On Wednesday, February 13th,
I did a pastel demonstration for the Suburban Rochester Art Group. I
do enjoy doing demos, even if it's still a bit unnerving for me to stand up in front of a group and discuss what I do. I guess my love of
pastels and painting en plein air helps me to over-come my fear. I
usually get a lot of great feedback and I'm always happy to be able
to share my knowledge with anyone who will listen.
The demo I did was based on some photos I took this summer of Montezuma Wildlife Refuge's Millennium Marsh. The view overlooks the marsh and the day I was there it was hot and sunny. A beautiful day, with just enough haze to make things interesting. The demo went very quickly – about an hour of painting time. When I was done, the painting was pretty loose, but I was able to convey that value is more important than anything else in a painting. It is painted on a piece of Wallis paper which I had done a painting on once before. The original painting had been unsuccessful so I had wiped it out and I reused it here. Once I got it home and in better light, I decide to work on it a bit more. The pictures are of the piece after the demo and then after some refinement. I like seeing them side by side.
9"x12"
