New Digital Caricature Painting: Robert Mueller

Hi again,

It's hard to believe another year is almost over!  I hope 2017 was good for you and 2018 will bring all the best!

I have a bunch of new work to share and am finally getting around to posting some.

I'll start with my newest in today's entry — just finalized yesterday.

As I've shared here in the past I've read several books on surrealist Salvador Dali — and love the work he created later in his life — and true to my nature it's not the work he is best remembered for.

Anyway, he said his ideas sprang from his subconscious that he trusted to help shape his art — and that really struck a chord with me — and has resonated more and more in the images I create.

My new caricature is not surrealistic of course — but the friendship bracelets, string around his finger, and flames were all ideas that just came to me — and when I incorporated them — they felt right and added layers of meaning this caricature wouldn't have had otherwise.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions about them — although some will be more obvious than others.

Enough "talk" — let's get to the pic:

Robert Mueller Caricature- Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

As noted above — I have a bunch of new graphite sketches to post — so look for those soon.

: )

Hope your holidays find you surrounded with those you love.  Merry Christmas!

Thanks as always for stopping by!

See you again soon!

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See other Jephyr! digital paintings—as well as links to other artwork at jephyr.com.

New Pastel Pencil Work

Hi!

I've been doing a lot of digital painting and a lot of sketching — but was wanting to expand my "real world" efforts and get back to working with pastels.

But the pastel STICKS I have are more suited to working in larger formats and they can be messy and get dust every where — so they are are not as practical to take to a restaurant or coffee house to work with.

A while back I came across a video of a guy in England working with pastels pencils and as I shared a few posts ago — I ended up purchasing a pastel pencil set and two grey sketchbooks. 

This is the set I got on Amazon: 

Faber-Castel FC112136 PITT Pastel Pencils In A Metal Tin (36 Pack), Assorted

They are hardly dusty at all and I've found them perfectly suited to using out in public.

So — now it's been great to go back and forth between digital and the pastel pencils since then — and being able to work in color in my sketchbooks has been rejuvenating too.

Another great benefit is that a LOT more people have been approaching me when I work with the pastels — I think using color attracts more attention — and I have given out a lot of cards and have been getting a lot more requests for freelance work!

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Anywho, today I decided to share three new pastel pieces — all created while working out in public.

I used photo references — and plan to do more and more of them.

Pretty One - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^   I found a photo of a very beautiful young woman on-line and decided to make a my first pastel portrait in AGES of her — and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly and easily this one came together.

"Pretty One - Two" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ Another photo study from an image I found on-line.

For some reason I struggled over this one a lot more — and it had to do in part with the tilt of her head — but as they say — "practice makes perfect" — so I plan to just keep doing more of these pastel portraits.

 ^ ^ ^ This last one is yet another photo study.

I've been working on a pencil sketch of a skull and ribbon and I picture birds and butterflies filling in the scene — but had never really studied the way a butterfly looked.

I thought the photo of this one was especially nice and really enjoyed creating my study of it.

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Well — that'll do it for today.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my new pastels.

If so — would you please share this link/post with anyone you think might enjoy it.

I'm working hard at improving and it's rewarding when I know people are viewing my efforts.

So thank you very much in advance!

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See you again soon!

New Digital Paintings - Pelosi Caricature & Photo Study

Hi!

Recently, I've been having a good time switching back and forth from "real-world" pastels to digital painting.

I'm nearly finished with a second pastel portrait I've been working on — and will be sharing that along with another recent pastel portrait soon.

But today's post is all about two digital paintings I just completed!

"Who Can Turn The World On With Her Smile" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr! - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ I had a LOT of fun with my caricature of Nancy Pelosi.

Her ever-present, crazy, WIDE stare became my focus — but it was also very enjoyable to caricature her Micheal Jackson-like nose job — bony, granny face — and aging neck.

What is it like to stare out at the world through those eyes?? 

Still I often found myself laughing as I painted this — and definitely want to do a LOT more political caricatures.

Did I mention it's FUN!

