Notes from the Easel

Summer Daisies Pastel

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:25:00 +0000

Summer Daisies was an experiment done some time ago. For those who work with pastel it is fun to try to loosen up and work with only fingers and sticks of soft pastel. Giving yourself a time limit is also good once in a while especially for artists like me who work tight and get into lots of detail. I used Daler-Rowney green grays and blue grays, plus some white, yellow for the centers of the daisies and a touch of cadmium orange. In the dark and dismal days we are having this November a study like this on the wall brings back memories of sunnier warmer weather.

Miniature of Mother as Queen Elizabeth I

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:26:00 +0000

Here is a miniature graphite on film study of my Mother as Queen Elizabeth I. The original sepia photo was taken around 1944 and sadly is very blurry. Mum had a lovely soprano voice and I remember being taken many times by my Father to see her on stage. I think if she had not devoted so much time to my upbringing she would have gone on to greater things.

Doing this as a miniature has been an ambition for some time and even though it was a difficult study I am reasonably happy with it and will frame it for our walls. (I know Mum would have been pleased to have this image of her drawn this way.) Size is 4" x 3.5" - Mum's face is around 1" and the image shows a 'ghost penny' for scale.

Miniatures are really addictive and once the larger paintings are done I will be devoting more time to them.

Sybil

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:27:00 +0000

This pastel was fitted in recently, while waiting for some photos to come in on the large project. Sybil was a much loved black cat and it was a privilege to immortalize her in pastel. Her reference photos were rather difficult to work from as is often the case with black animals. But luckily her owner helped out where the photos were obscure.

For any interested pastel artists out there this work was done with black pastel and a darker black (intense black) for the shadows... it is wonderful to have access to more than one shade of black :) The colours in Sybil's coat were added with a mid tone prussian blue and some purple brown. Highlights are a warm light grey with white added here and there.

Sybil's pastel is being framed right now and I hope she will bring happy memories when the picture is hung on the wall close to 'Poppy' whose pastel I also did last year.

Back to the canvases :)

Snow Leopards in Oil (sold)

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:12:00 +0000

Here is an oil done from photos taken at Santago some years ago and called 'The Lookout'. Looks as though this is the same female Snow Leopard that we photographed recently. (She was the only one waiting to go to her new home.) A beautiful and gentle cat.

Santago Leopards

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:37:00 +0000

Had a wonderful day out on Monday at the private Santago Rare Leopard Breeding Project. Unfortunately it is closing shortly due to the sad death of the founder Peter James. Santago has had a good record over the years with breeding these endangered rare cats and was a place where you could get really close to them in a quiet and beautiful setting. The animals are all going to new homes very soon (some abroad) so it was with a heavy heart that we said farewell at the end of the day.

Photos are of a beautifully marked Clouded Leopard - we felt really lucky to get some lovely photos of them as they are usually so reclusive. Then a Black Leopard relaxing whilst waiting for his lunch. The African Leopard was photographed above us on her tree platform and lastly the gorgeous Snow Leopard who as usual posed beautifully. When there is time I hope to do some studies of them.

Dressage horse in oil and Green Woodpecker

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:45:00 +0000

As I am still busy painting all hours of the day, and into the evenings at present, I have posted a dressage horse painted in oil some years ago. Black animals are really fascinating to paint, whether in pastel or oil. I just love the shine on their coats and usually paint this in blue grey. I think you can just see the details in this old photo and the touches of purple brown around this horse's muzzle. This 16" x 12" oil was painted from the photo supplied and sadly I never got to see this horse as he lived some way away from us.

This week we have been visited again by a Green Woodpecker and as the bird was still long enough for me to run and get the camera (and change lenses) here is a photo of him. It is great to see this bird in our gardens but sadly he is here because all the local woodland is gradually being destroyed. As the 'powers that be' seem to be happy to chop all the trees down all we can do is plant as many as we can in our gardens. Hopefully we can give the local birds an alternative habitat.

I have taken some recent photos of the cabin/studio but still have them on a memory card somewhere. It really looks as though it has been there for ages now that the plants have grown up around it and I will post them ASAP. Meanwhile, back to painting :)

West Highland White Terrier

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 17:31:00 +0000

Life is pretty busy right now with the large canvases underway. Just to keep in touch with everyone I am posting an old pastel of 'Bob' a dear little West Highland White Terrier. He was done as a surprise present some years ago. Always fun to do this breed as their fur is great to do in pastel. Students of pastel can see (I hope - as this is an old photo) that the colour of the ground you choose to work on is pretty important and can become part of the picture. Try not to choose a contrasting colour as this will make your work much more difficult. If in doubt lay a photo of the subject up against several papers until you find one that matches.

