Untitled 164

Pastel on UArt, approx. 3.5" x 4".

I really like this one. It feels somewhat Diebenkorn-ish to me.

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The first weekend of Open Studios went very well, though I haven't even remotely recovered from it yet. Good thing there's several days to recuperate before the next weekend. Thanks, all you Boulder peeps who've already come to visit the studio!

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Thank god for cats. I wouldn't make it through life if I didn't have them to make me laugh.

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In India. 

$115.00 - Untitled 164 (Ready to Frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 130

Pastel on PastelMat, approx. 3.5" x 4".

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What is that little furry creature between my feet?

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At the farmers' market the other day, my leg suddenly started itching really bad, out of nowhere. I looked down, and...it seems that I was bitten by a chupacabra:

$115.00 - Untitled 130 (Ready to Frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 117

Pastel on PastelMat, approx. 3.5" x 4".

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I noticed the other day that Gadjo, now at nine months old, has developed a cute little...


(look closely)

...fanglet!

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In Hyderabad, India.

$115.00 - Untitled 117 (Ready to Frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 114

Pastel on PastelMat, approx. 3.5" x 4".

I've noticed that I've been painting with a lot of pinks and greens this spring, not colors I generally use often. I guess I'm being influenced by the rainy weather, which is producing gray skies but a very green and flowery landscape.

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My favorite place in Jaipur: the Air Palace.

$115.00 - Untitled 114 (Ready to Frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 112

Pastel on PastelMat, approx. 3.5" x 4".

In other news, I'm (well, The Husband and I) working on revamping my website to make it more clean and minimalist; we ate our first baby greens of the season from our little container garden; it seems that it just won't stop raining here in Boulder, land of little rain; and Daniel Smith is having a good sale (check out the Unison pastel prices! unfortunately I already restocked recently) with free shipping for the next few days.

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Who's a big boy?

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Dude with Attitude. In Bihar, India.

$115.00 - Untitled 112 (Ready to Frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 99

Pastel on PastelMat, approx. 3.5" x 4".

Sold.

Thanks, everyone, for your recent comments. It's always exciting to move in a new direction. Loriann asked about whether I'm using an underpainting, so I thought I'd describe my process for these.

I take the new PastelMat or UArt paper, rub a random pastel color all over it, then rub that in. Then I usually put on one or two more layers. At that point, I'll either take some of the pastel back off (with a dry oil-painting brush), and/or spray with Spectra-Fix. I continue this add/subtract/occasional spray process for many layers, sometimes at times even removing virtually all the pastel I've previously put down ("wasting" lots of pastel, yes)...until that magic moment when the painting suddenly feels right. 

I never use any fixative on the final layer, as I feel it kills the freshness. In fact, until this newest style of paintings, I never use any fixative whatsoever. I've noticed, in doing these new ones, that as a final layer, the intentionally created contrast of fresh pastel over sprayed pastel can be a great effect.

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In India.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com