Cat On Barn Window

This is a pastel done on sanded paper. I love working with the color, oils have always been my first love but the more I learn and work with pastels its becoming a tie as to which I enjoy more.
I may do one of my Christmas cards in pastel this year, I have some blue paper and have tried a few ideas out.

Excuses Excuses

It has been unusually hot here the last few days. Not the type of weather you want to stay inside and paint in. Guess I could try my hand at plein air painting, or at least sketch outdoors a little. The cats are lying in front of garage door, SPLAT, they don't have the energy to move.

I have been working on my blog, learning how to add an image to my banner and "jazz" it up a bit. Looked into switching over to Typepad since I have seen so many bloggers with professional looking sites using that company. But on the other hand there are also just as many blogs in Blogger that are just as well formatted with interesting banners and graphics. So my education has begun. I'm sure there will be more changes coming, a little knowledge is a scary thing.

Twist Tied

This title may change, I could not come up with anything creative last night when I finally got to the point of putting this print onto Etsy. However, this morning I see a note on my drawing table with a possible title from my husband. I will give it some time today and see which way to go.

I did want to mention that the color of the sanded paper I used on this piece was peach. I work with pastel pencils and hard pastel sticks to sketch out my image and to achieve detail, along with soft pastels for color. My pastel pencils are Derwent and the hard sticks are Faber Castell but on the soft pastels I have several different brands. When I go to the store to pick up some new supplies I just love to look at all the pastel sticks out for display, so many colors and I am still experimenting learning what works for me. This could get a little expensive.

From NPR, May 2, 2008 Storycorps. This was the last line from the interview with Lyle Link.
"Live with courage"

Cat on Pink Blanket

Today was spent on this image, working in Photoshop getting it ready to produce a print. I have not even named it yet, hopefully something a little better than Cat on Pink Blanket. I have a soft spot for Calico's. The original is a pastel on Sennelier La Carte sanded paper.

Since Saturday was devoted to yard work, today I indulged myself. This morning I worked on an oil painting and this afternoon the above image. By mid week I should have the print ready for Etsy.

For now I am going to continue my indulgent Sunday and go watch Monk on TV.

Archival Prints

I am adding archival prints to my Etsy shop. They will be printed on Velvet fine art paper which is producing a rich colorful print. I love the texture of this paper. For now there will be two sizes, first the larger, on a 8 1/2" x 11" sheet with an image of 7 1/2" x 10"and the smaller mini print 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" with an image of 4 1/2" x 3 1/4". As I add the images to my Etsy store I will post them to my blog.

Mug Shot

While I don’t have a Pug myself, my niece has three perfect models to chose from. I would like to start adding some different breeds to my yearly Christmas cards besides my traditional Corgi.

Thought that a Pug card might be fun. As usual, I have way too many ideas some sketched out and some just in the thought process were you think that you will remember them. For me it is best to sketch it out, no matter how rough just to have a record of an idea. A month down the road having that sketch will come in handy. I have a bunch of small 5" x 7" sketch books, that I use around the house, one on my drawing table, and one in my work tote bag. I constantly refer to them.

Mug Shot is a pastel painting done on Sennelier La carte sanded paper, and came from a sketch I did of him a while ago napping on a comforter. I loved the pose with the paw behind his head. Here's how we use Mug Shot in our 100 year archival Giclee prints.

My eBay store has prints & greeting cards of this image & others.
My Cafepress store has more samples on my 2nd new website.

My Etsy Store has more samples on my 3rd new website.

Sleeping Beauty aka 'Reclining Dude'

Ember has lived with us for at least 10 years. He is a fairly good sized Tabby male with a large flat head and sweet face. He has one of the most patient dispositions I have ever had in a furry friend. He first started coming around when we had two (fixed) Calico females, 'Roos' & 'Chloe'.

Ember loves the women folk, but unfortunately the only female in his life right now is Lily, our Corgi, but that does not deter him. He is also extremely cool, something I think he prides himself in. His fur is so complicated with the various shades of grey, tan, brown and flecks of gold that it can be intimidating to try and paint him.

What I love about Ember is the way he dominates his space. When he is in a chair he occupies the whole pad, with a little overhang at both ends. When sleeping on the bed or the couch he seems to really enjoy stretching out - I guess you could say he's extremely comfortable in his skin.

The original pastel of Ember - Sleeping Beauty aka 'Reclining Dude' - was a pastel on Sennielier La Carte sanded paper and came from a sketch I did of him a while ago napping on a comforter. I loved the pose with the paw behind his head. Here's how we use Sleeping Beauty in our 100 year archival Giclee prints.

My eBay store has prints & greeting cards of this image & others.
My Cafepress store has more samples on my 2nd new website.

My Etsy Store has more samples on my 3rd new website.