Deep in Thought - 11" x 15" Pastel

I tried to complete but not to overwork this--now that I see them side by side, there are some things I liked better yesterday, but on the whole I am happy.

Deep in Thought - WIP

Only had an hour or so today, to block this in. To be continued...

Patch of Sun - Cat Portrait

A continuation of my post of a few days ago. I will probably continue to noodle with this, but it is for the most part done. I like it.

Orange Slices - 9" x 12" Pastel

Painting with my friend Nancy was so much fun today...we painted a simple still life with some mellow jazz playing, and then Nancy, who is an amazing cook, made homemade minestrone, bread, and flan for lunch. It really doesn't get better than this.

Patch of Sun - Cat (WIP)

A beautiful cat doing what cats do best, finding a patch of sun and enjoying it's cozy warmth. This painting is almost done; I will work on it one more day to finetune it and add some fun details (like whiskers).
The image is from the Wetcanvas reference image library, generously posted by a very talented photographer. Unless you only paint from life, you must either take great pictures, or paint enough so that what the reference lacks, you can intuitively add.

Charlie the Bichon

This was a difficult project. I actually had to do this portrait twice...the first time I used a new paper that turned out to be a disaster with soft pastels (Hannemuele velour), and a second time as shown here, on Wallis paper. I have seen great work on that velour paper, but I think it is designed for much harder pastels. I lost sleep over this one...but in the end, I am happy with it. I hope the owner likes it.

Mooshie the Cat - 16" x 18" Pastel

Older paintings of one of my cats, Mooshie. I haven't painted either cat in a while, and I am thinking about trying a few new cat paintings once some commission work is done.
In fact, I have been thinking about subjects that I have painted lately; when I am not really interested in a subject, I think it really shows. Now, my intent is to only paint things I am visually excited by. Somehow I got offtrack; hopefully adding this discipline to my choice of subject will help.

The Game - 16" x 20" Pastel

Today I began two commissions, which I cannot post on my blog at the moment. Rather than not post at all, here's an older one. A weekly basketball game, where all the guys are at that age where they take 1-2 motrin before they play:) Still, no one loves the game more than they do. This painting was done for my hubby (shooting). A follow-up painting was done as a commission for one of the guys on defense.

Trail to Pine Creek Cookhouse - 18" x 24" Pastel (WIP)

This past winter I visited Aspen Colorado; the only way to eat at the Pine Creek Cookhouse is to snowshoe, cross country ski, or take a horse drawn sleigh. The area is beautiful. Bottom image is the block in, the top image is the finish. My problem is that I sometimes lose the initial nice loose feeling and overwork things. This time was no different:(

Summer Petunias - 9" x 12" Pastel on Board (WIP)

Didn't get to finish this today...hopefully I will over the weekend. I used a photo taken on one of my many neighborhood walks, and tried out a new sanded panel made by Richeson. It takes a lot of layers, and I liked it alot. Oddly enough, I liked the panel better than the paper of the same brand.

Irises on Devoe Road - 12" x 18" Pastel

I am working on a winter landscape, which I did not post today since it still needs a lot of work. This is an older landscape; it is sentimental to me because this field of irises used to bloom in my neighborhood, but blooms no more. The land was sold, and now in its place is an ordinary suburban house. I prefer looking at this and remembering the field in all it's glory:)

Jake at the Beach - 16" x 20" Pastel

A painting of a very lucky Tibetan Terrier named Jake, whose humans bring him to their house at the beach all summer long.