#4 Fortune Cookie

5x7 pastel on wc paper

Today I ate lunch with my oldest sister at Szechuan Gardens in League City. I saved my fortune cookie for my #4 small study...this one took about 40 minutes. I sure wish the weather would get better...I'm wanting to get outside and do a small study. I have a reddish-orange Gerber daisy that I would like to paint and it's the only one, so I don't want to cut it and bring it inside...maybe tomorrow.

Here's a quote I found on someones blog today..."To improve one must experiment, explore and practice, practice, practice." - Anita Davies (this is so true!)

Until tomorrow...

Searching For Seashells

8x10 Wallis pastel paper

It wasn't a good day for painting. There's good days and bad days...that's just part of it. I had started this study about a month ago and wasn't happy with it, so it just sat there. Today, I decided I would try and tweak it...I'm still not happy with it! This is my first time to place a figure in one of my studies. I had taken this picture the last weekend in October 2006. My oldest daughter was home for the weekend, so we drove to Galveston and took the ferry to Bolivar. I love to go to the beach in the Fall...no one is there! We found a lot of seashells and I took a lot of pictures.

Until tomorrow...

#3 Chocolate Chip Cookie

5x7 pastel on wc paper

I'm participating in a "100 sketches challenge" on WetCanvas.com in the pastel forum. My goal is to sketch them all from life (no photos) and paint at least (5) a week. I figure that by painting these small sketches, I have a better chance of finding 30 minutes to an hour a day to paint. I did this sketch in 30 minutes. I was hoping to post a larger study today, but life got in the way...maybe tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

Creek After the Rain

8x10 pastel on canson paper

I didn't find time to paint today, but I still wanted to post one of my first pastels. I painted this after we had about 8 inches of rain one day in October of 2006. The creek was lapping the banks! I love to put on my husbands rubber boots after we have had a lot of rain and walk down by the creek! I plan on painting at least 2 larger studies this week.

Until tomorrow...

Road Trip

No painting today. We went to College Station to visit my oldest daughter. This is her first year there and she loves it! We ate at Chicken Express...they have the original Dublin Dr. Pepper. It's really good and I love to eat their fried chicken livers...yes, I know they are bad for you, but I only eat them twice a year! The best part of driving there is the scenery on Highway 6...it's pretty much all farm land and one hill after another! I would love to live on a Hill and be able to look out over the land for miles without seeing any city life! It's so peaceful driving along this part of the country! Unfortunately, we are back in the city, but it was nice for the day! I took about 40 pictures, so now I have more reference pictures to paint from.

Until tomorrow...

Mango Study

5x7 pastel on wc paper

I was at the grocery store the other day and was in the produce section when I spotted this mango...I don't particularly care for mango's, but this one had such nice colors that I knew I just had to paint it! I love mango tea...as a matter of fact, Chili's and P.F. Chang's has wonderful mango ice tea!

Here's a quote for the day..."Dear Lord, Please keep your arms around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth."- Unknown I found this quote in someones signature line on Wet Canvas and thought it was perfect!

Until tomorrow...

My Sisters 50th Birthday!

Today is my oldest sisters 50th Birthday! Yesterday, I went to my parents house and looked through some pictures with my Mom. I took some of them home and scanned them into my laptop...scanners and computers are wonderful! Anyways, I just wanted to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!!!!!

Toast & Jelly

5x7 pastel on wc paper w/2 layers of gesso & pumice

I was fixing my daughters breakfast this morning...thinking about what I wanted to paint today and was spreading the strawberry jelly (from Froberg's Farm) and a light bulb went off! As they say "The rest is history!" I'll tweak it tomorrow and then possible put it in a little frame and hang it in my kitchen. I don't like the wallpaper in my kitchen, so maybe if I do enough small food studies I can cover up the wallpaper!

Until tomorrow...

Field of Yellow and Gold

Rose and I ate lunch at the Pear Tree Tearoom today for her 40th birthday...what a smile! She's probably not going to be to happy with me for posting her picture! lol

5x7 pastel

This is the first time that I have used this size paper...I wanted to finish it in less than hour. I figure if I work small, I should be able to paint one a day. I saw this field on the way to Santa Barbara and loved the colors. I'm not sure exactly what kind of building that is in the background, but I thought it looked unique.

We have had nothing but cloudy skies, so it's very hard to take a good picture of my little studies...yesterdays is way to dark and todays looks washed out!

