Portrait of Maureen & Steven Van Zandt

It's sure been a while since I posted. Apart from commissions which have been keeping me very busy. I have been engulfed in horse related activities lately. First there was Equine Affair, a grandiose national equine exposition and equestrian gathering at the Big E in Springfield Massachusetts. Three days filled with varied horse demonstrations, clinics and of course shopping. People from across the nation and the world have traveled thousands of miles to attend this event. After that I spent three great (but unseasonably frigid) days riding in and auditing a natural dressage horse clinic. Well, it's back to my easel, and back to today's post!

It was an honor to paint this pastel portrait of the Van Zandts as a surprise birthday gift for Maureen. I was commissioned by close friends of the celebrity couple. You may know Steve from his role as Silvio Dante on the Sopranos, or as a well-known musician performing as a founding member of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, as well as with his own band Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. Lovely real-life wife Maureen Van Zandt played Gabrielle Dante, the wife of his character, Sylvio Dante, on "The Sopranos". Maureen is also a ballet dancer, director/choreographer of a dance group and founder of a Broadway theatre company. What an interesting and talented couple!

I jumped at the chance to portray this colorful couple in spite of some significant obstacles! For starters the main source of reference was a supplied low resolution (72 dpi digital file) sepia toned digital photograph. Normally however I work from my own reference photos taken in natural light, which gives me an opportunity to observe the subject first hand and take many photographs. While this was a striking professional photograph, the detail was poor due to the low resolution and extreme contrast (fashionable) with midtones blown away, leaving rather white faces and dark shadows. With the help of several very small low resolution supplemental snapshots I managed to acquire, I did my best to render detail in the mid-tones that were absent from the photo.

This portrait was relatively small compared with the (almost life-size) works I usually do. I found it necessary to use pastel pencils for the facial details, instead of soft pastel sticks which I am accustomed to. Lastly because the composition was already provided, there was little room for creativity, apart from the background that I created (from my imagination). To an artist creativity is practically everything.

Doing this portrait was a learning experience. I struggled with the piece at times. In fact it took me almost twice as long to complete as expected. Despite some frustrating moments I am reasonably happy with the finished piece. And I received word that Maureen and Steven were thrilled with the painting. I will consider the suitability of supplied reference photos more fully before embarking on a similar future projects.

Note: I wish to credit the photographer however I presently do not have this information. Through my client, Steve Van Zandt granted me permission to paint his and his wife's likenesses using the supplied photograph as reference, and permission to post the resulting painting on my website or blog. Thanks.

Pastel Portrait - Collage

For this unusual portrait project, I was hired by the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority to paint a pastel portrait and collage of outgoing executive director Claira Monier, to commemorate her 20 years of service to the state. In her roll as executive director Clara was instrumental in helping the authority to provide affordable housing for low- and moderate-income people as well as financing for huge multifamily complexes. Thus I included generic properties to symbolize typical projects that she directed, including a modest single family dwelling, a multi-family complex and a mill building detail. To represent her involvement in state politics and her love of New Hampshire, a detail of the State Capital dome in Concord, distant mountain foothills and autumn foliage helps complete this collage.

For this pastel painting I used an almost unlimited palette, including cool and warm facial tones, autumn shades of red, orange and gold, and cool shades of green, blue gray and a hint of purple. After learning from Claira's secretary that her favorite colors are red, white and blue, I thought it fitting to paint the scarf in such patriotic hues, instead of red, white and brown shades of her actual scarf!

Sketch for Pastel Painting of Yorkshire Terrier

Yorkshire Terrier sitting on antique chair.
Charcoal sketch underdrawing. 11"x14"

Initially I did a few thumbnail sketches of this dog in various settings, including a flower garden, before choosing this ornate antique chair as the perfect backdrop.

At barely 9 inches tall and weighing about 5 pounds, this toy dog seems oblivious to her small size. Judging by her silky coat and well kept appearance, it is easy to imagine that she is one pampered dog! Do I detect a trace of mischief behind that sweet face?

Working on a mid-toned sanded pastel paper, I used vine charcoal to sketch the basic proportions and establish the dark values. I blocked in the background using deep red, hard pastel to help define the outline of the chair. And I lightly roughed in some of the floral pattern of the chair upholstery using a soft red pastel pencil. Next I plan to spray the sketch with workable fixative, before proceeding to the painting stage. When painting in pastel I generally do not spray successive layers, as fixative tends to deaden the colors.

At any given time I may have several pastel or oil paintings in progress, as well as preparatory sketches and commissioned portraits of dogs, horses, cats and people. It's always fun, and interesting!

