Commissioned Pastel Portrait of a Lady and her Cat with time-lapse video

I was commissioned to paint this portrait of the client's wife and her cherished cat from a "not-so-good" 4x6 photo taken in the mid 1970's.  The client explained that they had lost all of their belongings, in a recent house fire and he really wanted to surprise his spouse with a very special Christmas gift. And all I had to work with was this one photo...

So the pressure was on and I was committed to make this my challenge piece of 2015!  I have created a time-lapse video of the progression of this portrait which can be viewed below!

Step 5 Great Egret Bird Painting work in progress

On this step I have completed most of the bird's long neck feathers. I continue to add dark to medium grey and brown pastel as my under-painting, to created those parts of the white plumage that are darkened by shadows. Stay tuned for more feather painting!!

For those who are curious, the bird is a Great Egret, (Ardea alba), also named the Common Egret, Great White Heron.

Step 4 of Egret bird painting using pastels

I am at the stage now where the bird is starting to pop out of the painting.  The light subject and a dark background creates strong contrast.  Keep watching for more updates!

Egret bird painting work in progress

Now that I've worked most of the background on the left side of the bird, the fun part of adding the main subject can begin!

Although it may be hard to see on this image, I've been adding undertones to the bird's head feathers to give some strong contrast against the white body. Click on the closeup image for a better view.

Winter Snowshoe Hare Pencil Drawing

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and many thanks for all the support and encouragement throughout the year!

This year we have an unusually warm and green Christmas. While I really enjoy the warmer temps, I sort of miss the beautiful blanket of snow. I am sure the snowshoe hare probably prefers the white stuff as well since his white coat makes him stick out like a sore thumb amid the browns, golds and greens of the forest!

New tropical bird painting in pastels on my easel!

I started working on a new bird painting featuring a tropical species that I photographed in St-Augustine, FL several years ago. I have so many reference photos that sometimes, I want to paint them all and really have a hard time choosing which one to do next.

Working in pastels requires protective framing (which can be expensive!!) and since I already had the perfect frame for this composition,  I decided this was the one!  I hope you enjoy watching the progress of this piece.

Temagami Lake Ontario sunrise painting in pastel

This pastel landscape painting of a lake sunrise is the second piece featured at the GNO's Nouveau Louvre Exhibit in Sudbury, Ontario. The dark spruce trees and their mirror reflection contrast against the pale baby blue and coral sky/water. What a glorious calm morning on this beautiful pristine Northern Ontario lake....the start to a picture perfect fishing day!

SOLD

Temagami Sunrise

Pastel

8.5x12

Private Collection