Stone Cellar

Stone Cellar behind the cottage on Muddy Creek, Alderson.

Pastel on ColourFix, 9 x 12

Get-out-of-jail-free Cards

One thing I learned quickly about pastels is that it offers get-out-of-jail-free cards. And, lots of them.

I went back to the Cellar painting today, to cash in one of these cards, and realized that I can shrink the over-sized rose clusters--that pastel allows you to correct mistakes. So, I split them down the middle, did some infill, and am MUCH happier with the result. At least the clusters are more proportionate to reality now, not super-sized freaks!

I also added a few of the Silver Lace plants on the right. Believed that area needed help, too: something taller; something varied from hosta things growing there.

Here are closeups of the two fixes which hopefully show that even amateurs like me can fix mistakes easily with pastels.

Was '69 the good year, or was it '76?

So, I jumped off a cliff today and tried the 3rd challenge exercise from WetCanvas.com -- the Spotlight for June.

Have to admit, this one did not meet my expectations. Parts of it, I like -- the stone and texture in the walls, and the door.

But the real problem here is the foliage - boring! The rose turned out muddy...because I couldn't get it right. (I need more practice with shadowing.) And the foliage at the bottom is...blehhhh.

Nonetheless, it was ... an exercise. And exercise, I did.

Now, about that wine !!!

Underpainting:

First Draft:

Final: (I think?)

Pinot, meet Geraniums.

Pinot, meet Geraniums.
An exercise in using green pastels, hosted on WetCanvas.com

Final:

In progress:

Underpainting:

Ruckstuhl Farm

Today I took a sharp U-turn from the pastel techniques I have tried so far. I wanted to get away from attempts at realism and move towards a more colorist approach.

Many artists are addicted to color. So am I. Realism, as I understand, uses less pure pigments and instead serves up what nature displays. Colorists, in contrast, seem to enjoy greater freedom to paint what they feel; paint emotions they want to express; they allow color to dictate the painting outcome instead of form and inherited ideas about color.

This is my first attempt at a colorist approach. Frankly, I like it better than the other few pastels I have done, because it is more vibrant and accentuates what I sense as pastel strengths pastel--pure pigment. When placed near the more realist paintings I tried, this one seemed so more vibrant and appealing.

So, each to his/her own, but in my personal journey so far, catching the eye and creating a response is what matters. A colorist approach just might work...

Final (I think):

Prep Work:
Shapes, Notan values, light, movement, underpainting, etc.

Ribbit

An exercise in green from the Spotlight forum on WetCanvas.com

Final:

First Draft:

Underpainting:

Spring Arrives

This, my 3rd pastel painting, hopefully reminds the viewer of a fresh Spring day, when vibrant greens and yellows tickle the senses as the first warm days draw out new growth on the trees and grass.

Using an iPhone to take a pic of the painting, then uploading to the internet is not the best option, but all that's available here. The snapshot and upload loses granularity and verve. It's hard to hold the phone still...

It's another barn scene (hope I'm not tiring you already). But, each of these is a smaller study for a larger painting that I hope to do on the same subject.

I love the colors available in pastel...which I know are so tempting that they can overtake a painting. I'm learning NOT to grab the most vibrant ones first. Nonetheless, nature pours out many of those same pure pigments during the early days of Spring.

Final:

First Draft:

Underpainting:

Prep Work:

A Morning Walk

This was today's pastel project--another view of the barn and field.

Started with preliminary sketches to establish focal points, movement, values, etc. Moved on to an underpainting, then to a first draft, then to this final copy below.

Final:

First Draft:

Underpainting:

Preliminary Sketches:

Ok...last one...for real this time.

If I don't spray this thing with fixative, it will never end. I realize there is a time to "stop". Yet, there were some obvious problems that needed to be fixed:

• Proportions were wrong--doors / windows too large for the structure.
• Too much awkward airspace between the barn and the tree line.
• Sky had become polluted with dust from other work, etc.
• Red tones in side needed consolidation; less glowing aqua.
  

I am still looking for a way to minimize the red / aqua on the main side of the barn. I feel it competes too strongly with the intended focal point--the stone/ground area that catches the sunlight, and completely obliterates the secondary focal points--the goats. There is soooo much red there that is commands all the attention and the eye does not notice the intended focal points of the stone work and goats, or the tertiary focal point--the tree line in the back.

Final 06_15_2010

Sometimes, let go of fear. I was afraid to jump off a cliff and use red pastels. They can be--and often are--severe. But, the aqua blue would not tone down right, and it's a red barn now, after all.

Trying to tone the aqua just left me with muddy, murky, ugly colors. I suspect that using hard pastel pencils is not the way to go...rather starting with hard, then moving to soft, etc., is best.

Anyway, I like the red now and am about as close to finished as I can get for one day.

Not Quite Finished

Realizing the barn is leaning a bit more than it does naturally. Will correct that. Also still concerned the colors may be too cartoon-ish. I love the aqua, but it makes the painting look like one of those cheap State Fair t-shirts.

First Draft

First attempt at pastels in over 20 years.

Ready to Begin

Supplies laid out -- protective paper, relevant sketches, pastels, etc.

Notan Sketch

Notan - A guiding principle of Eastern art and design, focusing on the interaction between positive and negative space.

The value relationships are established: where are the darkest values and where are the lightest; how do they interplay with one another.

Focal Point Study

Centers of interest are defined - Primary, Secondary, Tertiary

Movement is studied - how the eye should move around the painting, where it should rest and why, through lines and focal points.