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                                                              Waiting for the Dark                                                                        Pastel                                                                        9"x12" Well been in the studying mode so am working slowly on some other pictures while I try to figure "it" out, whatever that means.  So wanted to do something worthwhile so decided to try this beautiful cheetah from Gary Jones, a wonderful w...

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....

                                                                       First Snow                                                                          12"x9"                     ...

                                                                       Watching                                                                          9"x12"                      ...

    Pretty Boy Harry 7"x5" Pastel/Velour Paper I don't know why but I haven't done many regular cats, only cats have been of the big African variety.  So I am remedying that situation with Pretty Boy Harry.    This is from PMP and the photographer is Neil Cartwright.  Harry just looked so peaceful and I loved the soft long silky hairs and the subtle color blends in his dark fur.    Thanks for stopping by and enjoy today.

Kingfisher 5"x7" Pastel/Velour Paper   This little guy is so cheerful and it is so dreary here that I just had to paint him.  This is another Gary Jones reference.  Please check Gary's wildlife photos out at PaintMyPhoto.ning.  He has such a wonderful eye and is just one of the photographers there that graciously allows us to use the pictures copyright free.  I never have seen a Kingfisher in the wild, not sure they are in our Southeast range.   I think now that I am doing enough of these on velour paper am getting some idea of how to manipulate the paper.  It takes a lot of pressure and many layers although it still eats my color.   For storage I am putting them in small plastic bags, curling them as I put them in or taking them out - since this is mostly practice I haven't mounted them on acid free board.   The bags however are big enough to hold a mounted picture and it is a perfect set up for m...

    Who's Dat 7"x5" Pastel/Velour Paper   When I was younger I actually collected owls - and then after Harry Potter, well I'm sold.  Actually we have an owl that occasionally flies through our yard during the day, think he lives down by the lake.   This is a horned owl.  Not too late to join in with the 30 paintings in 30 days, sponsored by Leslie Saeta, just check her website for details, http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.com/ , she also does a weekly radio show on  marketing art, interviews with artists, organization, etc.  According to her post yesterday there are 1,227 artists participating in this challenge - whew that is a lot of crazy people in one place!!  I did more planning this time and having done it once before knew what to expect, so thus far, know it's only 3 days, I am feeling pretty good, not nearly as stressed as last time. Thanks for stopping by and have a great painting week.  Good week for me so...

Mr. & Mrs. 9"x12" Pastel on Velour Paper Here is what I think is going to be the final picture of this year just because this next week looks pretty busy.  Boy, what a year for so many things, art included.  In so many ways it seems like it just flew by, but when I start to evalutate 2014 I am sure I'll feel I accomplished many things (that's another upcoming post).  But I wish it would slow down just a little.  But 2015 here we come!! Thanks again to Gary Jones who shot both of these beauties.  I combined both photos, one black and white and the other color in GIMP, gray scaled both and then found other color references of Ibis to try to get his coloration in.  Paul got some great pictures at the Washington National Zoo of their lion pride so hope to do some of their lions too. I am hoping that I am starting to get the hang of this paper and that maybe the next picture will be more cohesive as far as technique.  I find that I am ...

I am continuing to work on the male lion as I get the color tones laid into the lioness.  I want to be sure that I have common colors between the two of them.  I have been using a stipple brush to do some of the blending, very lightly, as it really kicks up dust, but it does help to take some of the stoke away and blend overall - trying to blend with fingers on the velour is pointless as nothing moves.  Still have quite a bit to do but like the way the lioness is coming together. Looking at this I still think I need to put the right side of the male's face more into shadows colors.  Will start to gradually do that as I don't want it all gray, but have color peeking through.  I am guessing that if I can get it to the right value and color it should help the lioness pop out as being forward of the male.  Had to take a bit of a break this week to do tablecloths and napkins for next week.  Sewing is kind of artistic??   Anyway, wh...

    Here is an update on my lion friends and I am really not sure I am happy with the way this piece is going.  I am on the second try on this velour paper and I must admit it is very strange and I am not sure yet that I really like it.  (I really miss being able to blend, I guess it covers a lot of errors)  In my reading a lot of people have switched from velour to pastelboard.  However I thought that pastelboard is more like sanded paper, but I may be incorrect.  I keep losing my underdrawing and then the colors look fine one second and then they go dead, just like the paper swallowed it.  Also this support creates quite a bit of dust so I have gone to my using air purifier and a mask.  I am using the color of the paper as some of the color of the lion and maybe I would have a different experience using more of a complementary color.  The good thing about putting a shot on the computer screen is being able to see majo...

