No Jack - Demo

18x33 pastel on wallis paper

I started with this pastel painting and at this point decided I could benefit by doing a study piece to help me decide on final color.


5x7 on board, gridded and sketched. The board I picked up happened to be this ochrey tone. Probably beneficial - lending the whole image to be a little warmer than the pastel painting above.

This time I decided to paint the image before applying paper. I used acrylics because they dry fast. My reference for this image was from two different photos. The girl is my grandmother and her dog Jack - this was one photo. The house was a picture of her house growing up in Massena, NY.


Some paper has been added. I used my larger pastel version as a guide to help me visualize where I wanted the paper. So to a certain extent I'm using each piece to help me with the other.


I have added paint in such a way to work the pieces of paper in with the image already established.

Pastel was then used to carve out the image.
No Jack (study for My House Your Dog)
5x7 mixed media

I was really happy with the colors in this piece, so I decided to go with them to finish my larger pastel.

My House Your Dog
18x33 pastel on wallis paper

Hair Strings - Demo

Hair Strings
4x6 paper and pastel


I started with a sketch on pastel paper using a grid as a guide. Her hair is dark so I wanted a dark piece of paper to establish this. Which in the end I struggled with a little.

An old piece of wallpaper goes across her face. The other pieces are old paintings - two pieces are oil, one is watercolor and the lighter one is oil on a piece of linen.

The purple on her face is an old pastel piece and in the upper left corner is rice paper colored with watercolor. I am satisfied with the layout of the paper, so I decide to go in with the pastels at this time.

There is really is an image missing after this one. I thought I had finished and sprayed the painting with fixative, which darkened the entire image and made it muddy looking. So I guess in my frustration, I neglected to take pictures at this point. My upper most thought was I needed to brighten it up - thus, the final image as you see it below.

Final image

Head Dress Demo

Here I'm plunging into the depths of the unknown.

My attempt here was to join all the color somehow getting the drawing in at the same time. Really confused at this point.


Just when ya think there's no way you can pull this off - whallah! You're done! I'm diggin' her!

But wait... I'm seeing things. Okay, not done yet. Some finishing touches. Just trying to make her NOT look like Ted Danson. There. :)

Flower Tatoo

5x7 mixed media on board
collage, acrylic and pastel

To start, this time, I sketched in the image with acrylic paint.

I laid down all the paper I thought I was going to want. The paper pieces here are old wallpaper (used), pages from an old children's book, and old paintings on paper.

I am using pastel and pencil to carve out the image.

This is a small painting - therefore, so is her face. My pastels would have been way to clunky for the feel I was going for, so I used a graphite pencil to draw her face. I did use a just touch of pastel around some of her facial features.

Pink Under White Shirt - DEMO

6x8 collage and pastel on panel

I wanted to cover the entire panel with paper before adding any paint or pastel. As it ended up, I only used pastel and some charcoal.

I first grid my panel and sketch the image, so that I can find appropriate placement for the pieces of paper.


I then looked through my pile of paper for inspiration and then back at my reference. What struck me was the contrast between her dark hair and white shirt. I decided to use that as my jumping off point.


As I was studying the white shirt, I noticed all the blue in the shadows, so I decided to lay down some blue pieces. In order not to lose the drawing as I worked, I sketched some of the drawing back in on the new pieces as I went.


I then decided to keep with the blue theme for the background, but while searching for blue paper, I found this groovy, cool piece which I thought could be a good color for the face. I even saw a chin line in the paper. (Green piece in center).


Okay, so then I wanted to find a big piece to go in the upper left corner, and also realized there was a lot of blue highlights in her hair. I again sketched the image back in.


Then in my quest (always searching for the perfect piece), I found what I thought to be the perfect piece for her face.


My objective at this point was to get the board covered with paper, which now it is.


Here I have added just a few black accent pieces. Okay. All set. Now to find the drawing again.


Here I have used charcoal to sketch in the drawing. I have also introduced some blue pastel.

More pastel colors are brought in.

The final piece.

Cotton Candy Hair

Cotton Candy Hair - Demo

 The reference for this painting was an old mug shot - an idea I got from Maria Pace-Wynters.

 I always steer towards blue and purple in my paintings, so I threw in red and yellow pieces of paper to see if I could warm up my painting some.

 I tend to leave the face for last, but this time I was brave and worked on that first.

 Here you see purple has managed to sneak in to the dress even though I consciously tried not to allow this to happen. When working from a black and white photo, it is easier for me to make the shadows cool with blues.

I wanted to leave her hair this froth of pink, but I guess it was looking too ridiculous, so I tamed it with some brown. I am very proud of that red color, though.