Pastel WIP of Billy Bob Gone Bad

Well I may have to start completely over!

It all started this evening when I started to work on Billy Bob's chest and neck. I couldn't fine the pastel I had used on the shadow part of his face and eventually I had too much pastel on the paper to make much difference what I did. It really looked bad. So I thought I could salvage it by going over some of his chest and making it background and cropping the entire painting really close.

I thought it was going to work. I laid it in the scanner and those two marks showed up. I think they are water marks. I had washed my hands before placing the painting in the scanner and when it popped up on my screen I couldn't believe it! It may be ruined I'm not sure. I'm leaving it alone tonight and if it is water maybe it won't be there in the morning. If it is there, I may see if I can add something abstract to it to "cover" it up. There still is a bit to do on Billy Bob but I will wait until I see what this looks like in the morning.

The big disappointment for me was when I couldn't get the color on his chest right. Taking it out and cropping the painting so close has change the dramatic effect it had before. The power that Billy Bob was exhibiting is gone!

I'm very disappointed!

Pastel WIP of Billy Bob - Original Pastel

I've worked a little bit more on this - put in a bit of background that I think might work and I'm still working on Billy Bob's face. His mane was really out of control when I took the reference picture and I'm going to try to keep it like that but it does look a little strange in front.

Billy Bob is an Appaloosa. When he was young he was a coppery colored bay with some white splashed on either side of his hips and that was it for white. For a while it was really noticeable how white he was getting when he would shed his winter coat. Now it's not so noticeable because he is more white than that copper color but I'm sure this spring he will have even more white hair. I think he is trying to keep up with me ;-)

I won't be able to work on this any more until the weekend - I have to work all day tomorrow and staff a council meeting tomorrow evening. It will be a long day in many ways. It's hard to start a painting like this and then put it down to do things like sleep, work a regular job, etc. I envy you full-time artists out there!

New Pastel WIP of Billy Bob - Original Pastel

It's been a while since I've done a WIP (work in progress). I think that is always a little intimidating because you really want it to turn out good if you are going to post it in stages and there are some really ugly stages in pastels. At any rate I decided to share it with you - ugly and all.

This pastel I'm working on is of my horse Billy Bob. He will be 21 in April. The photo that I'm using as a reference was taken last year. On this particular day he was acting really studly (he's a gelding), arching his neck, bucking, running, blowing wind through his nose and in general putting on a great show for me.

I've had Billy Bob since he was four, he is trained as a reining horse and one of the true loves of my life.

I started with the eye. I always start with the eyes otherwise it creeps me out. I'm kind working around his face in no really particular order. I hope to do some more work on this tomorrow evening and then over the weekend. I haven't really decided on a background yet. I need to decide rather quickly though because it is a good idea to get that in before going too far - so I will be thinking about that tonight and tomorrow before starting again on it.

Running in the Wind - Original Pastel

Running in the Wind
8" x 9" (20.4cm x 22.9cm)
Pastel on Velour
$80 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

This is another DSFDF challenge. I had trouble deciding how to crop the reference photo Karin provided. I really didn't want to do the entire photo. I loved the turret roof but felt like it needed something else - hence the weather vane.

I don't think this is one of my better postings for the challenge - kind of blah to me - nothing special. It's funny how some paintings can get you really excited about painting and others - well they don't. That is nothing against Karin's choice because there are some pretty good renditions of the photo already on her blog. Maybe my reaction to my painting is exactly what she was referring in her "pep talk." I hope so because I really wasn't going to post this.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art and don't forget to check out my new Etsy Shop!

Who's There? - Original Pastel

Who's There?
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
Pastel on Velour
$80 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

This red hen made me laugh. She looks like she is just a little bit startled and asks the question "Who's there?"

I had this scrap piece of 5"x7" velour and decided to paint this hen. It wasn't until I had her outlined and started putting in part of the dark on the background that I noticed the surface on the right side looked a little worse for the wear. I decided though to use it to my advantage. I don't know if the paper had gotten move around and scraped up or if my pinkie ring made marks on it while I working on it (which happens sometimes) but this looked worse than normal and I was having trouble covering up the marks. I really liked how the hen looked so far and really didn't want to toss it out - so I decided to make weeds and grasses. They aren't in your face but you can tell they are there and add a bit of texture to the painting I think - in more ways than one ;-) This is one of those happy accidents I think - it doesn't look too bad.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art and don't forget to check out my new Etsy Shop!

I'm Featured in Lesley Harrison's Blog!

I love Lesley Harrison's art work! I'm sure you are familiar with her pastels. She paints the most beautiful horses and wolves you have ever seen! Then there are the dogs and cats - and oh, I can't forget the birds and wild animals and did I say wolves? Well she is just fantastic.

She has been a huge inspiration to me and part of the reason I decided to try pastels. I keep her book, Painting Animals that Touch the Heart , close at hand so that when I run into problems or need inspiration it is all there at my fingertips. One of these days I hope to be able to take a workshop with her - WOW - what a dream that would be!

