NELVIA'SART.COM

                                                                      Jim's View                                                                         24"x18"                                                                         Acrylic Just wanted to thank you, Val, Helen, Diane, and Hilda for taking a look and giving me input.  It is much appreciated ladies as I just get too close to it and I don't always see what is in front of me. Enough of the tweaking, dabbling, daubing, repainting and fussing, I just signed it and for me that says I think it is done.  I tried to get more green color in the right bottom corner and added a few more flowers which I think takes away that white look that I had going.  Got the sides and bottom finished so he won't have to frame.  I decided to leave the jeans the lighter color than in the ref picture because I wanted them to read jeans and his t-shirt to read black.  I am thinking that the weeds on the bottom centers

Well I have been away from this for a few days and did some color changes and tweaks this morning to see if I could give this a bit more punch.  But I think I am pretty much done.  Do  have too much white in the bottom right corner?  What do you guys think with your fresh eyes - is it ready to go?  I pretty much wanted to send this out this week to beat the Christmas rush and have to figure out how to pack the darn thing now.  I haven't mailed a picture this big.  I do know that John Stobart always put in acid free foam board in the back of the picture so it is protected from anything poking into it from behind.  I have a very tight fitting box that I am going to try but am afraid they will crush the corners - definitely will insure it this time. Thanks much for stopping by and leaving any c&c's, as always it is so much appreciated.

                                                  HAPPY  THANKSGIVING ALL I am working on drawing individual,face features with pastel, But I seem to get easily bored.  When we travel I carry a cheap set of Marie's pastels.  They are really light pastel colors, not many darks.  I also grabbed a sketch book with white paper that I haven't used in many years.  As I thumbed through the pages I saw some beginning sketches of tree trunks and decided to do something that used my old beginnings and felt like Fall.  Since I didn't have dark brown I used a 6B pencil and tried a tip from pastelist Paul deMarrais on how he draws tree trunks/twigs.  Figured if it works for pastel sticks it would for pencils as well.  Just turn the pencil as you pull it over the paper.  There is no way you can draw a stiff straight line.  The whole picture is just made up and it was great fun just doing this little sketch. Thanks for stopping by and here are my eye sketches

This is a picture I am doing for a friend.  while it isn't the most exciting picture it does really show the vastness of Colorado and the rolling hills.  My friend is standing on a hill that looks down onto his property and he is in process  of building the cutest "tiny house" that his wife designed.  So what I really wanted to feature is the wide open space of land and sky.  He says Colorado usually has the bluest skies so I just put the clouds over the ridge line.  As you can see I am starting to work on the foreground but before I go there I have to work on the tree masses below on the right-hand side.  I am planning on adding more flowers than what you are currently seeing in the reference.  But I am looking for a way to give it a bit more zap.  I do like how his arm is pointing to island and the small dots that are his car, shed and soon-to-be house. So guys I am looking for suggestions and if you see something that is out of whack for me to correct while I sti

                                                                 Fire in the Sky                                                                      12"x16"                                                                        Pastel Many thanks to Allankah of PMP who posted this sensational sky.  It was so much fun to use colors that I don't typically use, the reds, oranges and yellows.  I am back working more with pastels again and experimenting with new paper supports.  I think this pastel mat, my first go at it and if it is it definitely grabs the pastel layers but isn't as abrasive as the sanded papers I have previously tried.  I have some "Wallis" like paper that I was told is manufactured by the same folks who did her paper - so ... we'll see. I am working on a large acrylic and this gave me some relief from the precise work that I am trying to accomplish on that piece. Thanks much for taking a peek and stopping by. Saw this cartoon a