"Brimli" Bunny

 

"Brimli" (pastel, 8x8 inches) bid or buy

My Patreon patrons chose this cute grooming bunny for me to pastel last week at my Virtual Open Studio. Moo-tastic Muses and Bunny Buddies on my Patreon can watch the complete pasteling video here!

The rest of y'all can enjoy this speed video! 😎

Don Keyfurry

 

"Don Keyfurry" (pastel, 8x8 inches) bid or buy here

 The star of my recent Donkey Paint-Along! For your enjoyment, here's a fun speed video!

#9 of 21-in-31 "Summer Road Trip"

 

 

"Summer Road Trip" (pastel, 8x8 inches) bid or buy

Here's the first star of Saturday's "Summer Road Trip" Paint-Along, so I titled this painting the same. This is painted on white Art Spectrum Colourfix paper with a pastel underpainting washed in with alcohol. I liked the result! I clipped out some key still shots from the video to make a little slide show video for you of my process.

I only tweaked it a little bit afterwards, adding some green (with pastel pencil) to the sky and other little bits of color, including some pink in the distant fields, to pull the color harmony together.

Enjoy!

(Muses and Buddies can see the entire paint-along here!)

Mimzy

 

This was a sweet little commission job I just painted at my last Virtual Open Studio. Her name is "Mimzy". It suits her don't you think?  (8x8 pastel from client photo) Moo-tastic Muses and Bunny Buddies on my Patreon can watch the entire video here!

Enjoy this quick speed video!

Day 12 of 21-in-31: Radcliff

 

Day 12 of 21-in-31: "Radcliff" (pastel, 8x8 inches) Bid or buy for a limited time on DailyPaintworks

This little bull calf was so cute standing there, I wanted to give him a full body portrait instead of just a head shot.

Enjoy this GIF and progress pics!

Sunday

Finally! For your enjoyment, here's a little speed video of last months' Paint-Along Cute Calf, named "Sunday" (pastel, 8x8 inches) bid or buy here

You can enjoy the actual paint-along here for a $10 pledge on my Patreon page!

Wimby Kitty

"Wimby Kitty" (pastel, 8x8 inches)

Here's Wimby Kitty, the adorable little cat from last month's VOS Episode 80! Subscribe to my Patreon to watch the full video with commentary here!

Wimby is a friend of CallieCal, another black and white kitty I painted a while back. They look very similar but are no relations.

See a quick speed video here!

Winter White

 

"Winter White" (pastel, 8x8 inches) Click here to bid or buy

This fuzzy bunny was the star of my recent Paint-Along!

Subscribe to my Patreon to see the full paint-along video here!

See a quick progress video here!

Shaggy Sheep

 

 "Shaggy Sheep" (pastel, 8x8 inches)

Here's a quick video of the shaggy star of November's Paint-Along! Woah, what a poufy hairdo! Quite popular actually, this ewe has been featured in several paintings over the years... you can see them all on my Patreon page here!

Click here to bid or buy

Pink Flamingo

 

"Pink Flamingo" (pastel, 8x8 inches)

This elegant bird was the star of my July Paint-Along. For a $10 pledge, you can watch the full painting process with commentary on Patreon!

Click here to watch a short speed video of Pink Flamingo's process.

On auction for a limited time at Dailypaintworks.com!

Day 23 of 30 - Green Eye

Day 23 of 30 paintings in June - "Green Eye" (pastel, 8x8 inches) on hold

I think I might enter this one into an exhibit. Don't know which yet but there are a few deadlines coming up. It feels good to have something good ready to go and not have to rush to finish something for at least one deadline. 

I'm starting to give more thought to continuing my Daily Painting through the summer. But I do believe I'll take a break for the Rockport Art Fest!

See a GIF of the painting process here!

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And in case you missed this message earlier...
 
The Feedburner team announced that their email subscription service will be discontinued in July 2021. As a result, Blogger’s email subscription widget, also known as FollowByEmail, will be turned off. Specifically, the email subscription system will no longer work and subscribers to Google blogs will no longer receive email updates.
 
