Lonesome Lake - Appalachian Trail

 

11x14 matted size original pastel painting.

Morning Shadows

 

 

I caught this bit of sunshine on my morning walk and decided it needed pastels.  I used my Terry Ludwig plein air set on colorfix paper with a sienna prime.

 



 

"Reflections"

 

I am working on a more Alla Prima approach and with anything new there is sometimes a step backward before any real motion forward. I will tweek the reflections so they taper off and don't divide the canvas in half. I think I will work with pastels next.

Sun-lit field Plum Island

 

I did this study to practice painterly effects and aerial perspective. I will look at it for a while before I decide whether or not to tone down the yellow green.  I am happy with the background trees.  This one was fun to do.

 



 

Blue Flag Iris

 

6"by 6" oil



Tulips again - this time in pastel. I used a ground of Colorfix Primer, Storm Blue on Museum Board. Even though it has a fine tooth, it still felt too rough for the soft pastels and required a lot of blending.

 

Marsh Grass in Pastel

 

 

I used Museum board coated with clear gesso and Golden Acrylic Azo Gold.  I lightly sanded the surface but it still felt too rough.  This one needs more work in the hill area and in the foreground grasses.

White Tulips, last of the season

I found these tulips at the grocery store.  Mine have all gone by so I thought this might be my last chance to paint tulips until they bloom again.

 

I am still keeping to a limited palette but adding different colors.  This time I tried Old Holland violet gray and Classico Cadmium Green. I used the violet gray to tone the board and whipped out the flower areas.  It helped to keep it free and loose.

 

 

I am learning to blog as I go.  Today I practiced changing fonts and colors.  I had some nice effects but I am not sure I applied them!

 

Ratatouille #4 Tomatoes
I sketched this group many ways trying to fine the right composition.  Cutting one in half did the trick. Next is the Garlic - I bought three bulbs to have many ways to arrange them.

This is the third in the 6x6 Ratatouille series - Peppers.  I was able to stay loose and painterly.  The next is tomatoes - I love cadmium red!

This week-end I worked on a series of pastel landscapes exploring a variety of surfaces. The first "Edge of the Marsh - Winter" was on UArt paper 800 with no under painting using Terry Ludwig pastels.  Detail was added with pastel pencils.  I liked this surface and I love the Terry Ludwig Plein Aire set.

The second one "Golden Glow - Marsh in Autumn" was done on museum board with Golden Fine Pumice Gel tinted with Nickel Azo Gold Acrylic following Rita Kirkman's technique. I used Sennelier soft pastels for this one.

The next one "Marsh Tree" was on museum board 4-ply with color-fix primer in Terracotta.  I started this with the path as the focal point but let the tree take over.  I like doing landscapes on the rich terracotta background.

The last "Cattails" was done on Colorfix suede from the Dakota Pastel paper sampler in a cool medium gray.
I liked working on this surface.  There was more tooth than I first thought.  I would like to try this in a warm color.

All are 11x14 including the matt.

The Edge of the Marsh

"Golden Glow - Marsh in Autumn"

"Marsh Tree"

 

"Cattails"

 

The second in the Ratatouille series.  This one is the onions.  At first it looked like it was going to paint itself and then it went bad.  Two wipe-outs before I was happy with it. I planned to paint the summer squash today but I ate it instead - cooked on the new outdoor grill.

I have started a new series of 6x6 oil paintings and I am calling the group Ratatouille.  The first went pretty easily.

Mountain path 7x5 pastel

Blogging has been on my mind since I have been following so many others.  Now is as good a time as any!