| 5/6/12 | I think that I have finally finished this painting. The daffodils on the left side were the challenge because the values were so close. It was a dance to keep the highlights in just the right places. One misplaced tap, and they disappeared. Now one more painting to finish by the 15th...the Fair!!!
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4/30/12 | | Only a few more days left to work on this and finish another pastel. I sat the Pastel Society of San Diego Juried Show at Gallery 21 today. So I was able to get a little more completed on this. |
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 | With one judicious highlight, this COULD BE finished, you know. Its absolutely gorgeous right now. | -- Louise Sackett, 5/6/12
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4/26/12 | | Only 3 weeks until the SD County Fair Art Show, so I really need to get going on this for the Black and White division. This is charcoal and pastel. I am aiming to showcase the arc of light that is the tops of the daffodils and the arc of light formed by the lemons. I'm ready to get serious. |
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| amazing!!!!!! | -- Francie, 5/9/12
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4/5/12
I have not painted a landscape in a very long time. This is a painting of the train station up in San Juan Capistrano. It was late afternoon, the end of December, when the shadows were long and cool in color. It has been a new experience, using UArt 500 sanded paper. This paper seems to prefer a harder pastel than the Terry Ludwigs that use most often. |
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| love this i have waited at that very spot many times, beautiful work! | -- Francie, 4/6/12
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| Not a bit rusty either..this is a stunning painting, Karen! You've conveyed the mood and atmosphere so well. I want to step into the picture! | -- Kris, 4/6/12
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2/7/12
This finished charcoal drawing is approximately 5"X 7". Now on to landscapes. There are some shows quickly approaching. |
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2/1/12 | | I recently tried to work with charcoal pencils, as you see in the bird of paradise drawing. This weekend, I joined 3 other artists for Otto Sturcke's workshop at San Clemente Art Supply. I honestly thought that this process would be much quicker than pastels. Wrong! It is more labor intensive and takes much, much longer. No finger blending! But I did feel energized and determined to finish this. |
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 | Thank you, Zachary! Yes, i have many black tops...and black hides charcoal and graphite smudges:) | -- Karen Howard, 2/25/12
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| Hey Karen, Awesome work, I know that charcoal has a special place in my heart, it is such a fun medium to work with, but it gets on everything! I laughed because I saw you wearing black, and just realized its probably what I have should have been doing for years hahhaha... Incredible Drawing! All the Best, Zach http://www.howtodrawrealistic.org | -- Zachary, 2/24/12
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1/25/12 | | The last time we were in Capistrano, we crossed the tracks to Old Town. The tracks were in shadow, the far wall and buildings were in light. I also loved those plam trees. Fortunately, I had a camera with me. It has been a good long while since I painted a landscape. Here it is so far. I'm trying out the Uart 500 sanded paper. It's a bit rougher than the La Carte, and the softies aren't working as well as I'd thought. Because the paper is a cream color, and I prefer colored paper, I used NuPastels and an alcohol wash. |
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| Well you should do them more often cause this is wonderful. It is evocative and haunting. Lovely light. You said it was for me, right? | -- Louise Sackett, 2/7/12
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12/30/11 | | I had put this away over the holidays. No more excuses! It's finished. |
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11/12/11 | | It has been a good long while since I've worked in black and white, but I'm rather enjoying it. I thought that there would be less dust than when painting with pastels, but I still have to take my drawing board outside to gently tap the charcoal particles off the paper. This is charcoal and white pastel on Canson Mi Tientes paper. |
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| It's going to be as beautiful as the rest of your work! | -- Darlene Roether, 12/8/11
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11/6/11 | | A big thank you to Foothills Art Association for another outstanding Wildlife in Art show. The quality of the work is at a very high level, and members of the Pastel Society of San Diego always make a wonderful showing. Our members walked away with many of the awards this year. Carolyn Teincuff won 2nd place and an honorable mention, Marilyn Grame won a 3rd, Betty Johnsen, Billie Mear, Marji Cramer and I won honorable mentions. Billie also took home the People's Choice award. And "Looking for Love" sold during the reception. I had planned on showing this painting at the Mission Trails show in January. So...back to painting! |
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9/28/11 | | We saw plenty of bison during our Yellowstone adventure, and this one was by him/herself. I always felt that the loners were a meal for the wolves. At one point, while in Hayden Valley, we witnessed several packs of wolves dining on a bison that had been badly injured in a fight. We were so fortunate to see wolves in the wild. So, I was compelled to paint a bison. The Foothills Wildlife Show is accepting entries, so I thought I'd enter this one. |
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| Nice! Its a very different subject but equally as stunning as your still life paintings. Good luck, Sharon | -- Sharon Ford, 10/28/11
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| Actually, we were really, really close. He was in the road, right beside our car. | -- Karen Howard, 10/6/11
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| Beautiful painting Karen, the colors of the bison are just beautiful; really takes me back twenty years to when I visited that part of the world. It does look like you were kind of close...! | -- Kris, 10/6/11
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| Really enjoy your new pastels. I hope to see you on October 2nd at the meeting. SLF | -- Sharon Ford, 9/28/11
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8/26/11 | | I sat the show today. I sure miss Shandel. She was the ringleader who kept every in line. But we have a frist rate show with the 6 who remain. Here is a shot of my wall. |
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8/17/11 | | OK, this is the last new piece for the Dame Show. I just have to mat and frame and then I have to decide which paintings I'll display this time. |
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8/14/11 | We're getting ready for our Dame show. We will all be lost without our fabulous Shandel beside us this year. I have one more painting to finish and I'll be ready....almost. Tags, PR, business cards and the like will have to be put off until later this week.
