The White Ghost Barn Owl Pastel

                                                                    The White Ghost
                                                                            9"x12"
                                                                            Pastel
Trying to get out of my slump so have spent some time watching YouTube videos - now that can get your revved up.  People are so darn talented and try to many things!!  Couple that with the fabulous array of photos that so many talented photographers share on PaintMyPhoto, many thanks to Paul, one of my favorite wildlife photographers, and you just can't stay down for long.   Those fingers just start itching.

So I saw a pan pastel video by Joanne Barby and decided to try an owl.  Reminds me of Harry Potter, as a matter of fact, an artist on PMP did a whole owl series on book pages!!  Anyway, they have the most fabulous eyes.  There is another that I have to do just because he has red eyes.  There was a huge assortment of them looking directly at you, but I decided to give this barn owl a try, the challenge here being the subtle pattern showing through the feathers.  I really love the illusion, and have done some other pictures, where you have an animal coming out of the shadows.  Since they are nocturnal and some subspecies are very light I came up with the title of this piece.  The black Artagain paper really makes it easy.

This is primarily pan pastels with just a few accents with a pastel pencil and a couple of last highlights with a soft white.  I really am enjoying the pan pastels, they are so sheer and the spread from the applicator goes pretty far.  I am really starting to experiment with color blending so I have a bunch of dirty pans, but easily cleaned.  Here I added a various bit of blues throughout the shadow side.  I think that is going to be something I want to continue to play with in future paintings - more color and some you wouldn't expect just to add more life.

Thanks much for stopping by to take a look.



Comments

Log Cabin Studio said…
This is so beautiful, I love how you used the background color to showcase the owl. Lovely.
February 20, 2017 at 11:57 AM
Janet Bradish said…
Love owls and love this one! The sharp detail on the right and how you have faded him into the background on the left - such a beautiful image.
February 20, 2017 at 10:49 PM
Sheila said…
WOW! This is stunning! Beautiful work :)
February 20, 2017 at 11:19 PM
Mellowood Gallery said…
This is fabulous, Nelvia. He looks so soft and the fade-away aspect on the left is just super. Well done, girl!
February 21, 2017 at 10:54 AM
Nelvia said…
Hey C how are you doing, got snow? I do like these shadows pictures and the dark paper really helped in the coloring on this piece. Thanks for shooting me a comment.
February 25, 2017 at 9:39 AM
Nelvia said…
Thanks much Janet, I am really pleased with the result on this one. Doesn't happen often unfortunately.
February 25, 2017 at 9:40 AM
Nelvia said…
Thanks Sheila. I love the drama of the white against the black in this piece. I also was surprised at how easy it was to imitate the pattern and have it look real.
February 25, 2017 at 9:41 AM
Nelvia said…
Thank you so much Val. I always get hopeful when I get one to work that there will be another one in my future. Guess that is what keeps us painting.
February 25, 2017 at 9:41 AM
Joan Tavolott said…
Oooh...the feathers are gorgeous! You shaded them so well. Nice composition too with him off center. Good work!
February 25, 2017 at 6:07 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In The Garden acrylic painting Redo

Image
In The Garden Original painting Well, thankfully I have some folks who tell me what they think.  I value their objective opinions very much and appreciate that they feel strongly enough to tell me when they feel something is off.  In the original painting no one liked the addition of the yellow flower, and felt it pulled the eye and overshadowed the focal point.   Well, I sat on it a bit and starting playing with how I could work it back into the composition.  I wanted the third flower, but I couldn't just really dull down the yellow.  As you an see I ended up making it darker in shadows and then burying it into the foliage.  I like it better because it now looks, to me, like it is part of the picture instead of just being put on in the corner.  Moral of the story, fix it first because it is hard to come in and match colors later. What do you think of the changes - for better or worse? Thanks much for stopping by and taking a look.
Read more

Her Highness mixed media woman portrait

Image
Her Highness   I just absolutely loved the expression on this lady and knew I wanted to try to capture her elegance and serenity.  I knew that I didn't want an exact portrait and decided to try another mixed media piece.    I added blobs of paint and used my large scraper to make the areas of color.  Just put paint on a piece of watercolor paper.  Then I inscribed and mixed the colors together with the end of my brush and got all the wavy lines (in real life they actually stand up so there is a 3D effect to the background).  Where I thought I wanted the face I really scraped most of the paint off, and ended up with color blotches and tones, and if you look in the forehead you can sort of see the design that was left.  I thought it would add some variance to the skin tones. I also want to keep her very soft so I tried to stay in the pastel tones, even with the lips.   Once I got shadows and lights added in, and went over it with some skin tone and more blue colors I let
Read more

Magnolia Blossom acrylic portrait magnolia flowers

Image
Magnolia Blossoms Acrylic 11"x14" “Talent is a pursued interest. Anything that you're willing to practice, you can do.”   - Bob Ross I thought this was a wonderful quote.  I don't know if it has happened to you, but people say, oh you are so talented.  Not true, couldn't be farther from the truth, although I am sure there are many artists who do possess that something extra, something special.  But for the most part for the rest of us, it is just a matter of studying,  learning your  tools and materials, practicing, and then start to trust your inner self.  I am on a journey to try to find my voice.  Not that I am a late bloomer, but I should have already found it, yes?  I guess what I am really looking for is the way I wish and want to paint.   Not necessarily how I have been doing it. I am pleased with this piece.  Many thanks to Sanne who put this wonderful reference piece up at PMP.  Personally I think Magnolias are just wonderful flowers.  They hav
Read more