Finishing the unfinished business

If you remember, I started this painting last September. In the mist of my final rush to finish stuff, this painting was put aside, because I had ran into some creative blockage...
Now I am finishing it for the student exhibition (ASE) and it's going well. I was inspired by a fellow blogger, who has been very very kind and supportive to my blog, and is very nature& environmentally conscious, after seeing many post on his blog I decided to make some changes to the painting. The bird in the older version, was a dead bird, now I am making it alive and standing, adding more connection to the woman in fur. I hope to finish this painting in time, despite the good weather outside...:0)

Oil Study 1

I need reference!! I was working from a series of digital references which made the
initial composition easy to layout, now I need more to be able to render the tone and value (color). In order to get a really rich, warm, powerful shots of the actual sun-set, we will probably have to go somewhere like Valley Forge or Water Front, or even Tour Eiffel...I hope we don't run into some PETA members, after all, this is for a good cause.

Work in progress

Still working on the pastel study. I really love the hawk that one of my critics found, although it's been frozen in the freezer and it began to stink a little(by a little, I mean a lot). The owner of the hawk is going to give it a "proper burial" next month, I'd love to do something about it (a comic strip maybe?)

Someone asked me if the next "Jacovmella" is coming out soon, the answer is--yes! I lost a page of the pencil drafts (my sketch book took a nice blow in a very windy day, some of the pages went nearly out of the window, one did,finally >:( ....) Anyway, the next Jacovmella is coming out in a few days, as soon as I finish my pastel study.

Oil in progress

This is the draft of the painting in progress. I drew out the charcoal to determine the composition and now I am moving into the color study. I love using pastel for this kind of work. Most artists produce works of pastel with"freer"touch than their oil paintings. Pastel is wonderfully light weight, easy to work over and full of magic. It can also kill your lung if not protected properly. ..Of course smoking can too.