Pastel Journal - 1st Place Winner

Dibs on the Red Chair (12 x 24 dry pastel) sold

detail image on my website

Well, it took a few years but it was worth the wait. With the magazine now hitting mailboxes, I am humbled and honored to announce that the painting above of our two clown kitty cats (Biscuit and Gravy) won First Place in the animal/wildlife category of The Pastel Journal Pastel 100 competition!

Under all that fur are layers of luscious colors. One of the ways I enjoy building up a pastel painting is to build layer upon layer of color. It is similar to the process of glazing that is used in oil painting. A photo (shown below) taken during the early stages of the painting reveals some of the glazed colors:

click to enlarge

and this shows the same section of the painting, in a completed state

click to enlarge

Here, you can see the colors from the glaze layers showing through in the final painting. It is more obvious when viewing the original painting but I hope you will get the idea from these photos of how powerful glazes can be in pastel painting. 

Cheers all and thank you, as always, for stopping by my blog. 

Loving Blondie

Loving Blondie (16 x 20 pastel on La Carte)

click for a larger view

details on my website

With Blondie being the beauty of the barnyard, it makes it difficult for Henri to keep tabs on her but he is ever-watchful of his one true love.

This piece was a joy to paint from the very first stroke of the pastel until the last. One of the reasons for that is that I finally got up the nerve to use some of my Henri Roche pastels that were a gift from a dear friend. And for those of you who have already caught on; yes, that is why I named the rooster Henri. This painting was just screaming for something that required more color, better color, darker saturated colors and Henri fit that bill to a T.

This lovely pair is headed to my show tomorrow, 2/16 at Cole Gallery in Edmonds, Washington. If you are in the hood, please be sure to stop by. I will be at the opening reception from 5-8 and would love an opportunity to me you.  

As an avid animal lover, I have elected to have a portion of the proceeds from the sale of any of my paintings during the show benefit Precious Life Animal Sanctuary. I am so proud of everything they do to help our animals in need.

Diligence

Diligence (pastel 16 x 20)

availability information on my website

Don't worry, it does eventually move.

This is a piece I recently finished for my upcoming animal show at Cole Gallery. I did the study for this years ago and have always enjoyed the simplicity of the lines and the implied, impending, action. Gravy (our beloved golden man cat) would sit and stare at that ball with the patience of Job. Sometimes, when I couldn't wait any longer, I would turn on a fan or walk past the ball and tap it as inconspicuously as possible. That would get him going for another 20 minute stare-down. Eventually, he would do the full-on POUNCE!