Sunnier days and better news on the virus front have conspired to make me more interested in painting beach scenes again. I’ve taken some of my favourite little ‘beach bits’ kids and made them bigger (about 20 x 20) for more impact. On this one, I experimented with a fluid acrylic underpainting, splashing drops of clear water on a graded colour base to form fun ‘sea-urchin-like’ shapes. In fact, once I completed the boy, foam, and sparkles in pastel, I decided to call it Sea Urchin for the underwater shapes and the boy. It’s a nice bright piece that has me anticipating summer days at the beach!
Sun Dried
I haven’t used soft pastels in quite awhile, having concentrated on building my skills in oil, but there’s a call for entries for a new Pastel Artists Canada show coming up at the Federation Gallery on Granville Island (Vancouver) in the spring, so I thought I’d get back in the saddle with this nude. The background texture is rice paper, applied after the main figure was nearly complete. The texture isn’t quite as evident in the ‘in the flesh’ painting as it is in the photo, but it adds a nice textural element and something a little different. Creating the illusion of sun shining through the towel was my favourite challenge, along with the tattoo on the model’s back.
Sun Dried, pastel on textured paper, 27 x 22
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
About this time of year, I get a longing for the crisp, clear, snowy days of my Ontario home. This painting started as a demo for a student, showing how to use different temperatures of white (bluish=cool, yellowish=warm) but it made me nostalgic for our country home near St. Marys, Ontario. Not that I miss the treacherous drives and shoveling…
It Crossed My Mind oil on deep canvas 20x20 $600
Reworking Waves
In a post-Art-Crawl sort out, I tagged a number of older works for a refresh/rework, including several wave paintings that just didn’t seem to quite make the grade. I had experimented with using a very dark, opaque, solid background behind a wave on a painting that sold on the Crawl, so I thought I’d use the same approach on these…see what you think! Can you tell what I kept and what I changed?
This is the former image—’V-Curl’
Which became this image, Flippant, 14.5x20.5 pastel on paper, framed, museum glass $600
‘Silver Lining’ became…
Fluid Arch 14x20.5 pastel on paper, framed, museum glass $600
Thanks for a great Crawl!
I was surprised—but delighted—to see so many keen art-lovers out this past weekend! Everyone was thoughtful and mindful of the health restrictions, and very kind in their positive feedback on my work. Thanks very much to all who came out!
The cityscapes proved especially popular, so I’ve created a new section in the Works section devoted to them—stay tuned for new additions to this collection over the winter.
I hope the new art you purchased during the Art Crawl provides comfort and joy as we stay close in the coming days.
Urban Canyon Collection A & M Celenza