Hello again! I just had to share this!
I just completed a new pastel portrait painting of this stoic, American Indian.
This interesting portrait was painted from a historical, black and white photo, so I had to imagine all the colors here. His face seemed so interesting and conveyed a quiet strength, that I hoped to capture it, if I could, with my pastels.
I hope I did him justice and that you like what I have done here. Enjoy!
Until next time! Cheryl
Here is the completed pastel painting “Tiny Companion” that I had promised to share. This painting took me awhile, but it was so worth it.
I love the soft look of the colors and the Amish girl’s serene expression here. The small bird cuddling up to her neck was added as a way to portray love of nature and gentleness of the Amish girl. I hope I conveyed that here.
I hope you like how this painting turned out. I am almost finished with another one in the works and I will share shortly. Thank you for your interest in my work.
This painting is on my Etsy Shop here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1429611885/amish-print-of-pastel-painting-tiny?
Until next time!
This is a new completed pastel painting titled, “Mary’s Little Lamb”. Mary has just finished her chores and is enjoying a peaceful moment with the new addition to the family, this little lamb. The serene look on Mary’s face says it all. Just a beautiful piece. Another lovely print to add to your Amish collection.
I am really happy the way this painting turned out. Mary looks quite content holding that cute,little lamb. As I look at this painting, I somehow feel like I am with her enjoying and sharing this quiet moment. I hope you feel like this too. It’s always a good feeling when I have completed a painting such as this one, and it makes me want to go straight back to my drawing board….so I will.
I am almost done with the little amish girl with the bird on her shoulder, so I will share that soon. Thank you and check back soon!
Hello and Merry Christmas..Happy Holidays…Happy New Year!!!
I had promised a post back that I would be working on my Mary and Laura Ingalls painting, when a creative block hit me along with “Christmas Overload” and I haven’t been at my desk for awhile. The painting is a little farther ahead than you see in the previous post, but it’s still sitting on my desk and I feel so bad it’s not finished. I will be back at it though in a day or so, as my Etsy Shop opens back up as well. Hopefully this means more fresh ideas and better paintings…it usually does! So…I’m hopeful.
Anyway, while I wait for that to happen, I will show you what I have worked on lately. I had taken a couple of my paintings and turned them into Christmas cards this year, and I did it all on Ribbet..which I love! It is a free online photo editing site which is simpler to use and learn than photoshop. I could never seem to find the time needed to learn all about photoshop, I just couldn’t get it down. Then I came across Ribbet and loved how easy it was to use and it had just enough editing techniques I would need for my work. I use the premium version now, which offers more, and I think its worth it for me.
Sooooo, while I was having my creative block, I figured I would just try playing around with paintings already created and change them up a bit with Ribbet and get back into creative mode while I was doing it…and it worked!
For example: I created this angel painting awhile back and wanted to add to this image to make it comforting to someone who lost someone dear to them. A special card they might be able to carry with them and feel better when they just read it or looked at it. Finding a nice, comforting text about angels, I personalized it by adding the loved one’s name and the date when they passed, then making the card small enough to keep it in a wallet or purse. A little prayer card of sorts. I had given a card like this to a friend who just recently lost someone close to her, and I believe it helped her. She messaged me and was very comforted by the image and the saying, so I was happy.
Then again, I also made a Christmas card out of the same Angel image, creating it for my religious friends and relatives, and this also worked out well.
There is a bird painting I have created which I also changed up by adding some extra snow effects to with text, which also became a Christmas card this year. Of course, it always helps adding a touch of glitter to the cards, too!
So, if you are an artist and are having a dry spell, just try playing around with images you have already created, change them up a bit and share to someone special. It gets the creative juices flowing again and makes people happy all at the same time. It’s a win win!
Hope you enjoyed this post and I will try and have that Laura and Mary Ingalls painting done soon! Stay Safe!
Hello and welcome back! I wanted to share the painting in the works of Laura and Mary Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson) from the popular tv series “Little House On The Prairie”…one of my all time favorite shows! I never tire of watching these shows, especially when the girls were little. Melissa Gilbert was perfect with that impish face of hers and innocent, but sometimes naughty ways. Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary was perfect as well, as the obedient sister that always seemed to do the right thing. I loved that there was always a lesson to be learned in every show.
But anyway, I wanted to get the both of these characters in a painting with the little house in the background, almost like my other painting of Laura by herself. I feel it is coming out just the way I wanted it too. When I complete this I will share it here and also on my Etsy Shop. Please check back again, and I hope you like how it’s turning out. Thank you! Stay safe!
Hello! I finally finished my painting “A Time To Rest” , an amish painting to add to the many I have already completed. I just enjoy painting these so much, as it brings the stress level down!
