Sunday, June 13, 2010

Pastel Still Lifes

Though I have almost exclusively done pastel landscapes, I have shifted recently to still life, at least for awhile. A cup of tea on my back patio makes for an interesting play of backlit subject matter.
Yes, that bite of cherry was good! The most vibrant color is found in the midtone and I have underutilized my red pastels. Red is a wonderful color.
I like to draw and pastel allows you to make marks. I think that is part of why I picked up this particular medium.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

I went to graduate school in Augusta, GA. This was a nice place to go for a break! And the Georgia red clay is a great color, way better than brown.
The out of doors is a theme in this blog. We were biking in Pagosa Springs, Colorado when I decided to stop and snap this photo. It turned into an 8 x 10 pastel on textured gator board.

Pastel Art


A trip to the California coast inspired "Morrow Bay Saturday". It was sprinkling when we first passed this spot. The sun came out when we got to the parking lot and I ran back and captured the scene in sunlight.

I learned how to make my own textured boards in a Susan Ogilvie workshop. This painting and the following one were done "en plein air" at Anne Springs Close greenway in South Carolina.




The San Juan mountains near Pagosa Springs, CO are the subject of this 8 x 10 pastel on textured gator board. It is a simple piece, but don't you just want to walk out into the meadow?