Portraits

If you are interested in how I started doing portraits, check out the bottom of this page.

Most of my paintings were given to my customers before I thought of photographing them. The images below are scanned from snapshots I took.

Sweet? Sixteen  (pastel)

(Cindy at Sixteen)

Sandy at 17  (pastel)

Sandy and Cindy  (pastel)

This was originally painted about 1976 for my in-laws with a dark brown background and Sandy's blouse in gold. When I placed in our home I changed those areas.

Cindy  (pastel)

Sandy  (pastel)

Shawn at 4 1/2   (pastel)

    Shawn  at 5 1/2  (pastel)

Sir Shawn  (watercolor & pastel)

This was my first attempt at unrealistic fantasy.

Buddy  (watercolor)

This is one of 7 watercolor portraits of the 7 dogs .

Mouschi  (pastel)

our faithful cat

Bart in front of the Pennsylvania house  (pastel)

My  Career? as a Portrait Artist

I like to draw and paint and was considered rather talented by my teachers by the time I was in the 1st grade and was often given more complex tasks than the rest of the class.

Portraiture was easy for me. My friends frequently asked me to draw them, allowing me the opportunity to practice.  I took art in the 8th and 10th grade and later took 2 courses studying drawing and oil painting  in college. Although I took so few art classes, I must have been known for my portraits for, on several occasions, teachers and others would ask me to do the faces for murals and other art work they were creating.

In my 10th grade art class, the teacher insisted we spend our time doing freeform clay sculptures but would not let me try to do a bust. She had never seen my drawings or paintings before I brought some in to enter into a statewide competition that I won in my division and was awarded a scholarship to Carnegie Mellon University. I began being better known and began selling my work in the 10th grade.

I enjoy painting but never actually advertized and have not done as many as I would have liked. Few of my friends or relatives are interested in having portraits made of their family members. I have worked at fairs doing charcoal sketches and cutting silhouettes while displaying some of my pastel work and would get some commissions that way.