Soaking Up The Sun

"Soaking Up The Sun" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

This painting was again inspired by a photograph by a lovely woman, Altagracia Aristy, who has allowed me to use her photographs as references. It's done on UArt paper and I used mostly pastel pencils, but some pastel sticks as well.

When coming up with a title for this one, it had to have the word "sun" in it. We've had some really warm days here lately and today is just slightly chilly. So, I'm longing for a little more of that warm weather. But I think it's gone for good, and I'll just have to make myself a cup of tea to warm myself up. :)

Marbles

"Marbles" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Well I finally decided to try a new painting surface. "Marbles" is done on UArt 800. I've had this paper for a while, but I've really been enjoying my pastelbord, so I didn't see much of a reason to try anything else. However, lately I've really been going for more a realistic look with my paintings (at least my still lives) and the pastelbord doesn't suit that style, at least not for me. UArt 800 is a very smooth paper. It was my first time using it, and when switching painting surfaces, there is a learning curve. It was easier to achieve a realistic look with this surface, but it still isn't quite what I'm looking for. Anytime I tried to blend the pastel, the texture of the paper came through. I do like the paper though, and I see myself using it occasionally.

I have some Wallis paper that I was going to try, but for realism, I don't think it will work. A friend of mine paints realistically in pastel and she uses Bristol board, which I never thought of using. But I purchased some, and it's a very smooth surface and you can't really see a texture on the paper. The only concern I have about it is that there really isn't much of a "tooth" to the paper, so I'm not sure how many layers of pastel that I could apply. But I'm excited to give that paper a try.

I used all pastel pencils for this painting (CarbOthellos mostly but some Faber-Castell's as well). I also got a new electric sharpener which I'm excited about. Ha-ha.. I know it sounds silly but to achieve any kind of realism, it's essential to get the sharpest point possible on your pencils.

I hope you all had a great weekend! :)