Giraffe In pastel On Velour

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

Pastel picture of Dog on Velour

I did this as a surprise for one of my husband’s co workers.  She loves her dogs and so she sent a picture to him of her baby on his computer.  I needed practice, and so she will get this on her desk on Wednesday, not expecting anything.  I hope she likes it.  It’s so much fun watching the picture come to life before your eyes!

Ollie

First Attempt Of A Horse In Pastel

Here is the first attempt of a horse in pastel.  The picture was from a friends photo that wasn’t the best as I really couldn’t see the eyes and the picture itself was fuzzy.  I did the best I could and I did this on velour, which made it much more difficult.  I am not really happy with the color choice of the background, as it doesn’t really make the horse “Pop” which I wanted.  I am not too familiar with doing backgrounds on velour and so I was afraid to even attempt that yet.

I am going to try this on a smoother paper which I can blend on and put a background that brings it to life…I hope.  I will share it after I complete it.  Let’s see the differences between the two then.  Anyway, hope you like the attempt.

Atticus

A New Pastel Drawing – “Angel In The Garden”

I finally finished my latest drawing.  I wanted to do more angels and to do this one in pastel was a treat.  I really enjoyed creating this piece.  The blending of colors is just amazing, and I love the  soft, finished look.

I hope you like this one.  There will be more coming. Enjoy.

Angel In The Garden

Pastels From The Past

Okay, here is an example of the kinds of portraits I did years ago.  I’m talking late teens here.  I used to love to do pastel portraits of models in magazines and go crazy with color.  I never went to school for it, but I took out “How To” books on portraits from the library.  I learned the basics, but  also had a talent there, because I never really traced anything.  It was all just looking back and forth from picture to paper and hoping it all came together. It always did.  I was lucky.

If I thought the nose or something looked a little off, I would hold the picture in front of the mirror and the defects would show up.  I’d fix it from there, and that’s how I did it.

Then, the best part was putting the color down.  It was like I was putting make-up on  a face.  I would start with the palest color of peach and work my way up to shadows and then the pink cheeks, eye color, shadow, lashes and hair.  I loved doing wisps of blonde hair on a dark background.

When I showed this picture to my children, they wanted me to do more of these.  I don’t even know if  I would want to attempt it, but I probably should.  It was great fun, too, but after awhile, it all felt empty.  They were just pictures of faces and I wanted to get across a feeling or get across a message.  I wanted more from the pictures.  That’s when the quotes and more expressive material came about.

But I am always amazed when I look back on these portraits, because I can’t even believe I had done them.  I hope you like this one!

Pretty In Pastel

I will show more as I post further.  Enjoy!