Luna Moth Painting-A Pastel Study

A flash back to spring 2008, I painted this 30" x 22" Luna Moth pastel study for a much larger oil portrait which measured 108" x 72" and completed in July 2008. I still don't have those pictures posted in the website (projectinsect.com) art gallery, but maybe one of these days it will happen:)

Above is the detail of the study painting, the light on this one was fun, and the polar bear like hair on his head and body make him so lovable and cute. It is the way the speciman looked under the microscope. I think fuzzy wuzzy was a moth!

Goin Dancin-Finished Pastel Portrait

Here is the long awaited finished pastel portrait of Goin' Dancin, a racehorse owned by Lanham Racing. The portrait size is 24" x 36" and was very challenging once I got to the bottom portion with the horse and jockey crossing the finish line. My hubz made a funny comment as I finished up the piece, he said, "I think this is the first painting you have done where you actually got to paint a finish line at the finish line."

The full picture above was digitally photographed by Photographic Works here in Tucson today. They did a fantastic job. Below are 2 detail pics of the horse and jockey that I took with my little camera at the easle......enjoy!

Goin Dancin is pictured here winning a stakes race at Turf Paradise located in Phoenix, AZ. I was able to meet the horse in person and photograph him a few times on and off the track which really helped me capture his expression and personality.
The jockey and horses chest were very challenging as the detail was quite intense in these areas. The jockeys head is no bigger than a quarter to give you an idea of size.