"The man who has no imagination has no wings." - Muhammad Ali

Red House On A Hill

9x12 on watercolor paper w/gesso & pumice

I felt a little rusty this morning working on this pastel study. I tried something different with the first layer of pastel. I applied a layer of red everywhere except the sky area, since there was so much green and red is greens compliment. I have seen a lot of artist start their paintings this way. If you look close enough you can see some of the red peeking through. This is painted from a picture I took while in California this past summer. We were on LaHonda Rd. making our way back to the Pacific Coast Highway (hwy. 1). We were on our way to Carmel-By-The-Sea. I loved that small town...lots of small shops and animals are welcome just about everywhere. This road was very winding...my youngest daughter got sick and we had to pull over in the small town of LaHonda. Lots and lots of beautiful scenery along this road...it was so winding that you could only drive 30 m.p.h. I will never forget the beauty of this stretch of California!

I'm hoping to start back with my goal of painting a small study everyday. I'm going to try and discipline myself to paint as soon as I have finished my morning walk. It should only take me about 45 minutes to an hour to paint a small study. I'm going to paint small 5x7 or 6x8.

"Ones destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."- Henry Miller

Until tomorrow...

Backyard Squirrel

I didn't paint again today...I'm sure I will tomorrow. The sun finally peeked out of the clouds today...we haven't seen it in over a week. We always have squirrels in our yard. This is a picture of a squirrel in the feeder box in our backyard. Chance always barks at them from the window.


I decided I would post a quote today..."The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." Michelangelo (one of my favorites)


I'm still trying to figure out the different features of this blog, so bear with me!


Until tomorrow...

Tribute to Scarlet

We didn't go on our road trip today because our golden retriever "Scarlet" passed away early this morning. I am writing this with a very heavy heart. She was 13 years old and such a sweet dog. I knew her time had come, but it didn't make it any easier. She will be missed greatly! This is a photo that I took when she was 6 months old...we had just gotten her from a man that worked with my brother-in-law. My girls were 7 and 5 years old and now they are 19 and 17. Where does time go? I was so glad my husband was able to hook my scanner up to my computer today, so that I could scan this picture. This picture has been hanging on my refrigerator for years and will stay there for many more!

Hopefully, I will fine the motivation to paint in the next few days.

Until next time...

Tulips

No painting today. My hubby bought these tulips for me today...just because! Isn't that sweet!

Tomorrow I will be out of town, so no painting. I hope to at least post some pictures when I get back. I'm also hoping to at least sketch one of these tulips sometime this weekend.

Until next time...

Tweaked pastel study

Today I tweaked this study...I chanced the formation of the rocks and tweaked the water. I'm still not completely happy with it, but I don't want to overwork it. This pastel reminds me of my friend Rose (who is 40 years old today)...she loves the beach. I plan on starting a new pastel next week...I have had a lot of domestic issues that have prevented me from painting this week.

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY ROSE!!!

Until next time...

Portrait

It's still very cold here today! I did a small watercolor sketch of the scene I plan on painting a pastel study of, but couldn't find the motivation to go upstairs and actually start on it. This is a drawing I did of my oldest daughter (who is in college) a few months ago. I used only (3) different sepia color pencils for this drawing. This is my 2nd portrait to draw...I plan on starting another one soon.

A very cold day!

It's finally gotten cold here! Brrrr! I haven't had much motivation to paint the past few days...I think I just needed a break. I did a thumbnail sketch of a picture I plan to paint...maybe I will start it tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a picture of my baby wrapped up in one of my quilts that I made in 1995...it's called "magic carpet".

Until tomorrow...

Interesting afternoon

Well...I had an interesting afternoon! My youngest daughter had a piece of plywood dropped down the back of her heel at school and had to get stitches, so no painting for me this afternoon. I took a picture of her heel, but I didn't want to gross anyone out and post it. Hopefully, I'll have time to paint tomorrow. Finding time to paint everyday is not always easy! I'm trying very hard to post something everyday...even if I don't get to paint.

Until tomorrow...

Hwy. 1 close to Carmel

June 2006...We went to California for our family vacation. We flew into Oakland and rented a car and stayed two days in San Francisco and then traveled down Hwy. 1 to Santa Barbara. Along the way, we stopped at Carmel by the Sea. I loved this place! I wish we would have stayed longer than just a couple of hours. I took a lot of pictures along Hwy. 1. It was beautiful! It was a very foggy day. This small study is 6x9 on Wallis pastel paper. I will do some tweaking tomorrow. I plan on painting more studies from this vacation in the future.


