This blog is a must-read for artists!

I just happened upon the blog of an artist named Jerry Lebo, and I spent hours reading it. If you are an artist and you want to learn about how to become a better one, spend the time to discover the nuggets of wisdom there. www.jerrylebo.com, or www.sixtyminuteartist.com

Autumn I and II (Aspen) - Pastel Dyptych, 8" x 12"

OK, I can never leave well enough alone, I have a tendency to noodle(overwork) a painting even after it is done. And after everything is said and done, it hardly ever looks different! Well, here is the reworked scene from yesterday,and a companion one. My dissatisfaction is that the colors are not as vibrant as I would have liked, and believe me, it is hard to get muddy colors with pastels:) I plan to try an acrylic underpainting in the future, to get more vibrancy and color saturation.

Autumn I (Aspen) - 8" x 12" Pastel

For some reason, painting the woods is a challenge for me. One issue with this (of many) is the composition, mainly the lack of a focal point. An interesting exercise, but next time I'll use a better photo:)

The Guitarist - 10" x 14" Pastel

I have an idea for a series of paintings based on musicians, and this was a test of the concept. I plan to try it a few different ways, some with more color. I was trying to portray the intensity of the musician while playing, and also portray the atmospheric effect of smoke under lights. The subject of this painting is my son's guitar teacher, at a concert.

Sometimes, Less is More

Here's the problem with still life set up...take a few nice objects, put them together, and you have a still life worth painting...not! There truly is an art to setting up an interesting composition. Oh well, at least I like how the Christmas cactus came out. One of these days I will learn to edit before I jump in:)

The Kiss - 7" x 11 " Pastel

A perfect Valentine's Day subject: my parents, circa 1948. As you might be able to tell, I worked from a B&W photo. They eloped shortly after this picture, and nine months later, my big brother was born. Happy Valentine's Day:)

Angela - Pastel WIP

Painting from a live model, a great way to spend a Sunday morning. I do wish that I had positioned this on the paper differently (oops -- I ran out of room for her foot!). There is more to be done here, and luckily, we will have this pose for one more week, so improvement is possible. Then again, I might just start over next time. I guess my goal for future sessions is to catch composition errors early:)

Lemon Trees - 16" x 20" Pastel

This is from a photo I took in Italy a while back...I loved Tuscany. Some wine, some cheese, and a nice view of the Tuscan landscape. Heaven!

A. J. the Havanese - Pastel Pet Portrait

This little dog was so much fun to paint. But first I had to take photos of him...and while I usually do a more traditional portrait, I thought that his expression here, surrounded by his muddy pawprints, was priceless. I have decided to crop it closer (top view)...hope the owner likes it:)

Oranges, Lemon, and Pink Grapefruit - 14" x 18" Pastel

A recent still life, painted from life. The grapefruit was a beautiful pink inside, and the tablecloth was a challenge. I love working with a blue-orange complementary palette, and so I made the background blue, even though it wasn't.

Sunday morning pose - Pastel study

On Sunday mornings I get to draw from a live model, which is a skill that is rusty but fun. No image to post, but a great way to spend the morning.

Oriental Horse - 16" x 20" Pastel

I bought this Oriental horse statue on Ebay, and I like it alot. It will make a good still life subject, if I get the set-up right. Next time, I might change the tablecloth color. This was my first attempt; I will try again.

Maggie the Shih Tzu Pastel Pet Portrait

This little princess is named Maggie. I know that I captured her likeness...whether I also captured her personality, I cannot say. I know that her owners adore her...I hope they like this portrait.

Coffs Bluff - Pastel Seascape 8" x 10"

Water, rocks, sky. A nice painting exercise.

January Daffodils 2

A fellow artist/blogger, Jo Castillo, made a suggestion to view the painting in black and white and analyze the values that way, as a way to fix what was bothering me. She was nice enough to provide me with the black and white version. Now I have to figure out how to do that on my own computer. It is a good tool, and one I will use to try to improve things here.

Daffodils in January - 12" x 15" Pastel

A cold and rainy day in January...just had to paint some Spring flowers. Ahhh, that's better.

Now for the main problem that I had with this painting. I couldn't figure out how to make the flowers "pop" the way I wanted to. Usually I do it with value contrast (light/shadow) or playing with the colors(ie complements next to each other, etc.) but today nothing worked. Maybe I should make the background darker...ideas, anyone?

Summer Memories- WIP (note: finish posted 9/18/08)

This is a painting I started last Fall, which I intend to finish. The subject here happens to be me, and the reference I used is an old snapshot from my childhood in the late 1950's.
I took some liberties here. I grew up on Long Island, back when Levittown was the model for postwar suburbs. The background in this painting is invented--the setting didn't really look like this--but we did have a metal swingset that I loved.
The snapshot I used is old and frayed, so I am making some of it up as I go along. The colors in the photo are faded, but the memories aren't.

Cool Shades - Portrait Study 18" x 24"

I saw this man hanging out at a street fair in Florida, and something about his style just caught my eye. At first I was going to paint the whole figure, but then decided the head and shoulders offered a more interesting subject. For me, working out the skintones and getting a good likeness is always a challenge that I enjoy.

As an aside, it's always tricky for me to take photos of interesting subjects (people) that I see on the street without their noticing. Is this even ethical? Yet, I see a lot of other artists do this as well, so I guess it's OK.

Lovely Radishes - 12" x 18" Pastel Study

Like Rip Van Winkle, I feel like I have awoken from a long artistic slumber! I won't go into the boring details, suffice it to say that it is a New Year and my plan is to paint, paint, paint!

This study was actually done a few months ago, after a visit to the Pleasantville Farmer's Market. These lovelies caught my eye, and the colors and shapes were so much fun to paint. I don't even really like to eat radishes, and most of them never even made it into a salad. Oh well, sometimes sacrifices must be made in the name of art:)

Home Alone (Trixie)

This is an older painting, but since Trixie is the reason I couldn't paint today, I thought I would post it. Trixie (the sheltie you see here) gives me this look everytime I leave her home to go out somewhere...hence the title.

Today, Trixie had to go to the vet unexpectedly, due to an injury to her paw. She will be fine, but I was so preoccupied with my little dog and her bandaged foot, I couldn't get anything done!