SO! If you're receiving this post via email, I thank you for your subscription, but you will no longer be getting these delivered to you from my Google Blog after this month.  
 
But don't despair! Here are two ways you can still get my (almost) Daily Paintings in your inbox!
 
#1 - Sign up for my website's New Art Alerts. I basically have been pasting the same info into my website art posts as I do here, so you won't be missing a thing. CLICK HERE to get my New Art Alerts from my website at RitaKirkman.com.
 
#2 - Follow my public Patreon Posts. Sure, Patreon is a subscription-based creative support platform, but you don't have to pay anything for my public posts, and just about all of my new work gets posted on my Patreon page, usually with cool little extras like progress pics or short speed videos! CLICK HERE to go to my Patreon Page and right below the membership levels, next to a button that says "share" is a button that says "follow". It's that easy! (Browse around my other free posts while you're in there..)
 
Thanks so much for liking my work and following my blog. Here's to many more years of following my Website or my Patreon, and to many more years of creating!

Wildflower Field #36

 "Wildflower Field #36" (pastel on Canson, 8x8 inches) bid or buy here

This is the second little painting from last Saturday's Paint-Along. This one on regular Canson Mi-Tientes paper in an olive green sort of color. I hadn't worked on Canson for quite a while. I had forgotten how softly subtle it can be. 

See some progress pics on my Patreon page here.

And in case you missed the last post, I need to tell you... an IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

The Feedburner team announced that their email subscription service will be discontinued in July 2021. As a result, Blogger’s email subscription widget, also known as FollowByEmail, will be turned off. Specifically, the email subscription system will no longer work and subscribers to Google blogs will no longer receive email updates.

SO! If you're receiving this post via email, I thank you for your subscription, but you will no longer be getting these delivered to you from my Google Blog after next month. 

But don't despair! Here are two ways you can still get my (almost) Daily Paintings in your inbox!

#1 - Sign up for my website's New Art Alerts. I basically have been pasting the same info into my website art posts as I do here, so you won't be missing a thing. CLICK HERE to get my New Art Alerts from my website at RitaKirkman.com.

#2 - Follow my public Patreon Posts. Sure, Patreon is a subscription-based creative support platform, but you don't have to pay anything for my public posts, and just about all of my new work gets posted on my Patreon page, usually with cool little extras like progress pics or short speed videos (like the one linked above!) CLICK HERE to go to my Patreon Page and right below the membership levels, next to a button that says "share" is a button that says "follow". It's that easy! (Browse around my other free posts while you're in there..)

Thanks so much for liking my work and following my blog. Here's to many more years of following my Website or my Patreon, and to many more years of creating!

Snow Puff (Warm Fuzzy #70)

 Warm Fuzzy #70 - "Snow Puff" (pastel, 8x8 inches) $390

A last minute addition to my Solo Exhibition inventory! I'm so very grateful to Karen of the ARTS for Rural Texas for inviting me to have a show this spring. It was exactly what I needed to pull myself out of the 2020 blues.

(And, I'm still a little bit enthralled with GIFs, since I learned how to make them recently. Watch a neat little GIF of Snow Puff here, along with some still pics of her painting progress!)

I'll be delivering Snow Puff (and a couple others that I had missed on Monday) to the gallery before the reception. 

My Solo Exhibition, Kindred Spirits, will continue through May 29, 2021. Opening Reception is tomorrow (or today, depending on when you're reading this!) Saturday, March 27 from 5-7pm, at the ARTS for Rural Texas, 114 North Live Oak Street, Fayetteville, Texas.

A percentage of the proceeds from the sales of the paintings will support the free programs provided by Arts for Rural Texas, a 501(C)(3) not for profit organization. Shop the exhibit online here.

 

"Happy Moo Year!" (Warm Fuzzy #58)

 

Warm Fuzzy #58 - "Happy Moo Year!" (pastel, 8x8 inches) bid or buy

This is the famous cow from my first Virtual Paint-Along of 2021. You might have seen the ads on social media:

A fun time was had by all! Here are just a few of the participants who painted along on Saturday.

