One Nation Under God! Original Pastel

Karin Jurick gave us another challenge on Different Strokes from Different Folks - the Capitol of the United States. Another complicated and detailed subject matter that is kind of out of my comfort zone. I knew if I was going to participate in this I had to simplify it so as not to drive myself crazy with all the details - so the stars and stripes aren't perfect - the building may even be leaning a little, it may not have all the windows and doors in the right place - but I like it. As I was looking at the reference picture this image came into my mind. This has taken about 3 hours to do - it's very sketchy compared to what I normally do but that is intentional.

One Nation Under God!
10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.4cm)
Pastel on Velour Board
$100 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

I've entitled this "One Nation Under God!" I started to write a long post about the direction our country is going and the reason for the troubles we are seeing but it basically comes down to this:

Our nation, the United States of America, was founded by people who believed in God. "In God We Trust" they said. I believed God has blessed this nation for believing in Him and we need to get back to the basics - "One Nation Under God!" It sure would solve a lot of the problems we have today.

Moo Cows! - An Original Pastel and a Graphite

Moo!
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
Pastel on Velour
$150 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Another challenge from Karin Jurick on her Different Strokes from Different Folks. I enjoy these challenges, however I didn't participate in the last one. I couldn't make myself do the Wall Street scene for some reason. Too stressful I think - thinking about all that is happening these days. This cow was much more relaxing to do - an escape if you will.

I've only done one other bovine, a longhorn in graphite. It is one of my early pieces in graphite. If you look closely somewhere on the steer there is the state of Texas, with Austin and some of the major highways.

Lone Star Pride
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 28.0cm)
Graphite on Fine Art Paper
$150 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Maybe I'll try the longhorn in pastel at some point - it would lend itself to pastels very nicely.

A West Yellowstone Grizzly Bear - Original Pastel

In June I went to West Yellowstone for an art workshop and at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center there is a pair of sibling grizzly bears living together there. It's unfortunate they have to live in confinement but it is actually a pretty nice place and given the alternative they have it pretty good.

I was able to take quite a few pictures of both of them. They were usually wrestling and playing bear games but I had a couple of shots of this one bear looking directly at me. It wasn't really threatening - just made me aware that he was aware that he knew I was there looking at him. I went there several days, one day it was even snowing. Each day though the bear would look directly at me.

The Stare
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
Pastel on Velour
$100 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

My Preference - What's Yours?

I know most of you probably visit as many blogs as I do - or more - and have your favorites as far as content and the way they are displayed. I know I do.

For those of you who have your blog settings set when someone makes a comment a popup window appears - thank you very much! I love this feature. I love it so much because I can still see the posting, piece of art, make sure I'm commenting correctly on what was posted. I like to look at the painting/drawing while I'm commenting. I like the easy access to the posting. In my opinion it is just so much nicer - easier - more user friendly.

Maybe y'all are more efficient when using the other format - where the comment form takes up the entire screen - than I am. I, however, invariably have to go back and take another look at the art or re-read a certain sentence in the post or something - it's just not as user friendly in my opinion. Maybe the popup blocker is the reason the full screen format is used but I'd so much rather turn the "popups okay" button on than have to go back and forth when making my comments. I'm so bad about it I sometimes opt out of making a comment rather than going back and forth which isn't good.

So I was just wondering if you have the same preference or is this something that I'm being a bit picky about? And, out of curiosity, if you use the full screen comment window - why? I'm relatively new to blogging so I don't want to miss something I should be doing for a reason I am unaware of.

Treasures in the Water - Original Pastel

Today Susan Carlin painted from a Wet Canvas photo reference on Ustream and several of us who watched decided to paint our version too. You can see mine as well as the others on Susan's blog soon - be sure to check them out.

I had a lot of fun painting this pastel with all the colors of the sea. I hope you enjoy it too.

Treasures in the Water
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
Pastel on Velour
$150 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Cloud Gate in Millennium Park Chicago - Original Pastel

Well Karin Jurick has done it again with a challenge for all of us artist! When I first saw "The Bean" after Karin posted the reference picture, I just stared at it wondering what in the world had landed but soon became intrigued. I haven't been to Chicago's Millennium Park to see "Cloud Gate" created by British artist Anish Kapoor in person, but from the photos it looks spectacular! There should be some interesting takes on this week's challenge - be sure to take a look.

Cloud Gate in Millennium Park Chicago
7" x 5" (17.8cm x 12.7cm)
Pastel on Velour
$100 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art