Pastel portrait of a woman reading

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11 inches   $300

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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.

Pastel portrait of an elderly woman in a hat.

Pastel painting 11 inches x17 inches   $300

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Betty made a great portrait model at our pastel figure drawing session this afternoon. At first I was worried about the view I had, with her hat obscuring most of her face. But after working on it for awhile, I really started liking the unusual angle I had.

Watercolor painting of a young woman sewing in a lounge chair by the pool.

Watercolor painting 5.5 inches x 5.5 inches       $80

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Another watercolor figure painting at the pool. I’m not sure what this lady was sewing but she was very involved in it. What a relaxing way to spend the afternoon!

Watercolor painting of a young woman in a bathing suit engrossed in a book.

Watercolor painting 4.5 inches x 7 inches       $80

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Nothing better than a good book at the beach! This woman was completely engrossed in her novel and never noticed me painting her. And she barely moved an inch the whole time. A perfect model for a  watercolor figure painting on a sunny lazy day.

Watercolor painting of an older woman relaxing at the pool

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 5 inches       $80

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We will be taking a trip down south soon and I thought I would post some of the  watercolor paintings I’ve done on previous trips. Although I spend a lot of time plein air painting at interesting landscape and architecture locations in Florida, I must admit that I also spend a fair amount of time lounging at the pool. I always feel guilty just relaxing (its part of my workaholic syndrome) so I bring my watercolors down with me and quickly paint unsuspecting victims. Its almost like figure drawing class!

Pastel portrait painting of a woman in a red beret

Pastel painting 10 inches x15 inches   $300

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One more pastel figure drawing from our session on Monday afternoon. I tried to incorporate what I learned in the workshop last weekend. I worked on seeing the warm and cool colors and creating a strong underlying structure. With the family “quilt” of watercolor paintings that I have been working on lately, I really feel buried in portraits. I am ready to move on to other projects for a while. I find it helpful to move back and forth between subjects. It keeps me looking closely and stops me from getting too complacent with a certain technique.

Small pastel portrait painting of a young girl in profile

Pastel painting 4 inches x 6 inches   $80

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Our Pastel Portrait class this weekend with Vianna Szabo was wonderful! She started out with some basic but essential tips on how to draw the head using axis lines and went on to give mini lessons in drawing the eye, nose and mouth. She did an amazing pastel figure drawing demonstration using her beautiful daughter as a model. It was inspiring but also quite daunting! She has such an excellent eye for capturing form, light and color. Our first task was to create a small sketch of the model using our chosen color palette. We were not to work for a likeness, but more of a form and color guide for our larger portrait to come.

Pastel drawing of a nude woman leaning on a hoop.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 16 inches   $300

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Another pastel figure drawing from this week’s session. I love the process of creating pastel paintings of the human body. It is the absolutely best way to learn to accurately draw what you see, not what you think you know. You can fake a landscape painting or a floral painting, but if you get a drawing of a face or a figure wrong, it is immediately obvious. I have in no way mastered this process, but I look forward to years of perfecting my skills!

I am looking forward to taking a workshop this week with Vianno Szabo, an established portrait artist. A couple of my artist friends will be attending and we are sure to learn a lot!

Nude figure drawing of a young woman in a seated position.

Pastel painting 16 inches x 11 inches   $300

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One of my pastel figure drawings from our session this week. I liked the solid, classical position the model took. I worked on “reclaimed paper” (paper with a failed image that’s been scrubbed down). It really gives a rich, complex ground to work on. I think I’m going to use that more often to enhance my works– and god knows I have enough spoiled paper!

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Pastel portrait of an stately older woman.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 13 inches   $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Hot off the presses from yesterday’s pastel figure drawing class! Our sessions last about 3 hours with frequent breaks. Just long enough to keep me from completely overworking the sketch. I had missed a week when we were on vacation and was really anxious to get back to portraits. But every time I looked out the window and saw the perfect 65-degree autumn day, I wished I was outside doing pastel landscapes.

Ahhhhh….so many paintings….So little time….

This is my 200th blog posting! I can’t believe I’ve made that many paintings and stuck to it this long. I recommend it highly. It FORCES you to paint and, by default, you improve!

Pastel portrait painting of a woman

Pastel painting 10 inches x 13 inches   $200

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In our  pastel figure drawing class this week, we had a “newbie” model who did a great job. If you’ve never modeled before, you might think it is a glamourous task. Au contraire. Although I’m sure it is somewhat interesting, it’s also difficult, uncomfortable and boring! We are so thankful to have people who are willing to sit for us. Most of our family members have reached the point where they refuse to be our subjects and you can only draw your own portrait in the mirror so many times!

Pastel portrait of a blonde woman in black.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 17 inches   $300

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Last week our model Lynn, sat under a hot spot light for a good 2 hours and hardly blinked. She told us she was planning her next Girl Scout meeting! The light was coming from above and probably wasn’t the best for a pastel portrait, but it made an interesting challenge.