End of Daily Posting

I will no longer be posting daily paintings because I have lost daily access to my blog.

Another shell sketch

This is another sketch from life. All of these shells are from the bag that Lori gave me for Christmas. All of those shells are white, but it's not too hard to jazz up the colours. ;)
Three Shells, 2009 pastel pencil, 8 x 10 inches

First acrylic painting

I bought some acrylic paints last week and this is the first painting I've done with them. It's for the silent art auction at Isaac's Way Restaurant downtown on Carleton Street. Their set-up is more condusive to artwork that doesn't need to be framed - which is why I turned to acrylics. 50% of the proceeds from the silent auction go to charity. I believe the proceeds from the upcoming exhibition will go to send underprivileged children to summer camp with Theatre New Brunswick.
Neon Glassware, 2009 acrylic on canvas, 16x20 inches, available at Isaac's Way Restaurant from Feb. 15th.

This is a sketch I did one Friday evening while relaxing on the couch. I put the glass of wine on the coffee table, and a piece of yellow paper behind it. The sketch is on the same colour yellow paper that I put behind the wine glass. This was challenging because someone kept drinking out of the glass while I was trying to draw it... and it wasn't me! ;) By the time I finished this sketch, the wine was almost all gone.
Disappearing wine, 2009 pastel pencil, 6 x 8 inches

A plein air from the summer

This pastel was done plein air in St. Andrews in about 45 mintues - which accounts for the somewhat rough and unfinished look to it. It was painted as a part of the charity fundraiser "Artists by the Sea for Charlotte Hospice", and was auctioned off that morning. The view is from the St. Andrews Yacht Club, and the land mass in the back is Navy Island.
View from the Yacht Club, 2008 soft pastel, 9 x 11 inches, Collection of Ardith and Jeff Holmes

Sea shell sketch

This is a small sketch I did on a peice of scrap paper. Erick's sister-in-law Lori got me a bag of shells for christmas and I've spent some time painting them, as she knew I would. ;)

Tropical moon snail sketch, 2009 pastel pencil, 4 x 4 inches, $15 unframed

The Amphitheatre

Another picture from welsford. This is of the amphitheatre - an intimidating semi-circle of rock that opens out to a great view of the valley. This was from a photo taken by Chris Hennigar. I took a lot of liberties with this one. Amphitheatre Dreamscape, 2009 soft pastel, 6 x 8 inches, $50 unframed

Upper Dawn wall

This is a familiar view to many of my friends! This is from a photo that I think Erick took in January of 2007. It's from the top of one of the classic climbs in Welsford - at the best time of day to be there (just before sunset). I think the upper wall in the background is called "Upper Dawn Wall", but I may be wrong. Either way, I think the name fits.

Sunset at Upper Dawn Wall, 2009 soft pastel, 11 x 17 inches

An imaginary (ish) landscape

While this might look kind of familiar to some, it's not a view that actually exists. That's because the view is looking south from the amphitheatre at welsford, and the sun doesn't set in that direction. ;)
Imaginary Welsford Sunset, 2009 soft pastel, 10 x 20 inches, $200 unframed

A pastel that got lost...

Here's a smaller pastel that got lost. I unearthed it in a pile of paintings in the studio a few weeks ago. It's based on a photo I took of the walking bridge in August, and I turned it into a fall painting. The fun part is, those of you who live here know that the colours of the leaves on the other side of the river there are never very intense in fall. Oh the fun of being an artist! I get to create what ever I want, provided I can see it in my "mind's eye". ;) Although I rather like this painting as is, I will probably work some more on it in the coming year.
The Walking Bridge in Fall, 2008 soft pastel, 8 x 10 inches, $80 unframed and as is.

