Jennnifer

Today's model was the grandaughter of one of the artists. This small portrait was drawn with a sepia pastel pencil on bristol with a payne's grey wash. The color of the paper did not scan very well - it's supposed to be a light grey/blue color.

Providence

This image is from a photo that I took a couple of years ago. Size is 5x8.

Yesterday I displayed my pen & inks with a few oils at the Thomas Prince School Art Festival. The experience was very enjoyable and the quality of the art by the other exhibiting artists was daunting! Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see much student work, as there was a steady stream of visiters to the artists' tables.

Mark

Our model yesterday was a fellow who participates in battle reenactments. Here he is dressed as a soldier in King Phillip's War. He told us that the outfit was made by a tailor friend.

When I moved to New England, I grew interested in the war by hearing and seeing references to King Philip. There is a massacre sign nearby in Lancaster, and battles took place in Groton and Brookfield. Mary Rowlandson was taken captive in Lancaster and held for some time in the Princeton area. Her account of her captivity was published in 1682 and is something I would like to read. Lately I have been reading a very detailed book on the subject of the war. The authors are Eric Schultz and Michael Tougias. The latter gave a slide show on the topic at the local library a few years ago. Gerry and I attended and were very intrigued.
This drawing is 10 x 14 and was done with pastel pencil and white conte on stretched bristol to which I applied a grey watercolor wash.

Les Fleurs

Another image using a photo taken by my sister. 10" x 12".

Portrait group

I forget his name unfortunately. This was done on bristol board stretched and tinted with watercolor ahead of time, and the medium was conte pastel pencil.
We had a lovely lunch afterwards. What a great day! The sun is shining and I hear a blackbird singing in the backyard. I'm ready for plein air painting. Let's hope the weather cooperates.

Rathauss

Rathauss means "Townhall" in German. The old photo that I worked from was taken in Wimpfen and I have no idea if the building still exists. . I did some research online and found a town called "Bad Wimpfen".I looked for some similar buildings, and some of the roofs were dark red or grey. This helped me out a little, since the photo was in B&W.

Cloister Gate

Scene from the German town on Stein am Rhein. Image taken from old photo found in a book. I know- there's a drain in this one, too. I wasn't going to put it in, but it is there in the photo and is a lead-in.
These pen & inks don't really scan or photograph well (at least with my equipment!) they are brighter and sharper than what shows on the computer.

Montmartre

About 10x13. I would've worked only from the top right section of the photo (another of my sister's) , but I really liked the drain on the lower left. I added some fall leaves for two reasons: because when I was there many years ago, it was in the autumn, and because it helped me to integrate the foilage into the rest of the picture. For some reason, I always find wet fall leaves on a drain charming. I'll have to do a painting of just that some day.