: )

PS: The title came from me entertaining myself while I painted her.  I'd sing the Mary Tyler Moore theme — and the incongruousness of that line — with Nancy's exaggerated features always made me laugh out loud.

" Contemplatin' " - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr! - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ The black and white digital painting of the dood above, is a study I did from a prohibition era photo.

The gentleman in the pic must have been some kind of official — and was over-seeing two scrappy men struggling to pour a LARGE and obviously very heavy barrel of alcohol into the street.

I just loved his rumpled, well-worn suit and the way he was standing  — made me wonder what he was thinking:

Was he just doing his job? Did he agree with prohibition? Or — was he standing there thinking, "What a waste...all that BEAUTIFUL alcohol!"

: ) 

Anywho, the photo was colorized but I chose to just go with a black and white interpretation and had a good time painting him.

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BTW — I use an AWESOME Wacom Intuos Tablet Interface and Stylus — along with computer painting software — and hand-painted the images you see above — in a process very similar to using a real world medium like oil paint, pastel or charcoal.

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Well — that'll do it for today.

Thanks as always for stoppin' by!

See you again soon!

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See other Jephyr! digital paintings—as well as links to other artwork at jephyr.com.

Amazing Painting & Discussion About An Artist's Time

Hi!

I saw a very interesting post on Artist James Gurney's blog.

Gurney is famous for his instructional books, illustrations, paintings — and is perhaps best known for being the creator of his Dinotopia series — a world he inhabits with human characters who share their lives with "sentient" dinosaurs.

I own a copy of his book, Color and Light — which is an excellent tutorial book for painting.

If you are an artist or simply enjoy looking at cool artwork — I encourage you to check him out.

On July 4th, 2017, a day when Americans celebrate Independence Day, Gurney posted a blog entry about an awesome Howard Chandler Christy's painting called "Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States."

Howard Chandler Christy - "Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States"

According to Gurney, "Christy researched the subject for five years and spent seven months painting it. He studied portraits of almost all of the people represented [like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin], and he looked for whatever authentic props he could find.

The Smithsonian Institution lent him George Washington's breeches, and The Library of
Congress let him borrow some of Thomas Jefferson's books, which appear next to Franklin’s
chair. The painting hangs in the Capitol building in the east stairway of the House of
Representatives."

gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2017/07/christys-signing-of-constitution.html

Something struck me about Gurney's description of the research and time that Christy devoted to this painting.

Christy spent FIVE years in research — and this likely means doing portrait and studies for each of the individuals in the painting — and studies for the clothing and interior, the furniture, the drapes and flags, the chandelier and so on.

Howard Chandler Christy - "Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States"
Detail Showing George Washington

Having read books on other artists and their work — these studies are usually smaller, and are often pencil or charcoal — but some artists do larger color "roughs" — trying out different poses for their characters, different arrangements, changes in lighting, etc.

I have several books on Salvador Dali, Norman Rockwell and Frank Frazetta —and all of them did an amazing amount of this work — including full color "rough" versions of final paintings — before they'd settle on the right feel and look for them.

Anyway — the reason why the amount of time Christy spent painting that work struck me so deeply is that many artists I know tend to churn out their work — and they boast about how quickly it took them to do a piece.

On the flip side I've had people ask me how much it would cost for commissioned artwork from me.

Especially when their requests involve a extensive detail that I know will be time consuming — some have been surprised about the price I ask.

Hearing the amount of time that Christy put into his painting — I thought about how often artists short-sell their work — either being afraid to be paid fairly for their time — or by compromising with low detail, impressionistic work that requires less effort.

If that is an artist's preference —then I'm not knocking it.

On the other hand — those of us who prefer spending more time on our work shouldn't be afraid to talk about that — and be fairly compensated for our time and efforts as well.

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Alright — I'll step off my soap-box — and get back to my artwork!

Hope you are having a great day — and thanks for stopping by!

BTW — please check back — I've been having a blast with some new work and will be posting some new pastel and digital paintings soon. 

Howard Chandler Christy - "Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States" 
Detail Showing Benjamin Franklin In Center

Character Sketches (And A Few Words On Creativity)

Hi-yo!

