A Day Away

I finished this painting yesterday and I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. This is only the 2nd soft pastel painting that I've ever done. The photograph that I used as a reference was from Mackinac Island. My family and I took a day trip there and I snapped this picture of my little brother by the waters edge. He doesn't know it! I'm hoping he thinks it's "cool" that I painted him in a picture.

Anyway, Mackinac Island is probably my favorite place and I have hundreds of reference pictures from my trips there. I sense a series coming on! :) I don't know but we'll see!

End of Day - Finished Painting

I finished my first soft pastel painting! I have doodled a little with soft pastels, but this is my first completed painting. It was difficult to scan and the darks didn't quite show their true colors, but you get the idea.

I named this painting "End of Day" because I took this picture just before sunset at a park near my house.

After completing this painting and having so much fun doing it, I think I'm really on to something! I actually bought a complete set of Mount Vision soft pastels today! I can't wait to get them. I have a few smaller sets, but I've been wanting a complete set.

Hopefully I will posting many more paintings that I'll be doing with my new pastels!

Untitled - Unfinished Pastel Painting

This is a pastel painting that I was working on today. The reference picture is one that I took at a park not far from my home. The way the sunlight in the reference picture just dances across the field is beautiful and I tried to capture that in the painting.

I don't have much experience with soft pastels, and I'm still getting used to them. I have used oil pastels in the past and just loved them. I'm finding that I'm loving soft pastels as well. Once you get past the mess that they make, they're a lot of fun.

So after leaving the painting for a while and going back to it I can tell it needs some more darks. I think if I just darken the darkest values, that should do it. It could also use some other small changes.

I'm feeling like I'm not all that prepared to complete a pastel painting because I don't have all the supplies that I need. All I have are a few sets of Sennelier Pastels, no pastel pencils, blenders, or brushes. So, doing detail is pretty much out of the question, until I purchase these supplies. But I have enough to play around, and that's what I'm doing! :)

Just a little reminder - For the next couple weeks in my Etsy shop, I will be donating 100% of every sale to the American Red Cross to help those in Haiti. If you were going to donate anyway, this is a great way, because you get a little something for doing it!

Shop Etsy For a Cause

Starting today, and for the next 2 weeks, I will donating 100% of my Etsy sales to the American Red Cross (more specifically the Haiti Aid and Development Fund).

I feel so helpless in this situation and just donating money doesn't feel like enough. So, I thought I would just contribute all of my sales to the cause. So my buyers get some art or something hand made and are helping those in need at the same time.

If you can find it in your heart, help in whatever way you can. People think that even donating some amounts of money isn't going to make a difference, but it does!

Thank you!

Sale and New Item of the Week

Hi all! Happy New Year!

I'm currently having a sale on all of my quilted items in my Etsy shop - they're all 50% off, until the 15th of this month. This would be a great time to stock up for the next fall and holiday season! I will not be having another sale like this!

Also, my item of the week this week is an embellished photo storage box for $22 and free shipping! It's a rather large box, and you could really put anything in it. I have the exact same box in my studio (not embellished) and I have paintings in it.

Have a great week everyone!