Summer's In Full Swing

Busy summer, actually.  My new grandson Eli (5 grandkids, now!) was born a couple of weeks ago.  My husband and I went to Seattle to help his brothers and parents.  We also took a few days off and went to Whistler.

I was glad I mustered the courage to take the ski lift - what fantastic views!

Back home, I was thrilled to find out I had won third place in the annual Colored Pencil Magazine competiton.

"Maryland Plaza", 11 x 14 

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I've been focusing on cityscapes & I'm gradually building a nice body of work.  I'm working on Duralar, a brand of frosted acetate film.  Several layers of pencil on the front and more on the back give it rich, saturated color.  Here's what I'm working on now:

This one is of a restaurant in a south St. Louis neighborhood.  I caught a waitress writing on the chalkboard outside, plus the fabulous light.  No title yet, but maybe "The Daily Special".  Any other ideas?

Cityscapes

Here's a new one I'm working on, a scene from a small town near St. Louis.  I'm changing the photo a bit to create more light coming through the trees.  Right now I'm blocking in the main objects with one layer of color.  After I finish that, I'll be ready to work on details and add more color.  This is on Mylar, a frosted drafting film.  I've used this material on my last four paintings and I love it!

This new painting is in my Etsy Shop  It's 8" x 10", titled, "Kevin's Place".  I took a lot of photos on a sunny, snowy morning and had my husband pose in front of this darling cafe.  Using artistic license, I took out the snow and changed some of the back ground.  I love the shadows and window reflections!  Next month, I'll post more cityscapes.