Also here is a bee's eye view of a Foxglove - which are at their best now in the garden (thank you Pat for letting me play with your Macro Lens!)

May update and flowers

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:49:00 +0000

Just to prove I am still around - here are some flowers from our garden in the South East of the UK. There has been great growing weather with sunshine and showers so everything is doing well, even the daisies in the grass :) The peach Iris is my favourite, although sadly I do not know the variety. The sundial is down in the wilder part of the garden with pink aquilegias, grasses and foxgloves waiting to come out and the Clematis is a beautiful new compact variety found recently in a local garden centre and now growing in a tub.

On the work front, I am now commencing to put paint to canvas with the large commissions. Hopefully they will be shown here if the client gives his permission. If time permits I will fit in a pastel or two and some miniatures also - lots of ideas for them. Back to work! Please feel free to contact me as I love to hear from my visitors.

Lesley

Cat Study in pastel

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:36:00 +0000

As I am busy with some large commissions - hopefully the client will grant permission to show them on the web in due course - I am posting a 2007 pastel of a dear 'old style' Persian cat. He is a dear soul, very sweet and affectionate and it was a joy to paint his beautiful fur. As I took many photos of this lovely cat hopefully there will be more studies of him in the future. (For those who are experimenting with pastel the shadows in this study were browns and blues.)

Spring Blossoms

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:03:00 +0000

After a cold snowy winter a very welcome spring has arrived. Last week's mild temperatures and sun brought out the blossom on some of the trees and some spring flowering plants. As I am working - but nothing ready to post yet I thought I would share some photos of the garden. I hope you enjoy seeing them :)

Miniature - Graphite Study of Jenny

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:26:00 +0000

Still enjoying experimenting with the dura-lar film in the evenings, here is a new graphite study of a very pretty young girl called Jenny. I could not resist transferring her serenity from a photograph (she lives a long way from us) into a portrait. People are more of a challenge to draw/paint but very well worth the effort. This image is much enlarged - the original is 3" x 2.5".

Miniature - 'Aragorn' Graphite study

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:47:00 +0000

I am a big fan of Tolkein and Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films so when I was looking for a small study to try out some Dura-Lar film this one of Viggo Mortenson as Aragorn seemed a challenge - because of the look in his eyes. The original is 2.75" x 2.5". O.K. I know it is not my copyright but I have no intention of using this experimental image anywhere but here.

By the way I thoroughly recommend Dura-Lar Acetate alternative, it is archival quality and a pleasure to work with. Just a shame that I had to ask a friend in the US to send me some as it could not be found here in the UK. There will be more graphite studies - I will be going back to Arabians and other animals very soon. These studies are a useful change in the evenings when taking a break from larger commissioned oil work.

Blacklord Caesaro - building up colour.

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:14:00 +0000

Here is the late stallion Blacklord Caesaro, a wonderful character and ambassador for the Arabian breed. I have been asked how to build up soft pastel on a black horse (the same principle applies to any black animal) and am using this study to show some of the under colours, blue greys and purple browns amongst others that are laid in before any blacks are used. Blue greys will give the hightlight areas and purple browns give a warmth to the whole pastel. Care must be taken with the purple brown however, otherwise you can end up with a 'sun burned' brown/black. Use the black pastel lightly over other colours and on its own only in the shadow areas. (I like Rembrandt's deep rich black.) Try to stay away from the pastel pencils as much as possible and use them only to finish the fine detail. Note to self: I must remember to take more photos when working as I am good at asking other artists to do this!

Graphite study of an Arabian horse.

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:31:00 +0000

I have been down with a nasty bug for some time hence the lack of new work updates on the blog, but here is something I was able to do in the evenings without risking the pastel dust making this darned cough worse. Working with graphite is interesting and you can get quite dramatic effects. I may use this 7" x 6.5 study for a larger pastel image in the future.

Many thanks to Geoff Rigby, a good friend, who gave me permission to use one of his beautiful photos as inspiration for this study. If you like Arabian horse photos be sure to check his site out.

It seems a little difficult to get a good representation of graphite work on screen. The images do not seem to 'zing' the way they should. Anyone got any advice on this subject? Meanwhile I shall go and ask the experts...

Graphite Study of a Goeldi's Marmoset

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:29:00 +0000

'Morning Light', (8" x 5")

The Goeldi's Marmoset (or Goeldi's monkey) graphite study is finished (I think.) Dreadful light here today, so may have to re-photograph tomorrow.