: )

Sometimes as an artist we work on the craft of our technique—trying to get values and volume looking right—and understanding anatomy, movement and and design so that what we draw appears natural and convincing.

But there is something equally important: Simply being able to create something unique and interesting from our own imaginations.

Thankfully I'm finding that it can be developed and strengthened just like any other artistic "muscle" we have.

Recently—I've felt like I'm enjoying the "creative" side more than ever—and am feeling like my designs and characters are consistently more satisfactory to me.

If this sounds like me patting my own back—please understand—as much or more than anyone I'm WELL aware of my limitations and realize how much yet I have to learn and how far I need to go to get even close to the artists I admire like Frazetta, Carlos Huante, Dali (during his return to classicism during the 1950's on), Maxfield Parrish, Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Paul Bonner—and MANY,  MANY more!! 

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Anyway—I thought I'd share those thoughts because sometimes people will come up to me while I'm sketching in public and say that they like to draw too—but can't come up with anything from their own imagination.

I've said for a long time—by way of encouragement to them (and maybe as much to myself)—that creativity just needs to be worked on and developed like any skill that we humanoids do—(but sometimes wondered if what I was saying was REALLY true.)

But now after many years of effort—I can say with a LOT more confidence that it is absolutely true—and more than ever I enjoy tapping into my own imagination—and how what comes out satisfies and even surprises me.

: ) 

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Thought I'd share some recent sketchbook pencils today.

"Kip" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^  One afternoon recently I went to a little Mexican restaurant near me and after I ate got out my sketchbook to draw.

There was a family at a table next to me—and although they were engrossed in their own conversations and I don't they weren't paying attention to me—I felt inhibited by sitting so close to them and I wasn't able to come up with anything I liked.

As soon as they cleared out—I erased what I had on the page to that point—and the brute above came pouring out.  : )

"Jeanine's First Kiss" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^  I started this character sketch long ago but stopped working on it as I got busy with other things.

Each time I'd see it in my sketchbook though, I'd think about finishing it and finally got around to it recently.

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Well—that'll do it for this time.

Thanks as always for taking a peek.

See you again soon!

New Painting: The Watchman!

Hi!

I'm VERY happy to be done with—and be able to share—my latest digital painting here.

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(See other Jephyr! digital paintings—as well as links to other artwork at jephyr.com)

"The Watchman" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr! - All Rights Reserved

As I mentioned in other posts—I've rejoined the Concept Art Forum and started a new "sketchbook" there—and it inspired me to go through old an old "works in progress" file on my computer.

I came across a WIP that began as a character sketch I finished WAY back in 2011.  Then in 2012, I took that into my painting software and began working on it there.

I can see from looking through those old files that I would open and do a bit on it from time to time through the years—but always felt like I wasn't making any satisfactory progress...and would quickly move on to other things.

When I opened it recently—I struggled in the beginning a bit again—but then it was like the creative tap was unstopped.

Having been very influenced by surrealism—especially Salvador Dali's later paintings—starting in the 1950's when he returned to classicism—and after reading a number of books about him and his thought process about his work—I've found that it has given me a freedom to create from my subconscious—without worrying to much about the meaning about what I'm doing.

BUT—I can also say that this way of working also leads me to be surprised at my own sense of self-discovery at what comes out during this process.

In the case of this painting—the character as I drew him long ago—looked like an older Japanese man—and so I created an old looking World War II flag of Japan behind him.

At first I thought I was heading in the direction of turning him him into a Japanese soldier—or Kamikaze pilot—and so I made the flag look like it was painted on the side of a ship or plane and then added rivets to complete the look.

As I was close to finishing most of the character—it occurred to me to add some Japanese script to the painting.

But what?

Then the words "Faith, Hope and Love" from 1 Corinthians 13:13 came into my mind—and I found them in Kanji script on-line—and added them across the bottom of the image—creating the symbols using the pen tool.  I LOVED the way this looked.

That lead me to search Bible Gateway for that verse—and found a Japanese Living Bible translation for it.

The end of that verse in Japanese says simply (the English translation)—"The best of them is love," and those words in in the original Living Bible Translation fit PERFECTLY under the the script for "Faith, Hope and Love."