 

For a $10 pledge on Patreon, you can have access to the Paint-Along video (and many other demo videos), along with reference photo and prep info, so you can try this cow yourself!

I'm working on ideas for February's Valentine Paint-Along, and will post info by the end of the month! Stay tuned!

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Park Trail #53

 

"Park Trail #53" (pastel, 8x8, sold)

 

This one was my one landscape demo for the recent workshop with MidAmerica Pastel Society. I don't do a whole lot of landscapes, but when I do I just love painting pathways (as evidenced by the "#53" on this one ;) And I love dappled light through the trees.

 

I don't much enjoy tree trunks as a major subject however, so I kept these trunks simple. As usual in my work, it's more about the light!

 

I didn't quite finish this painting in the time I had allotted myself for the demo, so I finished it a few days later.

See some of the progress pics on this public Patreon post!

 

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"Snuggle Ducks" (Warm Fuzzies #47 and #48)

 Warm Fuzzies #47 and #48 - "Snuggle Ducks" (pastel, 8x8 inches) click here to bid or buy

This was my demo for the Pastel Society of North Carolina this morning. Once again, these cute critters are from Fry's Fun Farm (as are about 80% of my baby farm animal pics!) The dappled light really attracted me to this image. And the sheer cuteness of the pose, of course!

Here's the reference pic and the underpainting.

Warm Fuzzy #39 - Maurice

 

 

Warm Fuzzy #39 - "Maurice" (pastel, 8x8 inches, sold)

 

Sometimes a client will see and want a painting that has sold, and I'll offer to paint another from the same reference photo. This happened with the recent Warm Fuzzy #31 - "Moondust" (pastel, 6x6):

So I sent the client who missed out on Moondust to my "pet portraits" price list and let him pick a size! He decided on an 8x8, and "Maurice" was painted during my last Virtual Open Studio days.

When I have to "repeat" a painting like this, I like to make sure I don't refer back to the original painting too much, but instead start fresh from the reference photo. I don't want to make an exact COPY of the painting (which I have had to do once or twice in the past, and it's not much fun..) but instead this assures that the new painting is a unique piece of artwork in itself with the colors and strokes. That's usually what the client likes too.

(Reference photo):

Have you ever had to 'repeat' a painting for someone, and how did it come out? Did you enjoy the process?

I invite you to join me on Patreon, where you can watch the underpainting and pastel process videos in these links!

Underpainting (along with a fat mama Hereford): https://www.patreon.com/posts/40506555 

The pastel: https://www.patreon.com/posts/vos-episode-12-40533673

 

Hay Bales 6 - "Before and After!"

"Hay Bales 6" - revised (pastel, 8x8 inches) sold

The Appalachian Pastel Society is having an Adventures In Pastel contest over the next few months, with a set of Blue Earth pastels as the prize for whoever can complete the most challenges!
Their first challenge was a "before and after". This was to rework a painting with fresh eyes and all the skills you have acquired since putting it aside.

This is my before of "Hay Bales 6" (from 2011 😆can't believe it was still hanging around!)

These are the two reference photos I used. The first is the original reference, which I had enhanced in Photoshop.
To improve boring the composition, I used a secondary reference to change up the background and the character of the front bale. (I also tried to get more diagonals in the flow of the land, but that came out a little more subtle than I was hoping for.)

I wiped off the entire painting and started from the "ghost" image, used some Art Spectrum offwhite pigmented ink (which I've found to be an awesome way to get the "white" back into a dull, dark surface!) and my gold primer mix (Golden brand Quinacridone nickel azo gold fluid acrylic color mixed into Golden fine pumice gel) and some Art Spectrum terra cotta pastel primer, to establish the kind of underpainting that I'm used to now, and to get additional texture in more helpful directions.

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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Warm Fuzzy #15 - Frodo

Warm Fuzzy #15 - "Frodo" (pastel, 8x8 inches) click here to bid or buy

Finally! I caught some new photos last month of a herd of the adorable "Oreo" cows, otherwise known as Belted Galloways. I called this one Frodo because he's short, curly, and wears a ring.

Thanks for watching! Please share!

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