The show runs from August 24 through September 5 at Gallery 21 in Spanish Village, Balboa Park. The Gallery hours are 11 to 4 daily.
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8/5/11 | | This was such a satisfying piece to work on. The colors of sunshine were right there, inspiring me to paint it. I know that roses are a bit cliche, but this one spoke to me. |
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7/31/11 | Thursday we went to the Festival of the Arts, the Sawdust Festival and Art A.Fair in Laguna Beach. The day could not have been more perfect for walking around the three events. Here is a picture of the two most talented pastel ladies I know....Dianna Ponting and Mary Aslin. Another pastel artist, Molly Lipsher had her work displayed as well. Molly is a beautiful plein air artist. www.ponting.com and www.maryaslin.com
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7/29/11
I have long wanted to paint a rose. I was leaving my driveway a few weeks ago and spotted the perfect lighting on a neighbor's rose bush. I pulled out the old camera and took a nice photo. So, here is the rose almost finished, and now I'm moving onto the leaves. |
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7/24/11 | | This is my 5th workshop with the most talented and generous Dianna Ponting at San Clemente Art Supply. It was a three-day party while accomplishing a lot of work. The calibre of artists made for some extraordinary results. This is the class project and I spent today working on a yellow rose... |
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6/30/11Today was the Small Image Show at the San Diego County Fair. It's an annual event put on by Kate Fitzsimmons and her crew. This year's Pastel Society winners in the Pastel/drawing/watercolor division were Terri McMurray 1st place, me, 3rd place and Betty Johnsen 5th place. Carol McClure won a 3rd place in the "other" division with a scratchboard piece. It's always a fun event made better when your friends win.
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| Beautiful work Karen, as always! I've started eating more apples since you started painting them lol! | -- Kris, 7/4/11
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6/14/11| Thursday night we attended the art reception for the 2011 San Diego County Fair. My painting "The Race" won 2nd place in the themed art division which was "Race to the Fair". "Tangerines" won and honorable mention in the colored drawing division. |
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6/6/11 | We just returned from the International Assoc. of Pastel Societies' (IAPS) convention in Albuquerque. The most talented Cuong Nguyen won Best of Show in the Masters Circle show. I had 2 paintings juried into the The 18th Juried Exhibition and Apples sold at the opening reception. There were great demonstrators and we learned a lot. At the next convention I will finally receive my Masters Circle Medal!!!
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5/19/11| Yesterday, I had the pleasure of working with an AP art class in El Cajon. I was able to spend 3 hours sharing some tips and tricks, and watching them create some fantastic paintings in pastel. I would block in and blend quickly, then walk around and watch them work. They had more time to work hands-on than I, so I think their paintings were better than my demo! Grossmont High art students rock! |
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5/18/11 | | I finished this one yesterday. It is for the themed division for the SD County Fair Art Show. I delivered four paintings this afternoon and keep my fingers crossed that the judge likes them. The competition gets harder every year. |
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5/12/11 | | Approaching the home stretch for the SD Fair Art Show. I still have 2 more to finish after this one. It began as a demo for the Pastel Society in November and I finally got back to finishing it today. | |
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Previously published:All 46 blog entries |
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