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