Fowl Play

I painted this for the “Ripped Off” show on EBSQ but didn’t get it finished in time, so now it’s in the “Better Late Than Never” show. The object is to pair up with another artist and rip off their work.

I paired up with Lauren Abrams, whose still life paintings are awesome. I particularly enjoy her toy paintings. She arranges the toys to create a story, then gives the paintings clever titles. After looking through her work, I took a few of her toys and created my own story.

"Fowl Play"

8" x 10"

Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

Boots

I painted this for the current challenge on the Different Strokes From Different Folks blog. Since this was a simple subject, Karin suggested we push ourselves in a different direction. That was truly my intention when I started this painting. I blocked in the basic shapes with the side of a pastel, and everything was going fine. But then my brain took over and by the time I realized it was not going how I’d originally intended, I was having too much fun to stop.

10”x8”
Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

Speaking of fun, I got a nice surprise when the results for last month's EBSQ shows were tallied. In the Portrait Swap show, my portrait of Frankie won Member’s Choice award, and Tracey & Poe won Patron’s Choice. My portrait of Obama won Member’s Choice in the Campaign Art Show. Thanks to all who voted for my work! It was definitely a fun surprise!

Portrait of Frankie

This is my second and last portrait for EBSQ’s 2008 Portrait Swap, the lovely Frankie Paquin. I had three photos to choose from, but this one appealed to me the most. It was also the most difficult composition. I left the mirror until I was three quarters of the way finished, mostly because I was dreading it. Sometimes when I’m painting things like that I get confused and I can’t really see it correctly. In the end, it was easier than I thought it would be. I just started placing the highlights in the approximate place I thought they should be, then went progressively darker. Of course, it’s not exactly accurate, but I was more concerned with getting the feel of the mirror than an exact replica.

Frankie
8”x10”
Soft Pastels on Suede Matboard