Nina and Ranger

LOVE receiving photos from my clients. Here is Nina and Ranger with their portrait :)

Beautiful Brutus

Check out Brutus in his frame! The client decided on a double mat, one to bring out the colour in his eyes, the other to bring out the colour in the water. Unfortunately Brutus is no longer with us, but this is a great way for him to be remembered. I think he looks awesome!! Share if you like.

Nina & Ranger ~ A surprise Christmas gift

Nina & Ranger ...... Just one of my graphite pencil portraits commissioned as a surprise Christmas gift, and that had to be kept a secret until now. I can't wait to receive a photograph of the portrait when it is up in it's frame!

Colour Pencil Portrait of Brutus

Here is the portrait I have been working on for the last few months. It is a second portrait of Brutus, the black lab mix I had drawn in graphite pencil earlier in the year. It is the largest colour pencil portrait to date, 10 x 20 inch, and the first time I have attempted to draw water in this medium. I love taking photos of the work in progress and I thought I would share them.

My first outdoor art show this year was the Gallery on the Green in Litchfield CT. I had a great response to my artwork, particularly to my color pencil bird portraits, and I’m happy to say my original color pencil Eagle Owl portrait found a good home.

It's been a while since I have posted on here. Having a baby at the end of last year and moving house earlier this year didn't leave me much time for my artwork. Things are a little easier now and I was finally able to find the time for an art show and a couple of graphite pencil commissions. The first portrait is of an 11 year old black lab called Rufus and the second is a black lab mix called Brutus. Both portraits were given as fathers day gifts.

So it looks like I have a busy summer ahead of me.


Canandaigua Waterfront Arts Festival July 28th and 29th, Brockport Arts Festival August 11th and 12th, Arts at Sonnenberg Gardens August 18th and 19th, and Letchworth Arts and Crafts October 6th, 7th and 8th. I have attached the links for the events for those of you that are interested. I better get drawing!


http://www.waterfrontartfestival.com/
http://brockportartsfestival.com/
http://www.artsatthegardens.org/aboutus.php
http://www.artswyco.org/index.php?page=lacs

Graphite Pencil Drawings of Houses

After the Christmas rush I was commissioned to draw two lovely houses. This was a first for me, I had never drawn any type of building before (or trees for that matter!) and to be honest I was a little nervous about it. One of the reasons I was nervous was because the portraits were only 5.25 inches square! I had never drawn anything so small, how would I capture all the detail???  I started with the house I was least looking forward to drawing ~ the house with the tree in front. I figured if I could get that one done, the second house would be a breeze.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed drawing the houses in the end, and the house I was dreading the most turned out to be my favorite out of the two. I am looking forward to drawing more houses in the near future.

Australian Cattle Dog

Sadie
Head & Shoulders Color Pencil Portrait

This is a color pencil portrait of an Australian Cattle Dog called Sadie, and was given to her owner as a Christmas present. I think this is one of my best color portraits yet!

A couple of German Shepherds

I hadn't drawn a german shepherd before and I received 2 commissions within days of each other! Both were Christmas presents which is why I couldn't post pictures of them before now. The first was a close-up color pencil portrait of Sophie, and the second, a full body graphite pencil portrait of Pepper, a black lab/shepherd mix.

Pepper
Full body Graphite Pencil Portrait 

Sophie
Head & Shoulders Color Pencil Portrait

Northern Bluebird Pencil Portrait

Northern Bluebird

I spent a couple of weeks in September working on a color pencil portrait of a Northern Bluebird. You don't see very many of these beautiful birds but while my husband and I were down at his grandfathers cabin I was lucky enough to capture this photograph. As a child my husband would build and put up bluebird nesting boxes on his grandfathers land and to this day checks them every year. 

I completed the portrait in time for the Mill Art Centre Member Show and left it, along with a couple of other pieces, in the gallery for the month of October. When I went to collect the pieces at the end of the show I was told I was the only member to sell some artwork and yes, my original little bluebird had already found a home! 

Prints and note cards of Northern Bluebird can be purchased from my website. www.taratiberiofineart.com

Featured Artist for Arts Fartsy Tuesday!!

I am honored to be the featured artist for Artsy Fartsy Tuesday! Check out the link below :)

http://roxythetravelingdog.com/artsy-fartsy-tuesday-81611/

A Big Thank You!