By this time my creative energies were FLOWING—and I decided to add a halo above the character—and then a banner behind the him.

I felt like I was nearing being done—but it was clear the banner looked a bit plain and needed "something."

I began searching for other Japanese words and phrases to put on it—and tried a number of different ones—and ultimately settled on the kanji words for "Watchman" to the left of the character—and the word "Peace" to the right—making the words look like they'd been embossed on a silk-ish ribbon.

In the end—it all felt so "right"—and what was began as a simple cartoony character—now had a deeper meaning to me.

I hope you enjoy this image as well!

Thanks for stopping by—and God Bless you!

Newest Sketches - Character Designs

Hello!

Thought I'd share a new group of pencil sketches from my sketchbook

Theophilous - Copyright - 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ I originally created the good looking dood above one night while drawing with a friend.

I really liked his look and the next day went to put some finishing touches on him and blewy'd my coffee all over the page.

: )

Since I liked his design so much I decided to just re-draw him all clean and purty-like above.

Here's a look at the coffee stained version.  : P

Theophilous (Coffee Blewy) - Copyright - 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

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Until I rejoined the Concept Art Forum I hadn't been doing many figures—just mostly wacky portraits of original characters—and also people and animals.

Someone pointed that out on CA—and so I've gotten to work doing more figures.

Bonesman - Copyright - 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ I drew this long and lean dood one day and as I was finishing him up I added the bone in his hand—and then the words across the top.

This doesn't happen often—but suddenly a back-story filled my mind:  He was an ordinary guy in the post diluvian world.  One day he happened upon some LARGE humanoid bones that he thought either belonged to an alien, demigod or nephilim.

The story will eventually reveal that the bones are indeed from ALL three—but I don't want to give away all those details just yet.

When he picked up a bone he discovered that it was infused with powers that allowed him super-human strength, the ability to fly—and magically to transport himself across vast distances in a moment—among others.

In essence—he becomes a superhero through possessing and handling them.

The bones—which he kept and hid away—also give him long life—and so he found himself outliving many generations until he finds himself in the present day.

(I also like the "Bonesman" connection to the secret society—Skull and Bones—that so many of our politicians and business shakers belong to)

I wanted to post this story here—both to share it—but also remind myself about it so I won't forget my ideas so far.

In addition I want to lay claim to it before anyone else thinks of it—and this serves as my first copyright notice about the "Bonesman" tale.

"Timmy" - Copyright - 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ I finished this big ole brute last year—but don't think I've ever posted this final version—so will with this group of sketches.

His name is "Timmy."  : )

"Giddyup" - Copyright - 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^  The sketch above started out LONG ago too.  I liked the original idea but was unhappy with some of it.

So I decided to re-draw it and just finished the pic above in the last day or so.

Originally it had a "cowboy, bull-rider" type guy on the back—and as I thought about it one day—the image of  a beautiful woman riding it and having the time of her life—popped into my head.

It definitely "lightened" the mood of the pic and I'm pretty happy over-all with the way this one turned out.

"Kharztan" - Copyright - 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^  So in spite of what I said about portraits above—I still love creating them.

I noticed this older one from last fall in my sketchbook recently—and just put some final touches on him so I could share him today.

It just occurred to me too—that he and many other characters I've created could wind up in the Bonesman" story.

"The Meeting" - Copyright - 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ I'm not completely satisfied with the one above—but there are some elements about it I liked—so I'll go ahead and share it.

As I wrote in my last post here—I'm trying to infuse my art with "story"—so that looking at a single image will evoke the viewer to see more than just the picture itself.

If you've seen much of my other work—you'll know I also try to put a bit a humor in many images—and for me this does both.

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Thanks as always for stopping by.

See you again soon.

New Painting: "Enlightenment"

Hi!

On May 1, I created a blog entry here that rejoining Concept Art Sketchbook Forum had led me to go through some of my old "works in progress."

