New Artwork!

I have a few new pieces to share with you today.  :)

The first is a portrait that I was asked to do as a Father's Day gift.  This lucky dad's daughter contacted me to see if I could do a portrait of her dad's 15 year old English Springer Spaniel.  Of course, I said I'd love to!

Here's the result...

I sure hope they like it!

Since I've had a few people as me about my methods with soft pastels, I thought I'd share "The Evolution of a Portrait."  I work by a somewhat unconventional method.  Since I'm left-handed, I sketch the basic design, and then I start in the upper right corner and work my way down and across towards the bottom left corner.  This helps me not to smudge the work that I've already done.  

(Forgive the photos... They are iPhone photos.)

I've read of some other people working with pastels like this, but most teachers I've had encouraged me to work in all-over layers.  (In other words, lay out all the dark areas and work from dark to light.)  I say whatever floats your boat... :)

In other news, I also a couple acrylic paintings that are new in my shop.  They have only been there about a week, and they would be perfect for the horse lover in your life!  For now, they're just hanging out waiting on a new home.  Check them out.

Hope everyone's week is off to a great start!