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 of an older man.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 18 inches

I really don’t know how I feel about this figure drawing from one of our recent portrait sessions. I think it is a pretty decent physical likeness but it doesn’t seem to capture our model’s personality. He was not a stern or gruff man at all, and yet this pastel portrait gives that effect. I always try to capture both the external and internal spirit of a model, so I feel I may have been a bit off the mark on this one. Ahhhhh…..so much to learn….

Pastel portrait of a bearded man in Scottish military attire.?

Pastel painting 11 inches x 18 inches

I haven’t been to our figure drawing session in weeks and weeks and was excited to get back to painting pastel portraits. This week we had a really interesting model dressed in a full Scottish military uniform–including kilt! As he modeled he gave us historical background on his attire and Scotland in general. Bonus! We got a fascinating history lesson as well as a wonderful model!  That’s one of the things I love about art and pastel painting in particular. There’s always an interesting back story associated with every piece.

I was really happy with the outcome of this painting. I think I caught a good likeness but, even more important, I didn’t overwork the dang thing into oblivion.

Looking forward to ArtWalk this weekend!

Pastel portrait of young man in sun glasses at the shore.

Pastel painting 8 inches x 11 inches   SOLD

When we were “Up North” a while ago, I was able to coral my handsome young nephew for a figure drawing session on the beach. He sat so patiently, staring out at the crystal blue water, hardly moving a bit. Now that is my ideal of the perfect model for a pastel portrait!

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.

Pastel portrait painting of a young man leaning on his knee

Pastel painting 11 inches x17 inches   $300

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

In our pastel figure drawing session last week we had a handsome, strapping young model. I’m sure he thought posing was going to be a cinch. I think it proved to be a little more difficult than he thought, but he did an admirable job. I really enjoyed painting his pastel portrait, and liked the challenge of working with the complimentary blues and oranges.

Pastel portrait painting of a man in profile

Pastel painting 11 inches x17 inches   $300

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

We had a great pastel figure drawing session this afternoon. Our scheduled model didn’t show, but we were very lucky that Jack lives nearby and could run over to help us out.  We’ve all drawn him many times and you think we’d pine for someone new. But Jack is a great model and has such an interesting face. The more we paint his portrait, the better we are able to capture his unique look.

This pastel painting is one of my favorite portraits ever. I think I caught Jack’s likeness but I also like the painterly effect I was able to achieve.

Jack told me his friends all over the country check out my blog to see his portraits. Hi all!

Pastel Portrait of a man resting on a couch.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 5 inches     $80

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Felt bad that I had to miss my figure drawing class today so I thought I’d post a recent pastel painting that I did of my husband. I’ve captured him in his usual pose: watching TV from the couch. None of my family will pose for me anymore so I have to catch them when they are doing something else. I have hundreds of sketches of John in this position. I always joke that if I ever get famous, when I die the curators will look through my past work, and marvel at this reoccurring model. “This figure seems to have a deep and profound meaning in her work. Obviously he is a muse who she felt the need to recapture over and over in her paintings.” HA! Although he is immensely important to me, he also is the only free model who will stay still long enough!

Thanks for putting up with me, sweetie!

Pastel portrait of a man with cap.

Pastel painting 12 inches x17 inches   $300

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Its been a while since I’ve been able to attend my pastel figure drawing session. With the holidays and travel, I always ended up skipping it. It was great to get back in the groove this week. We are going to mount a portrait exhibition in late February at the Side Door Gallery at the Dexter Picture Frame Shop. Our fearless leader thought it might be a good idea for the artists to act as models for the next couple of weeks. Jim is a fine watercolor artist and was the first hardy soul to volunteer. We all loved his jaunty cap and serious expression.

Watercolor painting of a man reading a newspaper in a lounge chair by the pool.

Watercolor painting 5.5 inches x 5.5 inches       $80

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

I captured this man at the pool, early in the morning, as he reviewed sporting events in the newspaper. He was a bit heavier than my usual models but made an interesting watercolor figure painting just the same!

Watercolor portrait painting painted from life of an african american male model.

Watercolor portrait of african american male painted on yupo paper.

2 Watercolor paintings   each 6 inches x 9 inches       $100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

I decided to step outside my “pastel box” this weekend at our figure drawing session. I’d been getting pretty comfortable with my pastel portrait painting approach and I  wanted to force myself to work differently. I grabbed my watercolor painting bag and a bunch of yupo paper and just went with the flow. Luckily we had a great model (very handsome and built!). That is always inspiring….

I limited myself to only 3 colors: Ultramarine blue, alazarin crimson and yellow ochre. I find that I can mix almost any color I need with these 3 hues, and the result tends to be more “unified” than when I use a whole slew of colors…

Pastel portrait painting of a rugged western male.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 13 inches   $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Jack, one of our favorite models, is the subject of this recent pastel figure drawing. When he posed last week, he looked like a rugged old prospector from the 1800′s. He has a really interesting face, wise and full of experience. And he is just about as sweet as they come.

I am talking with a couple of art lovers about pastel commissions for gifts this holiday season. Let me know if you have a special idea for one of your loved ones or friends…