This painting with the amish girl and her horse, I had been wanting to do for awhile now. I wanted to depict the buggy horse and the amish girl, just resting together and enjoying the moment. Work will always be there, but for now, it’s resting time. Something we all need to do for ourselves. I think this painting evokes a sense of calm. I hope you like the painting.
I also added an update on the amish girl looking out over the misty morning. I fixed some things I wasn’t happy with in the painting and fixed it up a bit and I also changed the name to “Mary and The Misty Morning”. I just like to name my subjects sometimes as it makes it more personal, I feel.
So, I have one more on the drawing board I have yet to finish and it’s the amish boy a couple of posts down, and I can’t wait. I will update you as soon as I have more on him. Thanks for coming by!
Hello again. Just wanted to share what I have been working on lately. I’ve been trying some new subjects and trying my hand at watercolors again. I just completed a hummingbird painting, and I really liked the way it came out….I just don’t enjoy painting with watercolors like my pastels. Maybe if I do it enough I will, but it’s a lot of waiting for paint to dry… laying down layer after layer of color …and don’t even think of making a mistake! You are done! Start over! But certain subjects look better in watercolor and this worked out fine.
I also tried painting two Amish Barns in a simplistic style with my pastels.( I want to try this also in acrylics…but I wanted to see if it worked in pastels.) It felt so good to just paint without getting too detailed and perfect. The colors are saturated and I love the contrast of the blues and yellows. That was fun…and I will do more!
As of now, I am still trying to finish up Mary Ellen Walton, but her hat has many little squares of color which is taking forever to figure out! But I wanted to show you what I have completed on her portrait. I wish I had more to show you, but it has just been harder to sit at that desk with all this Russia and Ukraine news. It is very hard to concentrate and stay positive and paint something inspirational when all that is going on, but I’m trying. I pray for Ukraine every night and day. Stay safe all!
Hello! I finally did it. Three paintings completed, finally! I am so happy I accomplished this and really happy with all of these.
The two new Amish paintings were a lot of fun, especially trying the landscape painting, which I haven’t painted too many of. But what I thought was going to be “impressionistic” and simple, of course for me…turned out to be more of a perfectionistic approach. I can never seem to just throw the color on the paper and go with the flow, which I really want to try! But anyway, I’m very happy with the colors and the feel of the painting, since my photo (which I took on one of my trips down to Lancaster) was very dull colored. This came out really warm.
“The New Puppy” was also a lot of fun, but always a challenge trying to keep the focus on the amish boy and girl with the puppy, and not the background. I had to stop myself! I added the flowers in the girls hands to look like she had just picked them from the field, then decided to stop over to see her brother and his new companion. I just like the serene feeling to this painting.
And then there’s little Elizabeth Walton! This was really for fun and because I love the Walton’s Show so much. She is so cute! I wanted it to look like the scene from “The Homecoming” when she is standing beside the Christmas tree as Mary Ellen is calling her names. I tried my best to look like she had raised eyebrows as she defends herself.
Anyway, I hope you like them and the Amish ones are now on Etsy, and Elizabeth will be on there soon! Stay Safe!
Hello again. Just writing this quick post about the paintings I am working on, and they seem to be coming along…slowly. My gosh, it just seems like I am just dragging along and not accomplishing much these days. I can’t seem to get in more than 2 – 3 hours at a time each day, and its really bothering me. I want to finish one painting, that’s all I want. I will hopefully have this Amish painting done tomorrow, it’s actually further along than what I have here, but I want to surprise you when it’s completed.
Also, I just started putting color onto little, Elizabeth Walton from the Waltons . I just loved her so much in the Waltons show, but this painting is from the pilot movie that started it all, “The Homecoming”, which I have to watch every Christmas! This painting is when she is standing by the Christmas tree after Mary Ellen called her a Piss Ant. Her reaction is priceless! This is just for fun, because I already painted John Boy, and I have Mary Ellen to do as well!
But I am still working hard at this to keep adding to my paintings, and so I will share the completed ones as I do them and keep you posted. Each of these will be added to my Etsy Shop as soon as I get to it! Thanks for stopping by!
I did it! I actually finished one of my paintings in the first week of the new Year! It was so tough just to find time to close myself off in my studio and to do nothing by paint…but boy, did it feel good! Christmas is all put away now, and it’s back to concentrating on other things, painting being one.
I haven’t got a title for this one yet, but it was painted from a vintage black and white photo of a little girl. I colorized it in the colors I chose and made her a sweet angel. I like the way she came out, with a gentle, peaceful look on her face. I will have a title for this soon, and then place it on my Etsy shop.
I wish everyone the best of health and much happiness for the New Year! Enjoy and check back soon! Thank you. :))
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