The Model
Pastel, 12" x 16"

Inspired by a lovely young actress whose role as Helen Keller in the theatre production of "The Miracle Worker" caught the eye of a budding photographer which led to a photo shoot and the black & white photograph that would serve as a reference for this pastel painting.
This piece is done on a pastel support that I am using for the first time as my favorite Wallis pastel paper is no longer in production. It is likely that this may be my last pastel as I am working in oil and acrylic these days, but one never knows, as an artist, I keep all options open.

A FAVORITE HAT 2
Pastel, 12" x 9"

Soft pastels on wallis pastel paper. The obvious complementary colors were a deliberate choice, so too, was the use of layering various colors without blending to create the form.

THE PONYTAIL
Oil, 14" x 11"

I painted this piece with brushes only, resisting the use of palette knife and too much blending.

ENCHANTMENT IN THE GRASS
Oil, 18" x 24" x 1.5"

Painted in oil using brushes and palette knives, I wanted to capture the beauty of the young model nestled in the grass on that lovely summer day in Colorado without being overly precisionist about my interpretation.

AT A GLANCE
Pastel, 11" x 14"

This piece is painted on pastel board with a nice sanded tooth. I had a different back-ground planned but decided to change it. As an artist, you have to be flexible, the painting seldom evolves the way you initially envisioned - you must be willing to push yourself, take risks, allow yourself to learn and grow and hopefully improve as an artist, after-all, what have you to loose? As one of my teachers often said, you have a 50/50 chance of messing with a Master-piece...

NEAL
Pastel, 9" x 12"

Painting the male model gives the artist a chance to appreciate the landscape of planes, angles, character lines that are more apparent with the masculine form. I used broken strokes to suggest the rugged skin quality. The challenge was balancing all that warmth of a sunset with cooler skin tones and since so much of the bright yellow shirt was reflecting into the face, I had to seek out and emphasize the cooler tones. Funny thing is, I was attracted to all that yellow in the first place so it did not make sense to change the color of the shirt.

DAYDREAMING
Pastel, 9.5" x 12"
SOLD

At the end of a painting day, my model was quite tired and fell into a daydreaming pose. I was intrigued and decided to paint her in vivid colors as if to say "Wake Up!"