Tag Archives: couple

Nicolette and Aucassin progress

Thought I’d share some progress on the the latest skeleton Old (Dead) Masters painting. It’s coming along. I’m doing some refining right now, and that’s going to take a bit. I like doing these because they’re like a real intense workshop on the style of the artist whose work I’m copying. That’s definitely the case with this one.

grid and sketch of Nicolette and Aucassin — Grid and sketch of Nicolette and Aucassin

Here’s a video tour of where I’m at with this one. (Can you tell I’m listening to NPR?)

Here’s the final!

Marie Marfia, Aucassin and Nicolette, soft pastel on sanded paper, 12x16.375 — Neverending Love Story (Aucassin and Nicolette parody), soft pastel on sanded paper, 12×16.375″.

Finally! These parodies always take forever to finish. I have so much respect for the original creators of the pieces I copy. And I learn a ton while I’m working.

So, no official title for this one yet. If you have a suggestion, please send it along. Of course, puns are given first priority and if I pick your title to use, I’ll happily send you a print as a thank you. Email me, marie@mariemarfia.com, and tell me your idea!

As soon as I have a title for this one I’ll be adding it to my Etsy downloads and my Fine Art America shop, so I’ll keep you posted.

UPDATE! I have decided on a title. It’s going to be Neverending Love Story. It’s because it’s all about the story that never ends. Also, this particular couple is based on a story–Nicolette and Aucassin–which is also referenced in one of my favorite series of books ever.

Thanks to everyone who submitted ideas for the title. They really helped me a lot to come up with something that I liked and seemed fitting. You’re the best fans ever!

Paul and Jan – pastel portrait of my brother and his wife

pastel portrait of a husband and wife couple

Paul and Jan, 11×14″ pastel on sanded paper. © Marie Marfia.

Paul and Jan pastel portrait

Finished! I decided to forgo recording the last part of this one as a video. Next time I promise!

Interested in a portrait? They make great gifts and are a wonderful way to celebrate a memory of someone you love. Check it out here.

Skelly of the Week-Bone to be Wild-two skeletons riding a motorcycle on the beach

Bone to be Wild, pastel painting of two skeletons riding a motorcycle on the beach.

Bone to be Wild on sale this week!

On sale this week, “Bone to be Wild,” a special motorcycle skeleton couple that I did for Bike Week one year. Still one of my faves! On sale this week for 25% Off, including cards, prints and canvas wraps. Sale ends Sunday, October 28, 2018. Go get one!

Shall We Dance is on sale!

pastel painting of a skeleton couple dancing on the beach — Marie Marfia, Shall We Dance, soft pastel on paper, 24×18″. Original unavailable.

“Shall We Dance?” my pastel painting of a sweet skeleton couple dancing on the beach is available as prints, cards and printed novelties in my Fine Art America Shop, as a downloadable print in my Etsy shop, or as a signed card in my Signed Cards shop (links in the menu)! They’re so romantic!

Nos. 32-33, 30 Friends in 30 Days

William and Co.

This was another challenge because William is almost completely in shadow and his lovely wife’s hair is almost completely blown out by the overhead lighting.

This is how selfies arrive, though. You can’t say, “Take another one!” because that would be cheating.

This also took me two days to complete but I’m pleading a trip to the dentist for a crown as my reason for not finishing it yesterday. I got back from that ordeal and just could not muster any enthusiasm for art making.

I like my dentist. He’s capable and a bit quirky and I realize that I’m lucky to be able to pay for his services, thanks to insurance through Steve’s job. So I’m not complaining. But my jaw is a little bit sore yet today. It sort of felt like they were using the right side of my mouth for taffy pulling practice there toward the end.

Anyway, this is it. This is the last of the 30 Friends in 30 Days series. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. I’ll post a complete write-up of it later this week, promise.

William and Co., Nos. 32-33, detail, 30 Friends in 30 Days, 10×8″ pastel on illustration board by Marie Marfia

William and Co., Nos. 32-33, 30 Friends in 30 Days, 10×8″ pastel on illustration board by Marie Marfia

Here are the progress pics:

: Charcoal sketch on a grid.

: Notan.

: Rubbing in with pipe insulation.

: Posterized colors.

: Local colors.

: Getting closer.

: Final tweaks.

