This is my second pastel portrait I just completed today. I created this portrait on 600 grade UART sanded paper. This sanded paper is great since it’s easier to paint dark’s and light’s on it and the colors stays on. Some people say that so much color is wasted since it’s a sanded paper, but that’s not not true… you don’t really need to waste that many layers of color falling of the paper before achieving the results you want. This is by far better then the velour paper, but I will still try other papers out.

Pastel cat portraits - Alexander

Some time ago I created my very first soft pastel painting of a Papillion named Idefix. I’m actually still learning how to paint with soft pastels and I find it very nice and rewarding. I just love it! This dog portrait was painted on velour paper and I had to work very hard to get things right when painting. I have decided to try different kinds of papers after this one, I’m sure I will find the right paper for myself.

Pastel pet portraits of Papillion

Well, now that I have made my first two posts after my long vacation I feel that I need to write down a few words and show some photos. We had a really nice time and I didn’t work anything at all, which was what I wanted for myself. I felt that I really needed to take a real time off to reload my batteries for this year and the next. We have visited family and friends in Slovenia and went to swim a couple of times. The three weeks went by and the road back was very long, a 20 hours drive back to Sweden.

Many things are waiting and I have allot of work to complete and new ones to start. I’m still at the beginning of my career as a Portrait Artist and I know I still have allot of work to do. I got myself a mentor and she will help me with sales and marketing. I need to write down a mind-map and sit down with her, talking about which ways to take and which to exclude. The biggest problem with myself is that I want too many things at the same time . I have to make up my mind about which road to walk on at the moment and what to aim for. Anyways… here is a little something to remember by for the year to come…

Country road to our future house

Our future house

My husbands father's sheep

Bumblebee in the garden

Me and our dog Raider

Emily surrounded by puppies

Our friends Tosa Inu puppies playing

Our friends Tosa Inu male

While I was on vacation a client of mine was kind enough to send me some photos she took of her uncle opening his gift, which was a portrait I created for his birthday. It’s a watercolor pet portrait of Farley I painted a while ago. This is what she wrote:

Hi Katja,

I hope you are enjoying the summer.  I just remembered I never sent you the photos of my Uncle George opening up the picture of Farley.  He absolutely loved it!   My aunt and uncle hung said everyone who comes into the room compliments them on the beautiful portrait.  Thanks again!

Take Care,
Sarah Guidotti

Client's photo of painting

I’m finally back from my vacation and today was my first working day I completed the fifth step of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Painting and photographed it a few minutes ago. To refresh your memory about how the fourth step looked, follow the King Charles Spaniel text here. As can be seen, I have changed quite allot from the previous step and now I can only look ahead and complete the painting.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel painting - step5