Apple & Pears

"Apple & Pears" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

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I set up my very first still life today and painted from it. I can't tell you how much the thought of painting a still life (not from a photograph) has intimidated me. But as I become a little more comfortable with my paintings, I'm willing to challenge myself more. I bought this fruit the other day, just for painting. I can see a few things that I wish I would have done differently, but overall I'm happy with it. And most importantly... it was fun! I can certainly see a lot of possibilities coming out of this! It would definitely be nice not to have to be restricted to using photographs all the time.

Well, I hope where ever you are today that you're warm! We're under another winter storm warning, and I think we've gotten 1 1/2 to 2 feet of snow already. I haven't stepped foot outside and I don't plan to. It's nice to have days like this once in a while. :)

Have a great weekend!

Poppy

"Poppy" 5 by 7 Pastel Painting

I completed another painting today, and I thought you might like to see my process and also my little painting area.

When I paint small (which is almost all the time) I just sit at my desk. When I paint larger, I like to use my easel, especially when I’m painting water and skies. I have my pastel pencils off to the right and a small amount of pastel sticks just in case. I also keep my sharpener and baby wipes handy.
I like to stabilize my painting surface, so that it’s not moving all around. I painted on a piece of Bristol board today, and I just used a little piece of tape to stick it down to my clipboard. I fold up a kitchen towel and place it underneath the clip board near the top. This puts my surface at a comfortable angle for painting. You can barely see the drawing here, but I complete my drawing before I adhere the paper to the board.
When I’m painting realistically, I like to outline my main subjects first. I outlined my poppy in green, which will be my background color. I use a very sharp pastel pencil to do this. If I don't outline my subject first, when I take a pastel stick and try to cover the background, I will lose the pencils lines.Then I like to complete the background. Sometimes I use pastel pencils for this and sometimes I use pastel sticks. It just depends on how much paper I have to cover. I had a difficult time with the background for this one because I was using Bristol board again, and you cannot apply as many layers of pastel as I like to. Next, I outlined my poppy to maintain the outline and began painting it piece by piece.
I like to work in one direction and not jump around when working on a piece like this.
Almost done with the petals.
Once I’ve “finished,” or covered all areas of the paper, I will take a little break. When I go back to it, I add highlights and darken darks, and sometimes rework the background if needed.
And the finished product.

This is only the 2nd time I've used Bristol board, and I'm definitley not used to it. I really want it to work for me, so I'm going to keep playing around with it.

I have to thank Pat from Back Porch Musings for allowing me to use her beautiful photograph. Thanks Pat!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Water Lily

I'm back! I finally finished a painting, can you believe it? It felt so great to be painting again today. This painting is called "Water Lily" and it's another 5 by 7 on Ampersand Pastelbord. It was completed with a combination of soft pastels and pastel pencils.

I have been so busy, with my family visiting, with school, and with the recent news that I will be represented by my first gallery in 2 months. I have so much to do in preparation for it, and finding time to paint has been difficult. But today I decided I would give myself the entire day to finally sit down and do some painting.

I'm going to hold on to this painting and maybe it will end up framed in the gallery. :) I have to choose about 6-8 paintings to start. I know that I want to use some that I already have, and I wanted to paint a couple of new ones.

Well I hope you all have a great weekend!

Creativity Boot Camp Day 9

"Drizzle" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

I don't know about you, but this painting makes me hungry! :) And I think it certainly says "Drizzle," which was the word prompt for day 9 of Creativity Boot Camp. The end is in sight, only 4 paintings left!

This painting is 5 by 7 on pastelbord done in soft pastels, and pastel pencils. I wanted to remain consistent with this challenge, so that is why all the paintings are the same size and are done in pastels. I may try the challenge again in a different medium, or with photography.

I hope your week is off to a good start!

Day 12 - Painting Challenge

I finished the painting I started yesterday and named it, "Purple Polka Dot Petals." This painting was done using a real lily (still life) and had to be done quickly because the flower was beginning to wilt. I've actually never painted a flower from life before (at least not with this much detail), and it was interesting! The perspective I chose was to look down into the flower. I did make what I think was a mistake though, I put down a layer of white pastel first, and that seemed to have an effect on all the layers I put down after. I was hoping it would just make the colors pop a little more, but it ended up doing more than that. It didn't change the outcome of the painting, but it made the process slightly more difficult. I won't be doing that again.

I'm not sure what's next. I've been really inspired lately by Billy Showell, a botany artist. I've been reading some of her books, and I think I may try some realism in watercolor. We'll see.. I have about a million ideas and choosing what to do next is a challenge! :)

Today's Quote: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein

New Pastels

I finally got my 2nd Dakota Art Pastel box and got all my new Mount Vision pastels organized! I had to tear the paper off of 350 pastels as well as inventory them! Buying a full set of Mount Vision pastels was quite a leap considering I had never even tried them before! I had just heard such good things about them. After receiving them and playing around with them a little bit, I'm slightly disappointed. For a "soft pastel" they're a little harder than I was anticipating. I've been using Sennelier's a lot (but a full set is way out of my price range) and they're very soft compared to the Mount Visions. But I'm sure after I use them more I will just love them. I can adapt to just about anything :). Now I have my heart set on a few sets of Terry Ludwig pastels. I have the Maggie Price Greys set, and love it! They are a very soft pastel and I love that. You can never have too many pastels! Right? :)

Art Spectrum Colourfix Primer

I recently discovered this amazing product, Art Spectrum Colourfix Primer. I am fairly new to soft pastels (transitioning from watercolor) and I have been using Colourfix pastel paper a lot. I really like how pastel applies to the paper and the fact that you can layer a lot of pastels. When I found the Colourfix Primer, I was so excited. The primer can be applied to almost any clean surface. I have gobs and gobs of watercolor paper and I don't plan on giving up on watercolor completely, but I wanted to use some of the paper up. So, I bought the Colourfix Primer and applied it to my watercolor paper (only the paper that was 140lb and heavier). It dried quite quickly, and it's amazing!! The surface is exactly like the Colourfix paper that you can buy. Let's face it, pastel paper can be quite expensive, especially if you paint a lot or depending on the pastel surface that you like. I bought a small container of the primer (in white) and I applied it to probably 35 pieces of watercolor paper and canvas (of various sizes) and I only used up half of the container. So if you think about it, it's much cheaper than buying sheets or pads of pastel paper. The primer comes in many different colors, including clear. Give it a try!

Wispy Clouds

"Wispy Clouds" is my latest pastel painting. I couldn't seem to get a good scan of it, therefore the colors are not perfect. The colors in the original painting are beautiful. I took this picture at my Great-Grandma's house on the lake in Michigan. I remember spending many summer days there with my Grandma. I used to fantasize about what was on that island (in the painting). As a little girl I used to think there were people living there! I have many other pictures of this house on the lake, and I plan to paint some of those as well.

Tomorrow I am expecting my complete set of Mount Vision pastels! I've never even tried them, so I hope I'm not disappointed. I have been using Sennelier pastels and I love them, but cannot afford an entire set. They're about $3,000! I've heard many good things about Mount Vision so, I'm sure I'll love them!