(See my new CA "Sketchbook" here:  http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php/327483-Jephyr-s-New-Sketchbook )

Anywho—I found a WIP sketch that I'd already done some work on—and decided to make that the next project—and hopefully get it finished at long last.

Working on it brought more than a few times of frustration—but thankfully, there were also a LOT of times when I felt Blessed by BIG "a-ha" moments of inspiration too!

I've been wanting to be able to infuse my work with "story"—so that it just isn't an interesting image to look at—but causes a viewer to fill in their own narrative about it too.

Of course—I have my own ideas about that for my image below—that I hope some will be led to see too.

So with all that in mind I'll present my final painting: "Enlightenment."

Digital Painting: "Enlightenment" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

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And here's the original sketch and an early draft

"Enlightenment" - Original Sketch And Early W.I.P. - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

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 Thanks as always for stopping by...and if you're the last one out could you make sure to turn off the lights?

Thanks!

 : )

See you again soon!

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See other Jephyr! digital paintings—as well as links to other artwork at jephyr.com.

New Sketches

Hi!

Looks like re-joining Concept art has been a good thing.

You can see my "Sketchbook" thread here:  http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php/327483-My-Shiney-New-Sketchbook

It's given me a new place to share my efforts — and seeing all the other amazing art there has proven to inspiring to say the least.

Today I'll share some sketches that were posted on CA but haven't posted here yet.

^ ^ ^ This first one is more or less inspired by the amazing late artist Frank Frazetta.

A while ago I used to do a lot of figure / anatomy work...and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that the more time passed the more I was feeling a bit intimidated to try it again.

Someone on CA pointed out that I'd shown several "portraits" but no figures and that was enough of a prod to get me to try it again.

I discovered it's like most things in this life — sometimes we build things up in our minds and when we finally try it we discover it wasn't as difficult as we imagined.

While working on the guy above I did use a number of references to get him laid out correctly — and found myself really enjoying the entire process.

"Happy Girl" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ I used to sketch a bunch of these happy, BIG, dancin' womenz — and as I was trying to get back to creating more figure work this one "popped out" fairly easily.

I finished her body in a single sitting but needed a second go around to get her hair "feeling" right.

"Quack" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ I called this buff rooster type character "Quack" — just because.  (Yeah — I know I have a strange sense of humor sometimes : )

I've been going out again to sketch and worked him one day at a nearby restaurant. 

As I've said before — Sometimes I can go out and sketch for hours and not a soul seems interested.

Some days — I have a steady stream of people who want to see what I'm up to — and want to talk about art — why I do it — if I have any schooling — etc.

On the day I was sketching the "foul" creature above — a woman with a son about my age sat beside me and we talked quite a bit.  Another woman came over to me and was very encouraging and complimentary about what I was doing — and told me all about her daughter — who is also an artist. 

I also noticed my waiter sneaking looks at my work and at one point he apologized for being "nosy" — which I assured him he was NOT!  : )

It was an enjoyable time.

"Far Out Man" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

 OK — what can I say — I still love drawing these wacky cartoon faces. 

I think this one has a kind of whacked-out, paranoid "stoner" vibe — and he was fun to draw.

I do agree with the peeps on CA though — that we can get complacent and draw just what comes easy — and stop challenging ourselves as artists — and these silly character faces I've been doing fall into that category.

So — already I've gotten a good benefit from re-joining CA.

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Any-whoodle — thanks for stopping by!

See you again soon!

God Bless!

Work In Progress

Hi!

So as I mentioned in my last post here I've gotten active on the Concept Art Sketchbook Forum again and created a new thread to share my artwork.

See My Concept Art Sketchbook Here

It's been a good move because it's giving me a new place to share my work and that has inspired me to work a bit harder of late.

I looked through my works in progress (and I have a BUNCH!) and found an old character design concept that I'd been working on for a while and then moved on from.

In the last couple of days I've made some good progress on it and remembered I'd never shared some of the early drafts of it.

With that in mind I'll share the rough initial sketch and then a later version as I was working out some of the shadowing.

Character Design Concepts: Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

I want to keep this mysterious looking and dark and it is proving challenging to paint it and get the effect I want — but I've been plugging away at it and hope to have it completed soon — and when I do I'll share that here too.

