My portrait group is having a show at the Side Door Gallery at Dexter Picture Frame Co. in Dexter. The show. About Face,  will be up from February 24- April 10, 2010 and we’ll have a reception on Friday, March 19th from 6-8 pm. I have 3 pastel portraits in the show. There will be a lot of interesting portraits in various mediums and some of the models will be attending the reception. It should make for a fun evening. Stop by if you can make it!

Pastel painting of an old house with a flag on the porch in Saline, Michigan

Pastel painting of an old house with autumn trees in Saline, Michigan

So proud to have 2 pastel paintings in the first “Art on the House” exhibit at the State Capital Building in Lansing Michigan. The series of 4 exhibits will be created by the Washtenaw County Arts Alliance and placed in the State Capitol by the suggestion of Representative Pam Byrnes, who is State House Representative and Speaker Pro Temp. The exhibits will display and promote the exceptional work being produced by visual artists living and working in Michigan. The great people at the River Gallery in Chelsea are helping to coordinate the series.

My 2 artworks are in Pam’s central office but will be available for purchase after the show comes down. Contact me or the River Gallery if you are interested. I also do commissioned portraits of houses and would be happy to talk to you about a special of painting your home.

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…