Art by Niki Hilsabeck

All complaining about the rainy year we're having aside, I do have to be grateful that it's not the alternative: 10% humidity and miles of dry brush just waiting for a spark... "Fire at Pala" 12 x 18 Chalk and oil pastel on Canson watercolor paper Click here to buy print: http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/6555182-2-fire-at-pala-pastel We have a pretty good vantage point at our house and can see the approximate location of just about any fire in our area. They usually stem from our local military base to the west, or from the Indian Reservation to the east. I took a photo of this one, a typical fire out at the Pala Indian Reservation. Thankfully it was quickly extinguished-- unlike the big fire in 2007. I didn't get a photo of that one, since I was too busy packing and getting the heck out once I saw it coming our way. For this painting I began with bright oil pastels and sketched in the layout of the hills and trees. I left the paper free of oil pa...

"Reaching Out" 12 x 18 Pastel (oil and chalk) on Paper Click here to buy print: http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/6423935-1-reaching-out-pastel Another big flower... another mixture of oil and chalk... Same subject, different day? How is it that painting in a series can be comforting, yet challenging? And is it still considered a series if you take a break and paint something different for a while? I'm not sure I would call anything I paint a "series," except maybe my Egyptian-inspired pieces. Yet, these large flowers call to me often, as does the need to paint them in oil and chalk. I'm not sure it's the subject matter and medium I crave in these cases, though. I think it's the escape into painting without having to plan too much, or worry about perspective and straight lines, or about capturing a likeness. It's the freedom of painting loose, with a general destination in mind, but absolute freedom in how I reach it-- and absolu...

"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...

"Pretty Wild" 9 x 12 Pastel (oil and chalk) on paper Click here to buy print: http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/6227032-1-pretty-wild-pastel I'm finding it quite therapeutic to paint random scenes from nature these days (in my usual messy fashion of course). What turned me off to a lot of these types of scenes initially was that I didn't want to get caught up in all of that detail... so many leaves, branches, petals, etc! I've since become comfortable focusing on emphasizing just a few details, and making the paintings mostly about the texture, patterns, shapes, and colors. It's important to work the whole painting at once, rather than get sucked into making each area perfect before moving on to the next. I started this one with the oil pastels, using dark blue and purple to map out the main shapes for the branches and larger flowers, and then adding in the overall patterns of flowers and leaves. I tried to detail a few leaves or flowers, just...

"Entangled" 9 x 12 Oil and Chalk Pastel on Drawing Paper Click here to view listing for original For prints and cards, click here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/6112438-1-entangled-pastel I've never been too excited to paint flowers just for the sake of making pretty flowers-- I usually need something a little more interesting about the flowers to inspire me. In this case, I was intrigued by these pink flowers who seemed to bloom despite the mass of vines around them-- they appeared somewhat trapped. It reminded me of how I feel sometimes, tied to so many things in life that I have little free time anymore. Yet, I know that if these flowers were cut and freed from the vines, they would wither and die. I think people are the same way-- for all the pressure we feel from our surrounding ties, we would not survive if we were cut completely free from those ties. To paint this piece, I bloc...

"Blue 'Tude" 8 x 11 Pastel (oil and chalk) and China Pencil on paper Click here to buy print: http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/5824481-1-blue-tude-pastel What started as a sketch while I was in the waiting room at the hospital turned into a full-blown learning experience with china marker, oil, and chalk pastel. I like to sketch with the china marker, because it's nice and loose (and you can't erase!) Unfortunately, my toddler discovered that she enjoys sketching with the china marker too. She especially enjoys sketching ON my work, and had a great time scribbling all over the reference photo as well. Of course, I smiled and let her do it-- what else is an artist mom supposed to do? I can always make a new sketch. I rather liked the sketch I had, though, scribbles and all. So, I figured some oil pastel would blend nicely with the china marker, and maybe cover up some of those scribbles. I got a pretty good picture down with the oil pastel and ch...

If these three look familiar, it's because they are-- it's the same family from "Three for the Sunset," this time taking a little dip in the moonlit waves. I actually did this picture in class a few months ago, without the moon and clouds. This paper makes it extremely hard to have any hard edges, because it eats the chalk pastel and digests it. So, I used a little oil pastel to give the chalk some sticking power. I've never combined these two before (it felt a little unorthodox), but I think they can work together if used on the right surface. Chalk can only go on top of oil, though-- I wouldn't recommend oil on top of chalk. "Mystic" 9 x 12 Pastel on Paper I added the moon and clouds to give it more of a mystical feel-- I'll have to admit that I can never remember seeing moonlight at the beach; every night I've been at the beach, the marine layer was so thick you could barely see where the water ended and the sky began. The title comes from...