Terry Ludwig Award!

My painting "Laundry Day, Venice" won the Terry Ludwig Award in the Pastel Society of the West Coast's 25th Pastels USA International Open Exhibition.  Terry Ludwigs are my favorite pastels, so I am over the moon!  I'm definitely having a good month. :)

You can see the show at the Haggin Museum in Stockton, CA from April 24 to June 19, 2011.

Sun Kissed

I hate to waste good paper, so I painted this little picture of my daughter enjoying the sunlight to use up a small scrap piece of La Carte.  As you can see, I didn't do a whole lot of blending on this one.  Just quick and fun.

Sun Kissed

3.5" x 4.25"

Soft Pastel on La Carte

M&M Addiction

I can't help it, I'm addicted.  These are so fun to paint, I just had to try them larger.  But this will be the last one.  Probably.  Maybe.  Well, for right now, anyway.

9.5" x 12.5"

Soft Pastel on La Carte

Tribute to Karin Jurick

Karin Jurick

10" x 8"

Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

Along with 117 other artists, I painted Karin Jurick’s portrait as a “thank you” for all her efforts with the Different Strokes From Different Folks blog.  The DSFDF blog has been an inspiration to many artists, and I’ve enjoyed the benefits of participating in the challenges.  In addition to stretching my skills by painting things I might not normally choose to paint, I’ve met many great people through the blog.  I have appreciated the time and effort Karin devotes to the blog, and I’m happy to be able to participate in this tribute to her.

M&Ms II

M&Ms are just as addictive to paint as they are to eat. It's just too fun. I had to do it again.

5" x 5"

Soft Pastel on La Carte

M&Ms

I was in the mood for something fun and colorful, so I bought some M&Ms to paint a still life. I debated painting the candy dish in various crops, but finally decided it would be more fun to do a really close crop of just the candy.

When you aren’t used to eating a lot of sugar, M&Ms are unbelievably sweet! I was amazed at how quickly I went from being nauseous to addicted. I had so much fun painting this, but found it is difficult to paint candy without wanting to eat it. Now I need to paint something healthy to get over my sugar high.

M&Ms

5” x 5”

Soft Pastel on La Carte

Abstract in Soft Pastel

For quite a while now, I’ve been thinking it would be fun to paint an abstract of a city street at night. It has been so long since I’ve painted an abstract, and I’ve never done one in pastel, so I decided to start the new year off with something new and different. It was fun to paint, but it was also a challenge. I kept fighting my inclination to make it look like something more detailed.

Night Lights

6" x 6"

Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

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

Still Life in Soft Pastel

My friend Pat Meras (an extraordinarily talented pastel artist - check out her blog!) gave me a little white box lined with newspaper and filled with pears from her tree. I don't know whether Pat consciously tried to make this box of pears look so appealing, or if everything she touches turns out to be a work of art, but I knew I had to paint it. The pears were delicious, too. Thanks, Pat!

9.5" x 12.5"

Soft Pastel on La Carte

Portrait of My Uncle

In the last two years, I've lost three people who were important to me. When I was a kid and first realized that we were all going to die some day, I felt gypped. And afraid. I didn't want to lose everyone I loved. I still don't. But that's part of life, isn't it? We will lose people we love until they lose us. I suppose the only positive aspect is that it teaches you to appreciate what you have while you have it. There was a line about life in a comic strip that has stuck with me: "It ain't nohow permanent."

I painted this portrait of my uncle, who passed away last year, as a gift for my aunt. He was a great man. I hope he knew we all thought so.

10" x 8"

Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

The Traveler

I've just finished a very difficult commission which has taken up all my painting time over the last few weeks. I know, you thought I was sitting around eating bonbons and not working, and I can't even show you proof until after Christmas (the client is giving the painting as a Christmas gift). You'll just have to take my word for it that I was slaving away at my easel.

I was able to squeeze in some time to paint the current Different Strokes From Different Folks challenge, though, so I can show you that. I had intended to paint all three figures from the reference photo, but given the time crunch I decided I should make the composition easier. All those lost edges were fun to paint, and fun and easy was just what I needed after that commission!

The Traveler

6" x 6"

Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

A couple of miscellaneous items:

Since I last posted, I have a new web site. My soft pastel demo is on my site, so those of you who were waiting for it can now access the demo at KariTirrell.com.

Also, many people have tried to add me as a friend on Facebook over the last few months. I created an artist page on Facebook, so you can now join me there. Either click here, or in the blog sidebar. Thanks!

Cupcakes and More Cupcakes

I didn’t get a chance to participate in the Different Strokes From Different Folks challenge for week 46-48 when everyone painted cupcakes. It looked like it would be a fun subject to paint, so when I had the time I took a crack at it.

“Cupcakes”
8” x 10”
Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

I had so much fun painting them, but I really wanted to try the same subject on a different support. I heard about a new cupcake shop in Tacoma, so I drove over there looking for good references. I got them!

