It's been a while...

It has been a while.  The school semesters and this summer have been gruelingly busy.  However I have been working here and there on a couple pieces.  Here they are :)

The picture above is a sunset over Lake Travis in Austin, TX  I really had fun with this one because it is on a new surface.  Colourfix paint (black) on gatorboard foam.  An artist friend gave it so me to try.  It has a lot of tooth and I really enjoyed using it.  Here is a picture when I had just started layering colors...

I am going to put the step-by-step pictures of the other painting I've worked on in another post :)

Reflections

Quick 5x7 Pastel inspired by daily paintworks challenge.  The challenge was reflections, this is my interpretation.  I'll probably work on it a little more.  I like where it's going! :)

Pastel Class Canceled

:(  One of the difficulties with doing Pastel for artwork is that not only are classes hard to find, they get canceled.  Its just not a popular medium compared to acrylic or oil.  Not only is finding one is a challenge, but finding one reasonably priced or priced for the hobby artist, is not easy either.  On another down note, I was not selected for the Step Up 2011 by Real Art Ways.  It was a contest for the emerging artist with minimal exhibition experience (I have none) and just out of art school (I never went).  I'm a little disappointed but I'm sure they had many talented submissions and I've only been doing pastel for a year and haven't taken anything other that a required art class.  I'll try again next year :).  I didn't want to write a post and leave it empty handed so to speak, so I'd like to post an older piece.  Orchids I did for my grandmother, Chalk Pastel on Drawing Paper 11x14.

5 Inch Heels :)

I finished the picture of my pink, grey, and black 5" heels.  It was a challenge on dailypaintworks.com.  I like the way it came out. What do you think?

Mini Paintings

Just wanted to post some updates of things I've been working on.  I took one of my 12x16 Pastel Papers and cut it into four 6x8 pieces to do some work on a smaller scale.  I've got about 30 minutes worth of work on both of these pictures done but I'll be putting on more layers and working on the background of the scallions piece.  The pictures aren't the greatest because they're off of my phone, but I found that my phone takes better pictures without the flash if I don't have indirect daylight to take it with my camera.  One is scallion flowers, and the other is just looking down the opening of a wooded area.

The scallions were harder than I anticipated as I wasn't mentally prepared with all of the little petals, but I like it none the less.  The harder part is the background which is an out of focus garden (all green) and a hosta (spelling) that is light in value because of the transparency factor.  But I really like how the woods are going.  I would like to work on leaf detail in the trees more.  The woods picture is more out of focus than I thought it was when I took it... so I apologize.  With more work on them I'll take better pictures of both.

After watching a documentary about Van Gogh, based on letters to his brother, it was reported that he created over 900 paintings in 9 years, averaging a painting a day.  Out of curiosity, I wanted to see what my average production was.  Knowing it wouldn't be nearly as much between just starting pastels a year ago, working two jobs, and attending two colleges the past six month, including finish my Master's and thesis.  I have created 54 pastel paintings in the past year, averaging to one a week.  Posted here are numbers 55 and 56.  I'm going to take this opportunity to challenge myself and my production rate.  Let's see what happens! :)