How to paint a dog in pastels ~ a demo of painting the portrait of a wonderful dog named Harvey.

"Harvey", 8x10 inches, pastel on board

Harvey is the dog of some friends of mine - he is a handsome boy with a lot of personality.  Below I have posted some progress photos to illustrate the steps to making a dog portrait.  I hope you will find it helpful!  :)

Thanks for looking!  :)

Pastel painting - "Encroaching"

"Encroaching" 8x10 inches, pastel on board
Available through Etsy 

This barn/shed is right down the road from where I live.  I drive by it all the time, and for some reason, it always draws my eye.  I think I like the simplicity of it sitting in the field with only the oak trees for company.

Thanks for looking!

Pastel Painting - "A Journey down the Llangollen"

"A Journey Down the Llangollen" 8x10 inches, pastel on board

SOLD
Other paintings available through Etsy

Here are a few progress photos:

Thanks for looking!

New Pastel Painting - "Welcome Home"

"Welcome Home"  Pastel on board, 8x10 inches.

SOLD
Other paintings available through Etsy

When we were in England, we really enjoyed keeping our eyes open for these old thatched stone cottages while driving around.  This one looked so welcoming, I decided to name it welcome home.  

Thanks for looking!

Pastel painting "Gray Shaggy Parasol", a Pacific Northwest Mushroom

Well Autumn is here, and with it the mushrooms.  I love mushrooms!  Although I don't feel that I am knowledgeable enough to decide which are edible and which aren't, I love to take photos of them.  They are so varied and interesting.  Here is a painting of one of my favorites, the gray shaggy parasol, with a couple of progress photos.

Gray Shaggy Parasol, 8x10 inches, pastel on board
Available through Etsy

I often like a white background for painting, because it makes it a bit easier to keep the colors true to what I had intended - but with this one, I chose a dark green board made by Ampersand.  It allowed me to be looser in my application, since I don't have to worry about covering up every bit of white - the dark green peeking through was a good thing!  

I wanted to have an abstracted and mysterious background, so I put in plenty of darks right away.  I find that I have to do the darks first, or I am too hesitant with them later in the painting.  That burgundy color sort of just jumped into my hand - but I liked the way it looked - it added a nice warm contrast to the moss in the foreground later on.  

Thanks for looking!  :)

Northwest Pastel Society's small works show, and a new painting.

I will be participating in the Northwest Pastel Society's upcoming small works show at the Elsinore Gallery in Salem, Oregon.  The show runs from November 5th to the 26th, with the opening reception being on the 5th from 5-8.  I can't wait to see everyone's beautiful work!
I painted something new for the show, having just sold one of the paintings that I had planned on entering!  This was painted from a photo that I took driving around the beautiful area where I live.  I have a couple of progress photos for those of you who enjoy seeing them.

"Evening Rising", 8x10, pastel on board

Available through Etsy 

I started this one as I often do with a watercolor underpainting- you can still just see my sketch underneath.

Then I started putting in the rows of the plowed field, trying to get the right feeling of movement.

A bit more work on the foreground...

You can see that I got caught up here and forgot to take progress photos for a bit...  :)  Nearly done except for the back row of hills and a bit of work to the sky.  I am noticing that the colors on this photo came out odd - too dark and too cold.  No doubt the sun went behind the clouds while I was working!  :)

And here it is finished again~

Thanks for looking! 

Oil Painting, "Deep Woods Twilight"

Attempting oil painting again after such a long time was a lot of fun.  So much fun, in fact, that I had to try one more before running back to my beloved soft pastels!  This painting was done from imagination, which is different for me as I usually at least get started with a reference photo or "en plein air".
It could be that I was thinking a bit about Halloween at the time...   ;)

"Deep Woods Twilight", 8x10, oil on board
Available through Etsy

Thanks for looking!  :)