Anyway — thanks as always for looking in.

Ciao fer now!

Jephyr

New Digital Painting: Alvin The Barbarian!

Hi!

A few years ago I used to be very active on the Concept Art Forum - mostly in their "Sketchbook" section.

CA allows artists to create an individual "threads" that feature their artwork - and as the name of this section implies - the art that people post are things that they are working on - sketches or paintings in a rough format - although you do see a lot of finished pieces there too.

My old CA Sketchbook had grown to some 12 or 13 pages and over a few years I'd shared maybe 100 images or more of mine - had developed some friendships - and had received a lot of encouraging feedback and advice from other artists.

Then for various reasons I completely stopped posting anything on CA - although I would look in on the forum from time to time.

One day I went looking for my "sketchbook" and when I found it was sad to see that almost all of the images I had shared were no longer there.

At first I figured I that meant I'd just be done with that CA - but about three weeks ago I suddenly decided to create a brand new sketchbook thread, and have posted my artwork several times since then.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php/327483-My-Shiney-New-Sketchbook

The forum used to be very busy but it looks like things have slowed way down and so I've only gotten one reply - but CA's statistics show me that the first image I posted has already been viewed 578 times.

So I'm happy to have another place to share my art and already am finding it inspiring.

With all that in mind I'll share my latest digital painting based on a copyright free photo I'd found of a squirrel and created specifically to share first on CA.

"Alvin The Barbarian" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr! - All Rights Reserved

If you've followed me at all you know I'm very influenced by the late Frank Frazetta - so as I worked on painting somewhat of a straight likeness of the squirrel it slowly morphed into an 'ommage of Frank's style - with a healthy dash of my own tilted sense of humor.

Anyway I'll post the original photo, my digital painting of the squirrel up to the post I got bored and started adding some fantasy elements as well.

Hope you've enjoyed seeing my latest efforts.

: )

A Look At The Original Photo Reference I Used For My New Painting

My Initial Digital Painting Of The Squirrel BEFORE I started Adding Some Fantasy Elements To It

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Thanks as always for stopping by!

See you again soon!

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See other Jephyr! digital paintings—as well as links to other artwork at jephyr.com.

Tiger: Digital Painting And Time-Lapse Video

Hi,

After creating several "real world" pastels recently — I had an itch to do a digital painting.

I'd kept a very cool photo I'd found of a tiger in my "image bank" and decided to make that my next piece.

I knew up front that painting all that fur and his stripes would make an interesting challenge — and as I got into it — that definitely proved to be the case.

But — after all the recent drawing and pastels — I found myself really going quickly —which is something I've been working on (getting faster that is).

I'll attach the a look at the finished painting and embed a time-lapse video of the painting process below.

 Thanks as always for stopping by!

Tiger - Copyright - 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

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See other Jephyr! digital paintings—as well as links to other artwork at jephyr.com.

New Pastel Pencil Drawing Of A Vulture

Hi!

As I've said many times before I love sketching birds—and for some reason am "drawn" to the odd, (perhaps) uglier ones—although I think this actually makes them beautiful in their own way.

I found an awesome looking BLUE vulture photo on Pixabay — a site that posts images under a creative commons license which allow the free use of them.

It's a good place to find images for artistic reference and I've collected a couple of folders on my computer of images from Pixabay and Pexels—another "cc" image site.

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In my last couple of posts—I mentioned that I bought some pastels pencils and a couple of different sketchbooks with grey paper and have been having a good time learning how best to use those new tools.

Faber-Castel FC112136 PITT Pastel Pencils In A Metal Tin (36 Pack), Assorted

I've found it rejuvenating at a time when I was feeling a little stagnate—just using white paper and graphite pencils for sketching—as I've been doing for many, many years now.

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Even though it's a bit expensive these days—I frequently go out to various restaurants and coffee houses and work there.

The upside is that it attracts some attention from those around me and I get to talk with a lot of interesting people.

I get so many encouraging comments as well—especially lately for the pastel color-work I'm doing—and that's a big plus too.