Anyway, I've been following her blog and recently she has started featuring a guest artist. Guess what? She has featured ME this week! I'm so proud. Thank you Lesley! It is really an honor to be recognized by you on your blog - I truly appreciate it!

Please take a few minutes to check out Lesley's website and her blog - you will thoroughly enjoy them both.

Larger View of the Jefferson Memorial Pastel

Sorry to post this pastel of the Jefferson Memorial again but I'm trying to see if this will work to give you the option of clicking on the pastel to see it up close.

For some reason when I insert it in the middle of my post and center it the click option is disabled. I went back through my blog to see when it worked it was either centered at the beginning of the post or at the top side of the post.

I hope it works!

Jefferson Memorial - Original Pastel

I'm rather pleased with the way this has turned out. It is another challenge from Karin Jurick from Different Strokes From Different Folks. It is the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC set in the beautiful night sky.

When I saw the photo Karin posted for the challenge I knew exactly what I was going to do. A few nights ago when I went out to put a blanket on my horse I looked up and there was a silvery ring, much like this one, around the moon. It was beautiful. I stood out there for quite a while just looking at it and enjoying the sight. It was very pretty. I've seen rings around the moon before but they always make me stop and take a second look.

Jefferson Memorial
6" x 12" (15.3cm x 30.5cm)
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

Indian Blanket Sky - Original Pastel

Here in Texas we don't have real seasonal changes - you know a definite fall, winter, spring and summer. I mean we can have them all within a 24 hour period, like we have lately, but unlike some parts of the country we just don't have the fabulous fall colors year after year.

We can have some beautiful springs with all the wildflowers but a year with good fall color is iffy. There is one thing that we have though that is absolutely beautiful and that is the most gorgeous sunsets and sunrises and those are year around.

This was a sunrise that I caught one morning as I was pulling out of my drive way to go to work. It reminded me of an Indian blanket with all the colors, purple, orange, yellow, red running across the sky. It was breathtaking!

Indian Blanket Sky
7" x 5" (17.8cm x 12.7cm)
Pastel on Velour
$75 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

Delicious! - Apples in Pastel

It seems like it has been a while since I actually sat down and painted. I guess with the holidays and all it has been a while. I always am a little intimidated to start a new painting when there has been a long break so I thought I'd do something similar to what I've done before and that is relatively easy - apples.

The reference photo had some nice shadows and lights and gave me a challenge with those lost and found edges. I'm working on those this year.

Delicious!
7" x 5" (17.8cm x 12.7cm)
Pastel on Velour
$75 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

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged. Actually twice. The first time by Barb Pask and just recently by Toni Kelly. I've been so busy I haven't had time to respond to the first tag so I will do them both at once.

Here are a few things about me:

1. When I was three I lived in Scotland. The things I remember are a red snowsuit I had, huge snowflakes as big as my hand, and tall, tall windows in the musty smelling house we lived in. That was the first time I had seen wallpaper on walls. I remember too the beautiful colorful flowers in the gardens.
2. When I was eight I lived in the Philippines on Clark Air Force Base. I have more memories of that experience. One was when we went to a monastery where the monks made silver jewelry. He wanted to take me down these narrow stairs to see an angle - I was scared to death! As it turned out at the end of the stairs was a mirror and looking back at me was my reflection. By the time I got there though I was crying not sure what was going to happen.
3. When I was 13 I lived in Hawaii. I was teased badly by some local girls at my school because of my Texas accent. After that I practiced hard to get rid of it. When we came home and I went over to my girlfriend's house next door I ended up rolling on the floor laughing at her accent - which was just like mine was - I just hadn't heard it in a couple of years. Sadly I don't have much of an accent any more - just when I'm around those with thicker accents does it come out.
4. I learned how to do stained glass and sandblasting when my daughter was in grade school. I ended up working in the stained glass studio for many years and teaching classes occasionally. For a while I even designed and built custom stained glass windows in my garage for a builder to earn extra money.
5. I learned how to ride a horse at the age of 40. After some horrible experiences with a bad, dishonest, trainer I found a great reining trainer and he found the perfect horse for me, Billy Bob, a bay Appaloosa. He was four and just broke to ride. We learned reining together and what a great experience that was! I still have Billy Bob - he'll be 21 in April.
6. I love chocolate! LOL - didn't know what else to put down here but that is a fact.

It seems there are a lot of bloggers who have been tagged recently so I hate to tag them again so soon. I'm not naming as many as the rules state but if you wish to join in you're tagged too.

I'm tagging Marsha Robinett, Diane Wright , Regina Burchett and Helen Read. All are fantastic artists in their own right. Please visit their blogs - I know you will enjoy them very much.

So here are the rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) Write six or seven random things about yourself.
4) Tag six or seven people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.