“Addie” is an original pastel painting on velour of a very sweet Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
A selection of products including art prints, jewellery boxes, t-shirts, mousepads, necklaces and other gift items featuring “Addie” are now available for purchase.
How exciting! The Canine Art Guild’s inaugural “Helping Paws 2008 Online Exhibition” is now online!
The original and Limited Edition artwork in the exhibition comes from an international collection of artists who have partnered with local animal shelters and rescues and have pledged a percentage of their sales from this exhibition in support of animal welfare efforts.
In addition, visitors to the online exhibition can vote for their favourite artwork and three People’s Choice honours will be awarded, with cash donations being made to the shelters affiliated with the artworks receiving the most votes for People’s Choice awards
All three pages of artwork can be viewed in the Canine Art Guild’s “Helping Paws 2008″ exhibition which will remain viewable online through to at least January 31, 2009.
As promised, this is the third entry that I have submitted to the exhibition, along with “Noble”, the German Shepherd in charcoal and “Angel in Blue” my American Staffordshire Bull Terrier in oils.
“Peaches and Cream”
Pomeranian
Pastels on Suede
Image Size 8.5″ x 12″ approx
$400.00AU
10% of your investment in this artwork will be donated to
K9 Dog Rescue, Mandurah Western Australia
"Peaches & Cream" Pomeranian in pastels by Michelle Wrighton
Please visit the “Helping Paws” exhibition and let me know what you think of all the wonderful canine art!
Thanks for reading!
Michelle
http://michellewrighton.com
“Rainbows and Sunshine”, what else could I call this fun filled colourful pastel painting of a black Newfoundland puppy? I really enjoyed painting this one, I really wanted to loosen up, and convey the personality without much detail, so I actually used a very bad reference photo that I had taken at a dog show. (At the time I was disappointed that the photo was so bad, but the resulting painting is worth it I think:)
Painting realistic pet portraits means that I don’t usually get to splash around with lots of colour, so that was the main aim with this one – plus to capture the late afternoon sunlight and the glorious colours in his fur without using black!
“Rainbows & Sunshine”
Newfoundland Puppy Painting
Artist Pastels on acid free pastel paper.
Image Size: 11″ x 13″ approx
2008
$200.00 (includes shipping)
10% of your investment in this artwork will be donated to K9 Rescue
"Rainbows & Sunshine" Newfoundland puppy painting by Michelle Wrighton
I frequently use soft pastels and velour art paper or suede board as this combination of medium and support is particularly suited to animal artwork, and I thought it would be good to provide some information about pastels as a Fine Art medium.
Pastels as a Fine Art medium have been used for hundreds of years by many of the Masters, including Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Degas, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Whistler, Cassatt and Matisse as well as many others.
Pastels are pure finely ground pigments that are rolled or shaped into sticks using a soft binder to hold the particles together. The pigments used to create pastel sticks are actually the same pigments that are used to create all coloured art mediums including oil and acrylic paints – it is just the binders that are used that makes each medium different.
Although some people refer to them as ‘chalk’ pastels, this really is a misnomer as pastels are not anything like the chalk sticks you will find in a classroom - nor do they only come in soft light ‘pastel’ colours, they do in fact come in many pure and vibrant colours, as well as literally dozens of earthy, natural tones.
According to Answers “pigment applied with pastel does not change in colour value, the final effect can be seen immediately. Pastel remains on the surface of the paper and thus can be easily obliterated unless protected by glass or a fixative spray of glue size or gum solution. When pastel is applied in short strokes or linearly, it is usually classed as drawing; when it is rubbed, smeared, and blended to achieve painterly effects, it is often regarded as a painting medium.”
There are several types of pastels available to artists as defined by Answers:
Soft pastels — This is the most widely used form of pastel. The sticks have a higher portion of pigment and less binder, resulting in brighter colors.
Hard pastels — These have a higher portion of binder and less pigment, producing a sharp drawing material that is useful for fine details. These can be used with other pastels for drawing outlines and adding accents.
Pastel pencils — These are pencils with a pastel lead. They are useful for adding fine details.
Oil Pastels - These have a soft, buttery consistency and intense colors. They are slightly more difficult to blend than soft pastels, but do not require a fixative.
Water-soluble pastels — These are similar to soft pastels, but contain a water-soluble component, such as glycol. This allows the colors to be thinned out using a water wash.
Personally I work mostly with soft pastels, with a few hard pastels and pencils for final line work, as the softness is very suitable for creating believable, almost touchable animal fur.
Hahnemuhle Velour Pastel Paper is produced in Germany using inert synthetic fibres on an acid free backing sheet. This beautiful paper actually feels like velour fabric, and because of the nap (long fibres) it holds most pastels very well. Of the pastels that I use, I choose the harder ones as some of the more softer brands are more delicate and likely to ‘fall off’ when used on velour paper. This velour paper comes in a range of colours that are all lightfast (so they are resistant to fading) and they all have acid free backing which prevents yellowing over time.
My favourite support for animal art in pastels is suede mat board. Although a very expensive support, I find the results that I can achieve are outstanding and as the pastel pigment is held by the imitation suede ‘nap’ better than it is on velour paper, the artwork is less delicate than that on velour, which in my mind makes it well worth the extra expense. The biggest problem with both velour and suede board however, is that you do have to be careful with them as neither supports are very easy to correct mistakes once they have been made!
Finally, pastel artwork (with the exception of art that is mostly sketchy line work) is generally referred to as paintings rather than drawings. Due to the delicate nature of pastel paintings, it is very important that they are cared for properly and framed professionally in the correct manner, with an acid free mat(s) and behind glass so that they can be enjoyed for many years to come.
Now that you know all about pastels, I better get busy and write some articles about the other mediums that I use – charcoal, colour pencils, acrylics and oils!
We lost our little girl Jack Russell Terrier over two years ago to a brain tumor. She was nearly 11 years old and such a gutsy, happy little dog – a true Jack Russell Terrier in every way. Even though I am a pet portrait artist, it took a long time for me to be able to do her portrait.
Created with soft pastels on black Art Spectrum sanded paper, this is one of those pieces that just seemed to paint itself and I am really pleased with the result. I can now really understand why many of my clients who have commissioned commemorative portraits of pets they have lost as it feels almost like having them back again, that probably sounds really strange, maybe its being able to see that familiar loving face every day. Of course a painting can never replace a dearly missed pet, but it certainly does help to heal the pain a little.
Jack Russell Terrier in Pastel
‘Harley’ in pastel: 9″x12″
At the moment I am working on a commemorative portrait of Cleo, a Bull Terrier cross. I had the choice to do it in graphite or colour and decided on graphite, I’m not quite sure why as apart from one ear she is a white dog, and rendering white fur on white paper with graphite is a bit of a challenge! I will post a picutre of Cleo’s portrait when it is finished.
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