Water Lily - Work In Progress

I'm working on a new pastel painting. The main subject is a water lily, but I haven't settled on a name yet. It's been months since I've painted in pastel and I'll admit, I'm a bit rusty! But after painting for a couple hours I started to settle back into my groove. I'm pleased with the way it's progressing.

So far I've only used pastel pencils and the surface is pastelbord. It's an 8 by 10, which is a bit bigger than I would normally work. I've only had a handful of pieces as big as 8 by 10 and my Grandma just purchased 2 of them. I need to start working a bit bigger, so this is a start.

I hope to have this finished in the next couple of days. :)

Pink Sky

"Pink Sky" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Well I'm back to the pastelbord. Didn't take long did it? :) Actually, I think the pastelbord works really well for skies, so I will continue to use it for that.

I have to thank Joey at The Village Voice for allowing me to use her beautiful photograph as a reference for this painting. I just had to paint that striking sky! :) Thanks Joey!

I used all pastel sticks or regular pastels for this painting (Mount Visions).

Just a little side note - If you're interested in a Fall/Autumn table runner, they're going fast! I only have a few left in my Etsy shop.

Have a lovely evening!

My Bleeding Heart

"My Bleeding Heart" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Oh how I've missed painting! I completed this painting titled, "My Bleeding Heart," this afternoon. This was inspired by a photograph I took this Spring at a local park. I've been wanting to paint it for a long time, and today it was just calling out to me. It's done on pastelbord with soft pastel and pastel pencils, and is 5 by 7.

I am now officially on a break from school. For those of you who don't know, I'm currently in my 3rd year of college and working on a degree in law. I've spent the past two weeks working on final projects and studying for exams. I am so relieved to have that done and finally have some time to paint. I'm going to fit in as much painting as possible in these two weeks, but I'm not going to put any in my Etsy shop. I'm still deciding which paintings that I want to frame and put up in the gallery, so until I decide on that, I'm going to hold on to all my new paintings.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Sunset Pier - Complete

"Sunset Pier" 11 by 14, Pastel Painting

Well here is the completed painting! I didn't have to add too much today. I just darkened some of the darks and added a little more color to the water. I decided on the name "Sunset Pier" - I think it fits pretty well :). I wasn't sure I was even going to include the pier in the painting, but I'm glad I did.

Now I have to begin the second one. It will be similar to this one, as they will eventually be hung up together in my living room. It feels really nice just to paint for me for a change! :)

Bowing Down

"Bowing Down" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available for purchase here.

I began this little painting yesterday and got to finish it this morning. The painting surface is Ampersand Pastelbord, and I completed the painting using soft pastels and pastel pencils. I've had this photograph for a while, and I've just been waiting to paint it.

I've been painting all day, outside in the hot sun. Unfortunately it wasn't this kind of painting. My Fiance and I were re-staining our deck. We have to do this about every 2 years. We ran out of stain with about 6 boards left. Oh darn, looks like we'll have to finish tomorrow! :)

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Shell on the Shore

"Shell on the Shore" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

This is available for purchase here

I completed "Shell on the Shore" this afternoon. Once again it was done on Ampersand Pastelbord and was completed with soft pastels and pastel pencils. I'm thinking that I'm going to have to try a new pastel surface eventually because I have many different kinds, but I keep going for the same one. What can I say, I love pastelbord!!

I had such a great time working on this painting today. This is my first sea shell, but I love painting sea shores and the water. I think this is because I grew up in northern Michigan, just a few miles from the Great Lakes. I never appreciated the water, sunrises and sunsets like I should have. But I will keep on painting them!

Fresh Fruit

"Fresh Fruit" 8 by 10, Pastel Painting

SOLD

I started painting "Fresh Fruit" two days ago. I wanted to try a painting a little larger than what I've been doing lately. So I pulled out one of my 8 by 10 pastelbords and got to work on this still life. I soon learned that I really prefer to work small, at least with still lives. But this painting was a lot of fun to complete. I particularly enjoyed capturing the fresh, bold color of the fruit.

This painting is listed in my Etsy shop and can be purchased here.

Creativity Boot Camp Day 12

"Smooth Sailing" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

The word prompt for day 12 of Creativity Boot Camp was "Smooth." Water first came to mind, and then I thought of this picture that I took from a ferry boat on my way to Mackinac Island last summer. It worked perfectly!

I'm slightly disappointed by the scan of this painting. It just didn't pick up the subtle colors very well. There is a lot of soft purple and pink the sky and water that you can't really see from this scan. Oh well, you get the idea.

I used mostly soft pastels for this painting, and just touches of pastel pencil for the sail boat. I absolutely love painting skies and water, especially together. It's been quite some time since I have, and my love for it was rekindled with this painting! :)

Just one more painting to go for Creativity Boot Camp!

Creativity Boot Camp Day 4

Well I finally finished my painting from Day 4 of Creativity Boot Camp. The word prompt was "heavymetal." This one was a challenge! I'm noticing that the word prompts open up all kinds of ideas for photographers, but it's a little more difficult for us painters! :)
Anyway, this painting is 5 by 7 on pastelbord, and I have named it "heavymetal." I have been asked if I'm going to sell any of the paintings from Creativity Boot Camp, and I'm not really sure. I wanted to complete them all first, and then decide. Even if I decide not to sell the originals, I can always make prints.

The word prompt for Day 5 is "grow." I have many ideas for this one!

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Day 12 - Painting Challenge

I finished the painting I started yesterday and named it, "Purple Polka Dot Petals." This painting was done using a real lily (still life) and had to be done quickly because the flower was beginning to wilt. I've actually never painted a flower from life before (at least not with this much detail), and it was interesting! The perspective I chose was to look down into the flower. I did make what I think was a mistake though, I put down a layer of white pastel first, and that seemed to have an effect on all the layers I put down after. I was hoping it would just make the colors pop a little more, but it ended up doing more than that. It didn't change the outcome of the painting, but it made the process slightly more difficult. I won't be doing that again.

I'm not sure what's next. I've been really inspired lately by Billy Showell, a botany artist. I've been reading some of her books, and I think I may try some realism in watercolor. We'll see.. I have about a million ideas and choosing what to do next is a challenge! :)

Today's Quote: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein

Pastel Paintings

"Solitude"
8 x 10 on Pastelbord, using Sennelier pastels

This is a painting that I did for my Grandma. I did one for her a couple weeks ago of this lake and she wanted 2 more to match. She grew up on the lake in Michigan and a painting I did took her back to that. I was happy to do these for her.

"Wispy Clouds Over the Lake"
8 by 10 on Pastelbord, using Sennelier pastels

This was my second time doing this painting, the first time was for myself, and of course this one is for my Grandma. She hasn't seen these yet, and they will be mailed out to her tomorrow. I hope she is pleased with them!