Straw Hat pastel woman portrait

Straw Hat
Got to say that the heat here has finally broken and I got to tell you it really changes my disposition.   Do you hear my husband clapping?   Anyway It really shouldn't be mid 90s in October.   Still no rain, but at least we can come and go outside without fainting.

So, I guess that has kind of encouraged me to get on an art roll.   Got lots of ideas, am making GIMP do some work for me and actually getting some results that I think I can repeat.  Also broke out a set of Gallery pastels that I have had hoarded for years, the Sennilers are next on the agenda.  

Tomorrow I am getting some things I ordered that should help organize my studio.  Have threatened to do for for a while and didn't spend the money.   But found some things (a plastic cube system with doors that you can make open any way you want, a rolling tray cart, that can function like drawers but is much lighter than all that fake-wood furniture) reasonably that I think will work, if so I will post pictures.   So I will have things torn up a bit, but think that at the end it will only help me locate things easier, faster and provide more protection.   The bonus is that the studio will look cleaner.   I am actually going to hang more things on the wall and pretend I am moving in to stay a while.

Thanks much for stopping by and taking a look.

Comments

laurelle said…
I love the way her straw hat becomes part of the background and the beautiful way you've painted her face...there's no doubt that your pastels are where your heart is.
October 10, 2019 at 12:17 AM
carol edan said…
Love the light and textures! Truly an excellent portrait!
October 10, 2019 at 4:40 AM
hmuxo said…
This is incredibly beautiful Nelvia!! You are definitely getting better with every painting you do! The way the straw hat blends into the background is the first thing I noticed. SO Well done! Her hair is absolutely outstanding!!! BRAVO, my friend!!!!
October 10, 2019 at 7:34 AM
Mellowood Gallery said…
A super painting Nelvia - great colours and the impression of the hat is just brillian. Good luck with the studio organization!
October 10, 2019 at 12:01 PM
Sheila said…
Oh yes, She's a hot one. On the beach somewhere trying to cool off but not quite managing to. This is wonderful Nelvia! Have fun with your organizing :) I hope it all works as planned.
October 11, 2019 at 2:26 AM
Joan Tavolott said…
I like the dappled light on her face and the fact that the hat blends into the background. Nicely done!!! I hope you post photos of the items you purchased once they are in the studio.
October 11, 2019 at 5:41 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bold woman's portrait

Image
Bold Ok, for today's portrait I went out of the box and decided to try a different look and approach. This is on watercolor paper, I applied a layer of paper collate over it (you can see that some of it started lifting - so got to use more medium to glue it next time)  Anyway then I tried to leave part of that under collage showing, even in the face.  Went back in and applied several more light lawyers of transparent and opaque paint and then put in the hair using my dagger bus.   Gosh that brush makes hair so much easier While this might not the best example what are your thoughts to taking portraits this more dynamic direction? Thanks 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

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