Ringo

Ringo, originally uploaded by debifitz.

pastel on clairefontaine pastelmat
private collection
actual size 16"X20"

www.djfitzgerald.com


A christmas gift commission... safe to post now! I did not get to take these photos.... fortunately the client is a very good photographer. But I still ended up using 2 photos to get what I wanted. The main photo of Ringo's face did not have much chest on it... so I took it from a different photo. The only other thing I did was to leave off his dog tags and just the tip of his tongue was peeking out. This is also one of the first pastels of this sort that I have done on the Clairefontaine Pastelmat. That is, leaving the paper color for the background. I did add some burnt umber and black to give the portrait some depth and to really make Ringo pop out. I am very happy with the way this one came out and so were the clients! Always a good thing!

Garrett & Jacob Pastel #8

Garrett & Jacob Pastel #8, originally uploaded by debifitz.

pastel on clairefontaine pastelmat
private collection
actual size 19"X26"

http://www.djfitzgerald.com


DONE!

Garrett & Jacob Portrait #7

Garrett & Jacob Portrait #7, originally uploaded by debifitz.

pastel on clairefontaine pastelmat
private collection
actual size 19"X26"

http://www.djfitzgerald.com

O.K. I "think" I'm done.. will probably tweak Garrett a little more. I really love the way this one came out! I especially love the grass and wood... it felt a little closer to painting on this surface. Although I do see that I really have to plan what I am going to do... the surface does not take well to erasing... it is possible but you lose the freshness when you do. And I really have to plan on where I am going to put my signature!! I did not think about that until I was about to do it! When working on velour or suede, I would do my signature in a felt tipped art pen... can't do that here! And with this piece I had the fence to deal with. The only place to put it was in the right hand corner and I had a shadow there that I really liked! So I ended up doing it in a lighter colored pastel in the shadow. I think it looks alright... I am having it scanned for the client so she can do christmas cards and some small giclees done for gifts.

Garrett & Jacob Portrait #6

Garrett & Jacob Portrait #6, originally uploaded by debifitz.

pastel on clairefontaine pastelmat
private collection
actual size 19"X26"

http:www.djfitzgerald.com

almost there!

Garrett & Jacob #5

Garrett & Jacob #5, originally uploaded by debifitz.

pastel on clairefontaine pastelmat
private collection
actual size 19"X26"

http:www.djfitzgerald.com

Toes! I love to work on toes! They can be hard, but they almost always come out great! I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I love the way the grass came out around the bottom of the piece. It was really fun pushing the pastel around on this surface! I am going to try to add some close ups of the toes on this blog. If I don't figure it out (!!) I will just put them on the next post!

Yeah!  I did it!

Garrett & Jacob #4

Garrett & Jacob #4, originally uploaded by debifitz.

pastel on clairefontaine pastelmat
private collection
actual size 19"X26"

http://www.djfitzgerald.com

Garrett & Jacob #3

Garrett & Jacob #3, originally uploaded by debifitz.

pastel on clairefontaine pastelmat
private collection
actual size 19"X26"

http:www.djfitzgerald.com

I always try to work on the faces first...  and then I play with them as I finish the rest of the pastel.  So far so good!

Garrett & Jacob #2

Garrett & Jacob #2, originally uploaded by debifitz.

pastel on clairefontaine pastelmat
private collection
actual size 19"X26"

http:www.djfitzgerald.com

New pastel! Garrett & Jacob #1

Garrett & Jacob #1, originally uploaded by debifitz.

pastel on clairefontaine pastelmat
private collection
actual size 19"X26"

http:www.djfitzgerald.com

New commission! Two very cute little boys! I did their mother's portrait when she was a teen with a couple of her horses. I love doing the next generations... although if I think about it too much it makes me feel a little "dated"!!

This portrait is being acomplished with lots of photos... Jacob (the youngest) was a typical 3 year old and definitely not into the a photo session. So we had to work around what he wanted to do... and climbing on the fence was not one of them!! Got about 2 shots of him on the fence but not one smile! But I got this really great shot of Garrett and I love the light and the background. Luckily I found another shot of Jacob's face that had the same lighting and angle so I could make it work. So far I love the way the background has come along... I especially love the grasses in the lower left corner... it felt more like painting! This is also the first time I have used this paper (Clairefontaine pastelmat) for a classic portrait and with out dry mounting. I am doing this by taping the paper all the way around with painters tape. Not crazy about the way the middle wants to puff up. Not quite sure how to remedy this. Right now I just use my left hand to push down the paper so I can work on the firm surface.