The shop is called “Sweet Things Cupcakes,” and is full of the most beautiful cupcakes I’ve ever seen. I didn’t get to try any of them because they weren’t gluten free, although the owner said they were planning on serving a gluten free cupcake eventually. The staff was very friendly and very kindly let me take some photos for references.

“Sweet Things”
9.5” x 12.5”
Soft Pastel on La Carte

If I could have eaten one, I’d have picked the Lemon Meringue (which I haven't painted yet). It looked fabulous! If you’re in the Proctor area of Tacoma, please stop by and try one so you can tell me all about it. I want to hear every yummy detail!

BEST IN SHOW!!

Last night was the artists’ reception for the 7th Annual Peninsula Art League Open Juried Art Exhibition. I entered three pieces to the show, but only one got in, so I was feeling lucky to be included. Imagine my surprise when I found my painting had won Best in Show!

"Sunny Spot"

10" x 20"

Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

My dog got a huge, well-deserved helping of turkey when I got home last night!

Pastel Dog Portrait

I painted this pooch for EBSQ’s Pet Portrait Swap ‘09. This year I paired up with one of my favorite EBSQ artists, Lauren Cole Abrams. Lauren doesn’t have a pet, so I painted her mother’s dog, Rocky.

10” x 8”
Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

Dog Painting From my Live Presentation Last Night

I’d like to thank all of you who attended my EBSQ Live! Presentation last night. It was great to meet some new people, and overall a very fun experience. Here is the painting I used for the demonstration. It is my dog, in one of her favorite sunny spots in the house. If you missed the demo, you can see it on my web site here.

"Sunny Spot"

10” x 20”
Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

Summer Bounty

This was painted for the Different Strokes From Different Folks blog. I started it last Thursday, thinking I’d whip it out really quick instead of waiting until the last minute. I was very impressed with myself for not procrastinating. Unfortunately, I only got it about half finished and didn’t have a chance to paint until now (no procrastination involved, honestly, just super busy). Still, I’m a week early, so that’s an improvement!

(SOLD)

7" x 5"

Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

Cherries

Here's one I just finished. It will be available this weekend, along with some of my other paintings, at the Peninsula Art League's sale during the Maritime Gig Festival, June 6 & 7. The sale will be set up in the old Ship to Shore building by the new museum. If you're close to Gig Harbor, make sure you stop by and see all the great original art!

3.25" x 5.25"

Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

Springer Spaniel Portrait

This is a portrait of a beautiful tri-color Springer Spaniel named Cassidy. I donated a pet portrait to English Springer Rescue America (ESRA) for a fundraising auction, and Cassidy's parents were the winning bidders.

10" x 8"

Soft Pastel on Suede Matboard

Diana’s Companion

7" x 5"

Soft Pastels on Suede Matboard

People have been asking me lately about my process. Unfortunately, I don’t have an easy answer because I don't have a set approach to painting. I may do things differently based on subject, size, purpose of the painting, my mood, whatever. I decided to turn this Different Strokes challenge into a WIP, so those people who are interested could see one of my methods for tackling a painting.

Unless my painting has to be perfect, I prefer to skip measuring. It makes things tedious and takes the fun out of it. For this particular subject, I’m not concerned with perfection. Close is good enough, because no one will likely know if it isn’t perfect. Which means I’m not measuring (hooray!).

Step 1: I cut a 7” x 5” piece of suede matboard and tape it to a piece of cardboard. I then crop and print the reference photo to the same size, taping it next to the board. This will allow me to check size, values, and shapes, and is particularly useful to check accuracy when standing five or six feet back.

Next, I pick out pastels in a light, medium, and dark value. Not the lightest light, or darkest dark, of course – that’s like dessert for me, so I save it for later. I use the light pastel, making marks where the lights are in the ref photo, then do the same with the middle and then the dark values. Now I have a basic sketch.

Step 2: Obviously, I’m going to be using some pastel pencils with this piece. Her face is only ½” big. There’s no way I’ll get enough detail with these fat pastels. Using a gray pastel pencil, I define the figures.



Step 3: Going back with the pastels again, I work on the values.



Step 4: I alternate between pastel pencils and pastels, refining the drawing.

With the finished painting next to the ref photo, it’s very obvious where I’m off. But since no one is going to see the ref photo next to the painting in real life, I think it’s close enough.
Here is the finished piece again, larger. Lots of fun, and no tedious measuring. My favorite way to paint!

Hot Off The Easel

My first few attempts at painting in oil were small (5”x7”) paintings of my daughter reading. When I painted them last year, I decided it would be a good subject for a large painting. Of course, at the time I was planning on doing it in oil, but I never got around to it. Since I recently got a full set of Mount Visions pastels, I’ve been playing large. I thought it would be fun to see if I could paint this in pastels instead of oils. Turns out, it really was fun.

"Idle Moments"

24” x 28”

Soft Pastels on Suede Matboard