This is my 30 Friends in 30 Days series. Each day I take a friend’s selfie and make a pastel painting from it. Then I post it to ebay at auction for 7 days. Follow my progress as I learn to paint pastel portraits with a little help from my friends.

Click here to bid on this painting.

Nos. 20-21, 30 Friends in 30 Days

Dylan and Ann

This handsome couple is Dillon and Ann, my friend Mary’s son and his wife. I am not sure where the reference photo was taken, but they were hiking in the mountains somewhere. I like their strong features and big smiles. They must have been feeling very good about their accomplishment!

pastel portrait of two people hiking in the mountains

Dylan and Ann, Nos. 20-21, 30 Friends in 30 Days, 9×12″ pastel on paper by Marie Marfia

Dylan and Ann, Nos. 20-21, detail, 30 Friends in 30 Days, 9×12″ pastel on paper by Marie Marfia

Here are the progress pics:

: Charcoal on a grid.

: Black and white value sketch.

: Posterized colors.

: Local colors

: Final tweaks.

Click to bid on this painting.

Shall We Dance?

Shall We Dance? 24×18″ pastel on paper by Marie Marfia, $645.

I admit it, I’m a sucker for romance. Old movies, fairy tales, dancing with your baby after dark. I love all of that. How about you? Do you like to watch the same old happy endings over and over again?

I think that’s why I love doing these skeletons. They aren’t embarrassed to get caught gazing into each other’s eye sockets. They just do as they please, and if that’s a beach bop on the shore in front of everybody, so be it.

When I thought of the name for this piece, I immediately began hearing “Shall We Dance?” that song in “The King and I,” an old musical with Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner. I used to watch that movie every chance I got when I was young, and then later with my daughter. I loved how they kept dancing faster and faster until Miss Anna was quite out of breath and the King of Siam had a particular look in his eye, maybe thinking, “Hmm, there’s more to this dancing stuff than I thought.” It sure seems to get the everyone breathing hard, doesn’t it? Of course, that’s not an issue when you’re a skeleton. You could dance all night and never get tired.

If you’d like to purchase “Shall We Dance,” it’s available for $645. Contact me via email and I’ll get right back to you with purchasing and shipping info.

New to pastels? Read about their care and feeding here.

Shall We Dance? detail, 24×18″ pastel on Canson mi teintes paper by Marie Marfia.

More Work in Progress on the Skelly Couple on the Beach

Getting closer. I’ve already put my signature “M” on this one, but I will probably continue to tweak it a little during the day. I’m leaving it on my easel so I can let it bug me when I go by. I can already see little things that I will want to fix before I let it go out into the world.

Finishing up the water, added pink to the sky and the sand.

Putting in more detail on the clothing, working on their heads.

Finishing the rest of the bodies, clothing details, adding interest to the sand.

Close up of the smiling couple.

Work in progress, skeleton couple dancing on the beach

More progress on the couple dancing on the beach. I got to thinking about all the fun I have had in my life while I lived near the water. I still live pretty close here. I mean, 30 minutes isn’t bad at all, but I still wish I lived closer. When I was a kid, Lake Michigan was 5 minutes away by car and Hutchin’s Lake was a quarter mile down the road from our house. In Ludington, I lived 11 blocks from the beach and I used to walk my dog down there every single morning. I’ll get back to the water again, see if I don’t.

: Starting to go over the sky with the royal blue color.

: Drawing the skelly in the dress.

: Drawing in Mr. Man, working on the greens in the ocean.

: Finishing drawing the feet.

: Filling in the sky.

: Trying to capture that green glow in the water.

Skelly couple dancing on the beach, work in progress

That’s probably not the final name for this one, but it’s coming along and I thought I’d share the first few steps in this painting. A skeleton couple dancing together makes perfect sense to me. Double the pleasure, double the fun!

: Here’s where I started. And then basically stopped for about 2 weeks.

: Thought I’d add the Lightner Museum behind them but it just wasn’t working well.

: I abandoned my first idea, found some reasonable stock photos of another couple and got to work on them.

: Here I’ve used a pastel pencil in dark umber and wiped off the vine charcoal.

: Blocking in the color.

: Blocking in the skellies.

: Rubbing in the background with packing peanuts.

: Rubbing in the skellies with packing peanuts, too. I haven’t yet decided whether or not to rub in the pastels of their clothing.

Marie Marfia Fine Art

Skellies and more!