Day 54 "Mingo Flats Evening" detail

"You, at least, know that it (solitude) exists, and that it is the source of peace and joy." Thomas Merton
Mingo, West Virginia is that place of solitude for me. When I sit in the fields above Mingo Flats I can hear a distant tractor, a dog barking and maybe a big rig over on highway 219 as it makes it way up the mountain. But mostly I hear the wind and hawk's call as it circles above me. I hear God's voice say, "Rest here. You are safe in My Hands."
This pastel will eventually be 16" x 36" but of course, I didn't finish it today. 

"Mingo Flats Evening" detail

Day 53 "Those Skinny Trees"

I kind of feel like the day ran me today.
The name of this piece is "Those Skinny Trees" because I can't remember the name of these trees; maybe it's cedar trees. We were told that the Italians don't like these trees because they associate them with a cemetery. But now tourists associate them with the Italian landscape that many Italians and probably Americans who have bought second homes in Italy (wouldn't you love to do that!) plant these trees along the roadsides.

"Those Skinny Trees" 8" x 12" Wallis Belgium Mist sanded paper with oil wash

Day 52 "Tuscan Farmhouse2"

"Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death." Rosalind Russell
Here's the 16" x 12" version of the little sketches from yesterday and as usual I'm not completely satisfied with the end result. I may try it again with some changes to the middle field, but if I continue to mess with this one I will sacrifice the freshness of the strokes.

"Tuscan Farmhouse" 16" x 12" on Wallis Belgium Mist sanded paper

I'm hard to please but it's good to be a strong self critic when it comes to your own work. We all need to keep striving for that next best painting. Just don't let the self-critique become a noose around your creative neck so you become too paralyzed to try.

Day 51 "Thumbnails"

"10% inspiration, 90% perspiration" various authors
Aw, the lovely thumbnails drawings that everybody needs to create and nobody likes to take the time to do them. 
Feb. 2011 Pastel Journal Magazine has a great article by Marla Baggetta "Good Study Habits" where she talks about and shows how to create thumbnail drawings in black and white and tiny pastel drawings before starting your actual piece.
And yes, I'm just as bad as everyone else - telling my students to make thumbnails, but not following my own advice. Today, while recovering from a mini-mini indoor triathlon, I sat in a chair for about 2 hours and created some black & white thumbnail sketches and then some tiny 2"x2" color pastel thumbnails. I'm working on the final piece from these studies and will post it tomorrow.
But for now here are my sketches.

"Tuscan Farmhouse" thumbnails

"Tuscan Farmhouse" studies 2" x 2" each

Day 50 "Tuscany Painter"

"Tuscany Painter" may become our postcard advertising our Italian paintings which will be showing at the Kentucky/State movie theaters during the month of April. Susan penned the name of the show "A Glorious Adventure: Painting in Tuscany" And Lucinda is drawing Val D'Orcia, Tuscany when I took the photograph. 
The print was too small to include in my drawing but Lucinda's T-shirt said "Don't Postpone Joy" which is the T-shirt for her sister Laurey's restaurant in Asheville, NC.
If you're ever in Asheville you have to stop by for a great meal.

"Tuscany Painter" 8" x 10" Canson paper treated with Golden Pastel Primer

Day 49 "Tuscany Town"

Pastel a Day is very humbling. I admire Alfred Montapert's determination.
Here's another loser pastel and it's story. 
I started this one yesterday with an oil wash underpainting and it was a good copy of what I thought was a dramatic photograph of the maze-like urban area of a Tuscan hilltown. Well, I didn't like it, so this morning I washed alcohol over the whole thing which gave me a darkened underpainting and new tooth to the sanded paper.
2nd attempt involved purposely keeping my stokes loose and expressive, but the composition has problems. There are too many points of interest - blue shutters and balcony, steps to another passage area, and the door on the right with blue shutters above.

"Tuscan Town" 12" x 8" 

I think the blue shutters on the top left has some promise, and this one may be cut into a smaller 8" x 10".

Day 48 "Mingo Corner Fall"

"Variety is the spice of life." anonymous
Would it be nice if I'd stick to one area of the world or boring? Anyway back from Italy to West Virginia.
This is one of my favorite little roads in West Virginia and the maple trees are beautiful as they rim the road. I love fall paintings because the green of summer can get very boring and fall colors are so vibrant just like pastels.

"Mingo Corner Fall" 8" x 12" Uart sanded paper with an oil wash underpainting

This drawing was almost finished when I realized it was a good reproduction of the photograph but not all that interesting as a pastel drawing. So I went back over many of the areas with more expressive strokes. Color, composition, texture, content and technique - it's kind of like golf - if you can successfully put it all together, you'll make a good shot.