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
Hello! I just wanted to share a new pastel portrait I am painting that’s somewhat out of my territory….Abraham Lincoln. I have always wanted to try my hand at painting this portrait since I saw the movie with Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field among others. If you haven’t seen it, it is amazing. It feels like Lincoln is alive again, as Daniel Day-Lewis does a tremendous job, playing the part. Anyway, I know many others have painted him, but I did this because I had to…for me. I guess it’s like saying thank you for everything…for what he stood for and had done for this country, and I wanted to feel a closeness…to the history…the legend. I don’t know. I just had to.
But here are the beginning stages, and I have done more than what you see here now and it is coming out amazing. I feel like I could touch him. I am painting from a black and white I had found of him and painting it in color. I actually had to look up what his eye color was, which they say is grey…like mine! So I can’t wait to share and to see what you think. Now go and watch that movie! I’ll be back in a few to share. Thanks for following.
The background. I wanted it to be this brown, sepia color with some highlights thrown in behind him. I will have to touch it up near the end stages.
Now this is looking pretty scary…and cool at the same time. I am getting pretty excited at this rate, and I can’t wait for the eyes.
Painted this pastel portrait of Mary McManus (98 years young) for her long-time friend and care-giver Patsy Henry. They are both very close friends of the McNulty family.( Historical tidbit-Mary had worked in her younger days at the Rumford Baking Powder Plant here in RI and still lives in the home with Patsy in the same house she was born in near the local fire station).
You can tell how much Patsy loves Mary in just the way she talks about her and how she interacts with her. Patsy does so much to make Mary comfortable and happy, and to watch them together is just so inspiring. When I gave this to Patsy and had her open it up…it was the best feeling ever. She just put her hands to her chest and her eyes welled up and she gave me a hug. That’s all I needed. Then she brought over the picture to Mary, who was sitting by the window watching the traffic go by. She asked her who the painting was of. You could see her looking closely up and down and then she smiled and said “Me?” Patsy said, “Yes, it is”, and Mary said , “That’s beautiful”, and kept looking at it smiling. Too cute!
My daughter, Kelsey was with me and we stayed and talked awhile and that’s when I noticed a firetruck go by. The firemen were staring at the house as they went by. They look for Mary because if they see her outside sitting on the deck, they honk their horns at her and she’ll wave. It was a wonderful visit and I even had roses to take home with me. Perfect.
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