Gallery

Welcome

Welcome to my gallery of pastel portrait paintings. Below is a sampling of my work and a little bit about each.

Pastel on Sanded Paper

Three Brothers on a Stone Wall

I took the reference photo for this portrait. I was doing a photo shoot of the whole family, but the boys were ready before their parents. These rough and tumble boys sat together nicely for a moment on the stone wall in their front yard. It was May and the crabapple trees were blossoming and everything was green […]

Pastel on Sanded Paper

A Young Girl and Her Father

  This portrait is based on a black and white photograph which was taken in the early 1980s. Since I had no color information to work with, I decided on a color scheme of reds, pinks, oranges, and purple to create a bright and lively portrait. Their hair is black, but I decided to give it […]

Pastel on Sanded Paper

My Sister

A few years ago I photographed my sister’s senior pictures. This portrait is based on one of my favorite shots from our fun photo shoot.

Pastel on Velour

Mother and Son Flying a Kite

  I usually work on sanded paper, but this one is done on velour, which has a velvety texture. The effect is really quite different.

Pastel on Sanded Paper

Emily and Jesse’s Wedding

This bride was a little dissatisfied that a good photo of just the bride and groom was not captured on their wedding day. The reference photo below was used to create their portrait as the bride and groom look fantastic, but the gaggle of cute and squirelly kids was eliminated, as was the glare on the groom’s glasses. This photo […]

Pastel on Sanded Paper

Cousins

Pastel Portrait on Sanded Paper

Women on the Farm

  Outdoor portraits with warm sunshine are a favorite of mine. Evening or morning sunshine on a subject will cast some interesting light and color on skin, hair, and clothing.

Pastel on Sanded Paper

Wedding Guests

 

Pastel on Sanded Paper

Bleskacek Family

Pastel on Sanded Paper

Grandmother and Granddaughter

  This is a small, intimate portrait of a grandmother and granddaughter done in a painterly style. The reference photo for this portrait was taken with a smart phone. This is a great example of an opportune shot taken in the moment that became an excellent basis for a portrait painting. In creating this portrait, I […]

Pastel on Sanded Paper

Wave in Curacao

Portrait of a wave, a commissioned seascape. This painting was based on an iPhone photo taken in Curacao. I cropped the painting to focus more on the water and less on the brown rock, then took some liberties with color.

Pastel on Sanded Paper

Stony Play Station

I’m not one to go for cutesy art titles, but “Stony Play Station” was arrived at with the help of my husband and seems fitting. The sun shining on underwater rocks posed an interesting challenge.