Zig Zag

Here is another 5x7 study. I call him Zig Zag because of the dark mark above his wing. We saw this blue heron (I think) walking around Volendam in The Netherlands so I snapped his photo. He was so friendly and not even remotely afraid if people.

 

 

 

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Pynki on the Move - Week 3 assignment

For my assignment for Week 3 of Karen Margulis' class, I painted an animal.  This was a bit bigger than I am accustomed to painting.  I wanted to punch up the colors quite a notch, so I made sure the VALUES were correct regardless of the color.  That's why Pynki is pink (... and turquoise ... and green ... etc.)

He was fun.  He wasn't supposed to look like a baby elephant, but that's a flaw that I don't mind.  It was an adult elephant in the reference photo.

The name is made up, and I went with a "creative" spelling just for the fun of it.

Lavender of Gordes - Week Three - SOLD

I had a lot of "wipers" from my "dailies" this weekend that didn't come out the way I had hoped so I went back to something familiar.  I painted this in oils over Thanksgiving weekend, but took some liberties with both. In the pastel painting, I omitted the cypress trees.  In the oil painting, I kind of straitened out the curvature of the rows as shown in the original photo.

The photo, the oil and the pastel (in that order).  I'm sure this isn't the last you've seen of Lavender of Gordes!

Five Of A Kind - Karen Margulis' online class (week two)

I chose to paint small 5x7 studies of the same landscape:  (a) all cool colors, (b) all warm colors, (c) monochromatic, and (d) random colors.  I wasn't sure if I did the assignment correctly or not (hence my delay in posting), but my feedback was great, so here they are.

My favorite was the green one.

Dunes of Cape Cod - SOLD

Well this is from the second photo reference I've used that is a scene from Cape Cod.
Maybe I should pay it a visit one of these days.  This photo reference was provided by wetcanvas user Nicola Boerer.

I was a little nervous about this one - wasn't sure how the sand and seagrass was going to turn out.
I also switched to a different paper for this one.  Art Spectrum Colourfix Coated Paper.  The color was Terracotta which I thought would compliment the blue sky nicely and aid the color of the seagrass.

Sunny Reach -- SOLD

Here is another daily from Karen Margulis' online mentoring class.
I'm not posting all of them, by the way, because some of them are stinkers.
Photo reference is from user "thalweg" from wetcanvas.com, and it was quite lovely, so thank you "thalweg".

Marsh Exercise

This was my first weekly exercise for the mentoring program. I received terrific feedback from Karen. The horizon needs to be straightened out, but over all, I was happy with it. We used her photo reference and were provided with set by step instructions on her approach. First I did a four value sketch with markers, an under painting with (Nupastel spruce blue) with odorless mineral spirits, let dry and then the painting.

 

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Tiajuana Estuary - SOLD

There is an estuary near the California/Mexico border. I made some changes to the shapes that appear to be trees in the distance. They actually are rows of houses, but I didn't want to get too fussy with it since the assignment is to limit the painting time to 30-45 minutes.

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Online Mentoring - Karen Margulis

Continuing with posting my 5x7 exercises from my mentoring session. This is from a reference photo along the coast of California. It actually was the first 5x7 I painted during this mentoring course. I did spend more than 30-45 minutes on it. I think it was more like an hour and 15 minutes because I was having so much fun!

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Blue Caves - SOLD

For the month of February, I am participating in an online mentoring program by Karen Margulis.  We have weekly assignments, but during the week, she suggests we do two things on a regular basis:  (1) small 5x7 studies in a limited time (30-45 min.), and (2) value studies.  These assignments are great as they will help me learn and get more and more comfortable with the pastels.

You get a lot for your money with the online mentoring with Karen.  I have only submitted one weekly assignment and her feedback is extremely thorough and helpful!  She does not skimp on advice.  I will post that painting later.  For now, here is one of my studies.

One of the first 5x7 studies:
Blue Caves
This reference photo came from wetcanvas.com and is in Greece.
I've never been, but would love to go one day.  The  reminded me of my Capri photos.

Lemon Fan - SOLD

Still having fun with still lifes.  I'm a big lemon fan.  Aren't you?