      Ok, this is the start of Mr. & Mrs., my double lion portrait, on golden yellow velour paper, 9"x12".  This is a combination of two photos from Gary Jones at PMP.  The male was in black and white and female in full color, so I am working the male from value studies I did plus using other lion reference photos to try to get his colors correct.  Colors will be the same for both so hoping to keep it cohesive. I can already see that this is going to photo differently than what it is in real life as the photo background looks blue and it actually is a blue green.  I will try to take the next pics outside so it might translate better.  But, heck it's cold. I mounted this velour paper to the same size of acid free foam board, I didn't have the adhesive sheet, so used 3M Super 77, liberally spraying both the board and the back of the velour sheet.  It seems to have bonded pretty good.  I let it dry overnight...

 Watching   Ok, here is the tigress with her final tweaks where I changed some of the color zones - hoping you can't really tell the differences.  Don't think I am going to do anything else to her but put her in a frame.  Let's talk about this unique way of framing pastels....... Am going to try to frame as Leslie Harrison suggests.  One thing she does I didn't know to do initially was put this piece of velour on foam board before you start painting - next one definitely as velour paper is rather thin and could wrinkle.  Anyway you put velour on board or acid free foam board using a sheet of double-sided adhesive.  Paint away - Then she thoroughly cleans the glass and puts the picture right against the glass (usually in pastel you use the mat space to act as a dust catcher) and then puts in her brads to the frame to make it snug.  She says you get a little dust but she doesn't have any issues.  Hoping for no issues as this is...

Watching  9"x12" Pastel on Velour Well I think that "Watching" is pretty much complete.  As usual I am going to let him sit on the board and rest a couple of days and then I can do tweaks to him.  I think I see a few of the markings that I'd like to change, especially that longer tough hair just around the neck area.   But want to get some distance first, too many hours in this to try to radically change and ruin the piece.  Know that I need to keep going over the whiskers to get them whiter and with more substance.   I will admit that I tried whiskers with pastel and couldn't get the lines thin enough, so ended up using the trusty Sakura white gel pen and keep going over them as the velour sucks it up.  All the experts say sharpen the pastels - well I just don't know who to get it that sharp!! Why is it with pictures you like some parts and hate others?  Do you think anybody gets it all where they like it? ...

Well continuing to work on this tiger.  Even though velour seems to take color pretty fast I find I am working lots of hours without looking like I am making progress.   I find that I keep adding additional layers to what I have already worked, still trying to get that individual hair look.  Think I may have been lucky and able to mask my error at the top of the head, thank goodness each tiger has different random markings. I had to freshen up the left eye as well, and you can really tell the difference between the two eyes.  It seems that even though I am trying not to lay anything or put hands on areas that have been worked, the color I guess gets imbedded into the velvety paper, dulls and needs to be touched up a bit.  Today's time has been spent trying to get the muzzle to come forward away from the flat plane of the face.  I also have to get some more references on what the nose looks like as I am not happy with this...

Ahhh, boy does it feel a lot better doing something more inside my comfort zone.  Just couldn't make myself deal with green today (ok there is a little I did on this, but not like the landscapes).  Decided even with the velour I was going back to work on Watching.  Saw a documentary last night on lions with some previews of a tiger show to come and got excited. Speaking of the velour, I think I quite like that surface a whole lot better than the sanded paper.  I am going to try several other brands and the pastel mat as well to see if I can find a surface that feels smoother.  I got more Colorfix sheets to have to use up, so there will be more pics on it and maybe by the end I'll know what to do with it.  Fingers crossed. Today was sketching in definitions, where the black and white zones should be to form the cheek and muzzle areas.  Still playing with underpainting on the beige zones - I am still undecided on what the color and o...

                           HAPPY THANKSGIVING - HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!   US STYLE Ah yes, I hear you, you are saying, there sure isn't much that happened here.  And you would be correct.  I had ordered myself a book written by Lesley Harrison, a wonderful wildlife pastelist.  She kind of specializes in horses and wolves and does all other manner of critters.  Anyway why I went ahead and got her book, besides the beautiful pictures, is that she primarily has worked on velour paper for the last 30+ years.  So thought she might have something to tell me that would help me figure this out.  So am taking some time to read it.   Besides it is Thanksgiving, lots of food, fun, football and stuff - so I can be lazy. You can see that I did start to try to figure out fur with this paper.  I approached it as I did ...

This is a wonderful shot from Gary Jones, at PMP, of a Sumatran tigeress called Kirana.  I wanted to do her because she was an excellent face close up and I wanted the challenge of her beautiful eyes and features because I am working on a new support surface and I figured why not give me a chance.   I wanted to do this larger than I normally would so that I have enough space for each feature to try to do some experimental things.   I changed this shot up a bit as I am going to bravely add some leaves over her finished face to give the feeling that she is in hiding and "Just Watching".  As you know I am one of the most patient people I know - NOT.  So rather than do a lot of extensive reading and then swatch experimenting - well, I am going for it.  The paper color is a light tan/or golden beige.  The velour surface takes the pastels (am using for the first layer primarily Nupastels (hard sticks) and some pencils, and will come back w...