Equality in Art

Do you remember when you were a kid and you thought everything had to be fair? Your sister got a brownie, and even if you didn’t really want one, you had to have one too. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair. Well, that’s spilled over into art at my house. My son is complaining that I’ve painted my daughter more than I’ve painted him. He's right, of course. Since I just painted a pastel of her as a baby, I decided to do one of him as a baby. Can’t get more fair than that, right?

This one is on La Carte paper, which is textured similar to sandpaper. It was really hard to get used to, and I made plenty of errors. Fortunately, this paper holds a lot of pastel. Once I figured out where I was off, it was easy enough to correct. One thing I really like about this paper is that it sharpens the pastel as you use it. Nice for details.

12"x9"

Soft Pastel on La Carte Paper

Pumpkins!

“Pumpkins”
5”x7”
Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

Fall is my favorite season. I love the crisp air and changing leaves, the smell of wet leaves and pine trees, and, of course, pumpkins! I’ve had pumpkins in mind for a painting, so when I saw Karin Jurick’s “Different Strokes from Different Folks” blog, I quickly decided to participate. What a fun idea! Each artist creates a piece based on the same photograph. 

Pastel Portrait on Velour Paper

“New Hat”
12”x9”
Soft Pastels on Velour Paper

This is a portrait I did just for myself. I love the look of pet portraits on velour paper, but hadn’t yet done a people portrait using velour. I chose a picture of my daughter when she was a baby for my reference. Once I got the hang of layering colors to get the skin to look the way I wanted it to look, it was easy. I’m very happy with the results, and I love this velour paper! But I still have more papers to try, so stay tuned…

Finished Oil Paintings

5"x7"

Oil on board

Untitled at the moment

I didn't get much artwork completed over the summer, with kids around all the time, vacations, and the usual summer distractions. These two paintings were my sole oil painting accomplishments, and it took all summer to complete them. I painted them at the same time so they would look like they belong together. I’m not planning more of these tiny paintings anytime soon! The figures are so small I often had to use a magnifying glass to paint the detail. But overall, I’m pleased with the way they turned out. They are untilted, but hopefully I’ll think up something clever soon (any suggestions?).

On a fun note, my pastel paintings “Annie” and “In Memory of Kacie” just won Member’s Choice and Patron’s Choice, respectively, in EBSQ’s Pet Portrait Swap show!