Go Fetch

Golden Retrievers swimming, & doing what they do best!
Pastel, 8"x10"
$250, unframed (free shipping in US)

I stopped by a coastal marsh to take some photos of water lilies, when I was treated to the playful antics of four Golden Retrievers instead. I just love how Goldens live their lives with wild abandon. If I wasn't smiling when I got there, I sure was when I left! From 60 to 80 feet away I was able to snap several great shots with the help of a telephoto lens.

I chose to do a small pastel of two of the dogs. Here I used a blue & orange palette with green and dark red accents. I wanted to capture the determination in their eyes.

If you would like to purchase this painting please email dale@dalebegley.com.

Copyright by Dale Tremblay Begley

Mystery Portrait Sketch

This is a charcoal sketch for a commissioned pastel portrait of two celebrities (No, I cannot tell you who they are -yet). The portrait is a 'surprise' gift for the pretty lady, hence the faces have been obscured. Unlike my normal process, here I am using a client supplied photograph as the main reference source for this portrait. Normally however I work from a half dozen of my own reference photos taken in natural light, and sometimes live sketches (when possible). I really enjoy the creative process of taking photos, and observing the subject first hand, as it gives me greater insight into their personality, and allows me an opportunity to observe nuances that photographs often lack. Even so, this will be a fun portrait.

As always, I begin each portrait with a value study, either in charcoal, or whatever medium I am working in. The study functions as the under-drawing for the painting, allowing me to develop the basic layout, establish the dark values, and check the drawing for accuracy. This particular reference photo is a striking image, but it was printed using sepia tones, thus the colors are not true. So in order to gather enough information to render their skin tones accurately, I also needed to acquire a dozen or so small snapshots of each of the subjects. Certain values and subtle facial details are blown away in this photo, as in common practice in fashion photography, so I will need to pull certain details from the snapshots. Check back in mid November if you'd like to see the final portrait!

A Warm Welcome

Corgi at the Front Door
Pastel,
8"x10"
$240, unframed (free shipping in US)

I couldn't resist photographing this happy soul while sight seeing in Rockport Massachusetts one warm September day. Back in the studio I played around with a few sketches as I considered various themes and settings. Ultimately I chose to paint the dog by the entrance to a quaint Rockport shop, as if to welcome the passers by.

This blue/orange color scheme, complete with peach posies and blue door complimented the dog's coloring, and seemed to me a fitting backdrop for such a happy critter! Warm orange and peach tones dominate. There are also hints of green and red.

If you would like to purchase this painting please email dale@dalebegley.com.

Copyright by Dale Tremblay Begley

Sketch for Horse Portrait

Today's post is a preliminary charcoal sketch for a portrait commission of Reddi, a 28 year old, bay quarter horse gelding. As you might guess by his soft eyes he has a very gentle demeanor. Years ago this boy was rescued from a bad situation by his present owner. Happily he has been well loved and cared for ever since. Reddi struck me as sweet and proud horse.

This 16" x 20" sketch on Art Spectrum Colourfix coated pastel paper will serve as the under drawing for the final pastel portrait. Typically I like to work on mid toned, or dark toned, sanded paper when painting in pastel (never white paper), as is the case here. When working on a dark surface such as this, I begin by building up to the dark values early on and then proceed to the light values.

sketch copyright Dale Tremblay Begley

Tea Party

Two Kittens & Tea Set
Pastel,
16x20
$1200, unframed

I created this composition for a group show featuring original works by New Hampshire artists that were "inspired by" a non-living artist. My pastel was inspired by the works Henriette Ronner-Knip (Dutch 1821-1909). Ronner-Knip was one of the very few eminent animal painters of her day, and one of the most admirable of all times. She has produced a cat-world remarkable above all for beauty and grace, for playfulness and cunning, and for intelligence far beyond what most people give them credit for. I admire her humorous and anthropomorphic characterization of cats and the luxurious interiors settings she so often depicted them in. She was known for using a dark palette not unlike the old masters. However I like to use more color!

This pastel painting was created using blue-violet as the dominant color with greenish-blues, a bit of light violet, and complimentary oranges, peaches, and pale yellow-orange highlights. Magenta pinks and a hint red were used as accents. I just love this circa 1930's Noritake tea set, inherited from my late grandmother. In the pinkish light of late afternoon the irrediscent, hand-painted blue and tan lusterware picks up the colors from it's surroundings. And in my pastel the set appears more violet than blue, and more peach than tan.

If you would like to purchase this painting please email dale@dalebegley.com.

Copyright by Dale Tremblay Begley