Pastel painting 12 inches x 12 inches $450 + shipping

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I’m working on some large portraits right now so I thought I would post another pastel landscape that I painted right after the big storm last year. This is a scene from our back yard. I love how, on bright, sunny winter days, the warm light throws golden highlights against the deep blue shadows

Pastel painting 12 inches x 12 inches $450 + shipping

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We’ve been having a lot of “weather” this holiday season and it reminded me of the huge snow storm we got last New Year’s. We had about 12 inches of snow dumped on us in one day. I went for a walk with my dog and shot photos everywhere, then went back into the warm studio and painted. This pastel landscape was inspired by my own front yard. Snow scenes give me a chance to play with “icy” blue, a color that doesn’t usually appear in my warm color palette.

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 10 inches Not for sale at this time.

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I’ve been thinking about doing a pastel portrait of my Australian Shepard, Roxy, for a long time. She is the sweetest, gentlest dog I’ve ever known and I wanted to try put her personality on paper. It was especially important to me to capture her “soft eyes” because they really say so much about her. In this pastel painting, I caught her in her usual position: alert, curious, yet submissive. Can you tell she has me wrapped around her little paw?

I’m considering doing more animal paintings. If you have a special friend you would like immortalized, let me know!

Pastel painting 12.5 inches x 25.5 inches $800 + shipping

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I just put the finishing touches on this new pastel painting in my Treescape series. This old oak is down near the pond in our neighborhood. I always notice it when I walk along the water with Roxy, so, early one morning in August, I took a bunch of research photos. It is such an ancient, impressive specimen, I couldn’t resist callling it Forte!

Watercolor painting 5.5 inches x 7.5 inches $100 + shipping

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I forgot to post this last watercolor landscape from my visit to San Luis Rey Mission. I painted this study on traditional cold press paper, not the plastic-like yupo that I had used on the previous mission studies, so it has more of an evident texture. It is really interesting to use different types of paper and see how they effect the look of your watercolors.

For those who are interested….About .com explains the different types of watercolor papers this way:

1. Machine-made watercolor papers come in three surfaces: rough, hot-pressed or HP, and cold-pressed (or NOT).
2. Rough watercolor paper has a prominent tooth, or textured surface. This creates a grainy effect as pools of water collect in the indentations in the paper.
3. Hot-pressed watercolor paper has a fine-grained, smooth surface, with almost no tooth. Paint dries very quickly on it. This makes it ideal for large, even washes of color.
4. Cold-pressed watercolor paper has a slightly textured surface, somewhere in between rough and hot-pressed paper. It’s the paper used most often by watercolor artists.

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 13 inches  $400

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Pienza is a beautiful Tuscan town that Mary Beth and I visited in our tour of the Chianti region of Italy. We both just adored this little jewel of a city. We wandered down a side street and into this small rustic cafe that felt like it could have been from the 18th century. Then we checked out the walls–they were full of photos of movie stars who had recently shot a movie in the area. I guess you really can’t get away from it ALL…

Visit my website to see more watercolor paintings of Tuscany. What a great holiday gift they would make!

http://www.jillwagnerart.com

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 13 inches  $400

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I just finished this watercolor painting of a small side street in one of the little towns we visited when I traveled to Italy a few years ago. I went with 2 artist friends and experienced my lifetime dream of living and painting in a small Tuscan village for 3 weeks. Every morning we would wander til we found a place that interested us. We’d paint Tuscan landscapes til noon, stop for a fantastic lunch, nap for awhile and then go back out and paint til dinner. My idea of pure heaven.

I’m looking back with new eyes at some of my original photos from that time. I have been playing with composition and color in an attempt to capture the “feeling” of the place, not an exact replica of it.

Watercolor painting 10 inches x 19 inches  Not for sale at this time

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I’ve finally started working on Tuscan watercolors again. My friend, Susan, and I visited Italy last year and I have a lot of images swirling in my head, waiting to be painted. This beautiful fountain was in the a square near the center of Prato. We’d walk by it 2 or 3 times a day. In the morning, the square would be filled with mamas and their bambini, in the afternoon, kids fresh out of school would congregate there, and in the evening it was alive with young people partying. And its been there for hundreds and hundreds of years!

Pastel painting 4 inches x 5 inches   SOLD

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Finally finished the last puppy portrait commission. Each dog was very different in looks and temperament so I worked hard to create some commonalities between them with color and stroke. This pastel painting will be combined with the other 2 portraits in one mat and frame. I think it will make a great gift for my buddy’s dog-loving friend.

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100 + shipping

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I painted this plein air watercolor on the last day of our California visit. I was waiting on the Club balcony as John finished the 18th hole. Although this peaceful study doesn’t show it, I was actually going crazy inside. We had found out, just a couple hours earlier, that our only child was in labor for her first baby and we were stuck across the country with no way to get home in time! Just goes to show that all those art critics who claim to know what an artist is thinking when they paint a piece are full of it!

Right, Chris?

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches $100 + shipping

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This is a quick plein air watercolor sketch of the entrance to the Mission San Luis Rey. I really wanted to paint in the interior courtyards, and while they would let me walk through them for the price of admission, if I wanted to paint them, I had to pay mucho bucks to join the “friends society”. I decided there was more than enough interesting architecture on the outside!

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches $100 + shipping

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When we were in Carlsbad, California, I took an afternoon to visit the old Catholic mission there. It was built in 1798 and has been restored to very near its original condition. There are beautiful gardens outside and inside the mission and it made a perfect site for doing watercolor landscapes and architectural paintings. Like the previous post, I painted this quick study on yupo paper, a plastic-like paper that doesn’t allow the paint to sink in. The colors remain bright and vibrant. Perfect for a hot, sunny day!