Pastel portrait painting of a bearded man with hat.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 16 inches

Ken was a new figure drawing model for me and I just loved his leather hat and coat. Top it off with his greying beard and he reminded all of us attending class of a Civil War general. I’m not an artist who loves to do pastel portraits of people in fancy costumes, but this model’s attire seemed to compliment his rugged features perfectly. Really fun to paint!

This artwork was created with
Paper: Canson Mi-Tients Burgundy Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel portrait painting of a man with a white beard.

Pastel painting 12 inches x 18 inches

Tom was our subject again a few weeks ago at our figure drawing session. I’ve painted him 3 times in the last year, and I thought I’d show you all 3 pastel portraits in one post. I chose to work in black and white this time, for a change. Its kind of interesting to compare them. I think his beard is growing a bit longer…

The top artwork was created with:
Paper: Canson Mi-Tients Steel Gray Paper
Medium: Black and White Rembrandt Pastels

Pastel portrait painting of a bearded man

Pastel painting 11 inches x 17 inches

Another pastel portrait of Tom! By now, some of you must feel that you know our models intimately. Its nice to be able to paint people a couple of times. You always learn something new with each attempt. One of our artists is setting up a 9-hour figure drawing session, divided into 3 days. I soooo wanted to be a part of it, but my Montana trip will interfere. I have never participated in a session that lasted more than a couple of hours and its been on my artist “bucket list” for a while now. Maybe I can make the next one…

Pastel portrait of an African American man with hat in profile.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 16 inches

If you have ever attended a figure drawing or portrait session in Ann Arbor, you have probably drawn George at some time or another. He has been a model for years in this area. He has a wonderful presence and facial structure and endless patience. I did this pastel portrait of him a couple of months ago in our nude drawing class. It was just a 20 minute sketch but I think I caught a little bit of his personality…

I am framing like crazy this week. My gallery in Harbor Springs, Michigan, Tvedten Fine Art, asked me to bring up 15 paintings when I visit this spring. I am so pleased that they have faith in my work and can’t wait to deliver a whole new batch of art to them!

And River Gallery in Chelsea, Michigan has honored me with an exhibit of my Italian paintings in November and December! I have been consistently working on a new body of pastel works which will be shown along side the plein air watercolors I painted at LaRomita School of Art in Umbria last year. I have not posted any of them because I want to keep them under wraps until the show opens…

Nothing like being busy!!!

Pastel portrait painting of a middle aged man with a white beard

Pastel painting 11 inches x 18 inches

This is my new favorite pastel portrait. OK, I know it seems like every work I post is my favorite, but when I am working on a new painting, it HAS to be my favorite. I have to give it my all and paint like there will never be another chance to create. In our figure drawing sessions, we only have about 2-2 1/2 hours to capture a likeness, so it is very intense. The model and artists take breaks every 20 minutes or so, and then it is back at it!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. There is nothing like working from life to improve your drawing and painting skills. You simply can’t learn to capture the form, color, light, and other nuances working from photographs. I’ve got a lot to learn and look forward to every chance I have to paint from life or en plein air!

Pastel portrait of a Scottish gentleman

Pastel portrait painting    12 inches x 17 inches

Yea! I made it to my portrait drawing class today — even in blizzard like conditions! This model has posed for us in the past. He always comes in full Scottish garb and his interesting face that makes for a wonderful pastel portrait.

I used my set of Terry Ludwig pastels for the first time and I really like them. They are extremely soft, but their wide, square shapes make it easier to loosen up and work in a more painterly fashion. Plus, it was enlightening to be forced to use a palette that I wasn’t familiar with. Thank you to the Pastel Society of North Florida for giving them to me as an award!

Pastel portrait painting of an older man with a beard.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 16 inches

The best part of our  figure drawing sessions is that we get a chance to paint many types of people: men, women, old, young, heavy, skinny, happy. sad. There is such a huge range of differences in humans that each pastel portrait is a completely new challenge. This elderly middle eastern man is an accomplished poet and an artist in his own right. He was calm, serene, and comfortable in his own skin in a way which I have not seen in many others.