Some Artists are very prolific and can turn out a painting in a day or a week. These Artists are most apt to be able to sell their originals. There are some Artists such as myself that require time to choose a subject, research and draw preliminary sketches before even starting on a painting that will take 4 to 8 months to create.

My name is L.A. CLINE and for over 40 years I have been painting with pastels. I love the way I can layer the pastels and create the soft magnificent texture of what I paint. First, I choose the subject. This is so very important because I have to love what I am painting since I will be working with that subject for months. My paintings must have an everlasting relevance to capture the beauty of our world for generations to admire.

People ask me why it takes so long?  It take me four weeks to research and then sketch my subject and set up to paint the original.  When you look at my paintings you will understand the complexity of the many 20 or more layers of pastel I apply to build color, texture, likeness.  I paint in the morning, evening, sunny, cloudy, raining days to make sure that the painting will look great in all weather conditions. No over head lighting is needed because the lighting is built in within the layers of pastel over time.

“Tender Moment” is a very emotional and loving painting. Grevy Zebras are on the endangered list because of the their narrow and intricate stripes that reflect a fingerprint for each Zebra while most other species of Zebras have much wider stripes. The Grevy Zebras do not have stripes on their bellies but do have a long stripe from the top of their head to the end of their tail. They have big heads and large round ears and weigh 770lbs to 990lbs and the largest of the three species of Zebras and the most threatened. The Grevy Zebras were named after Jules Grevy the President of France from 1879-1887. They are also referred to as Imperial Zebras.

I was crouching very close to these two Grevy Zebras and was mesmerized for six hours and then the mother laid down as be baby foal moved closer to her. What a moment!!!

This painting took me 5 months to draw and paint. The stripes had to be exact. I used slightly lighter coloration’s of  brown pastels for the young Foal since they are born reddish brown and grow darker as they mature.

For the past 20 or so years I have been working with an expert in Digital Fine Art. I combine this advanced technical process with traditional painting. We work together to digitally scan my original painting making sure to capture the whole look of the colors, contrast,  brightness, texture and the look of pastel.  Since I work on archival heavy cotton Fine Art Water Color paper the Digital paper is the same. It takes 5 or 6 takes sometimes more to make sure the digital image using archival inks is just like the original in every way possible. Every work I create I use museum quality materials.

Once I have my Digital Image it is mounted and I start the process of hand painting the digital image with layers of pastel and sometimes multi-media since I want each Art Collectible to be slightly different. This process takes about three weeks and then I choose incredible frame like this one from Italy with a wooden Silver Leaf frame on the outside and a second Black inner frame.

These Art Collectibles I create are labor intensive however they present themselves as a another beautiful one of  a kind  fine art original.  This “Tender Moment”   has layers of pastel and is framed with an Italian made of  solid wooden brushed light pewter color with black and matching inside frames.  An absolutely gorgeous work of art.

L.A. CLINE

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These beautiful Fine Art Note Cards are Giclee’s printed individually on 80lb, acid-free paper. Every card has a deckled edge along with the envelope. The images on the Fine Art Cards are from L.A. Cline’s Nature Collection. You will receive a variety of images hand selected by the Artist. These stationery art cards are perfect for that personal, loving note you want to send.

Just fill out the Contact Me Form, sign in and then like us on Facebook to tell all your family and friends. The drawing will be on October 31st and the announcement of the winner will be on November 1st.

The winner will be announced on L.A. Cline’s Facebook page! The winner will have the opportunity to submit a guest blog post for review on L.A. Cline’s Fine Art Blog!

Once you sign up for the Giveaway, you are automatically a member of the L.A. Cline, VIP Fine Art Club. With membership, you will receive special offers and deals on exclusive art collections at great prices. The best part about the VIP Fine Art Club is Membership is free!

Fall has swept itself into gear with the Fall Give Away Campaign. The Holidays are right around the corner and these stationery art cards are ideal stocking stuffers for the art lover.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Pastel Painting “Tender Moment” L.A. Cline Master Pastel Artist

This pastel painting I have created of two Grevy Zebras experiencing their “Tender Moment” may look finished, it is not.  Now that all the stripes are in place, and the forground and background have been painted the finishing process begins.

