10/30/2008

Pompeiian Peaches


Go Here to Bid
Pastel on Black Paper, 10" x 10"
Three days ago I went to the Pompeii exhibition at the
National Gallery of Art in DC. It was very impressive.
They had some mesmerizingly beautiful sculptures, and
some wonderful frescoes and small pieces of paintig.

This started out as a set up with a picture of a painting by
Luigi Lucioni (one of my favorite aritsts - fabulous realist
paintings, deceased) behind the peaches. Gradually it
evolved into this picture, which appears to be a rip off from
a Roman fresco, but is merely inspired by one. It was fun
building up the pastel, spraying it, and see what would
happen after that.

Thanks for visiting today.

10/28/2008

Two Shells and Velvet


Pastel and Charcoal on Paper, 14" x 17
I just love these two shells. The colors in them are so different -
one is cold and the other is warm. The nautilus shell is such a
challenge, with its overall gray lustre and cold pink highlight.
While the conch is accented with an almost screaming flamingo
pink. I liked the contrast of these colors with the dark background
and the rich wine-colored velvet - I love those velvet highlights.
This was a fun and difficult picture to paint, but I'm pretty happy
with it over all.