NELVIA'SART.COM

I had so much fun doing the last mask I thought I would try another.  Again this is going to be a combination of primarily pastels, some gold leaf and acrylic covered with pastel.  This is a lot more elaborate and hoping I can pull it off. This is on artagain paper, recycled and the black will lend itself to really helping the background and also give soft edges as the feathers fade in and out.  I already have a few issues, this is on mat board, and it has a definite indentation, just like golf balls, so the pastels just want to skim and not sink in.  And I started with the gold leaf design so I didn't lose it and have put it on three times now, but oh well, and looking at this it won't show up as much as I would have hoped in the color areas, might try another couple of coats and see what happens. I would like to thank Helga O from PMP who kindly put up her pictures from her trip to Venice and this lovely reference shot.  She has several more, so there coul...

                                                              The Venetian Violinist                                                                          9"x12"                            ...

Since there are rules for everything I assume there are rules for correct cropping.  I haven't Googled it, suppose I should, but maybe ignorance is bliss.  Anyway I cropped this as an experiment.  What attracted me to the picture is the golden venetian mask, then the violin and then the hat.  I think you had to have both the hat and the violin to be sure that the mask/face is the center of attention.  But I felt I just couldn't have the violin just floating up there so I needed the second hand holding the bow.  In composition I think that diagnols are good at helping move the eye and suggests action, so maybe that is a good thing to include?  I also wanted to have a dark background and just sort of have him materialize out of the darkness.  So we will see how that goes.... Thanks much for stopping by and taking a look and hope you have a great start to your week.

                                                                          Koala                                                                          12"16"                   ...

Ok, hopefully the mystery of what I am putting on this experimental background is now solved.  Remember, I just put acrylic colors randomly on paper, sprayed it with water and put saran wrap on top and let it  dry.  When I turned the paper around I thought that the right-hand side looked like a tree trunk, so it pretty much told me what I'd have to paint, and I had been wanting to do a koala so that's how I got here.  They are pretty strange looking animals.  I am taking a lot of creative license here, using the pose photo from Susan Freeman, of PMP.  I really wanted to have a good look at those button eyes and the nose/mouth on these guys are pretty unusual so I am using another reference shot that gives me a better look at the facial features.   I also changed up the coloring to make it bit richer than what was in the original photo.  My quest to figure out a fur technique continues and using some advice from another artist I am trying t...

                                                                         Gray Wolf      8"x10"     Acrylic  Well here is the final version of my gray wolf in acrylic, also included the first time I painted this in oil - which do you prefer?  I am still trying to figure out how to do the fur technique.  In this case this wolf is very salt and peppered black and white and I also wanted to get a feet for more individual hair but also create greater depth.  I am hoping that you see some improvement between the two.  Think I did these about 3 months apart.   ...

These adorable lion cubs are from a shot by Glennis Weston.  Glennis not only can take wonderful photos, but she is also a superb artist, just one of the many inspiring folks at Paint My Photo. Anyway, been a while since I worked on velour paper with pastel, so am giving it a go again and I have to remember the technique I kind of like is more scumbling than strokes.  Only thing about the velour is that it doesn't blend and if you go over with another color it tends to cover the subtle below colors.  I am really glad I took this shot as I now have some clarification of what I couldn't see in the photo of what might be happening behind the bottom cub's head, so think I have it in my mind now and am going to just do my thing and see how it falls.  I have taught myself to work off of the ipad for reference photos and not print them out any more, but with this being off kilter it is causing me a bit of an issue, will be glad to get to the guy who is more upright....

                                                                    Reaching Out                                                                         8"x10"                         ...

                                                                     John's Sunset                                                                           8"x10"                      ...

                                                                    Red Tail Hawk                                                                   Color Pencil/Pastel                             ...

Well am continuing to work on the wolf and have gotten the head in pretty good shape I think.  I am happier with the coloring and only have under the left eye to finish up and then it will move on to finishing the body.   The hairs on the body are both medium short with longer tufting around the scruff of the neck.   It does seem easier to work over and in layers with the acrylic than it does with the water mixable oils, as they seem to get gummy.    I will be interested when I post them together if you can determine a different in the finish between the oils and acrylics. I have tried several application techniques on this piece and seem to end up doing a lot of dry brushing and then some glazing to get the colors and texture that I am looking for.   I am still using the #1 flat brush and a small filbert that I got for $1 at Cheap Joes in Boone, NC.  I bought all they had and wish they had a few more as I find them indispensable brushes -...