This is actually the third painting I have done from the same reference photo. Here are the other two:

The Train Bridge, 2008 soft pastel, 7 x 10 inches, $80 unframed

The Train Bridge, 2008 watercolour, 6 x 8 inches, $50 unframed

Portrait of Emma

I did this from the screen of Erick's digital Camera, sitting on the floor one evening in dim light. Let me tell you, painting while sitting on the floor is NOT comfortable! When I took the photo Emma was trying to figure out how to catch the spot of light on the wall. Pretty entertaining. Emma, 2009 soft pastel, 8 x 10 inches, NFS

A change of scene..

Here is a little landscape that I did based on a photo I took at mom and dad's last christmas ('07). It had snowed the night before and everything was nicely covered with fresh undisturbed snow. I got a lot of nice pictures that day. In real life this is a little brighter and not *quite* so warm looking.
Chamcook field under snow, 2009 soft pastel, 8 x 6 inches, $50 unframed

South American Woman

I started a portrait to practice a few things this weekend and got carried away and wound up doing a full formal portrait. Here are a few shots:
More than half done, my set up on Erick's desk. I wasn't in the studio because Emma can't go in there and I needed to keep an eye on her.

The portrait more than half done

South American Woman, 2009 soft pastel, 11 x 15 inches, $375 framed

An older painting: fixed and finished

Now that I have pastel pencils I can revisit old paintings that have suffered from a lack of detail and fix them up. Below is a case in point. This painting is very small for the level of detail and amount of things in it. It's 8 x 10 inches. Imagine trying to draw that with a piece of chalk.. which is basically what a pastel is in size and shape. Pretty hard to get fine details! Anyway, at the bottom you'll see the finished version as it stands now.
At the Horse Show, 2008 soft pastel, 8 x 10 inches, $80 unframed

An old painting resurrected

This was a real experiment for me and I rather like it. Erick and I were invited to a friend's place to play foozeball one Friday night and I brought along my pastels. While Erick and our friends Adam and Chris played foozeball, I painted them. They all humored me. ;) It was a challenge for many reasons, not the least of which being that Erick (on the left) and Chris (on the right) kept switching places. For those that are wondering how the game(s) went, it was an even match! (Adam is hiding behind Erick - and quite handily held his own as far as I can recall.)
The Foozeball Players, 2008 soft pastel, 12 x 16 inches, NFS

Cute overload!

While we were at Erick's parents before Christmas, our puppy and his parent's dog curled up together and slept on the same blanket one afternoon. It was super cute and I took a pile of photos. This is just a rough charcoal sketch I did from the screen of the camera.
Sleeping buddies, 2008 charcoal on paper, 9 x 12 inches, NFS

Horses, of course!

Here are two drawings of the same photo. The first is charcoal on paper, and the second is pastel pencils on canson paper (which has more texture than regular drawing paper). Neither one is finished. I posted them though because at this rate I don't think they will be finished anytime soon. ;)
Andalusian Stallion sketch, 2008 charcoal drawing, 5 x 5 inches
Andalusian Stallion, 2008 pastel pencil, 5 x 7 inches

It had been a while since I tackled something like this in charcoal - and I enjoyed the challenge! I've learned a lot about art and drawing since the last time I used charcoal. The pastel pencils are also very fun. They provide a lot more control than ordinary pastels and allow for super fine detail.

The last pastel painting of 2008

It somehow seemed fitting to paint this at the tail end of the year. I started this before heading home for Christmas, and finished it on the 31st of December. It went through a few real ugly stages where I had no idea how I was going to recover it! As it stands now (framed and on my wall) I am very pleased with it. It's from a photo I took in Welsford in mid December. I've been trying to figure out what made the tracks, and I think it was a squirrel, but I'm not positive about that.
Footprints in Welsford, 2008 soft pastel, 10 x 20 inches, NFS (yet - I'm still enjoying it on my wall... ;)

pastel pencil sketch

Erick gave me some pastel pencils for christmas and here is one of my first attempts at using them! This is on regular drawing paper so it doesn't have much tooth, and you can't get many layers of colours. This was from life, from one of the sea shells my mom has collected from the beach over the years.
Sea Shell, 2008 pastel pencil sketch, ~5 X 7 inches