When life gives you lemons, draw them, 11 x 14 inches dry pastels, graphite on paper

"When life gives you lemons, draw them." (Nikki)

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language." (Paul Gauguin)

Archive for April, 2013

Spring Garden Mix

Saturday, April 27th, 2013


 

Spring Garden Mix, 18H x 24 inches oil pastels on 80 lb acid free premium

Spring Garden Mix, 18H x 24 inches oil pastels on 80 lb acid free premium. Framed size 27H x 33 inches.

BlossoMania

Thursday, April 25th, 2013


 

Blossomania, 12H x 16W inches oil pastels painted with oil blending and glazing medium on 80 lb acid free premium, white mat

Blossomania, 12H x 16W inches oil pastels painted with oil blending and glazing medium on 80 lb acid free premium, white mat

I’ve been admiring the round masses clumped on the Plum tree branches in our neighbor’s back yard for a week or so now. Yesterday and today, pink swirls in the wind inspired this kooky poem

Plum Blossom Mania, Original size 18H x 24 inches Oil Pastels on 80lbPetals are falling, the sky is blue

They cover everything, old and new

If I sit too long, I’ll be covered too!

Larger image shows the finished piece, 12H x 16W inches, which was cropped from the original size, left thumbnail, 18H x 24 inches. Blogging always reveals a different perspective. If I had not re-sized the original  in order to post, I might never have recognized that the cropped portion has a more balanced composition…benefits of blogging!

Celosia – work in progress

Thursday, April 18th, 2013


 

Celosia, work still in progress, 18H x 24W inches 0il pastels on paper

Celosia, work still in progress, 18H x 24W inches 0il pastels on 100% cotton paper

This piece was tucked away a month ago, planning to continue work in future with new eyes, so with nothing to lose, I jumped back in today and threw more color around. I splurged today and bought about 40 new oil sticks, the “Sennelier” brand. Wow, they are so intensely colorful and creamy-beautiful to work with! There is no contest as far as quality compared to any of the other brands I’ve been using, but they do have a lot of oil content which makes them muddy easily. Looks like it needs to be stored away again to re-work and refineanother day. I don’t like giving up on a piece until it feels absolutely done, or without a doubt done to death!

Celosia, 18H x 24W inches Oil pastels on 100% cotton paper, in progress

Left, March 22nd, 2013, Day 4 in progress

Reminiscent of retro sofa fabric, now that I see it on-screen! Usually leaving page space showing through to create light and brightness, this time I colored the entire page yellow before starting. Adding white did not help brighten areas much, but did muddle colors, helping some flowers recede. Much of the pure color as seen in the early versions has been covered up or removed, but will be re-added cautiously. The style has also gradually changed to more of a Representational/Impressionistic one. To finish, there will be more scrutiny, and fewer emotional responses before adding or removing anything else.

Celosia, 18H x 24W inches Oil pastels on paper, Stage 02 in progress   Celosia, 18H x 24W inches Oil pastels on paper, Stage 04 in progress   Celosia, 18H x 24W inches Oil pastels on paper, Stage 06 in progress

March 20th through 22nd; Days 1, 2, and 3