Author: virginiacmccoy

Not everyone will get this, but some of you should.  If you know who it is, please comment with her first name.

This is pastel pencils and hard pastels on ingres paper.  I am really enjoying this one.  I have to make myself get up and leave the drawing board.  LOL!  I have not done her hair.  Mr. Beloved said that his first thought was that it was Mother Theresa with her veil.  The hair will go on last, because it will go over the clothing.

Finished.  I used so many different colors for that cat!  LOL!  Mostly purples, grays, and blues.  I like it.  I’m glad I did it.  I’m glad I’m finished.  I just noticed that I forgot to sign it.  I will sign it later.  I am not going to scan it, again.  If anyone wants a print, I will have it scanned at the print shop and I will have signed it by then.  🙂

I have been fascinated by the artist Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun for the last couple of weeks and I adore her paintings.

She was court painter for Marie Antoinette until the French Revolution at which time she escaped France and Marie met her terrible fate at the guillotine.  I just listened to a fascinating podcast at ArtcuriousPodcast.com about her and also a podcast about LeBrun and another woman artist of the same time and place, Adelaide Labille-Guiard.  Fascinating women!

Le Brun’s memoirs are available online.  I have not read them, yet, but I am looking forward to it.  Especially if I can find them in audio.  It would be neat to listen to them while working on my own art.

Here are some of works for you to enjoy.  You can find them easily online.

Beautiful stuff, eh?

This one is going to take a few days, because I am trying to be patient.  LOL!  I am working on paper I don’t particularly like, but I have to use it up, because I bought a pad of it.  I am using pastel pencils with dabs of pastel sticks: no soft pastels, this time.  I was intending to go for as realistic as I could, but that is quite stressful, so I am trying to be loose.  This was another eye-catching photo.  I hope I end up doing it justice.  There are things in the second picture that I need to fix.  You know, I can work on something for hourse, but I can’t really see it until I stop, walk away, and check back later.  It is especially easy to see the wonkies if you take a picture of it.  So, this is what I am working on right now.  I can’t wait until it is finished!

 

This is pastels on 12×16 toned pastel paper.

There are days when I can’t seem to art to save my life!  This was one of those days.  Actually, it was yesterday.  I found a nifty photo of a garter snake, but I just couldn’t seem to get it out of my fingers onto the paper.  I hate when that happens, and, before, I would have sunk deep down into a funk and had a very hard time coming back up and carrying on with my art.  But, I am trying to remember that I have done some good art and that I will probably do more good art, if I just keep going.  Everyone has duds, even the great artists.  At least that’s what I hear.  I don’t know for sure…  LOL!  But, that is the story and I am going to believe it.  Well, here is one of my many duds and I also have heard that we are to learn from our duds.  May I learn, learn, and learn some more.

I am very happy with this picture.  I started it while aiming for a very realistic drawing, but then as I finished the background and started in on the bird, I started having fun and loosened up and am glad I did.  It is pastels on a very dark charcoal grey toned 12×16 pastel paper.  The scan is bad, but I love the picture.  🙂

I was inspired by Jane ( www.paintingwithjane.com ) to do a still life.  She made her beautiful painting with acrylics.  I was going to do the same, but, of course, once I get into the studio, my mind goes and I don’t know what I am going to do until it is over.  LOL!  So, I did a still life, from imagination, with pastels on 12×16 white pastel paper.  I do not like using white paper for anything, but I get my pastel paper in pads that come with a variety of colors, including white, so I have to use it at some time…  I scanned it in and had to “sew” it together in PaintShopPro and, for some reason, this time I could not get rid of the seam.  I played around with it and I really like the digital version.  You can decide which one you like better.  Neither one looks exactly like the original, but all three are very nice, I think.  I like it, anyway.

Well, I make plans for what artwork to do next and then things happen.  I just decided to do this picture on the spur of the moment and in 30 minutes I was done and didn’t know what hit me!  LOL!  I love it!  My beloved loves it!  I have been scared to do a boat on water scene…  I don’t know why.  This is pastels on 12×16 blue toned pastel paper.

I found this photo of a kitten and thought I would do it in pastel, but I changed my mind.  I decided to experiment with charcoal, because I was thinking of doing a charcoal portrait of someone and didn’t want to ruin the portrait.  I have the hardest time doing a portrait over if it doesn’t work out the first time.  Actually, I DON”T do a portrait over.  I have one chance to get it at least acceptable.  LOL!  So, I started with charcoal and when it came to the white charcoal, I found that all I had left was a little stub of white charcoal.  I could have sworn I had a couple of extras, but I could not find any!  So, I used a little bit of white pastel.  It showed up whiter, anyway.  As I went along, I thought I would use just a little off-white pastel and the next thing you know pastel dust is flying all around me!  I really, really do not like charcoal, except for the white.  But, anyway, I like how the kitty turned out.