A portrait should capture the personality of the subject.
If you are a artist, it is exciting to broaden your subject matter to not only complete honest portraits of people but to include all living things.
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Among the most handsome are the First People of the Americas. Looking at one's portrait, you get a sense of fearlessness, strength of character, bravery, intelligence -- to mention only a few descriptives.
American Pride, 10x13, pastel
Southern Cheyenne Chief, Wolf Robe, 10x13, pastel
Medicine Man, First People, 10x8, pastel
Fortitude, 10x8, pastel
Focus, 10x13, pastel
It's so delightful that cats are amazingly curious.
They are attracted by anything new or out of the
ordinary.
This little guy was mesmerized by these unidentified
floating objects.
This little girl was very friendly.
She had no problem coming right up to
see what was happening.
Who couldn't love such a face.
The Kiss, 10x13, pastel
Black & White portraits are a lot of fun. Everything is in their eyes.
Dr. Thom, 10 x 13, pastel
Karen, 10 x 13, pastel
Altie, 10 x 13, pastel
Rich, 10 x 13, pastel
Emma, 9 x 11, pastel
Don't you just want to give her a hug.
Whenever I get a chance, I snap photos of
cows -- they have such beautiful faces.
We all remember our first dance.
Thoughts like "Am I pretty enough for
someone to ask me? " or "What if she
turns me down? " ran through our heads.
For this little girl, it was obvious that her
mom, spent a lot of time embroidering
a most beautiful dress, fixing her hair,
braiding the headband, and carefully
attaching the small bouquet of flowers
for this big day.
If I were a little boy, I would have asked
her to dance with me the entire evening.
Her First Dance, 16x16, pastel
American Statesman, 10.5x14, pastel
Our local performing arts center asked artists to create a piece for a
silent auction to raise funds for their activities.
Who could possibly turn down such a request?
To add interest, they assigned a theme and color scheme for each
piece. My assigned theme was Southwest People and the color
scheme: Split Complementary.
This was a joy to complete.
This big kitty was not doing well at the animal shelter.
His best friend was placed in a care center and he lost his home
and family. He now lets us live with him.
He is a big roly-poly who knows several tricks,
like how to ask for food, how to snuggle in bed, how to look
for birds through the window, and how to wake you up early
in the morning.
Birdwatching, 16x20, pastel
Each year the local Art League invites artists
to reproduce an artwork from an old master.
This year I sketched out a 1521 classic
from Albrecht Dürer, Study of St. Jerome.
9x12, Ink, charcoal, pastel