The Art of Liz Kenyon

Liz Kenyon is a contemporary artist, born in California. She works in soft pastels and her technique is defined by adding layer upon layer in order to build up texture. Her style is more painterly than linear and she uses as many colors as possible to bring energy into her work.

(Kenyon, Liz. Social Hour. soft pastel.)

Kenyon graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson. She worked as a freelance artist illustrating book covers for Avon Books in New York where she was nationally published and has won over 20 awards for her illustrations, monoprints, and soft pastel paintings.

(Kenyon, Liz. Doughnut Break. soft pastel.)

In 1975 Kenyon moved to Phoenix, Arizona. At that time she began using soft pastels and crossed over into fine art. As a pastelist, she has had 15 one-woman shows, received over 30 awards, and also teaches art workshops at the Scottsdale Artists’ School.

(Kenyon, Liz. Sunset at Dave Bruce Vineyard. soft pastel.)

“I enjoy traveling to hilltop regions in search of classic rural landscapes and I’m passionate when it comes to color.” says, Kenyon

(Kenyon, Liz. Standing Pears. soft pastel.)

Kenyon has been published in Northlight Books and she is a Signature Member of the International Pastel Society. Her work is most certainly much appreciated here!

Enjoy! :)

References

• lizkenyon.com

The Art of Bec Winnel

Bec Winnel is an artist and illustrator currently living in Melbourne, Victoria Australia. She works as a full-time graphic designer but, commissions illustrations and has successfully exhibited her own personal artwork. She has a unique style in which she builds layer upon layer of color pencil, graphite, and pastel to create extraordinary elusive soft portraits of women, who entice and mesmerize the viewer.



(Winnel, Bec. Lightness. c. 2009.
Colored pencil on black paper.)
Winnel grew up in Albury, New South Wales Australia, and spent most of her childhood there including some time in Leeton and Jindera. Winnel learned to draw at an early age by observation. She enjoyed drawing what she saw around her. She studied shape and form, as well as light and shadow.



(Winnel, Bec. Silk Cocoon. c. 2009.
Colored pencil, graphite, and pastel on paper.)
Winnel’s family nurtured her creativity. She watched her aunt paint for hours, her mother decorates cakes, her father creates things in his shed and her grandmother sews. Where there were no formal art schools, she along with her siblings found other creative outlets through photography, crafts, and gardening.



(Winnel, Bec. My Gemini Heart. c. 2009.
Colored pencil, graphite, and pastel on paper.)
Winnel moved to Melbourne, Victoria, and formally studied graphic design at the Swinburne University of Technology. There she received her diploma in 2007 and now works for a small but well-established advertising company. Winnel loves pencils, pastels, and conté crayons because they are so convenient and portable. She enjoys drawing on the tram, during her lunch break, and at home.



(Winnel, Bec. Statue of Eve. c. 2008.
Colored pencil, graphite, and pastel on paper.)
Winnel describes her own style “as soft, sensual and a little dreamy to view, but take a closer look and what you see the in the eyes of my subjects lies a different, story an emotional, melancholy soul staring back at you.” Her pieces have been described as “reminiscent of vintage Victorian postcards”.



(Winnel, Bec. Elise. c. 2009.
Colored pencil, graphite, and pastel on paper.)
Winnel is very humble about her success and says, “Talent only accounts for part of it, the rest is hard work, self-discipline, perseverance, and getting used to spending a lot of time alone.” She says she still feels like she is learning and her work is much appreciated here!

Note: These images are copyrighted and are only used to promote the artist. You can buy these prints at becwinnel.com

Enjoy :)

Reference: becwinnel.com

The Art of Ralph Barton

Ralph Barton (1891 - 1931) was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He lived in New York City, during the 1920s at the height of his career. As an illustrator and a caricaturist, he was in popular demand for magazines such as Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, and Life. He often traveled to Paris. He painted for magazines and publishers. Some of his famous illustrations can be found in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” by Anita Loos.

 

(Barton, Ralph. Monk surrounded by dragonfly and god with an incense burner in his hand.)

Barton, suffering from depression, committed suicide in 1931. He shot himself in the head. The following is quoted from his suicide note; I think it speaks for itself.

Quote from Ralph Barton's Suicide Note:

Everyone who has known me and who hears of this will have a different hypothesis to offer, to explain ‘why I did it. 

Practically all of these hypotheses will be dramatic and completely wrong. Any sane doctor knows that the reasons for suicide are invariably psychopathological. 

Difficulties in life merely precipitate the event and the true suicide type manufactures his own difficulties. I have had few real difficulties. 

I have had on the contrary an exceptionally glamorous life, as lives go, and I’ve had more than my share of affection and appreciation.

The most charming, intelligent, and important people I have known have liked me and the list of my enemies is very flattering to me.

(Barton, Ralph. Unknown. Illustration from Vanity Fair, September 1921.)

I’ve always had excellent health, but since my early childhood, I have suffered from a melancholy which in the past five years has begun to show signs of manic depressive insanity.

It has prevented me from getting anything like the full value out of my talents and for the past three years has made work torture to do at all. 

It has made it impossible for me to enjoy the simple pleasures of life that seem to get other people through.

(Barton, Ralph. Captain Smoking on Deck. Illustration from Illustraion House Inc.)

I have run from wife to wife, from house to house, and from country to country in a ridiculous effort to escape from myself. In doing so, I am very much afraid that I’ve spread a good deal of unhappiness among the people who have loved me.

Yes, this is depressing...although, without Ralph Barton's tortured creative spirit, we might not have had these wonderful works of art for others to enjoy in the years to come.

Enjoy :)