Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year Painted: 2004
Pastels Used: Nupastel, Rembrandt
Source: A calendar photo. No copyright info available.
Just a fun exercise. I liked the light in the original photo, and I like frogs. So.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Frog
Soft Pastel on Sennelier La Carte Paper
Price: NFS
Year Painted: 2004
Pastels Used: Nupastel, Rembrandt
Source: A calendar photo. No copyright info available.
Just a fun exercise. I liked the light in the original photo, and I like frogs. So.
Waterfall with Rainbow
Soft Pastel on GatorGrit 400-b Waterproof Sandpaper
Price: Contact the Artist
Year Painted: 2004
Pastels Used: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Schmincke
Source: Photograph taken by the artist at Yosemite National Park.
This was my first experience painting on sandpaper (while I was waiting for my first order of Sennelier La Carte to be delivered). This particular grade has a very fine tooth, which forced me to not overwork the painting. As a rule, I do not like to use spray fixative because it dulls the colors, so it is only a last resort to ‘fix’ a mistake. Happily, there were no such mistakes in this painting, so the colors are pure. I enjoyed watching the rainbow ‘appear’ in the mist with the butter-soft Schmincke pastels.
Woodstock
Watercolor on Paper
Late 1990s
Source: One of my cats.
One of my few attempts (or maybe the only one) at watercolor painting since high school. I actually didn’t work from a photograph, but rather had done a quick preparatory pencil sketch as Woodstock was napping on a pillow. I wish he’d positioned his tail and face a little more decoratively; they really looked as wishy-washy as they appear here.
Factum Est
Soft Pastel on Sketch Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 1983
Pastels Used: Grumbacher
Source: My imagination.
This was painted three years after the Dung Beetle, with the same "nasty" hard pastels on plain ol' paper. The image is purely fictional, since according to the Bible it actually got quite dark when Christ died on the Cross. The brilliant light represents the hope that dawned for us when He died. I painted the single cross (without the two thieves who were crucified on either side) to emphasize how alone Jesus was in His dying moment.
Garmisch-Patenkirchen
Soft Pastel on Sketch Paper
NFS
1982
Pastels Used: Grumbacher
Source: Photograph taken by the Artist
The reference photo was taken from a bridge over the Loisach River in Garmisch Patenkirchen. I loved the view to the Alps and the lush colors all along the river and in the water.
Mühle am Wall
Soft Pastel on Sketch Paper
NFS
1982
Pastels Used: Grumbacher
Source: Photograph taken by the Artist
This is one of my favorite spots in Bremen, Germany.
Dung Beetle
Soft Pastel on Sketch Paper
Price: NFS
Year painted: 1980
Pastels Used: Grumbacher
Source: A German bug and beetle guidebook that was later chewed up by one of my dogs.
No copyright info available.
This was my first foray into pastels. Someone gave me a box of 100 Grumbacher pastel sticks; they were quite hard, but I didn’t know anything about pastels then so that didn't discourage me. I loved the vibrancy of the color, which has not diminished in nearly 30 years.
My Village (sort of)
Charcoal on Paper
Late-1970s
Source: My imagination.
This was a high school art class assignment; it's a fictional view of the village where I grew up. The church does not exist, at least not in that form or at that location (it’s actually a tiny A-frame chapel quite a ways away from the center of town), but the other buildings did. It is also fictional in the sense that I have no idea if the aerial view is correct; this is simply what I imagined it would look like if I could fly over the village.
Sunset
Oil on Canvas
1980s
Source: A lesson in a book.
Long before Bob Ross’ oil painting series on PBS, there was William (Bill) Alexander’s “Magic of Oil Painting” in the early 1980s. It’s the exact same painting method as Bob Ross, and Bill Alexander actually invented it: the liquid white as a wet medium on the canvas, and the much thicker than average paint as you work this wet-on-wet method. I can’t say I enjoyed Bill Alexander’s PBS shows as he had a horribly thick German accent (he was a German Canadian), and I got really tired of his yelling “Fiah it into de canvas! You ah de migh-ty creator! You vant a tree? Dere! Just put it over zere! Ver-ever you vant!” over and over and over again. However, the painting method intrigued me, so I bought one of his books and the oil paint and accessories. This is one of two paintings I actually finished.
Two Watercolor Sketches
Watercolor on Paper
1978
Source: Live models.
In 10th grade, one of the mediums we explored in art class was watercolors. I can't say that I liked watercolor much, except for this one exercise. We had three minutes for each sketch, done from a live model (students from our class). My first sketch was horrible, so I didn't save it, but number 2 (on the left) and number 3 turned out. I was really pleased with the sketch of the girl -- until my teacher, Mrs. Dzaebel, happened to walk by and just yanked it off my desk, lifted it up to show the class and exclaimed: "This is what it's supposed to look like!" While I watched in horror as the wet paint dripped down the paper and ruined my theretofore perfect sketch. I don't think I ever really forgave Mrs. Dzaebel for ruining the little painting, even though I got an A. Anyway, it's a great exercise for learning to see the essentials and being "loose" in your approach.
Leaf Art
Pencil & Marker on Plain Paper
1977
Source: A branch I plucked from a tree.
A 9th grade art class assignment. We were to take an item from nature, draw an outline, and then create an abstract pattern in it. I saved this drawing because it’s always been one of my favorites. I like the soft, leafy shapes in contrast to the stark black and white patterns.
Weird Party Art
Glow-in-the-dark Paint on Aluminum Foil
1979
I saw a painting of these creatures in a science fiction magazine. My parents decided to have a Sci-Fi themed costume party, for which my dad obtained a black light. These two paintings were part of the wall art for my parents’ party cellar (which also had a bar and a dance floor). I drew an 8x10 pencil sketch from the magazine picture, laid it on top of a sheet of aluminum foil, and traced the outlines, which created grooves in the foil. Then I simply painted the areas I wanted to glow in the dark. I liked the idea of these aliens looking scared as they gazed upon the dance floor with a bunch of middle-aged Germans flapping their elbows and twitching their tuckuses and gyrating their hips to the day’s top hits. (A frightening sight, to be sure!)
Winter Scene
Pencil on Paper
1979
I had this postcard with a breathtaking wintry scene: lovely shades of sunset orange against stark black silhouettes of barren winter shrubs. This was my attempt to turn it into a black and white pencil rendition. One of my favorite drawings, because the scene still evokes the same sense of wanting to take a deep breath and relax.
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