We had the most wonderful model at our figure drawing session last week! She was a pretty young thing with a fresh, sweet look. She had a beautiful voice and sprinkled french phrases throughout her conversation. She reminded me of a 17th century french lass and I wanted to capture that effect in my pastel portrait of her.
This piece was done on the pebbly Richeson paper that I have been struggling with lately. I was trying for a very classical look and I think the paper actually helped me in my quest!
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 of a beautiful asian woman in a kimono.
Pastel painting 10 inches x 15 inches
I painted this pastel portrait a couple of weeks ago at our figure drawing session. The model was quite accomplished and brought her kimono along to give her pose a bit of atmosphere and mystery. I usually “pack” my pastel paper by putting layers of newspaper underneath. It tends to give the pastel painting a softer feel. I forgot my newspaper this time and had only corrugated cardboard to use as a base.You can see how the texture of the striated cardboard showed up as a pattern in the drawing. At first I was horrified, but then I started liking it…go figure…
Pastel portrait painting of a mother and young daughter.
Pastel painting 10 inches x 13 inches
What fun! We had a mother and her daughter for our models for 2 figure drawing sessions in a row a while ago. It was a real challenge to paint 2 people together so we were all happy to have the extended time to work.
I painted this pastel portrait on Barbara Mattson pastel paper which is an extremely “pebbley” sanded surface. I’m tryin hard to find the right subject for this paper but it may not be right for my style of application…
Its been quite a while since I’ve posted any artworks from my pastel figure drawing sessions. During plein air season, I tend to spend all of my time outdoors, chasing the light. But when the weather doesn’t allow outdoor painting, I’m happy to go to class and work on the human figure. We had a wonderful young female model a couple of weeks ago. In my pastel portrait of her, I wanted to capture her relaxed position, her beauty, and also a bit of the melancholy that seemed to surround her.
This pastel painting was done on Art Spectrum Terra Cotta paper, a perfect foil for the complimentary blues in her clothing…
Plein air pastel painting of flower filled porch in Harbor Springs, Michigan
Pastel painting 12.5 inches x 5 inches $150
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
After painting the pastel cityscape on my previous post, I stayed at the same spot and pivoted for a view of this intimate porch scene. Harbor Springs is full of beautiful old summer homes with intricate, Victorian architecture. I love capturing the unique details that make intriguing and personal house portraits. Contact me if you are interested in a special piece of art to commemorate your home in watercolor or pastel!
Colorful pastel portrait of a young women in the Fauvist style.
Pastel painting 10 inches x 13 inches
A couple of weeks ago the Great Lakes Pastel Society held our first convention. I was honored to be a presenter speaking about the business of being an artist. We had some high caliber artists who did demonstrations and workshops. Brenda Mattson held a landscape drawing workshop and brought along some new Richeson products for us to use. I decided to take advantage of the reduced convention price and purchased their new 12o hard pastel set. Its supposed to be light fast and has a lot more colors than NuPastel offers. God knows I don’t need more pastels…but I couldn’t help myself.
I brought the set to our figure drawing session last week and went crazy with color. Our model, Angela, is a beautiful young woman with classical features but I wanted to push the envelope with my pastel portrait of her. After I got home, it seemed to me that I might have been channeling the Fauvists of the early 1900s…
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
In our pastel figure drawing session last week our model was struggling with eye problems. Her eyes were burning and she could hardly keep them open. But she was a really trooper and posed for the whole session. In my pastel portrait of her, you can see some of the pain she is experiencing…
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.
What a cutie! This little Polish Lowland sheepdog was an absolute joy to work with. She posed for the camera as if she had been a top model for years! I swear she knew what her “best side” was. We had a ton of great photos to pick from and her owner was especially taken with this view.
Creating a pastel pet portrait is always challenging when your subject is someone’s cherished buddy, but I think I caught this little pup’s likeness. And her owner seemed to like the outcome of the pastel painting too!
Check out her response and other client’s comments on their paintings here.
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!
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
One rainy day down south we were trapped inside, so I did this pastel portrait of my sister. She made the perfect model because she was so engrossed in her book that she hardly moved an inch.
I really like doing pastel paintings on Kitty Wallis paper. It is a very rough sanded paper and eats up a lot of your precious pastels, but it is a wonderful surface to create interesting marks on. I think I work with a bit more expression on this paper.
We are having a portrait show soon and I will post that information in a few days.
