Art by Niki Hilsabeck

"Wish you Were Here" 12 x 18 chalk pastel on paper Click here to buy print: http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/7121126-wish-you-were-here-pastel I'm finding that these spa scenes are quite relaxing to look at, and thought I would put a few together to show their consistency in colors and textures... "Bathers," "Heavenly Pool," and "Bathers II" (all chalk pastel on paper) The latest piece, "Wish You Were Here," was completed on olive-toned Canson Mi Teintes paper. It was a leftover piece from one of my art classes, and I thought I would try it for one of the spa pieces. I used to shy away from green tones (both in my house and in my art,) but I am learning to appreciate the subtle effects a green undertone has to offer in some of my works. I've always been taught that water should have a little green in it, so this has worked well for these spa pieces. There were some figures in the original photo ...

Tropicale 12 x 18 Chalk pastel on paper Click here to purchase  There are times when I find myself hating a piece until the very end, when it all finally starts to make sense. This usually happens when I try something a little different, and am not sure if the risk is going to pay off artistically or not. "Tropicale" was one of those pieces. Once it was complete, I was quite happy with the experiment. I used dark green Canson Mi-Teintes paper, thinking the green would blend nicely with the background. I thought I would try to exercise some patience and build the trees with layers of color. It quickly turned into a battle between the colors, and I was fighting to keep the trees from turning into mud. I finally realized that no matter how many layers of lights I added to the foliage, it wouldn't look right until I went back in with some darks. I used my almost black gray pastel, and worked in some tiny shadows to emphasize the lights. Once I was finished, I put the...

"Bathers" 12 x 18 oil pastel, chalk pastel, and water on paper Click here to purchase I've taken many photos of the beautiful scenery at Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Southern California. I've never felt comfortable snapping random photos of people, although the spa patrons are really the most interesting subjects there. I don't like to ask people if I can take pictures of them, because then they pose and it doesn't look natural. On the other hand, I don't want to be that creepy person that randomly walks up and takes pictures of people without their permission. I've always enjoyed paintings of "bathers," which we might today refer to as sunbathers or swimmers. There's something about people in or about to get in water that makes them look so playful and free. I also like the fact that there is no idealized beauty in a lot of these paintings-- in Southern California, it's hard to find a place where people who haven't had plasti...

"Winter Meeting" 12 x 18 Chalk Pastel on Paper Click here to buy print: http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/6417412-1-winter-meeting-pastel Click here to see more of my animal themed art: http://artbynikihilsabeck.blogspot.com/p/fauna-i-animals.html I tried this subject earlier on a small piece of paper, and between the tiny size of the paper and the bluntness of the pastels (I don't use the pencils too often), there just wasn't enough room. I've always liked this idea though-- birds at sunset in Oceanside, California, on one of those winter days when there are more birds than people on the beach. So, I decided to give it another try with large Canson watercolor paper and "winter" colors, which for me are gold and purple (at least at the beach!) Instead of trying to realistically copy the photo, I went for a looser approach, and did only a little smearing at the end. I tried to keep the colors in the water broken, with harder edges, and the...