I decided to ‘clean house’ this month and am having a virtual studio sale on eBay – first time I’ve ever tried this but so far it’s been great!  Here’s the link to my items – all are unframed for less expensive shipping, all are originals and most are matted to a standard frame size:

Julie’s eBay listings

I was fooling around with watercolor underpaintings today – the painting on the right was first, with watercolor washes put in and then dark and warm areas highlighted with pastel pencils.  I decided it was too linear and harsh-looking so I put the whole thing in the sink and washed it off, letting the color flow wherever.  The underpainting on the left is the final one.  I like the softness of the edges and will try to keep that feeling in my pastel layering.  I might even let the composition morph into something non-representational.

This is a 16″ x 20″ version of the same Swamp River scene (see below), with just the acrylic underwash done.  I really pushed the bright colors in this one, but will tone it all down with the pastel layers once I resurface the board.  Since getting laid off from my day job in February (!!!!) I’ve been able to throw myself into working on my painting skills – including speed, which I need to do in order to improve my plein air work – and have also experimented more with surfaces, underpainting techniques, etc.  So there’s the silver lining to being unemployed!

16″ x 20″
Pastel on pumiced Gatorboard

I’m trying to keep the energy going in this larger version of the painting study below.  I really liked the brightness of the magenta in the original, so have upped it a little here.  The surface I’m working on is kinda rough, though, so I have had to work it harder than with the study.  I’ll keep this version up and will post the final once done.

“In the Shadow of Greatness”

7 7/8″ x 10 3/4″
Pastel on sanded paper

I’ve had the chance today to wrap up not one but TWO paintings in progress. It feels good to finally get them “to bed” – I sometimes have paintings sitting around for 6-8 months unfinished, and I wait for the inspiration I need to put on the finishing touches. This painting started out being about the sunlight on the field, then I realized half-way through that what I liked was the little tree standing in the shadow of the big one. So, my focus changed, and the composition fell into place for me.

“Daniela”

Pastel on sanded paper

OK, the plan was to post small paintings done daily on this blog, but as it turns out sometimes plans have to be changed. I DO paint almost every day, but don’t necessarily finish a small painting each day since I also work on larger pieces. That being the case today, I decided to post something different.

Two weeks ago I had the chance to take a one-day portrait workshop with Alain Picard, a fantastic portrait artist (and great painter in general!). In the past I had painted one painting of a group of people from a photo, and had drawn two figurative scenes from photos with colored pencil, but had never worked with a live model. Well, it’s a lot harder than you would think, and a lot less forgiving than landscapes or still life paintings in that the point is to capture as closely as possible the subject matter, without a lot of artistic license. In other words, you can’t cheat. I really enjoyed the experience, and think my first attempt came out OK (but of course judge that for yourself). And it always helps when you work with a gorgeous subject, which Daniela was!