Looking Through the Trees - Somewhere in New Hampshire

Looking Through The Trees

watercolour on arches paper

I took this photo about nine years ago and just recently painted it. I remember liking how the light came trough the canopy of trees and hit the bark on the tree trunk that was in the forefront and I also loved how the water in the lake appeared green as a total mirrored reflection of the trees.

Pool House

Pool House

Acrylic on Canvas

This is a painting I did from a magazine photo. ("Veranda" I think ...it was a while ago and I could be wrong.) I love architecture and fell in love with the formal style that this pool house had been built in. I was also drawn to the large branch that was in the forefront of the scene and the quiet reflections in the pool. Wouldn't this be a lovely place to sip on lemonade and read a book?

I Think I Would Like To Live Here!

Backyard Retreat

Acrylic on canvas

Sometimes I like to paint where  I would like to live. Its kind of a fantasy thing. When I want to redecorate and can't the paint on a fresh canvas is inspiring enough. ( but seriously, I want to redecorate).

Garden View

Garden View

pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes paper

Seaside Stroll

"Seaside Stroll"

watercolour

Little Boy, Big Ocean

"Little Boy by the Big Blue" 

watercolour

While all the other children were playing this contemplative young boy was enjoying the beauty and vastness of the water or at least that is what I imagined when I snapped this photo on a beach in Mexico.

Fixative Or No Fixative

As of yet, I have never used a fixative on any of my artwork but it does mean that I have to handle my pastels very carefully until they are framed. I am terrified to use a fixative. I considered buying a workable fixative months ago but didn't do it.  I have heard that it will change the colours in the illustration dramatically. I would be happy to hear from anyone who has experience with fixatives particularly if they know of a brand that will not discolour.

Made Me Laugh!

Isn't She Lovely!

pastel portrait on paper

11" X 14"

This is a pastel portrait I did from a picture I had of a friend's daughter. I spent a lot of time of time on it constantly correcting colour and her eyes. I was really trying to make her as angelic as she was in the photo. She was standing next to my window on a sunny day and her dark hair had beautiful highlights that truly did make her look like an angel. I could not get the eyes right until a few trips to several art stores for the right shade of brown was finally a success. 

A few days ago I took the picture of the portrait and put it in iPhoto. you can imagine my amusement when the photo recognition aspect of iPhoto picked up who it was and put it with her actual photo. LOL! I may have to use this when I have spent too much time with a portrait. Maybe I can stop when iPhoto tells me who it is in the future. Wow, now if they apple could only produce a program to tell me where I went wrong.

Pastel Portrait "Naptime" by christine beattie

Naptime

pastel on Canson Mi-teintes paper

12" X 16"

original photo

For me one of the hardest things to do are portraits and yet I love doing them. Portraiture is  a perpetual challenge. It is more than just capturing the face, the colour and the shape but the capturing of the human spirit of the individual.  I find children particularly challenging. Sometimes i tend to age the children although that is certainly not what I intend to do.  In all portraits I start out by putting as much detail to the eye after rendering the beginning base of skin tones. I do this before I attempt to any of the other features in any detail. Part of the trick to rendering children is the recreation of the dewiness of their skin for lack of a better explanation. Highlights and lowlights are very important and sometimes I feel like I fall short when it comes to rendering the darkest values in depicting children. For me the fear is always making the child look harsh. As you can see from the photo there is a lot of red tones to the hair. while rendering a portrait it is important to either know or at least to have seen various photos of a person under various light sources to more accurately determine colouration. In this case the baby actually had blondish hair while his brother had the lightest brown hair with golden highlights.

Note: It has been quite a while since I have evaluated this piece and I know realize that the baby's face was longer and heavier. Wow there is always something to be learned and nothing is ever perfect. 

Landscape: "The Mayan Ruins of the Grand Sirenis Resort"

Mayan Ruins of Grand Sirenis

pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes paper

12" X 16"

This pastel painting was created from a photo I took on the grounds of the Grand Sirenis Resort in the Mayan Riviera area of Mexico. 

Figurative:"Bathing Beauty at Virginia Beach"

Bathing Beauty

Pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes paper

12" X 16"

I was moved to create this pastel painting by the beauty of this woman relaxing on the beach.

Her legs boasted of strength and athleticism and the depth of colour in her skin was amazingly beautiful.  She most certainly was enjoying the warmth of the sun and was a delightful contrast to the creamy tones in the sand.

Brushes App:" Digital Experimentation"

Experimentation on iPad

These are digital drawings quickly done

by a simple finger touch on iPad using an application called Brushes.

Brushes is an inexpensive app and I think it is a wonderful one to introduce to children. There is a movie feature so you can see all the steps taken in a speedy replay which is rather amusing.

The skin tones on the portrait of the girl are rather flat but don't be fooled by this illustration. It is quite possible to achieve depths and shading in this program.