Second portrait finished!

Well, I think this one of Lily is complete.  Bert is amazed that I was able to complete it in one evening.  I told him that I was finally able to paint uninterrupted.  When I was working on the other paintings, I had to keep putting everything away at the end of class.  This is actually the fourth portrait of Lily that I have completed, (1 pastel, 1 pastel pencil, and 2 oils) and I think it resembles her more than the others.  She certainly has a Gerber baby face.

One portrait completed - another one started. . .

                                                                                                                                                                                                    I finished th eportrait of Lily in the rocking chair today.  The pants are better, but I still feel like I was having trouble painting them accurately.  I stopped before it made me crazy and pronounced it "finished!"

I then started another portrait of Lily.  If you haven't guessed, I am crazy about my granddaughter.  In this stage I have the skin, mouth and eyes started.

In this one, I have the eyes almost completed.



















In this one I have her hair pretty much completed.  I have also added the background.  She is wearing a bright yellow top in the reference photo, but I think I will change it to something more subtle, so it doesn't overpower her face.

Recent Landscape. . .

I just realized that the landscape I just finished was not on my blog.  Ooops!  I call it "Bit-o-Heaven".  It is a 16 x 20 oil painting on stretched canvas.  It was also painted while I was in Lorelle's art class.

Other recent works. . .

Since I am trying to update this site daily, I thought I would add a few of my other works for all to see. 

This is a drawing of Mabry Mill, done in pastels.  I really like the pastel medium because it is so spontaneous. . .  a lot like coloring with crayons.
Needless to say, working with oils is teaching me patience.

This is another pastel drawing that I call "Light of the Word".  It is on a sand coated paper.  I like the way the colors showed up so brilliantly, but it was almost painful to watch the pastels get used up.  Constantly drawing on this kind of paper could get expensive.

This is a pencil drawing I call "Along the Parkway".  I have sold a couple of prints of it and also have it available as notecards.  All of my prints and notecards that are for sale can be seen on my website at Primrose Lane.

This is another portrait of Lily that I completed recently.  It is done in pastel pencils.  She is reading her favorite book "Brown Bear, What do you see?"  This was the first project I completed while in Lorelle Bacons art class.  She was really helpful in showing me how to look at the fine details and subtle nuances that make all the difference in portraits.

 

Almost finished . . .

Lily's portrait is almost finished!  I still want to work on the pants a bit more, but otherwise I think she is complete.  It is not an exact replica of the reference photo, but I think it does resemble her enough to be her portrait. 

I had not tried to paint a stuffed animal before, but I think the bear turned out pretty good.  I wanted it to complement Lily without competing with her.

Lily's portrait continues. . .

Well, I worked on Lily's portrait for 4 more hours today. It was also my last class with Lorelle for the season. . . can't wait for her to come back in the spring. 

Here is a picture of Lily's portrait thus far.  I am thrilled with how it is progressing.   Hope you like seeing the progress.

Here are a few of my recent works. . .

Here are a few of my recent works.  The brunette portrait is a class assignment from a recent portrait workshop I attended that was taught by Lorelle Bacon. I highly recommend her as a teacher.  She is a delight to work with, and I have learned so much form her in just a few short weeks.  The portrait is of Laetitia Casta, a model posing for a Loreal ad. (It is a 16 x 20 oil portrait)

The other portrait is of my neice Summer.  It was also a project in the portrait workshop.  I am very pleased with how it turned out.  I was really nervous about adding the eyelashes.  I guess I was afraid that I would mess up the portrait.  Thankfully Lorelle told me to let the portrait dry before adding the lashes, and any errors could be gently lifted off with a brush dipped in turpenoid. (Summer - also a 16 x 20 oil portrait)

The third portrait was also started in the workshop.  It is of my granddaughter Lily.  I have another class with Lorelle this afternoon, and it will be the final class of the season.  Alas, my wonderful teacher is going home to Texas for the winter.  I am already looking forward to her return in the spring.

Here's my first oil pastel!

I just couldn't wait to play with the oil pastels that I bought today.  It's just a quick sketch, and I see that I definitely need more practice with the medium, but it was fun to work with the oil pastels.  They certainly do behave differently than regular pastels.

The adventure begins. . .

I decided today that I would like to have an art blog, where I can discuss my art, various techniques and art mediums, as well as life in general.  I hope that my friends will join me on this new adventure. 

This morning I attended the monthly meeting of the Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League.  The meeting was held at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts in downtown Black Mountain, North Carolina. I am thrilled to be living in an area that is so full of beautiful scenery, beautiful art, and incredible artists' resources.

I have been a member of the SVFAL for several months, but it was the first meeting that I had ever attended. I really enjoyed meeting the other artists and look forward to getting to know them better in the months and years to come.  The guest speaker, Jack Williams, is a graphics artist, and his topic was incorporating lettering into artwork.  It was very interesting. 

Before the meeting, the director of the Center for the Arts announced that she had several pastel sets for sale that had been donated.    I was able to purchase a new 100 piece set of Sennilier Oil Pastels for $50.  (The list price on a 120 piece set is $487.)  I am so thrilled!  I can't wait to try them out. . . maybe tonight.