Thursday, January 14, 2016

Pastel bird painting of great egret

I started working on the composition of this painting last year and then had put it aside as I was busy with commissions. It was inspired from a photograph I took while visiting Florida during the spring breeding season. This Great Egret was busy pruning his feathers and long graceful plumes and seemed oblivious to the fact that I was a few meters away snapping shots of him.  

I will be posting a time-lapse video of the work in progress at a later date as I now must get back to those commissions waiting for me in the studio. 

 This painting is now SOLD!


Great Egret
untitled
pastel
9x14
Private Collection

Monday, January 11, 2016

Silverpoint Oak Leaf Drawing (.999 pure fine silver)


Something new I've been experimenting with and am very excited to announce that I will be taking commissions using Silverpoint beginning in the next few months.

The extremely fine detail that can be achieved using Silverpoint is somewhat like scratchboard... I  have to use a magnifying glass while working!  You can really see the silvery glistening shine when looking at the drawing at different angles. BUT, you truly must see this in person to appreciate the qualities of the silver on paper.

SOLD


"Oak Leaf"
5x7
Silverpoint
Private Collection


I only use fine quality .999% pure silver for my drawings and the finest archival support that is available.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Step 9 of Egret pastel painting

Now that I've completed the feathers on this bird and satisfied enough to leave them alone, I have begun working the foliage. At first, I painted the leaves a yellow green hue that went well with rest of the painting BUT just did not sit well with the frame. I then opted to try a blueish tint which was ok but perhaps a bit to saturated with blue.

After my third attempt (below), I believe this is the best color scheme that will suit both the frame and the rest of the painting. While it is nice to have frames on hand, sometimes, it can be a pain to match them to a particular color scheme in a composition and the artist has to be prepared to make changes along the way. Perhaps  I should have done a sample thumbnail composition first but I was happy experimenting and adapting the color scheme as I was working my way through this painting.




Monday, January 4, 2016

Time-lapse Video of a Pastel Painting of Fisherman on the Spanish River, Ontario

Most of my commissions represent great sentimental value to my clients/recipients and this one is no exception. The gentleman portrayed in the scene is unfortunately no longer with us and the family wanted something to remember him by that would bring back fond memories.

The scene is located on the Spanish River at a favorite fishing spot in front of the family cottage on a calm but sunny and warm day.  I can't think of a better portrait to commemorate this particular individual.


For more videos of my paintings and drawings in progress, visit my youtube channel at:

Colette Theriault youtube channel


"Fishing the Spanish"
COMMISSION
11x14
pastel

Friday, January 1, 2016

Step 6 Great Egret Painting in pastel

During the last few days, I've been working on making more time-lapse videos of  Pet Portrait Christmas commissions (which I will share in my next post).  Eventually, when this bird painting is finished, I will be making a video clip of it as well.

Later this afternoon, I took some time out to continue working on the wing feathers of the Great Egret. It can be hard to resist the temptation to overwork parts of a painting...which is what I unfortunately felt I was doing today! I think I will leave those parts of the wing feathers and move on to a different section...

Before the day is over, I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year! I plan to create quite a number of personal pieces this year as I get ready for a solo show!