Blue Ridge Parkway Artist, Another sale of A Break in the Clouds, and More Beautiful Nudes!

My Artwork

I am so pleased to sell another print of A Break in the Clouds to a great Tennessee patron!  This painting sure gets around!  It is my second best-selling print and 24"x 36" canvas prints of it at 40% reduced price are available for the next few days at Fine Art America!   

There is a 30 day money back guarantee that includes the shipping price!

A Break in The Clouds     Original Oil Painting has been Sold

Prints on Paper or Canvas and Greeting Cards Available at   KENDALL KESSLER ART

Here are the Other two Painting on the Special Promotion section!

Burning Shore    Original Oil Painting has been Sold

Prints on Paper or Canvas and Greeting Cards Available at   KENDALL KESSLER ART

Lion Explosion  Original 20"x16" Oil Painting $670

Prints on Paper or Canvas and Greeting Cards Available at   KENDALL KESSLER ART

My Beautiful Nudes

As I said yesterday I am going to spend some time blogging about my artwork that is not of the Blue Ridge.  Here are two more nudes that I am proud of.  

It is such a fascinating experience to work from a nude model.  The contours on a person constantly change and the volume and life of the figure are obtained when an artist can get a precise contour.

Drapery Pull    Original 24"x 18" Drawing    $894

Prints on Paper or Canvas and Greeting Cards Available at   KENDALL KESSLER ART

This is my second best-selling nude drawing.  I am especially pleased with the composition and light/dark patterns in this one.  

Like "Reaching Out", the model seems to be straining for something beyond the picture plane.

Changing    Original 24"x 18" Drawing    $894

Prints on Paper or Canvas and Greeting Cards Available at   KENDALL KESSLER ART

In this one the simple act of pulling a garment off has given the model a fluid, expressive look.   Artists seek to capture a beautiful moment in time.

Life with The Word and Bird Man - Clyde Kessler

Once again, here is the latest news on the group my husband works closely with to promote this gorgeous mountain region!

Blue Ridge Expeditions: Hike on Garden Mountain

Sat, August 23, 12am – Sun, August 24, 12am

Where	Garden Mountain map
Calendar	BRDC Web Calendar
Created by	aaron@blueridgediscoverycenter.org
Description	Join BRDC on August 23rd for a hike on the Appalachian Trail at Garden Mountain. For information about any of these free and fun hiking events, please contact Amy Roberts at 276-688-3793 or aarobert@vt.edu.

More on the Beautiful Peaks of Otter on The Blue Ridge Parkway and It Flies!

Distant View of The Peaks of Otter    12"x 16" original oil painting    

Professionally framed         $484.00

Print on paper or Canvas available at        KENDALL KESSLER ART

My Artwork

As usual I have had a rough start with Wordpress due to the fact that I am somewhat computer challenged.  Oftentimes they don't make sense to me and I get confused over how different sites are set up.  

I started with a post on The Peaks of Otter and thought I had published two but now I see the second one is still a draft so here I go again.

Also, if anyone reading this can tell me how to take my posts out of Peaks of Otter category which is listed on all of them in my posts section, please do!  I'm not sure how that happened but I don't want The Peaks of Otter to be the category selection for all my posts.

Deer at The Peaks of Otter     Original Oil Painting     30'x 40"      $2425.00

Prints on Paper or Canvas available at    KENDALL KESSLER ART

Farm Pond   Original Oil Painting has been sold

Prints on Paper or Canvas available at    KENDALL KESSLER ART

Life with the Word and Bird Man - Clyde Kessler

My husband works on a computer all day long and is much better at understanding them than I am .  We have a wireless mouse at home which drives us crazy!  We regret switching from the attached mouse.  

Ours is one rotten little rodent!

Lately it was moving so slow that it took forever to get things done on my website and other sites.  My husband opened it and spent a long time cleaning it.   I thanked him and told him my mouse has wings now!  He said, with a frown, that is a bat.  Oh well.  I will take a bat over that slow rodent any day!

The Mindy Project is Back on The Air!

I am so pleased The Mindy Project is back on TV with a new episode this Tuesday at 9:30pm on FoxTV!

Be sure to look for my best-selling print, "Reaching Out", which was chosen out of over 3 million works of art on Fine Art America to be on the show!  It is in Mindy's office and there have been many shots of it last season and this season!

Reaching Out     Original charcoal drawing      24"x18" on white paper in white mat          $894.00

Prints on paper or canvas available at     KENDALL KESSLER ART

So pleased to sell a HUGE canvas print of Blue Ridge Jewels and Take the Belt Buckle Challenge...

I have sold a lot of large originals and large prints of my work but I was so pleased to sell my first huge(40"x50") canvas print of Blue Ridge Jewels!  This painting is one of my most colorful evening views of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.  The painting is owned by a great California patron who gave me fantastic feedback for it and will be buying more in the future for her new home.  I have 61 images  in my Mega View folder in my portfolio and I hope more people will take advantage of a large vista landscape, still life, or portrait for their home.

