Thursday, April 29, 2010

"Crown Jewel"-Indian Blue Peacock Painting

Here he is in all his splendor!
Completing a second smaller painting within 2 weeks is not something I am used to so this is really pleasant and somewhat of a relief. However, I better find another subject to paint as I now have 3 peacock paintings hanging in the house...hope to sell some of them at my upcoming fall show.

Peacock Painting update


Last night I was able to sit and work in this bird painting a little more. The small size makes progression rather quickly so I apologize for the lack of updates.
In the next step, the peacock will be wearing his crown (of feathers).

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Peacock mania!!


I have been inspired with peacocks lately...not sure if it is the attraction to the iridescent feathers or small size of the painting! This is yet another pastel on suede (has to be one of my favorite mediums/support), size about 5" x 3".
This time, I started with the background first which seemed to work best for me today. I think I will entitle the painting "Crown Jewel" as it seems fitting since the painting is focused on this peacock's beautifuly crowned head. Watch for the next steps as I "crown" my peacock king!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Portrait of German Shepherd Dog wip


Shelby's portrait is slowly coming to life...in this step I continued to add the neck fur while also narrowing the muzzle. I should have this portrait completed by this week's end if all goes as planned! The ears and the rest of the neck fur should be a breeze to do.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Painting of German Shepherd update


A bit of an update on the German shepherd portrait I am currently working on for a client. The original pose had the mouth open so I had to use several other reference photographs to change the mouth.

Pastel Peacock Painting Finished??


In fear of overworking this piece, I decided I best put it aside and leave it for now. I'm tempting to call it done and it may well be so but the urge to rework those blue feathers is making me nuts! I guess the iridescent sheen is getting to me.

Oh well, I'm already thinking of making another peacock painting to match this one since I have 2 small identical frames I can use. Might not be a bad idea to have a pair of them available for sale at my fall show.

Size: 4.5" x 6.5"

Medium: pastel

Support: suede board

Title: "Slim Pickings"

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Peacock painting almost done!

This peacock painting is coming along great and I am very happy as to how it is turning out so far. My favorite part has to be the iridescent feathers and how the subtle violet and green shades shine through the blues (albeit hard to tell from this scan).
Only a bit more left to do on the foreground and the bird's foot and it should be ready to frame and hang. One more painting for my upcoming fall show!

German Shepherd Dog Painting Commission





This is my newest pet portrait commission of a beautiful female German Shepherd dog. I am using pastels on soft beige suede board. The reference photograph is not that great so I will be using my reference library to help me with important details.


Sunday, April 18, 2010

Peacock painting update


Living in northern Ontario, we are used to having outrageous weather patterns where one day it may be a balmy 26C only to be faced with a freak snowstorm the next. Therefore, I find it hard to stay indoors when the weather is sunny and warm and especially when there is work to do in the gardens. Today was such a day!
Despite this, I managed to sit and continue to work a little bit on this painting tonight. I've decided it was best for me to tackle the background before I continue on with the peacock's feathers. I tend to do this when one component of the painting is going well as this gives me the confidence to tackle the more challenging elements. Another reason is that the peacock's feathers have a "fluffy" appearance on one side of the neck that needs to be layered over the background.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Finally, I think I'm done!


After much contemplation, I decided that I needed to re-work the feathers near the wing tip of the top bird as they just didn't look right. I added some of the smaller feathers that make up the wing, which seemed to be lacking on the last post. I believe this to be a direct result of my bad ref. photo.
At the moment, it is hard for me to sit back and enjoy this painting, perhaps because so much effort (and frustration) has gone into it. Maybe once it is displayed in a frame and hangs on a wall for a while I will grow fond of it again.
Title: "Pretty in Pink"-Roseate Spoonbills
Medium: pastel on sandpaper
size: 9" x 15"

Friday, April 16, 2010

Small peacock study in pastel


I just love the peacock's intense blue feathers and can't think of any better small piece to work on at the moment. I really needed to work on something that would progress quickly to keep my artistic juices flowing (and from getting bored)!

This bird I photographed at one of the campsites we stayed at last August. Very beautifully feathered, but he was unfortunately a pretty nasty bird which actually ended up attacking me by beating his wings at me and stomping his feet and spurs on my arms and stomach. At least I got a few good shots of him before he beat up on me!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Spoonbill pastel painting nearing completion...


I am very happy that this painting is nearly finished! At times, I felt like abandoning this piece as I was getting frustrated at working at all those feathers!! Of course, it would have helped immensely if my original reference photograph would have been in focus to show the finer details. This is where I lose much time (and patience!!) trying to get the details and most importantly, the feathers just right.

I still have to sit back and really look at this painting for a while before I can say I am finished with it as I am tempted to go back and fix a few areas already. This is the stage I most dislike because I tend to want to frame it so that I no longer will have to work on it again! But then, I sometimes unframe a drawing or painting to fix something I find is just not right (how annoying is that?) since after looking at it for so long hanging on my wall, the faults seem to scream out at me to fix them. It is so hard to satisfy a perfectionist!

On another note, I will be working on the gorilla drawing tonight...a nice change from inhaling that pastel dust...

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Yet Another Bird Pastel Painting Update


During this sitting, I was getting very tired of working the pink feathers so I decided to tackle the other elements of this painting. I am getting more and more enthusiastic about completing this piece now that it is all coming together. I hope that it will be just the bit of encouragement I need to inspire me to get back working on those feathers!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Painting of roseate spoonbills preening


I'm slowly progressing with this pastel bird painting...the feathers are taking me forever it seems. The bottom spoonbill is almost completed and I really hope that the rest of the painting will be a breeze! Still have a log , rock and water with reflections to do, not to mention the rest of the bird's feet and legs.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Gorilla Drawing update pencil on drafting film

Had a chance to work on this old fella tonight. The fur on the face is sure taking long to do. He sorta looks funny with his mid forehead stripe...the fur lays in all directions in that area and it is very short and so I felt I wanted to tackle this near the end of the drawing.