Horse Closeup Update 3

I didn't have a lot of time to work on this portrait today but I did get a little more contour, dimension and shading accomplished.
Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Closeup horse - Update 2

I was able to work more on the horses ears.  I changed the angle of the right ear to be slightly pointed at the viewer.  Also starting to work on the contours around the horse.  I'm really jumping around but having fun with the graphite again :)
Hope you like it so far.

Thanks for stopping by!

Closeup Horse - Update

I tweaked quite a bit on this.  I may throw it away and start over, we shall see.

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Closeup Horse

Haven't done anymore with the Cougar because I'm sick and coughing and sneezing don't really work to well with Pastels :-P
So, right now, I'm doing this one instead.  The reference photo is by Mo Rahman (Robin).
I would love to hear your ideas for a name for this one!

Cougar - Update 3

Put in a couple hours working on this and I think it's coming along nicely!
Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Doodling

Do you ever doodle?  I find when I'm thinking about things, I sometimes doodle.  Right now my mare isn't feeling very good.  She just had her dentist appointment and some sharp points removed that were causing sores and now she's not eating because the sores in her mouth need to heal.
So I started doodling a soft horses eye.  The problem with doodling for me is that I also seem to do it with a 0.5mm mechanical pencil and on lined paper.  Not the proper tools to work with at all but it's still fun :)
So, I thought I'd share the quick doodle with you!
I just measured and this drawing is less than an ACEO  (Art Cards Editions and Originals) drawing!
It's 2.5 x 2. Maybe I'll recreate it on an ACEO with the proper tools and see how it comes out!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Cougar Update 2

Was able to work on this for a little bit today.  I refined the ear better and I'm still trying to get the proper multicolor with variances in the fur.  Very interesting challenge.
I was also going to include the colors I'm using but we might as well say I'm using all the colors I own LOL!
Hope you like the progress so far!

 
Thanks for stopping by :)

Cougar - Update 1

I was only able to work on this painting for about an hour today.  Our son and daughter in law came into town for a visit.  It was wonderful visiting with them and our son caught six goldfish from our neighbors pond.  Now I have to figure out how to create the right environment for them so that they keep my horses water-trough free from algae.
OK, so here is today's progress.  Oh, I also used my new double sided eraser from Colin Bradley because I didn't do a color test before applying to the fur and messed up the color a little bit OOPS :P
Hope you like it so far.

   Thanks for stopping by :) 

Tiger ACEO

I'm having fun exploring my pastels on different paper.  Again, this is a little painting 2.5 x 3.5 ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals).
It's on Strathmore Bristol Vellum (smooth side) using Rembrandt pastel and Faber Castell PITT Pastel pencils.
This original is for sale for $25.
If you're interested, contact me.

 Thanks for stopping by :)

Kangaroo ACEO

Ok, so I didn't get the cougar started.  Not yet anyways.  I chose to do this cute little Kangaroo and then had a lot of fun creating a background.  Through a happy accident, I actually have what looks like a tree (at least I think it does LOL ).
This is a 2.5 x 3.5 ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals)
It's on Strathmore Bristol Smooth board.
Rembrandt Pastel and Faber Castell PITT Pastel Pencils

This little guy is for sale for $25.
Contact me if you are interested in buying it :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Cougar WIP

Last night my son in law was in the woods outside of Kalispell and surprised a cougar.  Since he didn't have his camera and couldn't take a picture LOL.... I'm going to create this one because I was inspired :)
I tried a new way of creating my first line drawing without having to draw each line of the grid.  Since the line drawing has to be transferred to the working paper anyways, I printed out a grid using a technique that Carrie Lewis describes on her blog.  Works great! Here's the link if you're interested.
http://www.horse-painter-blog.carrie-lewis.com/mini-clinic/mini-clinic-drawing-with-the-grid-system/

Even using this grid system, my drawing still took me a little over two hours because I wanted the accuracy the first time :)
This painting will be approx a 4 x 5
Each of these squares are a 1/2 inch.
Tomorrow I will transfer this onto the board and get started!

Thanks for stopping by :)

The Inspector - Update 4

Well, here is the final for "The Inspector".  I hope you like it as much as I liked creating it :)
5 x 7 on Mi-Teintes Moonstone Pastel Paper using Rembrandt Soft pastels and Faber Castell PITT Pastel Pencils.
Thanks for stopping by :)

My "Studio"

Where does the time go?  Can you believe it's already September?
I have a few pictures for you today.  I'm getting my "studio" (read spare bedroom) organized so I took a quick snap shot.
I also completed "The Inspector" so gave you a quick snap shot of putting the finishing touches on it. I enjoyed working on this one but I'm still undecided as to whether I like the Ambersand Pastel board or Canson Pastel paper better.

I'm enjoying working with both the Rembrandt Pastel sticks and the Faber Castell PITT Pastel pencils.  Now I want to get some CarbOthello Pastel pencils because I've heard so much about them.  Do you know who Roberta "Roby" Baer is?
Roby is an absolutely outstanding pastel artist that uses the CarbOthello Pastel Pencils in her art.  Check out her website!  You wont be sorry you did.  http://robybaer.blogspot.com/
Do you think I can do as well as her if I just get those CarbOthello Pastel Pencils?
No I didn't think so. It's not the tools that make the art, it's the artist but having the right tools sure does help :)
I really want to get an easel but for now as the picture shows, I have a very big sheet of cardboard at an angle with aluminum foil across the bottom to catch any loose pastel.
I have the 15 half stick rembrandt pastels and I started with 24 Faber Castell PITT pencils then started adding to them with open stock. I now have 33 and still need to add more LOL.
Do we ever stop adding to our collections?
There are so many different tools to explore and I'm sure having fun learning the ones I have now.
I still would love to try the Velour and Suede choices as well.
Thanks for stopping by :)
Stay tuned for my next painting.

Putting the finishing touches on "The Inspector"

Studio desk

The Inspector - Update 3

Finally got to work on the face.  I'm now going to set this aside for a couple days and then come back to it.  I already see I forgot the eyelashes on the right (our right) eye!
Thanks for stopping by :)

Trail Ride Perspective

I went for a trail ride a little while ago and had my camera with me.  For me, the best view is between the ears of my horse.  Therefore, I took pictures of the view....through the ears of my horse.
I thought it would be a fun challenge in perspective today to try and draw the scenes.
I may develop this sketch further but it will be with the correct pencils.
This was a quick doodle with a 0.5mm mechanical pencil on Bristol smooth. Ignore the really dark area to the right (our right).  This is the first time I've used Bristol smooth so was trying out a technique to see how it worked.  I then I played with my bluetac to see how much can also be removed.  This was an interesting challenge but I think I got most of the perspective right :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

The Inspector - Update 2

Put some more work into this.  I started with Rembrandt pastels and then moved onto Faber-Castell PITT pastel pencils. I'm not going to have a background on this one, just the color of the paper unless I change my mind.

The Inspector - Update 1

I've started my next little 5 x 7 painting.  I'm titling this one "The Inspector" because that's what she's doing is inspecting what's on the post.
So far I've drawn the outline image and then started adding some highlights and dark areas. 
I'm doing this on Mi- Teintes Moonstone pastel paper.
Thanks for stopping by :) 
I hope you'll follow along and enjoy the development of this painting!

Just Clowning Around - Final

First off, I need to apologize to you!
I realized I never posted my final of my last painting.  I made a few corrections to the neck muscle area, signed it and now it's finished.