Commissions and other stuff

Well, things have been humming along in the studio.  I still have a lot of stuff to transfer from the old studio but it is coming along swimmingly.  Still have not ordered my new chairs yet, but plan to do that this week.

The studio is organized enough for me to start painting again.  Which, since I currently have four commissions to get done, is a great blessing.  I have several pet portraits to get done, so I am starting on them first.  I am using pastels because I love the way that they make fur look.  I am also using the velour paper for the same reason.  Velour can be tricky to work on since it is not as forgiving as other papers.  Once you make a mark on the velour, you need to be committed to that mark.  It also doesn't hold as much pastel and so needs to be put on with a little lighter touch.  I usually bang the heck out of my works to get rid of any excess pastel dust so that is not a problem.  Other than my neighbors think I've lost my marbles when I'm outside banging the backs of my work against the porch supports.

I have not done pastels in a couple of years because I have been devoting any painting time I had to portraits and landscapes in oil.  It has been an interesting journey back to them.  I need to move my air cleaning filter up to the studio soon.  The pastel dust can be a little hazardous if you don't have an air filter system.

I have also been incorporating using my IPad to work from for the photo reference.  It is much lighter than my computer monitor or my laptop.  Thus, I can have it closer to my work area, 

I'll post some pics of the new doggy painting next week. 

Have a great day and Happy Painting,
Jennylynne