 I love carrot cake but my husband can't eat wheat and my son doesn't like it.  I offered to try to make it with rice flour but that idea went over like a lead balloon.  Finally I decided to make it and freeze half so I could get the rest later.  I can't eat a lot of it at a time since I have a tendency to gain weight.  The Battle of the Bulge has been my theme song since I was a kid.

I told my husband what I planned to do and he said I should make the whole cake.  Take the belt buckle challenge!  Keep eating the cake until you need to go to the next notch!

WISE GUY!  Half of the cake is in the frig and the other half is in the freezer.  I am winning the Battle of the Bulge and I'm not giving up now!

Be sure to check out my Limited Time Promotions on Fine Art America!  I put up three favorites every week.

Again, looking forward to the return of The Mindy Project September 17th!  Hope they have more shots of Reaching Out!

Glad to sell another print of Reaching Out and They will just put you on a computer...

I am pleased to sell another large print of Reaching Out to a great patron in Louisville, Kentucky!. That print sure is getting around!  I haven't seen it on The Mindy Project in the last two episodes.  Mindy needs to get back into her office!  It is a lot of fun to see it there.  The print is still number one  on Fine Art America  in the search results for charcoal nudes, nude girl drawings, nude drawings, and black and white nude girls.                                      

 Be sure to check out my YouTube video of it and other nudes of mine.

I am spending more and more time on the internet working at promoting my artwork.  I keep discovering new ways to increase traffic which in turn increases my sitting time in front of the monitor.  My husband says I am addicted to the computer and I told him I can quit anytime I want to.  He said I needed help to quit this addiction but figures the cure would probably be some sort of therapy in front of the computer.  I guess I can handle that, since I am there most of the time anyway. BRING IT ON!   Oh well! I guess there are worse things in life than being a computer addict.  I don't play the games!

Be sure to check out this week's canvas print specials on Fine Art America.  Large 40% off prints of favorite paintings.  Just click on Limited Time at the top right of the site. Mine are on page three and four this time.

Check out my Second Video on Portraits and Mice in there...

I am pleased to have posted my second video.  This one is on my portrait work and includes my recent portrait of the virtuoso violinist David Garrett.  I think the photography turned out well and the music helps to enhance the discussion of the paintings.   The next one will be on my many landscapes of The Blue Ridge Mountains.

I came so close to throwing the computer out of the window yesterday.  I don't understand the ridiculous problems I encounter when trying to do simple things on it.  Why does the software change?  Why did my tutorials disappear on Aperture?  Why did the button that said workable movie disappear on my Canon software and was replaced with an upload to YouTube that would not accept my username and password?  Argh!!!!!  My husband came home, fiddled with it for a while, found my video and placed it on the desktop.  All I can say is I better leave this life before him or I may take a hatchet to the computer and then I would really be in a fix.

He explained to me that there are mice running around on the computer.  Each one is vying for the same piece of cheese in the software and they thumb their noses at the ones that don't get it.  I think some computer geek needs to invent a computer mousetrap.  The mouse we use to click is enough!

Don't forget to watch The Mindy Project!  It is a great show and since my drawing, "Reaching Out", is on it, I can say it has great artwork on the set!

Eating the Still Life and the only believable part...

I am finally happy with my still life and will eat the fruit before it spoils.  I arm-wrestled it down and I think the result is an especially vibrant still life with strong complementary color contrast and a great spatial effect that is not complicated but draws the viewer into an effective frieze.  As usual I changed my interpretation a number of times and now it says Kendall Kessler.  I love to paint!

The political ads on TV, Facebook, and my land line are really setting my nerves on edge.  I think the land line service is going to come to an abrupt halt!  We all have cell phones.   I would be glad to take our phone, internet, cable bill down a notch and have some peace and quiet.  What a win win! I can't think of anything funny today so I am just going to repeat something I saw on Facebook about political ads.  The old lady said the only thing she believed about those ads was when the candidate says their name and that they approve of the ad.  Maybe there should be some sort of law about presenting false information in an ad.  This campaign reeks of dishonesty.

Be sure to look for my drawing, "Reaching Out" on The Mindy Project.  I didn't see it on the first episode but the set director told me it wouldn't be visible in every episode.  I hope to see it soon!

 

 

Revising a Nude Drawing and He Works for Potato Chips...

When I was a kid I often heard about how artists often return to work long after it was done.  That seemed so strange to me at the time.  I couldn't imagine working on a painting years later but now I understand why this happens.  Sometimes I figure out what what was wrong with an earlier painting or drawing long after I cried uncle.  Artists continue to learn more about their work as it becomes more complex and then earlier works seem so much easier to deal with.  Right now I am revising a charcoal nude drawing I did many years ago and like the effect I am getting.

