Pastel in process- halfway around the track
This pastel is springing into shape after several sessions on location. It’s being documented in stages as a new demonstration piece for the site.
It’s 22 x 30″, painted on a surface I prepare myself. If I can accomplish nothing more, I hope to keep it lively and unified. The beautiful subject deserves it.
A little close-up. The warm and cool notes of color have been tricky to get a handle on.
Mark Turner turned me on to your work–it is amazing!
Mark -
Very interesting … “several sessions on location.” Are you working on the 22″ x 30″ out at the beach, in the wind and the rain, or are you working on detail/color studies that you bring back to the studio?
Curious, too, to see how you’ll work out the foreground and the water. It looks really nice so far …
Thanks, Ann. I appreciate your comment very much. Mark’s been a friend from wa-ay back.
Roger,
I’m working out most of this on location, and edit a bit indoors. Editing usually means simplifying something. So, I wait for the right light conditions and go out; if it’s overcast, I began a separate oil piece, smaller and with a different composition, that I work on instead so that I don’t waste the opportunity.
With this kind of painting, the challenge is to maintain the original impulse that got me excited, light in this case. So the most fleeting effects are indicated at the outset to keep me pinned to the effect. It’s easy to go off course. The big challenge is maintaining unity, the effect of the moment. I work on color and values when the light is correct, shapes and their relationships when the light changes.