Friendly Fruit

One of the challenges of some paintings are the names.  Friendly Fruit?  Well these pears wouldn't be sitting so close to one another if they weren't friends!

Idyllic Seclusion

Another one from the island of Capri.  In addition to visiting the famous Blue Grotto, we took a tour around the entire island of Capri in 2011 when we visited.  It was a pleasant surprise because I had no idea that was included.  Pastels lend themselves to the craggy rocks and colorful eroded areas.  I exaggerate the colors in Photoshop or Paintshop Pro, and use my Oil Painting app to blur.

Transparent Trio

My first pastel still life. The reference photo is from Wetcanvas. The only thing Wetcanvas asks of you when you use the photos is that you credit the owner. I didn't have any real tomatoes, but user Olika posted this gorgeous photo which I used.

Her photo:

There is an app I use to blur photos (versus squinting) to focus on shapes:

My painting:

5 3/4 x 8

Pastel on Schmincke Sansfix. Incidentally, I really like this paper, but it seems impossible to find online in the U.S.

 

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Maine Tidal Marsh

I've never been to Maine, but loved a photo (copyright free) I found on wetcanvas.com.  Wetcanvas.com is an incredibly useful website where an artist may post their work, obtain Q&As as to their art ranging from sculpting to painting and a whole lot more.  Also, wetcanvas.com has a image reference section which includes (and certainly is not limited to) animals, still life subjects, street scenes, people, etc.  The great thing is that the images are copyright free and the owners of the images must accept that before posting them.  I used an image posted by user "Colin" who posted an awesome photo of a tidal marsh and river in Maine.  I painted it this morning and am still using that fun app "Frame Builder".

Painting:

Painting in Frame Builder frame:

Frame Builder

Today I discovered an awesome app called Frame Builder. After seeing eBay artists display their art for sale in a virtual frame, I went on a quest to find a way to do the same. It's a great tool that allows potential buyers (and the artist selling his/her art) to visualize their potential sale in a frame or even just a mat. You can easily change the size or color of the frame or mat just by dragging a slider bar. You can even change the size of the bevel on the mat!

Take this painting I did over the weekend. I like the way it looked in person and even with a simple white mat over it, but the image alone? Not so much.

Enter Frame Builder, et voilà! Much better!

A couple of other examples:

 

Additionally, you can save "templates" so that you don't have to start from scratch. Coolio!

 

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Pink Callanques

I tried to paint this scene in oils not long after I returned from Marseille in July. I was a bit rusty as I had not painted for a while, wasn't happy and thus put it away. Here it is on my largest pastel to date: 8x10. 98% of the pastels I used were Terry Ludwig pastels with a sprinkling of some very soft Scminckes for some finishing touches in blue? I followed Karen Margulis' recommendation for doing an under painting with a dark blue hard pastel (Nupastel) and mineral spirits. The support is Ampersand Pastelboard. I'm happy with this one!

 

 

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Capri Cove II and Roussillon Cliffs

I am still painting that little cove in Capri with my Terry Ludwig Pastels in Littleton, Colorado. Also painted the ochre cliffs of Roussillon, France from one of my vacation photos this past summer. I am still painting small as I am only 1 month deep into the pastel world. Capri Cove II is 4x6 and Roussillon is 5x8.

A Pastel Adventure

I recently bought a set of Terry Ludwig pastels. It is quite different than oils so it takes some getting used to. That being said, I'm really enjoying the medium!  I have discovered some amazing pastelists: Karen Margulis, Marla Baggetta and Casey Klahn to just name a few.  I hope to study with each and everyone of them soon!

My first painting that I was satisfied with enough to post is "Capri Cove", a scene I have painted before in ACEOs.  "Ojai Path in Blue" is from a reference photo I took in Meditation Mount in Ojai, California from my first painting workshop with Elio Camacho.  "Variation" is an exercise (idea originating from Marla Baggetta's "100 Variations" using the contrasting colors of the red trees with the cool green in the foreground only allowing myself 30 minutes to paint.  It's a very good exercise, one which I intend to continue doing.

CAPRI COVE

OJAI PATH IN BLUE

VARIATION

Lavender of Gordes

I think this is the largest painting that I have attempted and liked.
Lavender of Gordes
36x24
Oil on Canvas