I would like to thank Artizanns and The Cheshire Union for letting me have my artwork for sale in their lovely stores. I would also like to thank Honeoye Falls Vet for letting me decorate their corridor with some of my prints :) 


I have listed their websites below......


http://www.cugifts.com/
http://www.artizanns.com/
http://www.honeoyefallsvet.com/

Corn Hill Festival Photos

I had a great time at the Corn Hill Festival. Lots of people and lots of fun! Here are a few photos of my booth......

Booth at Corn Hill Festival

Table display 

Panel display

I would like to thank everyone that stopped by at my booth ~ you made it an awesome weekend :)

Cute Note Cards

My note cards came out better from the printers than I expected and people went crazy for them at the Corn Hill Festival. The best seller to my surprise was the Chipmunk & Apple Blossom! The cards are sold in packs of six (one design), come with white envelopes and packaged in a clear plastic box ~ making them a perfect gift for family and friends.

Butterfly, Finch & Chipmunk Pencil Paintings

I thought it was about time I posted my most recent artwork up on here. I have been tied up getting things ready for fairs and festivals but have finally found time for a bit of blogging. I will really try and make time from now on. So here are my 3 most recent pieces of color pencil artwork ~ Monarch Butterfly & Echinacea, Goldfinch & Thistle and Chipmunk & Apple Blossom.....

Monarch Butterfly & Echinacea

Goldfinch & Thistle

Chipmunk & Apple Blossom

........ All 3 pieces are available as archival prints (matted and non-matted) and note cards from my website www.taratiberiofineart.com :)

Naples Festival and a few portraits in progress...

Booth at Naples Festival

I had a blast at the Naples Festival. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. However it was the first nice day we had had for a long time so perhaps everyone was out doing their gardening because it was very very quiet at the festival. Saying that, I did make a few sales and a few new friends. I am also going to have some of my work for sale in a couple of stores in the area. Right now I am focussing on completing a few more color portraits in time for the Corn Hill Festival which is happening on July 9th and 10th. I am going to be patient and wait for the final scans of the originals before I post the completed portraits :)

Butterfly Pencil Portrait

Goldfinch Pencil Portrait

Golden Retriever Color Pencil Drawing ~ Finished

Golden Retriever Color Portrait

I have finally got a round to completing the golden retriever color pencil drawing that I started quite some time ago. I put the drawing away for a while as I was in the process of moving house and tied up with other commitments. I spent roughly 25 hours on this portrait. I could have spent many more hours on it but luckily I have a husband who helps me decide when enough is enough :)

I will be showing some of my original artwork and prints at the Naples Spring Artisan Showcase next weekend May 21st & May 22nd.

Golden Retriever Color Pencil Portrait in Progress

Golden Retriever Portrait with 2-3 layers of color pencil

It has taken roughly 12 hours to get to the stage where most of the portrait has at least 2-3 layers of color pencils applied over it. I have given the eyes and nose more attention because once I have these areas correctly proportioned and shaded (on any portrait) I find myself eager to carry on drawing. From here I expect to spend at least another 10 hours working on defining the hair before I add even more detail to the eyes and nose. 

Golden Retriever Pencil Portrait with one blended layer of color pencils

I found a beautiful photograph of a dopey looking golden retriever in the reference image library on the Wet Canvas website (I believe the photograph was taken by the User called Sheevuh), and I thought it would be perfect for my next color pencil portrait. Six hours after starting and this is how my Golden Retriever pencil painting looked with just one layer of color pencil. Once the entire portrait area (9.5 x 7.5 inches) had a layer of color pencil I then blended the colors using a Prismacolor white pencil. Using a white pencil to blend washes out nearly all the color and seems like a waste of time, but actually this process makes layering pencils easier from this point on due to an even layer of wax over the paper.

"Jenga" ~ Finished Portrait

'Jenga' Cat Color Pencil Painting

After many many hours I have decided that the portrait of Jenga is now complete. I thought I had reached this point some time ago so I put the portrait up on the wall and put my pencils away. A few days later I decided I wasn't happy with the portrait so I got the pencils out again and some 20 hours later finally reached a point where I was completely satisfied. I made changes to almost every part of the drawing including the eye and nose, and went over the entire hair! I think the part that changed the least were the whiskers (minus the one individual whisker I removed). All in all I think I spent over 40 hours on this small drawing (8" x 6.5"). This is a bit extreme but it is only my second attempt at a color pencil portrait and I know l have a lot more to learn about the process. Prints and cards of Jenga will be available from my website very soon.