Day 21 - Making Friends

"Making Friends"
oil pastel on board, 5 x 7
$45
available here

A quick little impression of my daughter up close with a sweet Jersey girl.  This is painted on gray rag board brushed with a heavy coat of clear Colourfix primer to give the brush texture.  I'm working on getting faster and leaving more marks with the pastel.  This was done in about an hour.  On colored surfaces I tend to not use underpainting, and I think the gray worked well here.

Stay tuned!  I am almost caught up with my posts and paintings in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days project.

Bethany

Day 16 - Bluebell

"Bluebell"
oil pastel on paper
4" x 4"
available here

Day 16...still catching up on blog posts, and now I am a day behind with the paintings!  I worked at my "day job" all day yesterday, cleaned house (for the babysitter!), and stayed out late having dinner and drinks with friends.

Yikes, better get in gear today and pour another cup of coffee.

Happy Sunday!

Bethany

Day 15 - Oreo

"Oreo"
oil pastel on paper
4" x 4"
available here

This cow has a partner on a blue background, will post day 16 later today!

Oil pastel on pink Sabretooth pastel paper in a mini-size, only 4" x 4".

Stay tuned!

Bethany

Day 14 - Cool Cow

"Cool Cow"
pastel on board
5" x 7"
available here

Day 14 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I couldn't resist the title, "Cool Cow" but I considered naming her "Fannie."  She was staying cool in front of the fan in the barn, a girl after my own heart!

Painted on Pastelbord in Nupastels.  A change from my usual oil pastels, I was doing the underpainting in Nupastel and couldn't bear to apply the alcohol and see her washed away!  I may do some more soft pastels in the future, I just know that it will lead to more art supply purchases!  You never can have too many oil pastels, and my soft pastel supply is limited.  

Stay tuned for more catch up posts...I am finished with Day 16 already and will be finishing Day 17 today (Friday).  Stay tuned!

Bethany

Day 11 - Cow Lick

"Cow Lick"
oil pastel on board
5" x 7"
available here

Day 11 - Another cow!  I think I could go a whole year with cow paintings.  This was painted on gray Pastelbord with no underpainting.

Stay tuned to see what's next!

Bethany

Day 10 - Camille

"Camille"
oil pastel on board
5" x 7"
available here

Day 10, back to more cows!  This little calf was only one day old when we visited Billings Farm last summer in Woodstock, Vermont.

reference photo
Billings Farm, Vermont

It was hard to get a picture inside the barn stall, but I just had to paint this sweet little one.  I named her "Camille," meaning "innocent"in Latin.

Thanks for reading!
Bethany

Day 9 - Sunlit Afternoon II

"Sunlit Afternoon II"
oil pastel on board
8" x 10"
available here

This is the companion piece to Day 8 yesterday, "Sunlit Afternoon".  Both are of an old home in Windsor, Vermont.

reference photo

Tomorrow I think I will stick with Vermont and do another dairy cow.  Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!

Bethany

Day 8 - Sunlit Afternoon

"Sunlit Afternoon"
oil pastel on board
8"x 10"
available here

I took many pictures of the light hitting this old home along Main Street though Windsor, Vermont.  It was across the street from the Constitution House along Route 12.  I started another piece tonight of the same house from a different angle, and will finish it on Day 9!

reference photo
Windsor, VT

I tried out Golden's Pastel Ground on some gold metallic rice paper matboard.  The metallic quality of the matboard was lost under the ground, but I liked the texture overall.  

Stay tuned for this piece's companion tomorrow!  Thanks for reading,

Bethany