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 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! 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. I’ve been having a tough time finding the time to paint lately, but I’m getting there. I did, however, finally complete an acrylic painting I have been wanting to do for awhile now. It’s finally completed, and already on my Etsy Shop.
This sign was inspired by all the for sale signs I have seen on my many trips down to Lancaster, Pa. I really like the “No Sunday Sales” phrase, as it reminds me so much of when no one would work on Sundays in our culture as well, and I really miss that. But I tried to include the little quilt patch and produce piece, and of course, the directional arrow! So here it is! Hope you like it. I have made it available in a distressed (slightly) version as well.
Enjoy!
P.S. I am presently working on another Amish painting of two Amish children, boy and girl at a farmstand, and I can’t wait for you to see it! I am so excited with this one! I will put up a post in a few days. Thanks so much!
Hello! I hope you are all doing well considering this awful, current coronavirus news. It’s so hard to even concentrate on daily things we do,  never mind trying to be creative  in all this negativity.  One really has to separate from that for awhile, go to a quiet room and put on some good music, just to calm the nerves! This is why I paint.
Anyway…this is also why I have only gotten this far on this painting. Â But I am going to complete this by the end of this week, I swear! I really do like how it’s looking so far and I hope you like it, too.
I will be back soon. Take care and be safe!
little amish boy started
Almost there but still lots to do
Wow, this may be a record! Â I finished a painting in just a couple of days! I was diligent!
I hope you like how this one turned out. Â I left some space on the right hand side so I could possibly place a quote there at some point. I do like how she turned out.
I find for me it is always harder to paint in watercolors then it is in pastel. With watercolor, you really have to make decisions on color choices very carefully, because once it’s on paper, it’s stays there. Â You can’t erase or go back and change something last minute….so there’s a little tension there in the experience, but I do love the transparency of colors you can get with this medium. It was still fun.
And of course, on to the next one! Thanks!
Amish Girl With Lamb Watercolor
Being a fan of the drama series Downton Abbey, I just had to try a portrait of Lady Mary Crawley portrayed by Michelle Dockery. Â I just love the pose! Hope you like her.
The first stages of the painting
The finished portrait with digital frame
Yes, a new painting in the works. Â It’s one that I started awhile back and is shown in it’s drawing stage several posts ago. I almost didn’t want to start this one, as I guess I was afraid I wouldn’t know how to go about painting the horse, but so far, I like the way it’s turning out!
I want the end result to be a sunset sky on a snowy day…the amish girl in a bright scarf (instead of her cap), and I want the breath of the horse to be slightly seen to show how cold the day is. I don’t really know what made me conjure up this scenario the way it turned out, the boy, girl and the horse all looking the same direction. But I do like the feeling of the whole picture. Like they all hear something or see something in the distance, and you wonder what it could be. Â I still don’t know what I will name this yet, but for now, I just want to complete it. I hope I will be able to show you something in a few days. Â Fingers crossed!
In The Works
It’s getting there…slow but sure.
Hello!  I just wanted to show you a new painting I decided to try.  I usually paint pastel portraits, but recently I have been watching random artists on You Tube painting pastel landscapes at amazing speed, by just throwing color on paper…not even blending! It’s like they just keep placing color over color and it ends up turning out amazing.  There is no real detail, but it’s more like a muted, colorful meadow…or  colorful, grouping of trees, etc. And the freedom!  The freedom of just looking at a small picture and painting what you see, not really caring about detail! I want that!
Well, I decided I would give it a try…somewhat. Â I found a small picture from my last trip to Pennsylvania, sat down at my easel…and without even a ruler to measure the house in the picture…I just started going at it! Â I just took a hard pastel and laid in all my shapes of where the trees were..the house…the birdhouse…and then started throwing color up on the paper. At one point, like with every painting…I was ready to give up. But I stuck with it. I also took the sunset sky from another picture just to give it more color.
Needless to say, Â when I was done, my husband thought I was a genius! Â He was like, “You are already done? That’s beautiful! I want to live there!”
I do love the colors, but I still need resist adding more and more detail! Â I just have a hard time with that! I will try more paintings and see how they turn out. But, I will be putting this up on my Etsy store soon…I may even sell the original.
Anyway, hope you like the attempt!
Next!!!!
Amish Garden Pastel Painting
The photograph I painted from
Hello again!  Wow, this took me awhile to complete, but here she is!  The outcome surprises even me whenever a new painting is completed. I must say, I am VERY happy with this one.
This painting took me awhile only because I could not proceed to the last stages until I could decide if I wanted her to be holding flowers or some other object. I felt like it needed more in the painting than just the amish girl to add interest. I don’t know why, as I wanted the girl to actually be my center of interest from the very beginning.
When I looked at the painting as a whole, I realized there was actually more going on than I  first realized.  For example, hinting that the parents are in the front seat by their  silhouettes. The amish girl,  her cap strings blowing in the wind, letting the viewer know that the buggy is in motion. Her calm face and daydreaming eyes, making us wonder what she is thinking as she rides along in the buggy, watching the world around her. Where is she going? What is she seeing?
This was painted to recreate what I would see on our many  family trips to Pennsylvania as we drove along the country…and well-traveled roads. We would always get stuck behind a few buggies, and you could not help but notice the amish children peering out the back. They always seemed so calm and serene, just glancing around from that small rectangular opening, taking everything in. Occasionally, one or two would smile and wave at us,  and I would be ecstatic if they did, but all the while I would wonder what they were thinking. What was their life like?  This is the image,  or the “feeling” I wanted to share with you.  That’s when I realized this painting was enough on its own the way it was.
I hope you like it. Â On to the next one…again! Â Cheryl
Amish Girl Daydreaming
Cherylmcnulty's Blog 