It takes many layers of different Pastel color pigments to make the background color complimentary, the stripes the right amount depth of color with contrast and the foreground colors that indicate a base line so that the animals look weighted down on the ground.

The finishing process takes me about a week or more to complete.  This is where I use a magnifying glass to look at all the intricate patterns to make sure they are as they should be.  I will move from right to left looking to correct details and perhaps add a few more.  After I finish this process I look at the painting in all types of lights: morning, noon, evening, sunny and cloudy days and in different rooms, this way the lighting will not be any issue in most every day and evening settings.  I will also finish my spraying so the pastel stays in place.   It’s hard to finish a painting but after working so long with pastels you just know when it’s time to stop and if you know when to stop then you have finished the painting.

This painting will be available as a Fine Art Giclee Print .  The painting reproduction will look exactly like the original pastel  painting and would be a masterpiece work of art for any home or office.  The original painting without a frame measures 33″ Wide X  22 1/2″ High.  The painting reproduction will be very close to those measurments.

One of the main reasons I painted these magnificent animals is for everyone to be aware that Grevy Zebras are an endangered species.  The Grevy Zebras are the largest of the African Zebra’s nearly 7 feet tall with the males weighing 770 to 990 pounds.  Every Grevy Zebra has its own set of identifiing stripes that are individual to each animal.  There are no markings on their bellies and the general characteristics are their: big heads, long necks, large rouneded ears, smaller more delicated striped patterns with more distinction between the black stripes and a stripe that extend from their head main all the way down to their tails.   This species of  Zebras was given as a gift to Jules Grevy the Presdient of the Third Republic Regime of France in 1882.  Hence the species is called, Grevy Zebras.

I  love learning about animals and creating nature paintings of  beautiful Wildlife especially the “Tender Moment” between these two Grevy Zebras.

Written by :  L.A. Cline, Master Pastel Artist

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After finishing a Memorial Pastel pet portrait Portrait Painting of my clients’ beloved Blue Point Himalayan cat entitled, “Mr. Madison Blue”, I decided to continue with animal portrait theme as my first Masterpiece painting for the New Year 2013.

I created the new pencil sketch above of two Grevy Zebras shows a beautiful connection between Mother and her offspring. The Mother decided to lie down to rest on a hot summer’s day and her little offspring is approaching either for a loving nudge or perhaps reminding Mom it’s time to eat.  This is a natural endearing exchange; a beautiful moment to capture in a fine art rendering.

Drawing the different striped patterns of each zebra was very complicated, especially because of one zebra being in front of the other.  Every zebra has their own pattern and it is their signature of recognition.   The Grevy Zebras are an endangered species – the largest of the African Zebra’s being nearly seven feet tall, with the Males weighing almost 1,000 pounds.  The foals are browner in color and turn black as they become a year old.  As I studied these beautiful creatures for my artist rendering I noticed that the Grevy Zebras have unique characteristics such as: large heads; long necks; big rounded ears; and smaller, more delicate striped patterns, with more distinction between the black stripes.  Their stripes end to expose their bellies – where there are no markings.  Lastly, there is a stripe that runs from their head mane all the way to down their tails. They now are considered to live in the northern areas of Kenya and in a few southern regions of Ethiopia.

One interesting fact I found is that the Grevy Zebra was named in honor of Jules Grevy, who received this species as a gift.  He was the President of the Third Republic regime of France in 1882. As you may not know… the more research the artist does, the better one can achieve the creative readiness, mood and motivation, not to mention the insight needed to successfully capture and paint every aspect of what will be called a “Masterpiece”.

Now that I have done most of my research and finished this pencil sketch to-scale, I have the information I need to start the painting.

It’s always exciting starting a new painting. I have yet to name the painting, so if you have some ideas I would love to hear them.

Check back as the painting progresses and to  all a Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Master Pastel Artist: L.A. Cline

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