Screech Owl

 "Screech Owl" (pastel, 8x6 inches) bid or buy

Here's the star of Saturday's Paint-Along - the Screech Owl! This one's a little different... Instead of my usual pastel primer underpainting, I used some UArt paper  that had some pastel washed in with alcohol, something I had left over from someone else's workshop months ago. I figured I'd put it to use! So instead of building an acrylic-based underpainting, I basically started with a value drawing of the owl using a black Rembrandt pastel.

 See a quick speed video here!

Locke at the Ohio Wildlife Center

"Locke" (pastel, 8x6 inches) sold

My demo yesterday for the Ohio Pastel Artists League was held at the Ohio Wildlife Center in Powell OH, on the north edge of Columbus. Elyse, the caretaker there, brought out their permanent resident screech owl, Locke, as a charming visual aid to her presentation about the Center, and by the way, as a subject for me to paint!

The lighting in the room wasn't ideal, so instead of working from life, I took some photos by the window earlier in the evening.

photo

I was thrilled to paint another screech owl, after keeping one of my own paintings from years ago, of another screech owl I fell in love with from a rescue place in north Texas.

"Portrait of a Screech Owl" (pastel and pastel pencil, 7x5 inches) 2007, collection of the artist..

I didn't quite get the demo done last night, but finished it this afternoon. Here's a shot during the underpainting process:

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