but kept going back to the pastels.  However, last spring I bit the bullet and got my Genesis oil paints out of my archive supplies.  "They" always say it helps the creative process to learn a new medium.  Wow!!!  What a difference between oils and pastels.  So far it has taught me patience(drying time).  Genesis oils have a different drying technique--but that will have to be another blog.  Anyhow, below is some w.i.p. pics.  Right now I am planning on doing a series of my butterflies on the 16"x16" wrap-around canvas, so check back once in awhile.

Enjoy, and thank you for reading this.

 ref. photo--the butterfly was on my husband's truck.

"My Toy"

"My Toy", Pastel on velour, 16"x12"(20"x16" framed)

I had been wanting to paint this ever since I took the photo back in 2009.  This is Fancy, my loving border collie of 15-1/2 years.  We had to say goodbye to her in Nov., 2017.  Now, it is my tribute to her.  She loved her frisbee.  She would play catch until she wore us out!

I finished the painting just in time to enter it in the current special show at New Braunfels Art League Gallery, "All Creatures Great or Small".  I am also happy to share that I have received a 2nd. Place award in the Drawing Media category!!  It is a beautiful show of animals and creatures God has given us, so if you are in the area, I highly recommend you check it out.  It runs from Aug. 30th. until Sept. 29th..

Here are some "work in progress" pics.

Enjoy, and thank you for reading this.

On light grey velour paper.  Starting to block in darks.

Starting on background.

Framed.

"Ebbe"

Pastel on velour, 20" x 16"

My latest commission.

I'm "back in the saddle, again".  Finally--back in my studio, doing what I love to do!!  Since last November and thru March--life got in my way of having fun.  See below for some w.i.p. shots.  The owner of Ebbe also purchased my small preliminary piece I often do to warm up, get a feel for what I'm doing, and make sure I'm getting the coloring correct.  I usually don't show it to the customer, but I took it with me when I revisited Ebbe, and she(the owner) bought it on the spot.  That was exciting!!  Ebbe is a beautiful German short haired retriever and has a great personality.  I not only loved meeting him but also painting him!!

Enjoy!

Transferred onto the velour paper and started blocking in some darks.

Did some lights, the nose and tongue.

Blocked in the body and started working on the white hair--which was not easy.

The small one finished.

"I Love Ya, Bro."

Also known as Creed.

Pastel, 10"x8"

This past summer, my niece, Brooke, showed me some photos of a boxer dog she absolutely adores--Creed.  His owner is a friend of her and Clay.  This was one of those "I have to paint this dog".  The look on his face was so enticing and I loved this coloring.  He is a Fawn Boxer dog.  Brooke contacted Creed's owner, who sent me more pics and gave me permission to paint him.

The one photo that had the look I wanted was not good for referance (too dark in background, and the light source washed out his coloring).  However, the other photos gave me good referance on coloring, and I did my usual research on getting to know my subject matter better.  I am finding out that by researching about my subjects involves me more with my paintings.  I hope I get to meet Creed some day.  He was a joy to paint!

Enjoy!!

Here are some work in progress shots.

Transferred my design and started working on the darks. 

Started on his eyes and lighter colors.

Working on lighter and medium colors to get my form.

Playing with background.

 Finished.

I Listened Again

"Chillin' Out", Pastel, 8"x8"

Previously On May 7, 2017, I posted a blog on "It Pays to Follow That Inner Spirit".  Well, it happened again!  Just about three weeks ago I made plans to enter "The Three Alpacateers" in an upcoming show at New Braunfels Art League Gallery.  Two days before submission day, I was looking at the paintings I had hanging in my art show room, when "Chillin' Out" caught my eye.  The theme of the show is "Artoberfest"(i.e. Octoberfest).  Yes, I felt, I should enter this, also--the praying mantis is sitting on a beer bottle.

Great News!!  Not only did it receive an Honorable Mention, it was also purchased as the show started.  Needless to say--I did a happy dance!!  The "Artoberfest" will be showing Oct. 5 - Nov. 13, 2017, at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery, New Braunfels, Texas.  

Thanks for reading.

"The Three Alpacateers"

Pastel, 8" x 10", on gray pastelboard

AKA Lucy, Tina and Al Pacasso :)

A customer acquaintance took the referance photo on her phone while at an alpaca ranch in the midwest.  I loved it the minute I saw it and asked her if I could paint it.  She kindly sent it to me and I sooo loved painting it.  Thank you Connie!

I decided to have some fun with it, so I asked my sister and niece to each name one of the alpacas.  Yes, I do get involved with my art work!

Below is some of my work in progress.

Enjoy, and thanks for reading!!

Transferred my drawing over to the pasteboard and started establishing the darks and midtowns.

Chopping at the bit to get started on an alpaca.  Decided to do Al first so the coloring wouldn't contaminate the other two since they will be white.

Started on Tina.

Now for Lucy

Trying to work on right color for background.  In real life, the color is a little more greenish turquoise.

Finished!!