Pastel Demonstration

I was very inspired by Wednesday’s demo by Liz Haywood Sullivan.  So much so, that I immediately went to work painting.  I had wanted to paint all week anyway, but finding time is always a problem in my world.  Finding inspiration is not. Luckily, my granddaughter spent some time at the babysitter’s and with her grandfather, allowing me some uninterrupted time to complete this painting and to photograph it as I went.

First, I decided to reuse a piece of Wallis paper which I had painted on a few years ago, with less than mediocre results. 

I brushed it off, leaving a ghost image on it.

Using a sketch done from a photo I took last spring, I blocked in the basic shapes.

I laid down the darkest and lightest areas first.

Then, using alcohol and a brush, I liquefied the pastel in those areas, making large areas of solid color.

From there, I began to actually paint, putting down many light layers of pastel.

And after some tweaking, the finished product. 

"The Last of the Snow" 

12" x 18"

It felt wonderful to get something accomplished and I have to admit, I think it came out pretty well.

Goldenrod and Loosestrife

 Got an early start one day in September.  The morning had started out clear, but clouds gradually made their way in.  Actually, I had spied this scene a year or so ago and had planned to paint it, as the beautiful colors were hard to resist.  However the morning I was planning to go there, a friend contacted me to say the town had mowed all of the beautiful flowers down!  Argh!  Nevertheless, I remembered the scene and timed things just right this year.  Got a keeper out of it!

9"x12" currently unmatted and unframed

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ColetteSavage

https://www.etsy.com/listing/112633995/original-pastel-landscape-painting    

Fall Colors

 This pastel painting was done in Mendon Ponds Park on an unusually warm day in late October.  The sunshine through the atmosphere made the distant hills a beautiful blue color and gave a warm cast to everything.  It softened the edges on the hazy shadows that crossed the path where I stood.  I occasionally had horse-back riders pass by me, as this is one of several riding trails through the park.  

unframed size - 6"x9"

https://www.etsy.com/listing/107667895/original-pastel-landscape-painting-fall