"catching the breeze"

"catching the breeze" 8"x10" pastel on Uart 500  $60

I know, it's been a few weeks since I have blogged. It's about family. We took our annual family vacation at the beach. I took along my pastels and sketchbook, but this time at the beach ended up being all about family time. With two granddaughters under the age of 4, pulling out my pastels was not a good idea. We had perfect weather and I took a lot of photos. The rain came when we arrived back home, so I headed for my studio to paint from some photos. I was sitting in my beach chair with my camera and like the seagull in this painting, I was just catching the breeze!

5"x7" pastel study on uart

5"x7" pastel study on uart

5"x7" pastel study on uart

I started with these three studies…. I was feeling a little rusty since I had not painted in 2-3 weeks.  The studies allowed me to get back into the pastels, no worries about trying to have a perfect painting. That's one thing a vacation allows you to do ….RELAX! I took many photos of the seagulls and had to paint this pair. I love the colors of the beach homes, this was a view from our table one night out for dinner. I have never painted people…… I caught this photo of the 4 year old granddaughter, she really enjoyed the beach this year and did not want the vacation to end. I caught this photo of her gazing out at the ocean. I tried to just simplify the shapes, catch the light where it hit her body and suggest her likeness. I will gift this to her. 

So…. I'm back home and thinking about my next paintings. I hope you enjoy reading my blogs!