When I was dating there was one comment I consistently heard from boys that made me uncomfortable.  They said I didn't talk very much.  One boy said other girls talked his ear off but I was so quiet.  I know I wasn't a big talker but I did think I talked when I had something to say.  I am painfully shy so I have to put on an act when I am around people to keep up my end of the conversation.  The effort grinds my stomach so I am perfectly happy alone in my studio or with my family.  When I started this blog I wasn't sure how I would be able to think of much to say so I decided I would have to be creative which is why I try to include something funny.  Sometimes I come up with something but I rely on the poet I married and the great thing is I don't have to pay him!  He works for potato chips!  As long as I keep potato chips in the house he tries to come up with something for me!  He didn't have anything for me today so I better go and check the supply.

Looking forward to seeing my most popular print, "Reaching Out", on The Mindy Project.  I saw an  advertisement for the show yesterday.  Hope it is a hit!

Kendall Kessler's Most Popular Print will be part of the set of the upcoming sitcom The Mindy Project

Fox TV has requested the use of my most popular nude drawing, "Reaching Out", to be used as part of the set of a new sit-com, The Mindy Project.  The drawing will be in the main character's office. I am so pleased my work will be seen by millions and I hope you will look for it September 25th! Fine Art America has 119,627 artists on the site with 3,158,806 images.  This selection is quite an honor.

"Reaching Out" is now my best selling print.  "A Break in the Clouds" is in second place.   On Fine Art America this drawing is number one in the search results for charcoal nudes, nude girl drawings, nude drawings, and black and white nude girls.


Low on funnies this week.  I will have to get my crazy husband to work again. I can't do this by myself.  I am learning from the master but I am just a novice.  He is the nutty humorist and I depend on him.  The only thing I have is what he said about what people may have to do after going to some restaurants which is get two jobs.  One to pay the bill and the other to work off the calories.  Not his greatest but maybe next time I will have a better one.

Be sure to check out my new Gallery of artwork uploaded in 2011-2012.  Now you can view my recent uploads without looking through all my other galleries.  I have been uploading a lot lately.

My Favorite Nude Pastel Paintings and They got Those Fries from...

I have sold a number of prints of "Reaching Out" and other charcoal and conte crayon nude drawings but no pastel paintings so far. I am pleased with all of my nudes but I especially like the pastel nudes. I guess that is the colorist in me coming out. I have always been mesmerized by color and I hardly ever do line drawings. The range of greys is the color I use in the black and whites. I do have one intense ink nude that I am going to add to my portfolio as soon as I finish my current painting which is driving me crazier than I already am. I hope to have it finished in the next few days.

I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing about my husband's stomach problems but his restrictions are always leading to some kind of funny remark. My favorite is the one about the shark leaping out of the water begging for its life if someone threw a piece of rice bread in the ocean. I couldn't resist putting that one in a blog. One of the really good things he can still eat is french fries. I don't know anyone that hates those. Sometimes fast food places have ones that are dried out and pretty nasty. The other day my husband got some that were so bad he said they stole them from some poor fisherman that was going to use them for bait.

I knew I would add Charcoal and There is no Place like...

Still working on an old drawing that I thought needed some accents. The drawing is a pencil nude and has great space - just didn't carry very well. I was determined to stick with graphite and make it work but I got out the charcoal. Now the drawing has strength and is a strong visual experience. Like many young artists I started with pencil and then moved on to charcoal, conte, and pastels for drawing. There is nothing wrong with graphite but it was only for me when I was young. I will add the drawing here when the weather cools down so I can get a good outdoor shot.

My husband, son, and I live in a small, active solar house that we bought as a starter house on a nice street with three houses and wooded areas. It seemed like an ideal place for an artist and a naturalist. It was a great place for two years then every lot was sold and the sloppiest people on the face of the earth moved next door - no exaggeration. At one time they had seven cars that did not work on their lawn with old TVs, furniture, and assorted trash. We have been fighting with them since they moved here. I even made a video and took it to the city and nothing happened.

Finally, after many years, social service made them clean up and now we may be able to sell our house if we find what we want but we have had a lot of fun here and had a lot of great neighbors and friends for my son. It really is true that there is no place like home. Whenever we travel we always say when we get home, "There's no place like this dump, there's no place like this dump!

Glad to Sell another Print and Adult ADD versus CRA

I was so please to sell a print of one of my nude drawings. They are very special to me. I put a lot of energy and linear accents into my nudes. I have sold a number of prints on FAA but this is the first print of a nude other than a couple of greeting cards. The human form is beautiful and I think it is sad that some people are offended by the nude in Art. As I tell my students, anyone can make a poor, stiff, lifeless drawing of the human form. The mark of a true, accomplished artist is one that can make it look alive!

I write things down. I make lists. I put dates on the calendar and I still miss things. I'll never forget the day the dentist called up and asked if it was possible to change my son's appointment which was on the next day. I told them I couldn't change it and then I forgot to take him! I don't think I will ever live that one down. I jokingly told my husband I have adult ADD(attention deficit disorder). He said he has CRA(Can't Remember Anything) but he isn't sure because he forgot.