Rebecca Stephens: Artist

10/06/2026

I had a visit today from lovely Helen Lynch who I gifted Francis too. ( And her equally husband lovely Ian Lynch )
She's had him... Francis.. not Ian🫪... framed .. and he looks fabulous. Great frame choice ( I love a dark frame.. you get taken through a portal!) and the silver highlight is just perfect.

It was so lovely to see him framed, I really appreciated seeing him being shown off so perfectly.

14/05/2026

Thank you to everyone who reacted and commented on my Tom Jones post.
Thank you to everyone that follows, supports and encourages me on this art journey.
This is the man who started my obsession with faces that tell a story.
❤️

08/05/2026

Very nearly finished Tom now. I'm not happy with his hair yet, but I think that is because it's getting lost.

I'm almost decided I'm going to put in a dark warm chromatic 'black' back ground in behind him to make him pop. I've been trying to get the colour right on a spare bit of pastel mat. There are so many variations to get, and none of them are quite right yet . I think black on its own will just kill the colour .

What do you think?


Clairefontaine Pastelmat Caran d'Ache

07/05/2026

04/05/2026

Finally able to do a bit more, but the more I do, the more I see needs doing!

I really want to increase the level of detail I do...may explore going bigger and a smoother surface again (Alice Cooper was smooth) pastelmat is like fine sandpaper and it is great, but it's a lot of work to fill the grain to be able to get sharp lines.
But you get a depth and blend of colour being able to build multiple layers to get the colour and tone you want and that's not always possible on smooth paper.
Colour mixing with pencils has to be done on the surface, so this is the biggest pro of pastelmat. With smooth papers you're limited, press too hard and you won't get the colour you want to achieve and there's no way back....the payoff is detail, smooth paper means sharper lines.

19/04/2026

Giving my hands a rest, so here's a throwback to 2022 when I first started to draw people.
I was really pleased with this and learned lots ( as I always do on each drawing). I'd do it a lot different now. Maybe I'll do it again as I really love the lighting and could make so much more of it with a surface that will take more layers.
Castle arts pencils on cartridge paper.

16/04/2026

Was able to manage some pockets of drawing time today.... Here's yesterday's and today's so you can see the difference and the skin tones and contours building up.

#

14/04/2026

My, my, my……

What’s new pussycat?

Well,

It was only a matter of time before Tom was in my sights.

13/04/2026

A watercolour seascape.
A5