Art by Niki Hilsabeck

"Mariposa" View on Daily Paintworks   It's spring, and this year that means a few more rain showers, plenty of birds, and  rattlesnakes. It also means time in the garden, along with a spring pastel workshop, which was the artistic  highlight of my month! We painted spring butterflies, and my daughter managed to turn her face green by rubbing her pastel-laden hands all over her face as she worked. Classwork from our Family Art Workshop-- Spring pastels at St. Stephen Lutheran in Fallbrook Learn more here I originally created this piece as a demo for the workshop, and finished it up a bit later at home: "Spring Butterfly" 9 x 12 pastel on paper View on Etsy Spring is a time of renewal, and every year I find myself busy in the springtime.  The days last longer, there are plenty of art events on the calendar, and the weather is much more inviting.  The birds return to familiar nesting spots.  The nights here are still pleasantly cool, and...

"Butterfly Jungle" 9 x 12 Chalk pastel on paper Click here to purchase or view large A month after having a baby boy, it's still difficult for me to get painting time in-- this piece was finished mostly in one sitting, but it took several adjustments to get the last details right.  I forgot how miserable it is to try and concentrate on anything when there's a crying newborn around.  The irony of the fact that I recently wrote an  article on not abandoning your art blog and then disappeared for a month from mine is not lost on me... I've spent a lot of time this last month reading about how other artists approach marketing their work, and have reached a conclusion: I don't want to use sales pitches and gimmicks to get my work sold.  One artist I follow mentions not using "hard sales" tactics, because it never pays to have a buyer regret purchasing your work once the art makes it home.  To me, buying art is like buying a favorite book to re...

"Cling" 9 x 12 Chalk Pastel on Paper Click here to view prints: http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/7832237-cling-pastel Here is another butterfly pastel, on Canson Mi-Teintes paper and with a little darker feel to it than the last one. I normally paint in a bright and sunny fashion, as I happen to agree with Renoir's famous stance on ugliness in art: there's enough ugliness in the world, so why not paint beauty instead? Ocassionally, however, a less cheerful mood will overtake some of my work. In this case, the colors came out fairly dark, and the butterfly took on the appearance of clinging to the foliage rather than hanging delicately as it was in my reference photo. The surrounding plants appear to part ways, as though a wind is sweeping through the area and leaving the butterfly to hang on desperately until it passes. There is light in the background, suggesting that the dark wind will pass and the warm light will take over. The di...