Plenty of Pastels

Pastels from Frisco Arts Discovery Center Art Exhibit, which I was awarded Best In Show on October 2, 2010 in Frisco, Tx. If you are interested in the pricing of the numbered pieces , please send me an email
to Art4dragonfly@aol.com and I will provided details such as: image size and pricing.
Thank you and enjoy!

Strawberry N Cream Swirl Rose

New Rose Pastel Painting! This is a painting of a soft cream and strawberry rose at
 Greenview nursery in Springfield, Illinois. Pastels allow me to capture the soft creamy petals
 of this rose. I painted this picture with my good friend Marla and her mother Jean in mind.
Jean loved soft colors almost white! Well Jean I'm getting there. I working my way toward a
 piece of artwork in her memory! Titled: "Amazing Grace". I'm learning to incorporate creams
 and white flowers that stay true to my style of bold painting! Not easy, but I'm up for the challenge!!
 Jean, I hope you are smiling from heaven when you see this one!!

"Strawberry N Cream Swirl" Copyright Artist: Barbara J. Mason



Past- els to Present

 Past-els (Past) to Present , I am reflecting back on some of my earlier work in this post. I painted these morning glories in watercolor but I was not truely satisfied with the background. After success with "Before the Dance" background painting, I thought I would re-work or soften up this background as well. I used Rembrant, Schmincke, and Sennelier soft pastel sticks to create soft background. I recently learned that this technique is called "bokeh".  In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur,

 in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points .

I like the contrast of sharp edges and soft midtones

 that this technique adds to my paintings.

I also added a few more dew drops and enhanced the existing water droplets.

This image of morning glories was captured early in the morning , just before opening.
With the red orange and yellow flowers un-opened, the resemble chilli peppers!

Earlier Painting: "Spanish Flag (morning glories) by Barbara J. Mason

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New background on "Spanish Flag (morning glories) by Barbara J. Mason
Spanish Flag Morning Glories :
Watercolor & Pastel Painting : $850.00




 





Back in the Studio with Pastels

Well, It has been very busy over the last few months. I was fortunate to win Best In Show at Frisco Art Discovery Center Art exhibit in October.  I created over 15 new pastel pieces for this show! The hard work paid off!
I'm learning more about pastels each day! The pure pigment colors are awesome, if you don't mind the dust, I woud recommend giving them a try.

Today's artwork is a pastel and color pencil piece that I started in July. The title: Before the Dance" is a piece that took me awhile to figure out the background design. The young lady in this painting was about to perform a dance at the park. She is sitting down gathering her thoughts or concentrating just before the dance. I edited out the group of people that were standing around her waiting for the perfomance. I placed her in a peaceful and soft surrounding that I imaged best suited her poise.





Before the Dance with white background! (unfinished)

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Before the Dance with background completed!













Exploring with Pastel

After trying colored pencil, I thought I would give pastel painting a try. There were a few pastel pencils mixed in with colored pencils, so I though , "why not"? I like the softness of pastels. Blending was a bit tricky and so was producing fine lines with a fat pastel stick. With a few home made tools and a lot  of patience, I was off to my first pastel painting, titled: "Pink Glow". Below is a step-by-step process of creationg "Pink Glow" rose pastel painting. Enjoy the process!!!!

Step #1 "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Step #2 "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Step #3 "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Step #4 "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Step #5  "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

 Final Step  "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Before The Dance: colored pencil

My next attempt was a little more challenging. I started with a figurative colored pencil drawing. This is a drawing of a young lady that was performing in the park in Decatur, Illinois. My husband and I caught her just before her performance was to begin. She was sitting on a bench in the shade. I image she was performing the dance in her mind, thinking out each move as the music played in her head. She was young but there was a gracefulness and sense of poise that drew us in. This piece is not yet completed I still need to do the background. Maybe a few soft trees iin the distance to balance the cast shadows of the trees on her back? We will see. Stay posted....

Step #1 - "Before The Dance" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Step #2 

 

Step #3

 

Final:  Step #4

More Colored Pencil

This is a blast from the past! This drawing reminds me of my gradmother. Glass candy in

those fancy cut glass candy jars on the coffee table in the living room. Soooo.. tempting, but

sad it's all glass. It screams "look but don't touch"! I found a few pieces at an estate auction, I couldn't help

myself. I had to buy them for old times sake!!!

Getting Started

Hey Everyone!!

Well here it is! I have wanted to start an art blog page for some time now.

I finally got the courage to sit down and just do it! :)

I want to share with you my new art work. I have started color pencil drawing

 and  pastel painting. I am still learning and exploring new techiques, while figuring

 out which  supplies work best for me. This all started when my mother came to visit.

I dug out my unused supply of colored pencils for her to use. She likes to paint and draw

 early morning outside on the porch with her morning beverage. I sat down

beside her one morning and gave colored pencils a try. Now I'm hooked!                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  The first colored pencil drawing was of a red bing cherry! Whenever I want
 to get motivated I usually start with something I love! I love to paint and use red as
 much as possible. Bing cherries come easy  for me to draw. Maybe because
I've drawn so many of them by now!

_________________"Red Bing Cherry"© Artist:Barb Mason__________________

My next attempt was a little more challenging.

I started with a still life drawing of a white rose.

I wanted to make the white rose glow. I blended white, cream and yellow to soften petals.

I have not experimented with background as of yet. Keeping the background black gives

me that high contrast affect.

____________________"White Rose" © Phase I   Artist: Barb Mason____________________

With a little more confidence under my belt I completed White Rose colored pencil drawing.
This is its final stage!

 ____________________"White Rose"  Phase II  Artist: Barbara Mason____________________