After looking at Colchester Zoo's website I was able to identify this species from the reference photos taken some time ago. It is a Goeldi's Marmoset, a South American New World Monkey from the Upper Amazon Basin of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It is a tree dwelling (arboreal) primate about the same size as other Marmosets and is listed as vulnerable.

Working in graphite again has been very enjoyable and I am going to try to fit one or two in around my regular work.

Work in Progress - Graphite study of a monkey.

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:31:00 +0000

The work of Terry Miller has inspired me to go back to graphite again. I had forgotten how interesting it can be. This study is of a small black monkey seen at Colchester Zoo, very stupidly I did not make a note of the species at the time, so if anyone knows the name please feel free to get in touch. This study is on Bristol Board done with a range of Faber-Castell pencils. I will post another picture in a day or so when this study is completed.

Mall Gallery Exhibition

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:48:00 +0000

Fellow artists and I had a wonderful day out on Monday at the preview of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers (RMS) held in the Mall Gallery in London. (Glad I tried painting one a couple of weeks ago so I could really appreciate the skill that goes into creating these beautiful little 'jewels'.) Lovely friendly people and wonderful work, I thoroughly recommend this Exhibition. Tracy Hall a friend from the Scottish Islands won the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery Award ('The Sentry' Meercat) and also the premier prize for Best in Show ('Red Admiral and Rook'). Here is Tracy with the president of the show Elizabeth R Meek PRMS PPSWA HS FRSA and the Earl of Glasgow who officially opened the Exhibition. Well done Tracy!

Coat Colours

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:20:00 +0000

In the absence of progress on the cabin (still raining) and no work actually completed here is a study of 'Leo' a young horse painted in pastel some time ago. He was in a relaxed pose and I wanted to show the lovely softness and sheen of his coat. In the brown/bay coat are many shades of umber and various browns, blues, greys and a lovely purple brown. If you study the coat of a horse, or any animal, you will see many subtle shades which make up the overall colour. It takes some years to train your eye to see all of them - artists learn all their lives! We look at things differently and that is part of the fun and challenge of painting.

Cabin taking shape...

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:25:00 +0000

With many delays for bad weather and also a wait for a warped piece of wood to be replaced by the suppliers we are finally getting there with the cabin. We chose one with lots of windows as light is so important for us artists! Still have to put on the roof and veranda and also waterproof the whole thing. (As you can see it is raining again this morning.) While waiting for photos for a Middle Eastern project I am sketching Arabian horse ideas for paintings and also playing with another miniature. Photos to follow soon, hopefully.

'A Kind Eye' - Arabian horse miniature

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:26:00 +0000

This little Arabian horse miniature (shown with a UK penny for scale) is my first and has left me with an immense admiration for those who paint 'in the little'. He was fun to do and I learned a LOT in the course of this 3" x 2" painting, so I hope that he will not be the last miniature that I paint. He was done in oils using (at first) liquin to thin the paint. Zest-It was used instead when I realised that the liquin was too thick for fine detail! Zest-it is a wonderful non toxic turpentine substitute that has a citrus smell. (Great if you hate - or are allergic to - the strong smell of turps or white spirit.)

As I am waiting on some photos to come in for the next large project it might be fun to try another miniature to fill in some time. Another image will be posted once this tiny painting has been framed. It is not raining here today - what a change - so we will be working on the studio/log cabin again.

Poppy

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:16:00 +0000

'Poppy' is a pastel study completed recently from photos. Luckily her owner had taken many close up photos of her over the nineteen years that she was alive. She looked a sweet cat and I enjoyed doing this pastel. (Once again it was mostly Daler Rowney with some Unison - my favourite soft pastels.)

I have also been trying to complete my first miniature in oil - watch this space for a picture soon - in between working at building the studio with my other half. We have not had much good weather to be outside but are dodging the showers.

New Studio/Building Site

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:21:00 +0000

Here is the layout of the log cabin which is intended as a new studio. (Just not enough room inside the house.) The porch foundations are not measured out yet so it will extend about a metre and a half further out into the garden. Standing in front is Casey our much loved ten year old Labrador Retriever. She hates her photo being taken and is trying to look nonchalant. :-) Concrete is being laid this week and then we just have to erect the building - which will provide so much more working space - I can't wait.

Dalmatian Portrait just completed.

info@lesleyannhartman.com (Lesley Ann Hartman) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:40:00 +0000

This is Monty, a handsome character living in the South West of the UK with his adoring owner. It was a lot of fun completing his portrait in soft pastel (mostly Daler Rowney with some Unison.)