Day 13 "Sunset"

Snow again! I long for the summer days of drifting in my kayak at Jacobson Park in Lexington. "Sunset" is from a photograph that I took from the kayak which is why the horizon line is low and flat. The cloud was so beautiful and dramatic that there was no need to manipulate the colors for the pastel drawing. 

"Sunset"     8" x 12"     pastel     $285

Day 12 Olympia National Park

Continuing the travelogue of my 2010 trips is a waterfall from Olympia National Park in Washington. This park is one of our nation's largest national parks and the landscape ranges from 6,000 ft. Hurricane Ridge to the Hoh River Valley temperate rain forest to the Pacific coast. My family and I throughly enjoyed our July visit.

"Olympia National Park"   7.5" x 10.5"   pastel  $245

Day 11 West Virginia

 "Art gives you the ability to travel someplace without going anyplace." unknown
Today I'm traveling through my reference photos to West Virginia in search of an image to produce a step by step printout for my pastel workshop on Saturday at Artists Attic. "Knob Meadow Evening" is the highest point on the Marshall farm in Mingo, West Virginia and when I stand on the knob it's feels like the opening sequence of "The Sound of Music."

"Knob Meadow Evening"          8" x 12"           pastel           $285

Day 10

Sunday was a day of rest, but I'm back at the Pastel a Day and have changed direction. Back to the local images - this one is Pisgah Pike in Fayette County or maybe it's Woodford County in the late afternoon summer. (Kentucky has 120 counties so where am I now?) I'm interested in the fence shadows as it weaves along the side of the road. Shadows follow the movement of the land.

"Bluegrass Fences"    8" x 12"   pastel   $285 framed

Hum....as I view the image on the screen I see another awkward intersection of lines where the fence shadows meet the dominate tree on the right. This will have to be changed. Painting is all about shapes. In realism and impressionism those shapes are recognizable items but the shape must be considered as a design element before considering its descriptive purpose. Shapes contribute to the composition and the composition is paramount in building a strong painting.

Reworking

The marvel of pastel is how easily it can be reworked. When I make the sanded paper using the pastel primer by Art Spectrum if I need to correct an area and wish to regain the underpainting color and texture, I use baby wipes to remove the pastel layers. Baby wipes don't leave a residue and dry very quickly. I now have an almost pristine piece of the paper to rework an area.

"Tuscan Farmland"     15" x 35" pastel      $850

"Tuscan Farmland" was created in October after I returned from my trip to Italy and before I had cataract surgery. Now I can see purple much better and OMG the sky has got to go! My attention goes directly to the lavender purple in the sky. While I'm reworking I think the intersection of the trees in the left 1/3 of the picture is awkward. Too many lines coming together.

"Tuscan Farmland" redo

I also simplified the field to the right of the farmhouse, connected the blue in the shadows to the mountain color in the background. The changes may seem subtle but I'm much happier with it.

Day 8 Italian Air Space 4

My intention was to create one last pastel in this series and concentrate on the colors that I feel represent the joy I felt when I was in Italy. It is a magical country and I absorbed as much as I could by drawing every minute I could squeeze in. I came home with 30 drawings in various degrees of completion. I admit I was possessed - a drawing maniac, and I'd love to go back to feel the degrees of the country without my artistic maniac approach. But in reality that probably won't happen. I seem to engage with the world through the lens of my camera for reference photos or through my sketchbook and pastels. I can't turn it off. Oh well, just go with it until I wear out!

"Italian Air Space 4"     8" x 12" pastel on sanded pastel paper

Back to my intention with this drawing. I was not successful. These are not my favorite colors and they do not represent my joy. Try again. I do like the texture of the paper and tried to create this one very quickly as to not fill up the texture of the paper.

Day 7 Italian Air Space 3

Trying LaCarte paper for a different texture for the "Italian Air Space" series. It's amazing how just a specific paper can create a very distinct look and feel when applying the pastel.

"Italian Air Space 3"      7" x 10"      pastel        $145