Just off the Easel: Sutter

Our sweet friend Sutter, just off of the easel!  

I loved painting this picture, with his sweet blue eyes watching me paint.   There is NOTHING sweeter than a baby, and I wish we could freeze time, rewind, and hold onto that precious newborn time!  This painting is to remind us of our little angels, before they can say "No," before they were capable of toddler temper tantrums, even before they could sit up or crawl.

The image size is about 8" x 10." I painted with Sennelier oil pastels on rag matboard primed with Colourfix pastel primer in Terracotta.  

Sutter (at about 3 months)

Comments welcome!

For information on commissions, please visit my Etsy shop.  

WIP: Natalie (cont'd)

Worked some more on Miss Natalie's portrait yesterday and today.  Today I had to turn it upside-down so I could really concentrate on the shapes of the shadows.  


See previous post here.


I'm liking the color of her skin more, but still need to work on the shadows, especially on the left side of her face (her right cheek).  Did a little bit of blending with turpentine on the dress, still much detail to work on for her dress.   Thinking that the shadow on the right side is distracting, and that I need to soften the line that goes into her ear.  

Natalie (current)

Natalie (before)

Oh, and previously I forgot to give details on this painting.  Image is about 8" x 10", and it's oil pastel on paper.  Paper is Rives BFK primed with Colourfix pastel primer in Aubergine.  I'm using some thinner in the middle layers, but will go back in for some texture/marks before I finish.

detail

May take a break on this one to let the pastel set up/dry.  More soon!

WIP: Natalie

I started this oil pastel of Natalie a few months ago and HATED it.  She looked scary, like she was wearing a mask.  I decided that I shouldn't have used black for the shadows, instead I'm using browns, dark purples, and some blue.  (Sorry, should have taken a "before" picture earlier this evening! I'm learning... ;)

Natalie ...still working on it!

This is far as I'm getting on this one for now. Need to let some of the layers harden up so I can go back in with some texture and finishing marks.  When you get too much oil pastel on the paper, it gets muddy and too thick.  So I've scraped some of the pastel off and I'll let it set up for a bit.

Close up

Need to work on the dress, background, and brighten up some of the highlights in the face.  Also soften the shadows and work on the midtones.


More soon! 


Bethany :)

Just off the Easel: Nap Time

Third post for this painting!  

I think it's finally done, but we'll see if I go back in and change anything.

Just added a Custom Portrait to the Etsy shop using this image as a sample of a commission.

Comments welcome!

8" x 10" oil pastel on canvas board
board primed with Colourfix Primer in Terracotta

Just off the Easel: Florida Palms

Tonight I broke out the acrylic paints for a change and finished a painting that I started two years ago!  I had only done the underpainting, so there was much to be laid down to get it completed.  


This is painted from a photo I took when visiting Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL with my brother and nephews.  I'm glad to have this one finished FINALLY!  I really liked this scene, and may paint a larger version  sometime down the road.  

Acrylic on Canvas, 9" x 12"

Just off the Easel: Sascha

Finished this adorable blue-eyed kitty yesterday.

Pardon the poor quality photo...  I took some good pictures in natural light outside, but evil gremlins made the photos disappear from the SD card.  Waiting for some good afternoon light to retake pictures outside.

This is an 8" x 10" oil pastel on board primed terracotta.  She took about 2 1/2 hours in two sittings.

Until the rainy mess leaves and I can re-shoot her, here she is on the easel.  Below her you can see a few of my favorite oil pastels in the large and smaller sizes.

From Bethany Art

WIP: Nap Time cont'd

During afternoon nap time, I added some more color.  Feeling like I made some backwards progress.  I am liking how baby's coloring and shadows look, but very unhappy with Nick's face coloring.  The photo doesn't have much color, so I am having a hard time choosing colors for the different facial values. Need to figure out upper left corner...not sure about the red/pink. Need to push back the blue cloth and decide on color for Natalie's shirt.  Also will put in more detail in her face and hand.  Lots to do with Nick...got a little distorted when I was working earlier and need to fix shading, proportions, and color. So we'll be on to round 3 tonight or this weekend.  Tomorrow going to check out some local art in Downtown Raleigh for First Friday.  Later tonight will also post a kitty that I finished today. Left: Round two...  Right: Round one

WIP: Nap Time

Just started this painting of my two favorite people!  There is nothing sweeter than a daddy and baby napping together...

This is definitely a work in progress..about an hour in and time to take a break and let the OP's set up a bit.  This is painted using Sennelier oil pastels on canvas board, primed with Colourfix primer in Terracotta. Size is 8" x 10".


I struggled with the colors for the skin tones.  I found that my small set didn't have the colors that I needed, and that I need to supplement my smaller oil pastel set with additional colors.  I have the Landscape 24pc set and the LaGrande 36 color set.  


Between the two sets, I have a good range of colors, however the larger LaGrande pastels are hard to use on smaller scale works. Regular are 2 9/16" long x 3/8" diameter, and La Grande is 5" long x 3/4" diameter.  

regular landcape 24pc set

LaGrande 36pc set

I like to use Colourshapers to blend after blocking in the colors, and then go back in again to establish some texture.  The last trip to Jerry's Artarama I discovered some cool Mini Colour Shapers.  I really wanted to try them out but the $30 price tag for a set of 4 was too much for just some experimenting.  I can just use my cheap set of throw-away blending stumps for now.

Tomorrow I'll  break out the LaGrande set and get some orange and pink tones into the faces.  Also need to take out all almost all of the contour lines that I sketched with in the Violet Alizarin Lake #076.  

Hoping to finish "Nap Time" tomorrow during nap time. ;)   Update coming soon!