I finally finished this picture. This one did take some time, as I can usually put out a pastel picture in a day. Watercolor is a little more time-consuming I am finding, but I do like the results. The colors are so crisp and clean. Only a couple more pics to do and I will start sending my samples out to companies again. Please keep fingers crossed and lots of prayers please. Enjoy!
A Gift For You-Watercolor Santa
Well, here is another attempt (I just keep trying) at another cute animal in pastel on velour. Now I loved this one! The only thing was that I first did him by himself, then changed it by adding some kind of foliage in the background to make him “pop”…but it did not. I did not like it. I need to practice more on how backgrounds work. I then covered over the dark background with heavy white and blue pastel because you can not erase on this. I didn’t even think it would cover to tell you the truth, but it did a decent job. I just wanted him to show up. I hope you like it. I just want to touch him!
Giraffe in Pastel On Velour
Here is the latest angel picture I completed. Hope you like it! I loved doing her eyes! She gives me a feeling of peace. Enjoy!
Peaceful Angel
I finished my latest, a still life. I haven’t done a still life in a very long time, so this was interesting. I did this one from one of my photographs. The paper was dark and so it gave a darker tone to the picture. When I put it in iPhoto to crop it and edit it, I decided I would see what it would look like saturated and brightened a bit, and this is the result. Here is the original, the darker one, and the brightened version, which I like also. Which do you like???
Strawberries and Cream Still Life
The Original Darker Version
Just completed this pastel picture. I was ready to throw this one away several times! I tried this one on the smooth side of Canson pastel paper, instead of the textured side, thinking it would be smoother. It is, but I did not like the way the pastel blended on this side. It was like drawing chalk on a blackboard, and I get chills just mentioning that! I erased the hair several times and the dress on the angel wasn’t what I expected as well All in all, when I finished , I was not really happy, until I showed my kids…who LOVED it. I guess it was that I knew all the problems I had with it that didn’t make me happy.
But I guess I am happy with it now.
Here she is…Angel With Baby Deer.
I am an artist but…
I think nothing can be more heart wrenching to an artist than having this gift, whether it be sculpting, drawing, painting, whatever, and it never gets shared. People aren’t buying it for whatever reason. You know deep in your heart you’ve been given this gift and you might not know why, but it comes to you like magic. An idea just pops into your mind and comes out in forms on paper, in clay, on canvas… you can’t stop…not until it’s finished. Then it’s done and you step back to look at it. You sometimes can’t even fathom that this idea, this piece was created by you…and that’s the beauty. You somehow feel like the messenger. Then it starts all over. The next piece. Always the next piece. You can not stop. It’s like an addiction. This piece will be better than the last..and it usually is. Over and over.
But here is the sad part. you look at the pieces and they don’t mean much after all if they are not admired or shared in some way. To help or to mend someone…something. To make a statement…to share a feeling…to make someone say “yes, I understand that”…”I have felt the same way”.
The piece just sits there on a shelf, in a drawer or a file. Where does it go from here?
I have tried so many ways to sell my work on cards, posters, stickers, sending to licensing companies, selling online, to no avail. You may sell a little here and a little there. But soon you start asking, “What’s wrong?” Why did you give me this gift if it just sits there collecting dust. Do I start over? Do I try something totally different? I can’t move. I don’t know what to do next”. I want to give up, but the ache is still there.
Am I alone??? Does anyone understand???
Then one day, you see in a magazine or online somewhere, that an artist who just scribbles lines on a paper has made it big. The designs are everywhere…on cards, in shops, made into figurines, whatever, and you just want to cry. I literally sat the other day, my artwork sprawled out in front of me on the floor, and angrily asked into the empty air…”If you gave this gift to me, tell me what to do! What does this all mean???”
I am not a business person, I haven’t got an agent. I don’t know influential people. I am an artist. An artist without a destination- like I’m wandering in the mist. That’s what it feels like. I just want to give my work a place…a place to grow, to be shared, enjoyed…so that maybe… I can say that I have finally given it a life now. I can finally be at peace. There is a purpose to it all. It would finally makes sense.
That… would be sheer heaven.
A card design out in the market today (unbelievable)