: )

Anywho—I thought I'd share another pastel I finished yesterday—and a related pencil sketch from a while back.

"Polly" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ ^  I'm not sure what kind of vulture this guy is—but he was blue in the photo reference I used too.

I love how it looks like he's wearing some kind of feather coat or something (and looks completely focused on finding his next meal).

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Funny story about the pastel above:  Today I was working on another new pastel at a Chinese restaurant—and apparently my waitress told the other staff there that I was an artist—and soon I had a steady stream of people who worked there coming over to see what I was up to.

I was showing one young server—who spoke very broken English—some of my other pastels—and when I got to the one above—she reached out her hand a rubbed her fingers across it before I could stop her.

I was a bit horrified—until I saw she didn't damage it—but I'll need to tell people in the future—up front—not to touch the pastels!  

: )

Pencil Sketch: Wack-A-Doodle-Do — Copyright 2017 — Jephyr — All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ ^   One night last December I was sketching with Valen and came up with this wacky guy—began as a scribble sketch.

I showed it to Valen and he and I both agreed it was a little more over the top than most of what I do.

When I finished the vulture pastel above—I remembered this sketch—and since he's "vulture-like"—I decided to post them together.

Looking at him today I think I might want to do a color version with the pastel pencils—but time will tell if I get to that.

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Well—that's it for today.

As always—I appreciate you stopping by.

Hope to see you again soon.

New Pastels And Sketch

Hello!

As I wrote in my February 3, 2017 blog post I purchased a tin of 36 Faber-Castel Pastel Pencils (see photo and link at bottom).

After a few weeks of using them I can say I'm really happy to have them and am learning more about how to use them every time I pick them up

Today I'm going to post three recent drawings from my sketchbooks using them—and one related pencil sketch.

"Purr-T" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ ^  I'll start with this elegant beast (one of my favorite animals).

I found the photo I used for reference on Pexels—a Royalty Free Photo site—and printed it out so I could make a pastel study of it.

As I mentioned in my last post I purchased 2 sketchbooks with grey paper—and used the larger one for this image (9 x 14").

"Wuff" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ ^  This one was the second drawing I'd done with my new pastel pencils and grey paper.

I found the photo I used for reference on Pixabay—another Royalty Free Photo site—and I also did this in the larger 9 x 14" sketchbook.

"Pretty Bird" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ ^  Just finished this one yesterday—and call it "Pretty Bird."  : )

If you've seen my other posts—by now you know I love birds—and am oddly drawn to the stranger looking ones.

Not to say I don't love the beautiful ones—but there is something so cool about the "ugly ducklings."

This drawing was done in the smaller sketchbook (8 x 10")—and the paper has a little more "tooth" which I'm liking. 

http://www.nitramcharcoal.com/blog/understanding-paper-tooth-what-to-look-for-in-an-artist-charcoal-paper

"Pretty Bird - Pencil Study" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ ^ I did this pencil study of the same good lookin' boid from above in my regular, plain old white paper sketchbook.

Although I took some liberties with the look in this rendering—making it a little more cartoony and caricaturized—it did make good practice for the color version.

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Well—that's it for today.

Thanks for stopping by!

God Bless!!

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Faber-Castel FC112136 PITT Pastel Pencils In A Metal Tin (36 Pack), Assorted

 

Sketchbook - Eagle Pastel By Jephyr

Hi!

Recently I picked up two sketchbooks with Grey Paper—rather than the plain white paper sketchbooks I normally use for sketching.

I also bought a Faber-Castel pastel pencil set and have been working with both the new sketchbooks and those pencils.

Faber-Castel FC112136 PITT Pastel Pencils In A Metal Tin (36 Pack), Assorted

Thought I'd share one of those recent images—a photo study of an Eagle that I started yesterday and finished today.

Although I've used pastel sticks before—the pastel pencils have proved to be a bit more challenging to use.  In fact, I used some of my regular pastel sticks to finish this piece off—in part because I was finding it very difficult to get the whites "bright" enough.

Eagle - Sketchbook Pastel - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr!

Thanks as always for stopping by!

God Bless!