Incognito

Who is this intimidating man behind the shades? This is a portrait of my husband Steve and was done from photos taken while we were on an unforgettable two week driving tour of California a few years ago. We spent an afternoon strolling down the palm lined main drag of old Palm Springs, which is revitalized with new shops, boutiques and restaurants, and stopped to have lunch at one of the inviting outdoor cafes. I loved the reflection of the table tiles in his sunglasses and the striking black Hawaiian shirt looked so handsome against his silver hair. "Mr. Hollywood", I jokingly called him..his cool expression fit..I could hardly wait to get home to work on the painting.(On a personal note..Steve actually smiles all the time but that kind of expression wasn't what I was after..)
This is pastel on colourfix..the sand color I think. You can see it coming through in some areas of his skin. The actual background of cafe patrons and tables was so busy that I edited them out. The umbrella helps to keep the viewer's eye from running out of the upper part of the frame and moves you back down to Steve.
Now just WHO was he looking at....?

The Finest Pair

This pastel of a very fine pair of Percheron draft horses will be included in the upcoming invitational art exhibit, The Dog and Pony Show at Skyline Farm and Carriage Museum in North Yarmouth, Maine.
I've always loved horses and these big powerful guys really stood out during a day at Maine's largest and best country fair in Fryeburg, a few years ago. The owner was ground driving them outside the pulling arena and had taken a break so I asked if a few photos were possible. The horses stood quietly as I moved around them taking shots. Alert and attentive their ears swiveled and followed every sound made by the driver who stood behind them out of frame. As a horse owner for many years I have to admit to being completely intimidated by this breeds immense size and power. Their feet were bigger than dinner plates.
Instead of using the bright sunlit scenery of the fairground actually behind the horses I painted a swirling mixture of rich dark hues around them creating a chiaroscuro painting, which is a technique truly mastered by the Flemish painter Rembrandt. The grey horses pop out of the background and the warm terra cotta paper showing through in places makes the cool colors sparkle giving the horses the energy and excitement I felt that day..

Laundry Day-2

This is another 5 x 7 study of the same scene but this one was based only on my impressions and drawn from memory, not photo reference. I think this is a great exercise which was done quickly using a small palette knife on everything except for Koda, who was painted with a small liner brush. The high key(light) palette expresses my feelings of warm, bright sun and the breezy fragrance of freshly washed sheets. The colors used are very close in tone value and hue that resulted in a grisaille type painting(usually done in grays or browns). The image is recognizable and the light source has been defined well enough.
I'm starting another small study ..this next one will be quite different...

Laundry Day

Ahhh...There's nothing like the smell of freshly washed sheets that've been hung outside to dry in the breeze. Koda, who is a little over six months old now and eager to help with domestic chores, triumphantly marched off with my clothes pin bag. The photos for this painting were taken just a week ago on the first day of real summer like weather. Koda supervised as I did some much needed yard work.
The composition in this 5 x 7 study falls short of my original vision, however. Because of the space between Koda and the clothes line there seem to be two subjects in the painting instead of one. The clothes basket needs toning down to push it further into the background and I'd like to bring the horizon line down too.
Stay tuned as I work through this process...

Perspective

This is a photo comparing the size of the study Shadow Play(see previous blog) in relation to the brushes, palette knife and a few other materials that are used in my work. The pastel sticks are standard size and broken in half, but even so it would be difficult to use them for paintings of this small scale.
I find that swishing around with a wet medium is a refreshing change from dry pastels. It stretches my brain because the approach and applications are so different...I have to mix colors and think backward!
One of my upcoming blogs will show the step by step process of a pastel painting based on these studies. Any comments along the way would be appreciated!

Carry A Big Stick & Shadow Play

I'm continuing with the postcard sized(4 x 6) studies of our young dog Koda, in preparation for the Dog and Pony Show that opens in a few months(see previous blog). I'm using casein on gessoed mat board. A very special artist friend turned me on to this medium, which is an ancient milk based paint. Caseins have a tough durable surface when completely dry that can be buffed to a soft luster, varnished or put under glass like a watercolor. It can be applied thick impasto style, thinned with water or a casein emulsion medium for layering with glazes. All of those techniques were used in these little images.
My favorite studies will be used as guides for larger pastel paintings that will be submitted for entry in the show.

Just Walkin' the Dog

I've been invited for the second year in a row to exhibit in a show that will feature paintings, sculpture and photography of horses and dogs done by artists from across the country. This is great timing because we decided to get a new Golden Retriever puppy a few months ago. Her name is Koda and she is the perfect subject for the paintings I'd like to do. I will talk more about the "Dog and Pony Show" at the Skyline Farm and Carriage Museum, as I work through more studies of Koda and her life with us...
This is a 5 x 7 casein study of my husband Steve taking a morning walk with his new best friend....quite a nice pair.