Girlfriends - 14" x 19" Pastel

Posting an older painting as I work on completing some long overdue projects. The subject is my daughter and her friend from middle school. I have always liked the charming architectural details of this particular school building (Bell Middle School, Chappaqua NY)
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The Old City (Jerusalem, Israel)

An older painting that I did using a reference photo from the Wet Canvas image library. I have never been to Israel, but I found this photo intriguing and enjoyed painting it.

Debbie's Garden - 18" x 26" Pastel

An older painting from a friend's beautiful garden. She studied and became a master gardener, and all her efforts were spent perfecting the landscape around her grand estate. Her hard work resulted in a gorgeous landscape, with lovely views at every turn.
This was the first time I painted a landscape on a deep red paper; I like how it shows through and contrasts with the greens.

The Shore - 18" x 24" Pastel

Today I'm posting an older painting, while I work on my niece's wedding project. This was one of my first "landscape" paintings, done on Sabertooth paper -- a paper so rough that I haven't used it since. Looking back, I see lots of things I would do differently; but this painting reminds me of one of my favorite beaches, and for that reason, I still like it.

By the way, the photo isn't as dark in real life.

Three Labs (Louie, Brownie and Tiger) - 16" x 20" Pastel - SOLD

Done... I hope their owner likes it!

Three Labs (Louie, Brownie and Tiger) - WIP

Almost done...will look at it tomorrow with fresh eyes.

Three Labs (Louie, Brownie, and Tiger) - WIP

Going slowly, as I try to keep the long,late afternoon shadows and warm light on each of these labs, and also try to get a likeness on each one...to be continued

Dana - 15" x 18" Pastel

I enjoyed painting this, and while I still see some things I might have done differently, I am going to leave it as is.

Dana - WIP

I have painted people many times, but after umpteen dogs I am trying my hand at portraiture again; it isn't as easy as I had remembered. I decided to paint my daughter. She's 18 now; tempis fugit!

Curiosity (Vizsla and Butterfly) - 13" x 18" Pastel

OK, I could see how some people would think this is a bit too sweet. But I had fun doing it anyway.

Since the initial layout, I moved the foliage and the rocks around to come up with a more pleasing composition, and rubbed the pastel into the paper (with a styrofoam packing peanut, which is a good tool for this), for a less textured look.

Curiosity (Vizsla and Butterfly) - WIP

Started this today purely for fun. Had an idea in my head and had to get it on paper. After I sketched it out, I realized that it reminded me of a painting my dad did roughly 45 years ago -- purely a coincidence, I think.
I did this on a leftover piece of Art Spectrum Colorfix, and I forgot how textured and grainy it is. As I work on finishing this piece, I will rub some of the color into the paper in certain areas, to reduce the spots of paper showing through, which I think is a little distracting.

German Shorthaired Pointer - 11" x 14" Pastel - SOLD

This commission was harder than I thought! The challenge was to paint a GSP with a solid brown head and ticked body -- And while I needed to add highlights to give the head dimension, I needed to do that without making the head look "ticked" (spotted). Also painted a different style of background than my usual. The client loved it.

"Boy", a German Shepherd - 12" x 16" Pastel - SOLD

I was given this photo of a beloved German Shepherd to paint. According to his owner, Boy was big and strong, but deceptively gentle. Folks would be frightened by his looks, and he in turn was terrified of lightening.
This project presented a challenge. This was the only picture of Boy that I had as reference, and because of the indoor lighting and flash, it was less than ideal. Still, you could see his features and coloring pretty well, so I did my best--and upon seeing it, the owner remarked, "that looks just like Boy!".

"Boy", a German Shepherd (In Memory)

Here's the photo that I am working from:

Lana the Viszla - 13" x 16" Pastel Pet Portrait - SOLD

Worked to finish this today. Happy Father's Day, Dan!

Lana the Viszla - WIP

Viszla's...I never really knew this breed, but it turns out that they are the national hunting dog of Hungary. This viszla, Lana, is an incredibly energetic, smart, lovable and loyal dog. All that, and good looks,too! I got a good start on this painting today, hope to finish tomorrow.

Distant Shore - WIP - 18" x 24"

I'm not sure whether this painting is a lost cause. I muted the distant shore and cooled down the colors to show distance/atmosphere, but I don't like it as much as I did before. I added a foreground, and am still playing with the shapes of the grasses that I added, but I still like it better without. I'm confused about what my focal point is --if it is the distant shore in the background, does that mean that the higher contrast and stronger colors from yesterday work better? At this point, the values and colors in all the areas are all too much the same, and I'm not sure where to go with this. I don't have any reference to use for the foreground, so I'm just winging it, without much success. I'll put it away for now, and when I have more time will try to resolve it.

Distant Shore - WIP - 12" x 24"

I'm not sure where I'm going wwith this; I started on a beach scene that was 18" x 24" and included a figure in the foreground. I really didn't like the figure or the foreground, so I decided to crop it as a panoramic view of the distant shore. I am still trying to work out some of the compositional issues, but perhaps I can make it work.

Holly the Beagle - 11" x 14" Pastel - SOLD

Holly the Beagle - WIP

This little beagle is a sweet girl and a bundle of energy. She was so constantly in motion, it's a wonder I was able to take her photo. Today, I did the initial block-in and started to work out the painting; I'm looking forward to finishing it tomorrow.