“Inspiration often strikes by happenstance,” says Wendy Donahoe. “It’s the catalyst that brings to life the subject of a portrait, but more importantly, inspiration enables the artist to capture that elusive essence of a person as conveyed in my carbon pencil and pan pastel drawing, Nick at Twenty Eight.” A lifeless ruby-throated hummingbird, discovered on the floor of a Vermont shed, iridescent emerald wings spread wide, was the inspiration for Final Landing, which Donahoe completed in colored pencil and acrylic.
Final Landing, colored pencil and acrylic on drafting film, 8 x 8"
“On a late spring walk, awed by the brilliance of the day, I was stopped in my tracks as a dazzling display of dappled light scattered shadows across the face of a historic home, providing the inspiration to create The Statehouse on Prince,” says Donahoe. Colored pencil on opaque drafting film is the primary medium employed, with vibrant acrylics painted on the reverse to enhance the colored pencil work. The finished drawing received the American Art Collector Editor’s Choice Award in the 2024 International Guild of Realism Fall Salon.
The Statehouse on Prince, colored pencil and acrylic on drafting film, 15 x 11"
Donahoe’s drawing Olivia will be featured in Women Artists of the DMV, an exhibition curated by F. Lennox Campello that celebrates female visual artists from the Washington, D.C. region, and will premiere in September 2025 at six prestigious art spaces. Donahoe is also a 2024 International Art Renewal Center Salon finalist. Her work is exhibited throughout the year in juried exhibitions at the Art League Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia.—
Nick at Twenty Eight, carbon pencil and pan pastel on paper, 20 x 15"
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