“Beans”, pastel on pastello paper, 10″ x 6″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Beans, Pastel

This art is “Beans”, 10″ wide x 6″ high on acid-free Fabriano Tiziano Pastello drawing paper and Sennelier pastels © Bernadette E. Kazmarski, signed and dated 6/9/13.



“Beans”, pastel on pastello paper, 10″ x 6″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

“Beans”, pastel on pastello paper, 10″ x 6″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

I had a day of painting en plein air, and came home and sketched my cat en plein air.

It’s interesting to see what I would come up with after a day of art. Typically the daily sketch of one of my cats is the first piece of art-on-paper I do in a day, and often the only thing, but I looked at the weather and knew it was one of my Sunday art days, no matter what I “should” have been doing. I’d started out with my contrived trip to the grocery store knowing I’d pass several areas I’d want to sketch and photograph, so when I came back I’d been warmed up with landscapes and streetscapes, then saw Bean on the top shelf of the cat tree in the quiet corner of the kitchen where the shadows are very green from the trees outdoors and the light is blue reflected from the sky.

The original inspiration was Bean’s toes, his little toe beans, oddly enough the clearest thing in the scene, matched with the subtleties of the light on his fur. I watched him settling for only a moment before getting the art bag I’d just put down and quickly roughing him in with the softer black pastel on the dark green paper and pulling the highlights with a few strokes of only three highlight colors. Then I blend with my fingers, one of the things I love best about drawing any animals in pastel but especially my cats, that as I use my fingers to blend the pastel into the paper and the colors into each other, the subject emerges, as if I’m petting them and they come to life.

And warmed up after a day of going about the business of art, photographing and painting and visualizing, this came about much more quickly and surely than it otherwise would have.

~~~

I actually did this sketch on a Sunday but waited to post it on a Money. There are no coincidences. I know the reason for the title and perhaps my even noticing Bean’s toes was the thought of another kitty and a conversation about the nickname “Bean” for her, and the name “Bean” turning up for several other cats at an auspicious time. We lost that little Bean on Monday, another little black Bean, way too early. She was so beautiful, and made me think of Mimi. For my friends who are missing their Sabrina Bean tonight, this sketch is in her memory, whether I intended it or not.

~~~

SHIPPING

Shipping within the US is included in all the prices listed. All shipping is via Priority Mail. Prints are shipped flat in a rigid envelope. Canvases are shipped in a box to fit with padding. Since this original is small it is also shipped in a box with extra padding.

FRAMED PRINTS

This sketch is 8″ wide x 10″ high on acid-free Fabriano Tiziano Pastello drawing paper and Sennelier pastels. It is matted with 1-3/4″ acid-free black core sage top mat and black core white bottom mat, framed in a 1″ flat matte black 11″ x 13″ solid wood frame. The backing is acid-free foam core and the glass is premium clear glass. Other framing styles are available. All framing is done by me in my studio.

GICLEE PRINTS

The giclees are printed on acid-free hot press art paper for a smooth matte finish using archival inks. Giclee is the highest quality print available because the technique uses a dozen or more ink ports to capture all the nuances of the original painting, including details of the texture, far more sensitive than any other printing medium. Sometimes my giclees look so much like my originals that even I have a difficult time telling them apart when they are in frames.

I don’t keep giclee prints in stock for most of my works. Usually I have giclees printed as they are ordered unless I have an exhibit where I’ll be selling a particular print so there is a wait of up to two weeks before receipt of your print to allow for time to print and ship.

DIGITAL PRINTS

Digital prints are made on acid-free matte-finish natural white 100# cover using archival digital inks. While digital prints are not the quality of a giclee in capturing every nuance and detail of color, texture and shading, I am still very pleased with the outcome and usually only I as the artist, could tell where detail and color were not as sharp as the original.

The giclees have 2″ of white around the outside edges. The 5″ x 7″ and 8″ x 10″ digital prints are centered on 8.5″ x 11″ digital cover while the 11″ x 14″ has 1″ around the edges because the digital paper is 12″ wide. All are countersigned by me.

CANVAS PRINTS

I usually have at least one of the smaller sizes of canvases on hand, but order larger ones as they are ordered here because customers often want a custom size. Smaller canvases are a 3/4″ in depth, canvases 12 x 16 and larger are 1-1/2″ in depth. I set them up so the image runs from edge to edge, then the sides are black or white or sometimes I slip in a color that coordinates with the painting. This canvas is blue on the sides.

MOUSEPADS

Mousepads are 8″ x 7″, always horizontal so in this case it crops quite a bit from the top and bottom, 1/4″ black foam rubber with the image printed on a flexible fabric on top.

DAILY SKETCHES

I endeavor to do at least a small sketch each day as a warm-up to my aesthetic senses, so I have a small pouch of art materials and a few various sized sketchbooks available in the house and out. Usually, these are done in pencil, my first and favorite medium, though sometimes it’s charcoal, ink, colored pencil, ink and brush, whatever strikes my fancy at the moment, the greatest challenge to keep it quick and not get caught up in details, let the idea flow onto the paper.

Most often, the subjects are my cats because they are such willing models, though sometimes I’ll also wander afield, literally, and sketch in my yard or anywhere I go for errands. Medium and especially style vary just so I get a chance to do something new.

Every once in a while, they are meant for framing, and I’ve designed a series of notecards, notepaper and notepads using other daily sketches (see my notecards section). Often I use them as illustrations for graphics projects I’m designing.

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