This bright little bird captured my full attention and I felt drawn to paint him. His magnificent red feathers were a deligtful challenge as they required many layers of hard and soft pastels to achieve his bold markings and brilliant coloring. It was one of those paintings that I didn't want to end because the process was so
enjoyable.
Paintings by E. Coffman
Monday, July 11, 2011
Princess 11"x14" Pastel Sold
This was a commission for a woman I met during my employment. I created this painting from several photographs that were provided to me...two for the pose and one for a close up of the face and one to show light and color. The surface I chose to paint on was a dark navy blue mat suede board. I selected mat suede board becuase it allows multiple layering and supports fine details in a painting without smearing edges. It is one of my favorite surfaces becuase it enhances the richness of color that pastellists love to express in their paintings.
Marco 11x 14 Pastel Sold
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Monday, July 4, 2011
Desert Hues 5 x 7 Pastel SOLD
Desert Hues was an exciting accomplishment for me. I worked mainly with large simple shapes, texture and a limited palette for this piece. White ampersand board was the chosen surface because of it's advantages for creating a wet underpainting. After the initial colors were blocked in, I held a spray bottle about 8 inches from the painting and sprayed it with water. The colors ran and merged with each other. A delightful blending resulted. The masses in the painting still retained their shapes and it was interesting to apply the various pastels over the underpainting. Scenes like this are delightful to paint. Using this technique I am never sure what is going to develop during the process, thus the adventure.
11 x 14 Echos of Times Past Pastel SOLD
Tumacacori is a place that excites artists imagination and fills their hearts with a desire to paint echos of times past. This old priest's housing quarters caught my eye with it's rounded corners and beautiful textures outlined against the brilliant AZ sky. A friend exclaimed, "You can see the softness of the ages in this." Her insightful comment echoed what I felt while creating this painting. For the surface, I chose Richardson's Gator Board in a gold color and used pan pastels for this heavily toothed surface to depict the marvelous textures, highlights and shadows in the ruin, as well as the desert earth surrounding it. For the sky, I employed almost every kind of pastel I had and blended many layers to achieve the brilliance of the blues inerent in the sky. This was a painting that just seemed to flow. I enjoyed the process immensely.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Opals of the Desert 16 x 20 Pastel
Painting this was absolute fun. Black mat suede board provides a rich background for the jeweled colors of the desert flowers so prevalent in Arizona every spring. People stop and stare in awe and they take cameras on long walks with the hope of seeing these desert beauties. The flowers usually stay in bloom only a day or two, so to get a photograph at the right time in the right light is considered a treasure by artists and photographers alike. Pan pastels were used for this painting with the smallest applicators. They were new to me at the time but I loved using them in this particular painting. Unison pastels were also used at times to lighten and/or brighten certain areas.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Look Into My Eyes 8 x 10 Pastel
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