I'm planning on doing a week long study of the creek behind our house. Hopefully I will start one tomorrow.


Until tomorrow...

By the creek

I sat on this bench yesterday and did a quick plein air study (in pastels) of the view across the creek. I'm not happy with it, so I'm not going to post it. I found out how hard it is to paint with the light changing...I did enjoy being outside and I will attempt another one soon. I'm not sure who placed this bench here...I noticed it a few days ago while out walking. This picture is of my husband and my little walking buddy. I tried a study of a foggy scene today...that landed in the trash!

Until tomorrow...

Field of cabbage

I didn't post yesterday...our internet was down. I did this study of a cabbage patch that I saw on the way to Froberg's Farm on Sunday. I'm not happy with the perspective, so I will probably let it set a few days and then paint another one with a different perspective. I'm hoping to get outside later in the day and paint a plein air (from life). I need to organize some of my pastels in a box that I have and them I should be good to head outside! I used Microsoft Office Picture Manager to edit this picture...I'm still trying to find the best way to edit the picture to look like the painting is IRL.

Until tomorrow...

Froberg's Farm

We went to Froberg Farm in Alvin today. Most of their fruits and veggies are grown on their farm...they also make homemade pies, jellies/preserves, salsa and much more. The sun was finally out today...we haven't seen it much all week, so I took quite a few pictures. I did a small watercolor & pen sketch in my small moleskine sketchbook of a cabbage patch field I saw on the way to Froberg's. Tomorrow, I plan on painting this field in pastel...I just wanted to work on the composition. I haven't sketched in months...I plan on doing more sketching this year. I'm hoping with a few tweaks to the composition, I should have a good study in pastel.

Now to cut me a piece of that strawberry cream pie! Yum!

Until tomorrow...

Sketch of an Eye

I didn't have time to work on a pastel today, but I didn't want to break my goal and not post anything today. This is a sketch in graphite that I did a couple of months ago. I hope to start a portrait of my youngest daughter in the next couple of days. I have already drawn a portrait of my oldest daughter...I will post that one soon.

Until tomorrow...

Tea Bag Study

5x7 pastel on canson

I wasn't sure if I would find the time to draw or paint today. I saw the tea bag after I drank my cup of mango tea and I thought I'd do a quick study of it. I used mainly Giraults and Unison pastels. I love the Giraults...I don't think I could do without them. I ordered a set of their greens and can't wait for them to arrive! There's nothing like getting art supplies in the mail! I'm hoping to start another landscape this weekend, if I find the time.

Hubby is on the way home from the airport...he was in Denver with all the snow! I sure hope he took lots of good pictures!

Until next time...

Still Life...Banana Study

8x10 pastel on canson paper (I don't like this paper)

One of my goals for the new year is to paint or draw from life at least once a week. This banana was on it's way to the trash, so I decided to do a study of it. I really hate using canson paper because you can only apply a few layers, but it worked out ok for this study. I'm hoping to get outside in the next couple of days. It has done nothing but rain the past two days!

House in the Woods

Well...the cloud study from yesterday slid in the trash this morning! I was not happy with it at all. I'll try another one soon.

This study is from a scene that is right across the street from our new Chili's. I was so glad when they finally opened one on our side of town. I noticed this house back in the woods when we were leaving one afternoon and took several pictures. It's 8x10 pastel on Wallis Belgium mist.

First Cloud Study

I spent most of the day packing up Christmas decorations, so I didn't have much time for painting. I've decided that I need to try to paint in the mornings and take a picture in the afternoon because once again I had to take this picture at night and the lighting is off. The colors are so different IRL.

I hope to get outside tomorrow and do a study from life, if the weather cooperates...if not I will probably set up a still life inside. One of my resolutions is to paint from life at least once a week.

I finally found a pastel class that starts this coming Monday morning. I've only been painting with pastels for about three months, so I'm really excited and hope to learn a lot!

Old Barn

Happy New Year! I walk every morning and always have my camera with me. This is an old barn that I pass by everyday...it's about 80 years old and falling down, but that is what gives it such great character! (8x10 on Wallis pastel paper) It still needs some tweaking...I will let it sit for a couple of days. I have posted two different pictures with two different lighting set ups. The first one is closer to the actual colors in this study. I am experimenting with different lighting trying to get the photo as close to the actual painting. I am not using a flash and I have two different day time lamps. I think tomorrow I will take it outside to photograph it.